[_Lat. orig. autogr._--_Library of Geneva._ Vol. 106.]
[182] Here is the passage of the letter of Luther, containing a
flattering allusion to the letter of Calvin to Sadolet: "Bene vale,
et salutabis D. Joannem Sturmium et Joannem Calvinum quorum libellos
cum singulari voluptate legi. Sadoletum optarem ut crederet, Deum
esse creatorem hominum etiam extra Italiam. Sed hæc persuasio non
penetrat corda Italorum, cum tam soli præ cæteris exuerint plane
humanum sensum præ superbia."--Dr. Martin Luther's _Briefe_, edit.
de Wette, tom. v. p. 411.
[183] The preface of this Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans is
dedicated to Simon Grynée, and contains an eulogium of Melanchthon,
of Bucer, and of Bullinger, accompanied with the following
reflections:--"God never designed in such a way to exercise
liberality towards his servants, as that each should be endowed with
a full and perfect understanding on every point; and doubtless, in
this respect, he intended, in the first place, to keep us humble,
and next of all to keep up and maintain the desire and the exercise
of brotherly love and communion. On this account, since such is the
case, we have no reason to expect, in this present life, to see what
would otherwise be so desirable, that in the understanding and the
exposition of certain passages of Scripture, there ever can be among
us an out-and-out entire agreement, (in allusion to the sacraments,)
yet we ought to be particularly careful, when we do depart from the
opinion of those who have written before us, that we do so without
being carried away by the silly appetite for saying something new,"
&c.--_Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans_, Geneva, in 4to, 1562.