Part 18 (2/2)

The German presses will not cease from their mad pranks until their rashness is restrained by so to help the world

I beg you to let hts with yours, to prevent his chancing on an infected house, and to afford hih I have supplied hi money myself I have at last seen the _Utopia_ at Paris printed, but with many misprints It is now in the press at Basle; I had threatened to break with them unless they took more trouble with that business than with mine Farewell, most sincere of friends

XIII TO BEATUS RHENanus[73]

Louvain [_c_ 15 October] 1518

To his friend Rhenanus, greetings:

Let i-comedy of my journey I was still weak and listless, as you knohen I left Basle, not having co, and occupied in uninterrupted labors at that The river voyage was not unpleasant, but that aroundWe had a meal at Breisach, the most unpleasant meal I have ever had The smell of food nearly finished me, and then the flies, worse than the s forfor the fit to eat was served; filthy porridge with luh to make one sick I did not call on Gallinarius The ht fever also told ian hom I had disputed about _heceitas_[74] had taken it on hienuity! Just before nightfall ere put out at a dull village; I did not feel like discovering its name, and if I knew I should not care to tell you it I nearly perished there We had supper in a s-chamber, more than sixty of us, I should say, an indiscriminate collection of rapscallions, and this went on till nearly ten o'clock; oh, the stench, and the noise, particularly after they had beco to suit their clocks

In thewhile it was still quite dark ere driven fro of the sailors I went on board without having either supped or slept We reached Strasbourg before lunch, at about nine o'clock; there we had a more comfortable reception, particularly as Schurer produced some wine Some of the Society[75] were there, and afterwards they all ca all the rest in politeness Gebwiler and Rudolfingen did not wantwith them Thence we proceeded on horseback as far as Speyer;no sign of soldiers anywhere, although there had been alarlish horse coot to Speyer; that criht to have both his ears branded with red-hot iron At Speyer I slipped away frohbour Maternus There Decanus, a learned and cultivated reeably for two days Here I accidentally found Here to Worain to Mainz There was an I by chance in the sae He devoted himself to me with incredible assiduity over the whole journey, and at Mainz would not allow o into the inn but took me to the house of a canon; on e was not unpleasant as the weather was fine, excepting that the crew took care to ; in addition to this the stench of the horses incoenfeld, who forht at Louvain, and a lawyer friend of his came with me as a mark of politeness There was also a Westphalian, John, a canon at St Victor's outside Mainz, aat Boppard, as I was taking a walk along the bank while a boat was being procured, sonized me and betrayed me to the customs officer, 'That is the man' The customs officer's name is, if I mistake not, Christopher Cinicampius, in the common speech Eschenfelder

You would not believe how the edon a sreeood fortune and called in his wife and children and all his friends Meanwhile he sent out to the sailors ere calling for me two tankards of wine, and another then they called out again, pro that when he caht him a man like myself From Boppard John Flaelic purity, of sane and sober judge, accompanied me as far as Coblenz At Coblenz Matthias, Chancellor to the Bishop, swept us off to his house--he is a young e of Latin, besides being a skilled lawyer There we supped ne: I wanted to avoid Cologne myself, but the servant had preceded me thither with the horses, and there was no reliable person in the boat who back ne before six o'clock in theby now pestilential I went into an inn and gave orders to the ostlers to hirea meal to be made ready by ten o'clock I attended Divine Service, the lunch was delayed

I had no luck with the carriage and pair I tried to hire a horse;failed I realized as up; they were trying to make me stop there I i to be loaded; the other bag I entrusted to the innkeeper, and on my lame horse rode quickly to the Count of Neuenahr's[77]--a five-hour journey He was staying at Bedburg

With the Count I stayed five days very pleasantly, in such peace and quiet that while staying with hiood part of the revision--I had taken that part of the New Testament withood sense, more than you would find in an old man; he speaks little, but as Hoently too; he is learned without pretentiousness in ood friend By noas strong and lusty, and well pleased with ood state when I visited the Bishop of Liege and to return hale and hearty to my friends in Brabant What dinner-parties, what felicitations, what discussions I promised myself! But ah, deceptive human hopes! ah, the sudden and unexpected vicissitudes of huh dreams of happiness I was hurled to the depths of e and pair for the next day My coht, announced that he would see ht a wild hurricane sprang up, which had passed before the next ht, to make some notes for the Count: when it was already seven o'clock and the Count did not ee, I asked for him to be waked He came, and in his customary shy and modest way askedhe was afraid for el deprived me, not of the half of my senses, as Hesiod says, but of the whole: for he had deprived ne I wish that either my friend had warned me more sharply or that I had paid more attention to his most affectionate remonstrances! I was seized by the power of fate: what else ae, the wind blowing 'strong as when in the highhol like the very pest I thought I ell protected bywith its violence Towards nightfall a light rain came on, more noxious than the wind that preceded it: I arrived at Aachen exhausted fro to me on the stone-paved road that I should have preferred sitting on my horse, lame as he was Here I was carried off from the inn by a canon, to whom the Count had recommendedtheir usual drinking-party My appetite had been sharpened by a very light lunch; but at the ti by them but carp, and cold carp at that I ate to repletion The drinking went on well into the night I excused ht before

On the following day I was taken to the Vice-Provost's house; it was his turn to offer hospitality As there was no fish there apart from eel (this was certainly the fault of the stornificent host otherwise) I lunched off a fish dried in the open air, which the Germans call _Stockfisch_, from the rod used to beat it--it is a fish which I enjoy at other times: but I discovered that part of this one had not been properly cured After lunch, as the weather was appalling, I took myself off to the inn and ordered a fire to be lit The canon who with an to feel very uncomfortable inside; as this continued, I sent hiave er into my mouth, and the uncured fish came up, but that was all I lay down afterwards, not so , without any pain in ain with the coach compotation I excused myself, without success I knew thatbut a few sups of warnificent spread, but it asted onat Suderman's house As soon as I went out of doors ht air

On thea little warmed ale and a few , whichmore uncomfortable By noas in such a state that I would have been better keeping warm in bed than mounted on horseback

But that district is the inable, the inhabitants are so idle; so that I preferred to run away The danger of brigands--it was very great in those parts--or at least my fear of them, was driven out offour miles on this ride I reached Maastricht There after a drink to soothe res, about three miles away This last ride was by far the avepains in the kidneys It would have been easier to walk, but I was afraid of sweating, and there was a danger of the night catching us still out in the country So I reached Tongres withto lack of food and the exertion in addition, all iven way, so that I could not stand or walk steadily I concealed the severity ofHere I took a sup of ale to sootheI ordered theo on horseback, on account of the paving stones, until we reached an unpaved road I o better on the paving and be more sure-footed I had hardlyover as I met the cold air, and asked for a cloak But soon after this I fainted; I could be roused by a touch Thenby leton the horse After coe

By noere approaching the town of St Trond Iin a carriage Once again the evening air made me feel sick, but I did not faint I offered the coachman double the fare if he would take me the next day as far as Tirleres He accepted the teruest whoe had takenht Here by chance I found a coach going to Louvain, six miles away, and threw myself into it I made the journey in incredible and almost unendurable discomfort; however we reached Louvain by seven o'clock on that day

I had no intention of going to my own room, whether because I had a suspicion that all would be cold there, or that I did not want to run the risk of interfering with the ae in any way, if I started a ruue I went to Theodoric the printer's

During the night a large ulcer broke withoutit, and the pain had died down The next day I called a surgeon He applied poultices A third ulcer had appeared onme with oil of roses for the pain in the kidneys and rubbed one of eon on his way out told Theodoric and his servant secretly that it was the plague; he would send poultices, but would not coeon failed to return after a day or two, I asked Theodoric the reason Hewhat the ue?'

'Precisely,' said he, 'he insists that you have three plague-sores' I laughed, and did not allow ue

After soeon's father caue Even so, I could not be convinced I secretly sent for another doctor who had a great reputation He exa of a clown said, 'I should not be afraid to sleep with you--and make love to you too, if you were a woman'

[Still another doctor is su his servant instead] I dis my temper with the doctors, commended myself to Christ as my doctor

My appetite came back within three days I then immediately returned toto iven orders as soon as I arrived that no one was to visit hten anyone or suffer inconvenience from anyone's assiduity; but Dorp forced his way in first of all, then Ath Mark Laurin and Paschasius Berselius, who cahtful company

My dear Beatus, ould have believed that this e also, could have succeeded, after all the troubles of travel and allup to all these physical ills as well? You kno ill I was not long ago at Basle,to suspect that that year would be fatal to me: illness followed illness, always more severe But, at the very ti desire to live and no trepidation at the fear of death My whole hope was in Christ alone, and I prayed only that he would give o, as I remember, I would shi+ver at the very narown older, that I do not greatly fear death, and I do not measure man's happiness by number of days I have passed e, I cannot rightly coh And then, if this has any relevance, I have by now already prepared a monument to bear witness to posterity that I have lived And perhaps if, as the poets tell, jealousy falls silent after death, fah it ill becolory;Christ! Farewell, my dearest Beatus The rest you will learn from my letter to Capito

XIV TO MARTIN LUTHER

Louvain, 30 May 1519

Best greetings, most beloved brother in Christ Your letter wasa Christian spirit