#2170-To georg, Prince of Anhalt

To the renown and very good Prince and Lord, herr Georg, Prince of Anhalt, Graf of Asconie, Lord Bernburg, highly-rgarded (magnifico)Probst of the Church in Magdeburg, his most gracious Lord.
Grace and peace in Christ! I am sending, illustrious Prince, EFG's richly-thoughtful thoughts back which EFG has put together against the unspeakable papistic godlessness and not only the matter itself pleases me but much more the wonderful energy with which EFG has the same gathered and clarified.The LOrd Jesus upbuild and increase this spirit in the heart of EFG and plant it with much fruit in the church continually,Amen.
About our Pest I hear that on the outside extraordinarily terrible things about it are intensely thrown about although Christ is my witness there is not even one man who has been found with a boil (apostema, as one calls it) which this illness usually starts with; if it is some sort of epidemic it must be surely an inner poison likewise a pestilential fever (as the physicians call it). Thus the fatalities are rare and often for three days in the city there is neither a funeral nor yet a sickness discovered. At times in one or two days there are two or three deaths but the greatest portion are children or people who have long been ravished by illness as is customary also times other than Pest-time. So in the previous four years there has been as many or more fatal cases than now although there was no Pest.Summing up:"There is death, but it is hidden as there are more born than die," so that we can say: In the midst of death we are in life and there are more dying in Torgau and Leipzig than in Wittenberg. However Satan, whom God allows, has through the mask of the Pest scattered the school and disturbed the church. That he has wanted to do throughtout the ages but may Christ quickly tread him down,Amen.This I have indicated to EFG so that he must believe and not be moved by the rumors of Satan; for the rest, the very good man, Herr Nicolaus Hausmann, will communicate.We, the new Doctors and I, thank the princely Lord (PR.Dnis) for the generosity which EFG has given to their honor. Christ bless EFG forever. The 17th of September 1535.EFG's yielding Martin Luther.