"'Place yourselves at table; we will eat.'
"But we besought him to excuse us, and give us a place apart. But he said,—
"'Good friends, seat yourselves at the table. I will see that you are welcome.'
"When Martin heard that he said,—
"'Come, come, I will settle the score with the host by-and-by.'
"During the meal, Martin said many pious and friendly words, so that the merchants and we were dumb before him, and heeded his discourse far more than our food. Among other things, he complained, with a sigh, how the princes and nobles were gathered at the Diet at Nürnberg on account of God's word, many difficult matters, and the oppression of the German nation, and yet seemed to have no purpose but to bring about better times by means of tourneys, sleigh-rides, and all kinds of vain, courtly pleasures; whereas the fear of God and Christian prayer would accomplish so much more.
"'Yet these,' said he sadly, 'are our Christian princes!'
"'Further, he said, 'We must hope that the evangelical truth will bring forth better fruit in our children and successors—who will never have been poisoned by papal error, but will be planted in the pure truth and word of God—than in their parents, in whom these errors are so deeply rooted that they are hard to eradicate.'
"After this, the merchants gave their opinion, and the elder of them said,—
"'I am a simple, unlearned layman, and have no special understanding of these matters; but as I look at the thing, I say, Luther must either be an angel from heaven or a devil from hell. I would gladly give ten florins to be confessed by him, for I believe he could and would enlighten my conscience.'