s Cochlaeus ask
anything further? I myself will add, I approve of nothing seditious.
With my whole heart and soul I abhor the ravings of the Anabaptists. No
new doctrine, unsupported by the testimony of the ancient Church, is
acceptable to me. Further still, as I do not undertake the defence of
Luther, so, on the other hand, I do not approve of all the dreams of the
monks which have been received, not only contrary to the decision of the
Scripture, but also to the authority of the ancient church. Moreover, I
cannot approve of the cruelty which is everywhere being practised
against those who, following the judgment of Scripture and of the
fathers, reject or censure any manifest abuse or error that in the
course of time may have crept into the Church. Such is my faith, O
Cochlaeus, use it if you are pleased with it; if not, show me a better.
If the unjust punishments inflicted on the truly pious afford you
pleasure, you are not only a miserable, but a contemptible wretch. I
neither can nor will ever knowingly burden or pollute my conscience by
approving of these parricides. I saw in my own country the punishment of
one, born in a most honourable station, and innocent of any serious
crime, Patrick [Hamilton]. I saw burned at Cologne two men of pious and
orthodox sentiments, and most averse to the fanatical opinions of the
Anabaptists. Nor can I express in words how deeply I was grieved by
these mournful spectacles. And I did not grieve only over the fate of
those who were punished, in whom because, as the poet says, 'grace shone
through their very anguish,' their singular bravery and constancy
brought some alleviation to my grief; but much more did I grieve over
the fate of the Church, which is disordered in many ways, and likely yet
to be more so, by the practice of such cruelty. Finally, there is no
doubt that the State will, in God's appointed time, have to suffer
heaviest punishment for its guilt in permitting such parricides; yet I
do not impugn the laws as to the punishment of heretics, if only there
is due cognition of each case, and care is taken that those who are
really innocent of perverting the true Christian faith may not be
punished."

Then follows a paragraph of great importance in itself, and of almost as
much from the light it casts on its author's state of mind, and,
perhaps, also on Melanchthon's, at that particular time:--

"I myself also desire moderation in certain things on the part of the
Lutheran