306 LUTHER'S CORRESPONDENCE AND Let 2C
Now you can see, dear Spalatin, how absurd and dumsjr he was. For what on earth have Luther's jokes with Us friends to do with his doctrine? Even thus it is my opinioo that he never jokes, but that some serious meaning lies be- hind the jests. O truly ridiculous Parisian! Yet he would defend this opinion with his teeth! Farewell, Spalatin.
Your Philip.
247. LUTHER TO SPALATIN AT LOCHAU. Enders, il 582. (Wittenberg), April 16^ 152a
Greeting. Dear Spalatin, we have agreed with Adrian* that he should delay a little. He promised to wait eight days in Berlin for letters from us. Now we must try to get an answer from Werner of Bacharach as quickly as possible. He demands a salary of a hundred gulden. In this whole af- fair we must take great care not to fall between two stools (as they say), by losing one, while the other is called by Mayence or goes of his own accord. Many of our professors strongly urge me to keep Adrian for one year at least, if only, as they think, to prevent the shame of having him called by eclipsed Leipsic;* for there is a rtunor that they will take him to spite us. If you are not able to write briefly what we should do, at least write to him at Berlin not to mind this delay. I suspect that he will go as professor of Hebrew to Frankfort on the Oder or to Leipsic if we turn him down. Answer quickly.
There is a rumor' that the direst bull against me is about to be issued. Thus the provost of Neuwerk* warns and advises me, as the saying is. Moreover, certain even of my enemies who pitied me have asked my friends in Halber- stadt to warn me that there is a certain doctor of medicine, who can make himself invisible by magic when he wants to
'This first psrAgraph refers to the efforts of Wittenberg to leciire a Hebrew professor, the candidates being Matthew Adrian and Werner, of whom nothing else is known.
'An untranslatable pun borrowed from Eccius dedotaius, on the Latin acevaatrre Lipsim (Leipsic) and eclipsin,
'Preparations for drawing up a bull against Luther had been going on at Rome ever since the beginning of the year; they were greatly stimulated by the arrival in that city of Eck towards the end of March. Cf. Smith, cp, cii., 95ff.
^Nicolas Demuth of Neuwerk, near Halle, in the sendee of Albert of Mayence. Enders, iv. i23f.
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