To the learned Justus Jonas , Pommer , and Philip - Martin Luther

TO THE LEARNED JUSTUS JONAS, POMMER, AND PHILIP February 26, 1540.

This is the second letter I have written you, and did I not hope that your answer was on its way hither, I would be very angry at your long silence, for it seems as if you had been long enough away to be back again. We hear the Diet has been postponed, therefore some of your folks have been expecting you for two days. God be praised, all are well here, only your daughter, my Philip, gave us a fright, as she seemed very ill for some hours. For Fama, this sorceress, grows as it spreads. We had two days’ sunshine, and then the bad weather returned, but the Elbe is getting smaller. It is well I did not accompany you, for I got no sleep last night from pain in the muscles of the arm between the shoulder and the elbow. I do not know what it can be, for it does not pain me even if I strike it. I fancy it is the

tooth of the serpent, which will not let me bend the arm. I often think of Hans Reinecke, who, before his death, complained of numbness in the arm. Nevertheless, if wanted, I shall appear among you, for otherwise I feel pretty well, and my Kathie’s appetite is returning, and she is creeping round the tables and chairs with her hands. May you prosper in the Lord; pray for me.

MARTIN LUTHER . (Schutze.)