The Pictures of German Life Throughout History. Gustav Freytag

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      "'Dear sons,' he said, 'what do they think in Switzerland about Luther?'

      "We answered: 'Sir, there, as everywhere, opinions vary. Many cannot exalt him sufficiently, and thank God who has manifested his truth through him, and exposed error; but many condemn him as a cursed heretic, especially all the ecclesiastics.'

      "He answered: 'I can well imagine it of the priests.'

      "Thus holding converse, we became quite at home with him, so that my companion took up the book that was lying before him and opened it. It was the Hebrew Psalter; he put it down again quickly and the knight drew it towards him. Then my companion said: 'I would give one of my fingers to be able to understand this language.' He answered, 'You will have no difficulty in comprehending it, providing you devote yourself to it industriously; I also desire to know more of it, and study it daily.'

      "In the mean while evening drew on, and it became quite dark. The landlord came to the table, and when he learned our longing desire to know Martin Luther, he said, 'Dear comrades, if you had been here two days ago, you would have succeeded, for he was here, and sat at this table, and,' pointing with his finger, 'in that very place.' We were much vexed and provoked that we had missed him, and laid the blame of it on the muddy bad road which had delayed us; but we said, 'We rejoice, however, that we are in the same house and sitting at the same table at which he sat.'

      "At this the landlord laughed and went away. After a little while the landlord called to me to come to him outside the door of the room. I was frightened, and thought that perhaps without intending it I had done something that was unbecoming.

      "Then he said to me, 'As I know that you wish to hear and see Luther; it is he who sits by you.'

      "I took this for a joke, and said, 'I see indeed, good sir, that you wish to banter me by imposing upon me a false Luther.' He answered, 'It is he most assuredly; but do not show that you think so, or that you recognize him.' I assented, but did not believe him. I went again into the room, and placed myself at the table; and was anxious to tell my companion what the landlord had said. At last I turned to him and whispered secretly, 'The landlord has told me that this is Luther.' He would not believe it any more than I, and said, 'He perhaps told you that it was Hutten, and you did not rightly understand him.' As the dress and bearing reminded me more of Hutten than a monk like Luther, I was persuaded that he had said it was Hutten, as the beginning of both names sounded so much alike: what I further said, was as if spoken to the knight, Herr Ulrich von Hutten.

      "In the mean while there arrived two merchants, who intended to remain there all night: after they had taken off their travelling dresses and spurs, one of them laid down near him an unbound book. Then Martinus asked what kind of book it was; and he answered, 'It is Dr. Luther's exposition of some of the gospels and epistles, just printed and published; have you not yet seen it?' Martinus said, 'I shall soon get it.' The host now desired us to arrange ourselves at table, as it was time to eat; we begged of him to have consideration for us and give us something separate, but he replied, 'Dear comrades, place yourselves by these gentlemen at table, I will charge you moderately.' When Martinus heard this, he said, 'Come here, I will settle for you with the landlord.'

      "During the meal, Martinus spoke many kind and godly words, so that the merchants as well as ourselves were mute before him; attending more to his words than to the viands before us. Amongst other things, he lamented with a sigh that the princes and lords just then assembled at the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg, on account of the troubles of the German nation, and for the sake of the pending proceedings concerning God's word, were only inclined to waste their time in costly tournaments, sledge drives, vanity, and dissipation, when fear of God and Christian prayer would be of more avail. 'But such are our Christian princes.' He further said, 'There was hope that evangelical truth would bear more fruit among the children and descendants who were not poisoned by papal errors, and might yet be grounded in pure truth and the word of God, than among the parents in whom error was so deeply rooted that it could hardly be eradicated.

      "Then the merchants gave their opinions freely, and one of them said, 'I am a simple layman, and understand little of these disputes, but I must speak of things as I find them; Luther must either be an angel from heaven, or a devil out of hell. I would gladly, however, give ten gulden to confess to him, for I believe he could and would give me good instruction.' Then the landlord came to us, and said secretly, 'Martinus has paid for your supper:' that gave us much pleasure, not for the sake of the money and food, but for the hospitality shown us by this man. After supper the merchants rose and went to the stable to look after their horses; in the mean while Martinus remained alone with us in the room; we thanked him for the honour he had done us, as well as for the gift, and as we did so we showed him that we took him for Ulrich von Hutten; but he said, 'I am not Hutten.'

      "Then the landlord coming in, Martinus said, 'I have become a nobleman to-night, for these Swiss have taken me for Ulrich von Hutten.' The landlord replied, 'You are not him, but Martinus Luther.' Then Martinus laughing as if it were a joke, said, 'These take me for Hutten, you for Luther, soon I shall become a Markolfus.'^[26] After this talk he took a long glass of beer, and said, according to the custom of the country, 'Drink with me a friendly glass with God's blessing;' and when I was going to take the glass from him, he changed it, and offered instead a glass with wine, saying, 'The beer is foreign to you, and you are unaccustomed to it, drink the wine.' Meanwhile he rose and threw his tabard over his shoulders, and took leave. He held out his hand to us, and said, 'If you go to Wittenberg, greet Dr. Jerome Schurf for me.' We replied, 'We will do that with pleasure, but how must we designate you, that he may understand your greeting?' He answered, 'Say nothing further than that he who is coming sends you greeting; he will immediately understand these words.' So he departed from us and went to rest.

      "Afterwards the merchants returned into the room, and called to the landlord to bring them something to drink; in the mean while they had much talk about the guest, and wondered who he could be. The landlord declared it was Luther, and the merchants were soon convinced of it, and regretted that they had spoken so unbecomingly before him, and said, 'They would rise at an early hour in the morning, that they might see him before he started; and would beg of him not to be angry with them, as they had not known who he was.' This they did, and found him in the morning in the stable; but Martinus answered them, 'You said last night at supper that you would give ten gulden to confess yourself to Luther; when you do so, you will see and learn if I am Martinus Luther.' He did not make himself further known, but mounted his horse and rode off to Wittenberg.

      "On the following Saturday, the day before the first Sunday in Lent, we presented ourselves at Dr. Jerome Schurf's house to deliver our letters. When we entered the room, behold we found there the knight Martinus just as we had seen him at Jena, and with him were Philippus Melancthon, Justus Jodocus Jonas, Nicholas Amsdorf, and Dr. Augustin Schurf, who were telling him what had happened during his absence from Wittenberg: he greeted us, and laughing, pointed with his finger, and said, 'This is the Philip Melancthon of whom I told you.'"

      There is nothing more remarkable in the truthlike narrative of Kessler, than the cheerful tranquillity of the great man whilst riding through Thuringia under ban and interdict, his heart filled with anxious care, on account of the great danger with which his doctrines were threatened by the fanaticism of his own partisans.

      CHAPTER VI.

      DR. LUTHER.

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      (1517–1546.)

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