ttend the council, they would know by what they
intended to stand, and whether any concessions were to be made, or, as
Brueck put it, whether anything good [perhaps a deliverance on the
Papacy] should be adopted, or something should be conceded.

Self-evidently, Brueck had Luther's articles in mind, although it cannot
be proved that he directly and expressly mentioned them or submitted
them for discussion and adoption. Perhaps, he felt from the very
beginning that the Elector would hardly succeed with his plans as
smoothly and completely as anticipated. For Luther, desiring to clear
the track for the whole truth in every direction, the Reformed as well
as the Papistic, both against the "false brethren who would be of our
party" (Preface to Sm. Art. 455, 4), as well as against the open
enemies, had in his articles so sharpened the expressions employed in
the Wittenberg Concord of 1536 concerning the Lord's Supper that the
assent of Philip of Hesse and the attending South German delegates and
theologians (Bucer, Blaurer, Wolfart, etc.) was more than doubtful.
Luther's letter to the adherents of Zwingli, December 1, 1537, shows
that he did not at all desire unnecessarily to disturb the work of union
begun by the Wittenberg Concord. (St. L. 17, 2143.) Still, he at the
same time endeavored to prevent a false union resting on
misunderstanding and self-deception. And, no doubt, his reformulation of
the article on the Lord's Supper was intended to serve this purpose.
Besides, owing to a very painful attack of gravel, Luther was not able
to attend the sessions, hence could not make his influence felt in a
decisive manner as desired by the Elector.

This situation was exploited by Melanchthon in the interest of his
attitude toward the Zwinglians, which now was much more favorable than
it had been at Augsburg, 1530. From the very outset he opposed the
official adoption of Luther's articles. He desired more freedom with
regard to both the Romanists and the Reformed than was offered by
Luther's articles. The first appears from his subscription. Concerning
the article of the Lord's Supper, however, which the Strassburgers and
others refused to accept, Melanchthon does not seem to have voiced any
scruples during the deliberations at Wittenberg. Personally he may even
have been able to accept Luther's form, and this, too, more honestly
than Bucer did at Smalcald. For as late as September 6, 1557, he wrote
to Joachim of Anhalt: "I have