The 'careful' Catharine was not permitted to check the kind liberality of her husband. His friend Mathesius tells us, of their early married life, 'A poor man made him a pitiful tale of distress, and having no cash with him, Luther came to his wife—she being then confined—for the god-parents' money, and brought it to the poor man, saying, 'God is rich, He will supply what is wanted.' Afterwards, however, he grew more careful, seeing how often he was imposed upon. 'Rogues,' he said, 'have sharpened my wits.' An example of how particular, nay anxious, he was never even to let it seem that he sought for presents or other profit for himself, was given in his letter to Amsdorf, declining a gift of venison. He wrote once to the Elector John, who had sent him an offering: 'I have unfortunately more, especially from your Highness, than I can conscientiously keep. As a preacher, it is not fitting for me to enjoy a superfluity, nor do I covet it; … therefore I beseech your Highness to wait until I ask of you.' In 1539, when Bugenhagen brought to him the hundred gulden from the King of Denmark, he wished to give him half of it, for the service Bugenhagen had rendered him during his absence. For his office of preacher in the town church he never received any payment; the town from time to time made him a present of wine from the council-cellar, and lime and stones for building his house. For his writings he received nothing from the publishers. Against over-anxious cares and troubles, and setting her heart too much on worldly possessions, he earnestly cautioned his wife, and insisted that amid the numerous household matters she should not neglect to read the Bible. Once in 1535 he promised her fifty gulden if she would read the Bible through, whereupon, as he told a friend, it became a 'very serious matter to her.'
Luther frequently assisted his wife in her household. He was very fond of gardening and agriculture, and we have seen how he sent commissions to friends for stocking his garden at Wittenberg. On one occasion, when going to fish with his wife in their little pond, he noticed with joy how she took more pleasure in her few fish than many a nobleman did in his great lakes with many hundred draughts of fishes. In 1539 he had to order a chest at Torgau for his 'lord Katie,' for their store of house-linen. Of the handsome and elaborate way in which Catharine thought of ornamenting the exterior of their house—the home of her illustrious husband—a fine specimen remains in the door of the Luther-haus at Wittenberg. Luther wrote, by her wish, to a friend at Pirna in 1539, pastor Lauterbach, about a 'carved house-door,' for the width of which she sent the measurement. The door, carved in sandstone, and bearing the date 1540, has on one side Luther's bust and on the other his crest, and below are two small seats, built there according to the custom of the times.
[Illustration: Fig. 52.—Door of Luther's House at Wittenberg.]
In view of his approaching death, Luther wished, in 1542, to provide for his devoted wife by a will. He left her for her lifetime and absolute property the little farm of Zulsdorf, the small house at Wittenberg (already mentioned), and his goblets and other treasures, such as rings, chains, &c, which he valued at about 1,000 gulden. In doing so, he thanked her for having been to him a 'pious, true wife at all times, full of loving, tender care towards him, and for having borne to him and trained, by God's blessing, five children surviving.' And he wished to provide therewith that she 'must not receive from the children, but the children from her; that they must honour and obey her, as God hath commanded.' He further bade her pay off the debt which was still owing (probably for the house), amounting to about 450 gulden, because, with the exception of his few treasures, he had no money to leave her. In making this provision he no doubt considered that, according to the law, the inheritance of a married woman who had formerly been a nun might be disputed, together with the legitimacy of her marriage. Luther did not wish to bind himself in his will to legal forms. He besought the Elector graciously to protect his bequest, and concluded his will with these proud words:
'Finally, seeing I do not use legal forms, for which I have my own reasons, I desire all men to take these words as mine—a man known openly in heaven, on earth, and in hell also, who has enough reputation or authority to be trusted and believed better than any notary. To me, a poor, unworthy, miserable sinner, God, the Father of all mercy, has entrusted the Gospel of His dear Son, and has made me true and faithful therein, and has so preserved and found me hitherto, that through me many in this world have received the Gospel, and hold me as a teacher of the truth, despite of the Pope's ban, of emperor, king, princes, priests, and all the wrath of the devil. Let them believe me also in this small matter, especially as this is my hand, not altogether unknown. In hope that it will be enough for men to say and prove that this is the earnest, deliberate meaning of Dr. Martin Luther, God's notary and witness in his Gospel, confirmed by his own hand and seal.'
The will is dated the day of the Epiphany, January 6, 1542, and was witnessed by Melancthon, Cruciger, and Bugenhagen, whose attestations and signatures appear below. After Luther's death, John Frederick immediately ratified it.
As regards his servants, Luther was particularly careful that they should have nothing to complain of against him, for the devil, he said, had a sharp eye upon him, to be able to cast a slur upon his teaching. To those who served him faithfully, he was ever gentle, grateful, and even indulgent. There was a certain Wolfgang, or Wolf Sieberger, whom he had taken as early as 1517 into his service at the convent—an honest but weak man, who knew of no other means of livelihood. Him Luther retained in his service throughout his life, and tried to make some provision for his future. He once sought, as we have seen, to practise turning with him, but of this nothing further is related. He loved, too, to joke with him in his own hearty manner. When, in 1534, Wolf built a fowling-floor or place for catching birds, he reprimanded him for it in a written indictment, making the 'good, honourable' birds themselves lodge a complaint against him. They pray Luther to prevent his servant, or at least to insist upon Wolf (who was a sleepy fellow), strewing grain for them in the evening, and then not rising before eight o'clock in the morning; else, they would pray to God to make him catch in the day-time frogs and snails in their stead, and let fleas and other insects crawl over him at night; for why should not Wolf rather employ his wrath and vindictiveness against the sparrows, daws, mice, and such like? When a servant named Rischmann parted from him, in 1532, after several years of hard work, Luther sent word to his wife from Torgau, where he was then staying with the Elector, to dismiss him 'honourably,' and with a suitable present. 'Think,' he wrote, 'how often we have given to bad men, when all has been lost; so be liberal, and do not let such a good, fellow want….. Do not fail; for a goblet is there. Think from whom you got it. God will give us another, I know.'
His guests valued highly his company and conversation, especially those men who came from far and near to visit him. Several of them have recorded sayings from his lips on these occasions. Luther's 'Table Talk,' which we possess now in print, is founded for the most part on records given by Viet Dietrich and Lauterbach just mentioned, who before his call to Pirna in 1539, when deacon at Wittenberg, was one of Luther's closest friends and his daily guest. These memorials, however, have been elaborated and recast many times, by a strange hand, in an arbitrary and unfortunate manner. A publication of the original text, from which recently a diary of Lauterbach, of the year 1538, has already appeared, may now be looked for. Last, but not least, we have to mention John Mathesius, who, after having been a student at Wittenberg in 1529, and then rector of the school at Joachimsthal, returned to study at Wittenberg from 1540 to 1542, and obtained the honour which he sought for, of being a guest at Luther's table. Deeply impressed as he was by his intercourse with the Reformer, he described his impressions to his congregation at Joachimsthal, when afterwards their pastor, in addresses from the pulpit, which were printed, and gave them a sketch of Luther's life, with numerous anecdotes about him. He thus became Luther's first biographer, and, from his personal intimacy with his friend, and his own true-heartedness, fervour, and genuineness of nature, he must ever remain endeared to the followers and admirers of the great Reformer.
[Illustration: Fig.53.—Mathesius. (From an old woodcut.)]
Mathesius tells us, indeed, how Luther used often to sit at table wrapt in deep and anxious thought, and would sometimes keep a cloister-like silence throughout the meal. At times even he would work between the courses, or at meals or immediately after, dictate sermons to friends who had to preach, but who wanted practice in the art. But when once conversation was opened, it flowed with ease and freedom, and, as Mathesius says, even merrily. The friends used to call Luther's speeches their 'table-spice.' His topics varied according to circumstances and the occasion—things spiritual and temporal; questions of faith and conduct; the works of God and the deeds of man; events past and present; hints and short practical suggestions for ecclesiastical life and office; and apophthegms of worldly wisdom; all enriched with proverbs of every kind and German rhymes, which Luther had a great aptitude in composing. Jocular moods were mingled with deep gravity and even indignation. But in all he said, as in all he did, he was guided constantly by the loftiest principles, by the highest considerations of morality and religious truth, and that in the simple and straightforward manner which was his nature, utterly free from affectation or artificial effort.