Income—Expenses—Hospitality—Charity—Diet—Afflictions—Despondency—
Journeys—Death.
Luther’s income was disproportionate to his expenses. He has often said
“that he gave more out than he took in.” His pay at this time amounted
to but 200 guilders, and his own family expenses to 500. Besides, he
aided his poor relatives, and was obliged to perform many expensive
journeys on business relating to the Reformation. His eminent position
in society often subjected him to invitations to assume the relation of
godfather, and this always levied contributions on his purse. He was
also obliged to make numerous marriage presents, and almost daily to
entertain strangers, which compelled him to keep a corresponding number
of servants. His expenses were so great that sometimes he was
embarrassed with considerable debts. He says, “I am unfit for
housekeeping; I am made quite poor by the necessary support of my
destitute relations and the daily demands of strangers.” In writing to
another friend, he says, “You know that I am quite oppressed by my large
domestic establishment, for through my thoughtlessness I have, during
this year, made debts to the amount of more than 100 guilders. I have
pledged three silver cups at one place for 50 guilders; but the Lord,
who chastises my folly, will deliver me. Hence it is that Cranach and
Aurifaber will no longer take me as security, for they observe that I
have an empty purse. I have given them my fourth cup for 12 guilders,
which they have loaned to Herrman. But why is it that my purse is so
completely exhausted—no, not quite exhausted; but why am I so deeply
immersed in debt? I believe that no one will charge me with parsimony,
avarice,” &c. He sometimes had the honor of entertaining persons of
exalted rank. Elizabeth, the sister of Christian II., King of Denmark,
who had fled from her husband on account of his cruel treatment of her
because she had abandoned popery, and the Duchess Ursula of Münsterberg,
an escaped nun, had often been his guests for upwards of three months at
a time, and it is no small matter for a poor man to entertain a
princess. Many monks and nuns who had escaped from convents had often
imposed themselves on his hospitality, and sometimes shamefully deceived
him. In 1537 he took into his house his relative and countryman,
Agricola, with his wife and family, and kept them for a long time, until
Luther procured a professorship for him. Luther’s five children were now
growing up, and their education was by no means neglected, and even the
fields which his wife owned, near Wittenberg and Zoldorf, demanded no
little outlay. To all this was superadded that peculiar disposition
which has, however, characterized many great minds, which is, a perfect
contempt of all earthly possessions. The grounds of this he sought and
found in the Bible. When with scorn he rejected all offers of gold and
dignities on condition of renouncing his faith, which his enemies made,
he did right; but it must be confessed that as a father of a family he
was too careless about their wants. Thus, when some one reminded him
that he might, at least, lay up a little property for his family, he
replied, “That I shall not do; for otherwise they will not trust to God
or their own exertions, but to their money.” Thus he presented all his
manuscripts to the printers, who were at that time also booksellers, and
when they offered him 400 guilders annually for the privilege of
printing and selling his books, he rejected the offer, and said, “I will
not sell the grace of God. I have enough.” Only occasionally he asked
for a copy of his books as a present to a friend. He charged no fee for
his lectures. “It was my intention,” said he, “after I was married, to
lecture for pay. But as God anticipated me, I have all my life sold no
copy of my books, nor read lectures for money. And if it please God, I
will carry this honor to the grave with me.” When the Elector, John the
Constant, in 1529, designed to honor him with a share in a productive
silver mine at Schneeberg as a compliment for his translation of the
Bible, he replied, “It much better becomes me to pay the amount of my
share with a _pater noster_, that the ores may continue productive and
the product may be well applied.” This he confirmed soon after, (Sept.
8, 1530,) with these words, “I have never taken a penny for my
translation, and never asked it.” And at another place he says, “If I
did not feel such a painful concern _for his sake who died for me_, the
whole world could not give me money enough to write a book or translate
any portion of the Bible. _I am not willing to be rewarded by the world
for my labor; the world is too poor for that!_” Melanchthon promised him
1000 guilders compensation if he would finish the translation of Æsop,
begun in 1530, and dedicate it to some great personage; but Luther
desired to labor exclusively for the diffusion of the Gospel, and write
theological works, for which he would receive no pay. Another friend
made him a present of 200 guilders, which he generously divided among
poor students. When, in 1529, Bugenhagen brought him a gift of 100
guilders from a rich gentleman, he gave Melanchthon the half of it. As
early as 1520, he received a bequest of 150 guilders from Dr. Heinrich
Becke of Naumburg, and in 1521, a person named Marcus Schart presented
him with 50 guilders, which he divided with his prior, Breisger. When
the Elector, John the Steadfast, in 1542, ordered a tax to be levied to
raise money to carry on the war against the Turks, and exempted Luther’s
property, the latter would not consent to it, but for the sake of the
example had property to the amount of 610 guilders assessed.[13] Many
other similar instances of his remarkable disinterestedness, which,
however, were not always worthy of imitation, might be mentioned. He was
liberal and benevolent as even few rich men are, and hence it is that
his children received no large inheritance from him. Thus on one
occasion a very poor man applied to him for help. He had no money at
hand, and his wife was sick; but he took the donation which had been
made to his infant at its recent baptism, and gave it to the applicant.
The sick wife, who soon missed the money out of the savings-box,
expressed her displeasure, but Luther meekly replied, “God is rich; he
will provide in some other way.”
At another time, a young man who had finished his studies, and was about
to leave Wittenberg, made a similar request. Luther was again destitute
of funds. With sincere sympathy he deplored his inability to aid the
youth; but when he observed his deep distress, his eye fell on a silver
cup which had been presented to him by the Elector. He looked
inquiringly at his wife; her countenance seemed to reply, no! But he
hastily snatched the cup and gave it to the student. The latter was much
astonished, and was unwilling to take it. Catharine also, by winks and
looks, intimated to her husband not to press the acceptance of it on the
stranger. But Luther, with a great effort, pressed the sides of the cup
together and gave it to the young man, saying, “I have no use for a
silver cup. Here, take it; carry it to a goldsmith, and keep all you can
get for it.”
Luther was indebted to the punctuality, thrift, and economy of his wife,
for the small property in land, furniture, and books, which he left at
his death. She has been charged with parsimony as well as with a
multitude of other sins by Luther’s enemies, but there is no evidence to
sustain the accusation. If she was economical when her husband had no
guests in his house—which was not often the case—it rather redounded to
her credit, and arose from necessity. This course was pursued with his
sanction. He was always temperate in his diet. Sometimes, even when he
was in good health, he partook of no substantial food for four days
together. At other times a little bread and a herring sufficed for a
day; or, that he might study the more intensely, bread and salt
constituted his meal. Of course, at other times, he lived more
generously, but always within the bounds of moderation.
Catharine not only sympathized most sincerely with her husband in all
his joys and sorrows, but she herself suffered severe afflictions, some
of which were calculated to fill a mother’s heart with inexpressible
anguish. Some of these have been already alluded to. In August, 1538,
they were both attacked with fever, and in July, 1539, they
providentially escaped a violent death. Luther had had a new cellar
constructed, which he went to inspect in company with his wife. They had
scarcely left the cellar, when the ground caved in with a terrible
crash. In loud thanksgivings to God they expressed their sense of this
miraculous deliverance. In January, 1540, Catharine was brought nigh to
death at the birth of a child. To Luther’s great joy, she gradually
recovered. The death of their second daughter, Magdalena, in 1542, at
the age of fourteen—the first, Elizabeth, had died in 1528—bowed her
heart deeply, and overwhelmed her with sorrow. Scarcely had the pious
sufferer endured these severe visitations with the resignation becoming
a true Christian, when she was called on to deplore the death of her
most intimate and valuable friend, the wife of Dr. Jonas. This
unexpected event was so much the more painful to Luther, inasmuch as
when in secret he reflected on his own departure out of this world, he
always reckoned on the wife of Dr. Jonas as the comforter of his widow
and children.
In 1545, the three sons of Luther and his yet surviving daughter,
Margaretta, were all at the same time attacked with the measles, and the
latter also suffered in addition, from a severe and dangerous fever.
About this time, Luther, very unexpectedly to his friends, determined to
leave Wittenberg. His strength was exhausted by disease, and by his
numerous literary labors. He was disappointed and chagrined also on
various accounts, and longed for repose. As soon as this became known,
Bugenhagen and others were sent to him on the part of the University and
the town, whose tears and entreaties prevailed on him to remain for the
present. But in July, 1545, he was bent on carrying out his
determination, and travelled in company with his eldest son, John, by
way of Löbnitz and Leipzig to Merseburg, where he visited Prince George,
of Anhalt, whom, on this occasion, he solemnly consecrated to the office
of Coadjutor of the Chapter of the Cathedral. During his stay in
Leipzig, he wrote (July 28), to his wife, “I should like to arrange it
so that it would not be necessary for me to return to Wittenberg. My
feelings are so alienated that I do not care any longer about being
there. I also wish that you would sell our house and other property. I
wish you would return the large house to my gracious master,[14] and it
would be better for you to settle at Zallsdorff whilst I yet live; for
after my death you will hardly find a support in Wittenberg, hence you
had better do it during my lifetime.” Catharine was extremely surprised
at this determination; but as her husband had enjoined it upon her to
inform Bugenhagen and Melanchthon of his purpose, and to request the
former to take leave of the congregation in his name, she, at least,
complied with this wish. But not so the University. As soon as the
members had learned the purport of his letter, they sent not only a copy
of it to the Elector, and a letter to his Grace, beseeching him to
influence Luther to return; but they and the town council also sent
Bugenhagen and Melanchthon, and some other deputies, as a committee to
see him. The Elector himself wrote to him, promising to render his
condition at Wittenberg more comfortable, and summoned him to appear at
his palace at Torgau for further conversation on the subject. Luther
instantly obeyed the summons, and appeared at Torgau. The Elector
persuaded him to return to Wittenberg. Sick and depressed in heart he
arrived there on the 18th of August, where he was received with open
arms by all his friends.
But this gratification was of short duration for them and Catharine; for
in January, 1546, completely debilitated by the effects of protracted
sickness, he entered upon a journey of another character, from which,
alas! he never returned. His youngest sister, Dorothea, was married to
Paul Mackenrot, who was in the service of the Elector. The family of
Mackenrot possessed productive silver-mines in the duchy of Mansfeld,
which excited the envy of the dukes of Mansfeld, and led them to the
determination of securing to themselves the entire products of the
mines, for before they had received only the tenth and some other
perquisites. As soon as Luther heard of this unjust proceeding, he
undertook to maintain the rights of his brother-in-law, and in 1540
wrote to Duke Albert on the subject; but his intercession was fruitless.
In 1542, he renewed his attempts, but without any favorable result. In
1545, he travelled to Eisleben and to Mansfeld on the same mission, but
all to no effect. Soon after, Luther was urgently entreated by the Dukes
themselves (of whom, Albert was a Protestant, and the other two, Philip
and John George, were still Catholics,) to appear personally at Eisleben
in order to settle this difficulty as well as some others existing among
them. Although his health was in a wretched condition, he promised to
go. After he had preached in Wittenberg, the last time, on January 17,
1546, he took leave of his friends, and on the 23d, he departed,
accompanied by his three sons; John, 19 years of age, Martin 14, and
Paul 13. He passed through Halle, where he visited his friend, Dr.
Jonas, at that time pastor in that city. Jonas accompanied him to
Eisleben; but as he approached that city, he was so exhausted that he
fainted, and they were apprehensive of his death; but he was conveyed to
a house where they rubbed him with warm cloths, and he was soon
restored. He arrived safe at Eisleben on the 28th, but a violent attack
was soon renewed. Catharine, who on the departure of her husband could
easily have anticipated these attacks, on having been informed of them
by the eldest son, John, who had been sent back, forwarded some remedies
from her own domestic medicine-chest, the good effects of which he had
often experienced. On the 1st and 6th of February he communicated to her
the state of his own health and of the affairs at Mansfeld, and
entreated her to lay aside any undue anxiety about himself. But he soon
expressed an intense desire to return home. He wrote to that effect on
the 10th, and again in a jocose style besought her not to be uneasy on
his account. But he was never to see her again. As he anticipated, he
was destined to die in the place of his birth.[15] Although he suffered
keenly from pulmonary affection, he not only preached four times, but
performed much other important business. But his end had come, and he
died on February 18, 1546, in the 63d year of his age. Dr. Jonas and the
court preacher at Mansfeld, Michel Coclius, who, with others, were
present at his death, immediately communicated the melancholy event to
the Elector, and requested his Grace to issue orders respecting the
funeral, as well as to have a letter of consolation written to his
bereaved widow. The intelligence was conveyed so rapidly to Torgau, that
the Elector, on the same evening of the day on which Luther died,
answered the letter, and gave immediate orders in relation to his
funeral.