rks are necessary to salvation," be condemned, also the errors of
Zwingli and Osiander. "The good Lord knows," said Flacius, "that every
day and hour I consider and plan earnestly how the affair of the
Adiaphorists might be settled in a Christian manner." But he added that
he could not be satisfied until, by repentance, "they wipe out their
sin, denial, apostasy, and persecution, instead of increasing them by
their excuses." But Flacius received an answer neither from Eber nor
from Melanchthon. Instead, the Wittenbergers, with the silent consent
of Melanchthon, circulated a caricature in which Flacius was accorded
the role of a braying ass being crowned by other asses with a soiled
crown. (Preger 2, 11. 13.)

Another offer of Flacius to meet Melanchthon in Wittenberg and discuss
the matter personally was also declined. July 15, 1556, Melanchthon
wrote: "I enjoyed a sweet friendship and familiarity with Illyricus, and
I would gladly confer with him on the entire doctrine. But before this
he has spread things which I had neither said nor thought, wherefore
now, too, I fear treachery (_insidias metuo_)." Timid as he was,
Melanchthon really feared for his life at the contemplated colloquy,
because the statement of Chytraeus: "As long as Flacius and Melanchthon
are alive, unity will not be restored," had been reported to him in the
form: unless Philip were put out of the way, unity would not be
possible. "None of my friends," he wrote, "is willing to attend the
colloquy, and they believe that it is not safe for me to confer with him
[Flacius] alone." (_C. R._ 8, 798.) Considering Melanchthon's answer as
insincere and sophistical, Flacius declared that, after having earnestly
sought peace in a private way, he would now appeal to the Church. He did
so by publishing "_Von der Einigkeit_, Concerning Unity," a book which
he had written before he made his pacific overtures to Melanchthon.
(Preger 2, 17. 22.)

However, induced by a letter of Fabricius of Meissen (August 24, 1556),
Flacius made a further effort, addressing Melanchthon in a letter of
September 1, 1556, in which he implored him to make his peace with God
and the Church by an unequivocal disavowal of Adiaphorism. As a result,
Melanchthon wrote his famous letter of September 5, 1556, referred to in
our chapter on the Adiaphoristic Controversy, in which he admitted in a
qualified way that he had sinned in the matter. In his reply of
September 16, 1556, Flacius again dec