ained him so much
as that he should be charged with distorting the Gospel. "Though I had
firmly resolved"--so he says in a sermon--"not to answer those, who
invented stories as to how many children were born to me this year, and
as to how much money I got from princes and lords, yet I never could
bear that such slander should be believed concerning me. Any one may
say what he pleases about my morals, but blasphemy I will not
tolerate." But then, the best citizens of Zurich roused to the highest
pitch of enthusiasm clung to him, especially the younger generation,
who trooped around him like a body-guard; and besides these, friends
sprang up beyond the canton on all sides, who came out boldly, or
watched over him in secret, were active on his behalf, and sympathized
in his struggles. In Luzern, Myconius and the canon Kilchmeier
advocated his cause even against statesmen and envoys of the
Confederacy with danger to themselves, holding out as long as it was
possible. In St. Gall, the same thing was done by Vadianus, who had
returned from Vienna and settled in his native city; in Constance by
the prebendary Wanner, who, when a member of the Episcopal embassy, had
been won over by the weight of his arguments; in Bern by the
Franciscan, Sebastian Meier, and in Freiburg by the youthful organist
Kother, who expressed his love for him in verses after the manner of a
capuchin-sermon. Martin Saenger, a native of Graubunden, sent him a poem
against his and Luther's enemies, from the fictitious pen of the Abbot
von Pfaeffers, with the request that he would revise and prepare it for
publication. He also received an evidence of faithful friendship in an
anonymous letter of a more serious kind, written half in Latin and half
in Greek. "Keep a special guard over thy health and life"--so it
runs--"for it is high time. Verily thou art everywhere begirt by snares
and spies; sharp poison is ready for thee. The knaves durst no longer
rail against thee openly. But in secret they are plotting to mingle
poisonous mushrooms with thy food, as was done for the Emperor
Claudius. Hence take as much care of thyself as possible. If thou art
hungry, then eat at home bread, which thine own maid has baked. Abroad
thou canst eat nowhere with safety. There are persons living within
your walls, who will venture everything to destroy thee. Who they are,
from what oracle I have learned their design, I cannot write thee; but
it utters more truth than that of the