Mirisch and Probst were to meet with very different fates. The prudent Mirisch soon became the docile instrument of Rome, and the agent of the imperial decrees against the partisans of the Reformation.[308] Probst, on the contrary, having escaped from the hands of the inquisitors, wept over his backsliding; he retracted his retractation, and boldly preached at Bruges in Flanders the doctrines he had abjured. Being again arrested and thrown into prison at Brussels, his death seemed inevitable.[309] A Franciscan took pity on him, and assisted his escape; and Probst, "preserved by a miracle of God," says Luther, reached Wittemberg, where his twofold deliverance filled the hearts of the friends to the Reformation with joy.[310] [308] Est executor Cæsaris contra nostros. Ibid. 207. [309] Domo captum, exustum credimus. Ibid. 214. [310] Jacobus, Dei miraculo liberatus, qui nunc agit nobiscum. L. Epp. ii. 182. This letter, placed in M. de Wette's collection, under the date of April 14, must be posterior to the month of June; since on the 26th of June Luther writes that Probst has been taken a second time and is going to be burnt. We cannot admit that Probst visited Wittemberg between his two imprisonments, for Luther would not have said of a Christian, who had saved his life by a recantation, that he had been delivered by a miracle of God. Perhaps we should read in the date of the letter _in die S. Turiafi_, instead of _in die S. Tiburtii_, which would bring it down to the 13th of July,--a far more probable date in my opinion. [Sidenote: MILTENBERG.] On all sides the Roman priests were under arms. The city of Miltenberg on the Maine, which belonged to the Archbishop of Mentz, was one of the German towns that had received the Word of God with the greatest eagerness. The inhabitants were much attached to their pastor John Draco, one of the most enlightened men of his times. He was compelled to leave the city; but the Roman ecclesiastics were frightened, and withdrew at the same time, fearing the vengeance of the people. One evangelical deacon alone remained to comfort their hearts. At the same time troops from Mentz marched into the city: they spread through the streets, uttering blasphemies, brandishing their swords, and giving themselves up to debauchery.[311] [311] So sie doch schändlicher leben denn Huren und Buben. L. Epp. ii. 482.