for their piety, from henceforth till the close of the
sale, the indulgence letters and the full power of remission should be
sold at a less price; at the end of the letter, underneath, was
written, _pauperibus dentur gratis_,--to the poor who have nothing, the
letters of indulgence shall be given without money, for God's sake.

"Then I began to deal with this commissary of indulgence wares; but in
truth I was led and encouraged hereto by the Holy Spirit, although I
myself knew not at the time what I did.

"My dear father had taught me in my childhood the Ten Commandments, the
Lord's Prayer, and the Creed, and insisted upon my continually praying;
for, said he, all that we have is from God alone, and He gives it us
gratis, and He will lead and direct us if we pray to Him diligently. Of
the papal indulgences, he said, they were only nets with which money
was fished out of the pockets of the simple, and one could not
assuredly obtain for money the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
But the priests became angry when such things were said. When,
therefore, I daily heard in the sermons nothing but praise of the
indulgences, I doubted whom I should most believe, my dear father, or
the priests as teachers of the Church. But though I had doubts, I
believed more the instructions of the priests than those of my father.
The only thing I could not, however, allow, was, that the forgiveness
of sins could only be obtained by money, especially when it was
question of the poor. Therefore, the _clausula_ at the end of the papal
letter, _pauperibus gratis dentur propter Deum_, pleased me
wonderfully.

"As at the end of three days, the cross, together with the steps and
ladder to heaven, were to be taken down with extraordinary solemnity,
the spirit led me to go to the commissary, and beg of him letters of
remission out of charity to the poor. I declared that I was a sinner,
and poor, and needed forgiveness of my sins, which I ought to receive
gratis. The second day, at the time of vespers, I entered the house of
Hans Pflock, where Tetzel with the confessors and crowd of priests were
assembled together. I accosted them in the Latin language, and
entreated that they would, according to the command in the Pope's
letter, allow me, a poor lad, to obtain the absolution of all my sins
gratis, and for God's sake, '_Etiam nullo casu reservato_,'--without
reserve, and thereupon they should give me the '_literas
testimoniales_,'--written tes