I went to say good-bye to my parents at Stralsund. My mother had ordered for my sister chains and clasps which the goldsmith had as yet not delivered. I paid for them, and, moreover, left thirty crowns at home. "Use them, if there be any need. I'll manage to make both ends meet with what remains." Duke Philip had given me a strong and lively hunter. Behind the saddle I had a small saddle-bag, like the court messengers. My brother Christian accompanied me as far as Leipzig, where we wished to be for the fair.
Our journey was an uneventful one, except that one day in Mesnia, having lost our way, we came at the end of a big forest upon a small tenement which was the residence of a poor gentleman. The fast gathering darkness compelled us to knock at the noble's dwelling, which was inhabited by a young widow of only a few weeks' standing with her mother-in-law. The bad-tempered old woman roughly refused us shelter. "Go wherever you like," she snarled. Her daughter-in-law, on the other hand, said; "We did not expect any one, and we do not keep an inn, but it is getting darker and darker, and you would have to go a long way before finding one. If you will be content with our humble accommodation, you may remain for the night." At these words the other one storms and raves. "May the devil take you and them. You have found some youngsters who are to your taste, and you have already forgotten my son." I tried to appease her. "We have never before been in this country," I said to her; "at daybreak we'll be able to find our way. You need not be afraid of our using unsuitable language or doing aught that is not right, and we'll be satisfied with whatever accommodation you can give us, as long as our horses have some fodder and some straw. For all this we'll willingly pay." The virago, however, turned a deaf ear to this. If we were not the lovers of her daughter-in-law why should we have come at this late hour in the neighbourhood where no stranger ever came? The young woman was very patient throughout. After having provided us with hay and straw for our horses, she took us to a lofty room of very modest appearance. There was no man or woman servant to be seen; our supper, though, was none the worse for it. After she had set all our provisions before us, our hostess sat down and told us the sad existence she was leading. The bed was moderately comfortable, and the sheets were clean. We paid more than was asked.
At Leipzig I stopped two days to rest my horse. I gave my brother the wherewithal for his return journey, and continued my way alone. The country as far as Frankfurt was known to me. From Butzbach I went by Niederweisel and the Hundfruck, a route I had often pursued with my former master, the commander of St. John. It is more direct than by Friburg, but it swarms with highway robbers. As I was walking my horse up the slope of the forest I caught sight of two horsemen who were evidently bent on waiting for me, as they posted themselves, the one to the left and the other to the right of the road, and when I was between them they began interpellating me in a gruff voice. "From what country?" "From Pomerania." "What hast thou got in thy valise?" "Letters." "Whither art thou going?" "To Spires." "To whom dost thou belong?" "To the Dukes of Pomerania. Here is my safe-conduct." Thereupon one of them became more friendly. "And how is his Highness Duke Philip, that excellent prince? I knew him very well at Heidelberg." And on my recommendation for them to go their way and to let me go mine, they looked at me very hard for a few moments, but did not follow me. I sold my horse and equipment at Frankfurt, and went down the Main as far as Mayence, whence, going up the Rhine, I got to Oppenheim, and by the coach to Worms and Spires.
I reached the latter town on January 21, 1549. I hired a room with a dressing closet at a clothshearer's, who was also a councillor. I also boarded with him, like many young doctors of law and other notable persons detained at Spires by their functions or by their wish to get practical experience.
Dr. Simeon Engelhardt, who, by the express act of a formal decision of his Imperial Majesty, had not been reinstated in his office of procurator any more than his brother-in-law, the licentiate Bernard Mey and Johannes Helfmann had transferred his household goods to Landau. At his recommendation, Dr. Johannes Portius, for procurator, and I brought him so many clients that he would accept no fees from me. Engelhardt remained my advocate, notwithstanding the inconvenience of the distance between us. How often have I walked the four miles between Spires and Landau! By starting at the closing of the gates, I reached Landau for the hour fixed for their opening; the morning sufficed to transact my business with the doctor, and my return journey was accomplished in the afternoon. Nor did Engelhardt claim any fees, but I remember having taken to him a client who for a single act paid him twenty crowns without his asking. The correspondence, thanks to the Pomeranian couriers always at my disposal, was equally cheap.
The Lloytz of Stettin chose me as their solicitor.[[61]] Martin Weyer, in the "Cammin" affair, did the same. There were others, and all, except Weyer, paid me handsomely. I was getting well known among the procurators, and I finally acted pro principale vel adjuncto notario. I earned, then, sufficient to live comfortably without having recourse to the paternal purse. I even could put aside the whole of my appointments, and something over. The chief benefit, however, lay in the acquisition of experience, the fruits of which have extended to the whole of my family, because my pen has always been the sole means of livelihood. If that business be well learnt and well carried out, it leaves no one to starve. Folks may mention the word scribe with as much contempt as they please; the fact remains that I have had many a choice morsel, and drunk delicious draughts through being a scribe.
From Spires I wrote to Sebastian Münster that their Highnesses were particularly anxious not to hurry the printing of his excellent Cosmographie, because a special messenger was to bring him a description of Pomerania the moment it was finished, and that it would prove not the least valuable ornament of his work. He sent word that it was impossible for him to delay; his step-son was so deeply engaged in the undertaking that he would be ruined if he missed the next Lent fair at Frankfurt. I transmitted the reply to Pomerania; the same messenger brought back a big bundle of notes, unfortunately incomplete, as they pointed out to me. I promptly sent them to Sebastian Münster, promising to let him have the rest the moment I received them. He kindly sent me an autograph letter, which my children will find joined to that of Dr. Martin Luther.[[62]]
It struck me that an interview with Sebastian Münster would enable me to inform our princes accurately. The Imperial Chamber had its vacation. It was an excellent opportunity to see Alsace, flowing with corn and wine, so many handsome towns, the seat of the Margrave of Baden, bishops and courts, and, above all, the city of Basle. Hence, I undertook the journey on foot, an affair of about sixty miles there and back. At Strasburg I lodged at my friend's, Daniel Capito, a poor home, but we took our meals at the tavern of the Ammeister.[[63]]
In the church at Basle I saw the stone statue of Desiderius Erasmus, of Rotterdam. I invited Herr Lepusculus, the fugitive of Augsburg, to dinner, and we talked of many interesting things. I also became well acquainted with Sebastian Münster, who gave me a most hearty welcome. A huge room of his house contained a quantity of plates, either cast, engraved on wood or on copper. They had come from Germany, Italy or France; they were geographical, astronomical, or mathematical drawings, representing pieces of engineering work for the use of miners, and views of cities, countries, castles, or convents, that were to figure in his Cosmographie. He was most anxious for me to stay with him, so that he might show me the objects of interest connected with the town; unfortunately, my time was too short. After having taken leave of Münster and Lepusculus, I went back to Spires on foot.
I was just in time for a message from Pomerania relative to the lawsuit between Duke Barnim and the town of Stolpe. The latter, on the pretext of an attempt against its privileges, had deputed Simon Wolder to attend upon the emperor. Wolder was a young jackanapes without education, but pushing and cunning, and by dint of intriguing he obtained the confirmation of the said privileges, and for himself the Imperial safeguard. The people of Stolpe had their triumph, and to judge by their swaggering one would have concluded they had no longer anything in common with their prince and lord. Duke Barnim, though, having entered the town amidst his soldiers, summoned the council and the burghers to the Town Hall, and when he got them there, he forbade those who had had a hand in the intriguing to stir, while the others should stand aside. The majority of those present changed their positions; the rest, and notably the Burgomaster Schwabe, a near relation to the Bishop of Cammin, were imprisoned at Stettin, at Greiffenberg, and at Treptow, while Simon Wolder fled to the emperor, who was fighting the white Moors (?) in Africa. He succeeded in obtaining from the emperor the categorical order for releasing the prisoners, on the express penalty of being put "under the ban"; but that injunction arrived too late. The friends of the prisoners humbly interceded for them, and each liberation was bought at a heavy fine and after a long detention. As for Wolder, far from resting on his oars, he pursued his intrigues at the Imperial court, ingratiating himself with the princes, the nobles, and the cities. He enjoyed great favour; he dressed magnificently. Where did the money for all this display come from? In short, at the restoration of the Imperial Chamber, an action was begun.