[323] “Colloq.,” ed. Bindseil, 1, p. 200, where we read (under Dec. 19, 1536): “Eo die Lutherus magno paroxysmo angustia circa pectus decubuit.” The dates given in the Table-Talk are not as a rule altogether reliable, but here they may be trusted because they happen to coincide with a portent in the sky looked upon as a bad omen.
[324] Köstlin-Kawerau, 2, p. 622 f.
[325] We may here call attention to what will be said in the next chapter concerning similar phenomena in Luther’s early days. This chapter, no less than the present one, is important for forming a just opinion on Luther’s pathological dispositions.
[326] To Johann Hess at Breslau, Jan. 31, 1529, “Briefwechsel,” 7, p. 50.
[327] To Johann Agricola, Feb. 1, 1529, ib., p. 51.
[328] Enders, ib., p. 54, n. 3.
[329] To Nicholas Hausmann at Zwickau, Feb. 13, 1529, ib., p. 53.
[330] To the same, March 3, 1529, ib., p. 61: “fere assidue cogor sanus ægrotare.”
[331] To Melanchthon, Aug. 1, 1530, ib., 8, p. 162: “ut neque tuto legere litteras possim neque lucem ferre”—common symptoms of neurasthenia.
[332] Ib.