[340] Credo te vidisse Casparis Tauber historiam martyris novi Viennæ, quem cæsum capite scribunt et igne exustum pro verbo Dei. Luther to Hausmann, 12th November 1524, ii. 563. [Sidenote: PERSECUTIONS IN HUNGARY AND WURTEMBERG.] At Buda in Hungary, an evangelical bookseller, named John, had circulated Luther's New Testament and other of his writings throughout that country. He was bound to a stake; his persecutors then piled his books around him, enclosing him as if in a tower, and then set fire to them. John manifested unshaken courage, exclaiming from the midst of the flames, that he was delighted to suffer in the cause of the Lord.[341] "Blood follows blood," cried Luther, when informed of this martyrdom, "but that generous blood, which Rome loves to shed, will at last suffocate the pope with his kings and their kingdoms."[342] [341] Idem accidit Budæ in Ungaria bibliopolæ cuidam Johanni, simul cum libris circa eum positis exusto, fortissimeque passo pro Domino. Luther to Hausmann, ii. 563. [342] Sanguis sanguinem tangit, qui suffocabit papam cum regibus et regnis suis. Ibid. Fanaticism grew fiercer every day; evangelical ministers were expelled from their churches; magistrates were banished; and at times the most horrible punishments were inflicted. In Wurtemberg, an inquisitor named Reichler caused the Lutherans, and above all the preachers, to be hanged upon trees. Barbarous ruffians were found who unfeelingly nailed the pastors by their tongues to a post; so that these unhappy victims, tearing themselves violently from the wood to which they were fastened, were horribly mutilated in attempting to recover their liberty, and thus deprived of that gift which they had long used to proclaim the Gospel.[343] [343] Ranke, Deutsche Gesch. ii. 174. [Sidenote: BAVARIAN PERSECUTIONS.] Similar persecutions took place in the other states of the catholic league. An evangelical minister in the neighbourhood of Salzburg was led to prison, where he was to pass the rest of his days; whilst the police who had him in charge were drinking at an alehouse on the road, two young peasants, moved with compassion, eluded their vigilance, and delivered the pastor. The anger of the archbishop was inflamed against these poor people, and without any form of trial they were ordered to be beheaded. They were secretly led outside the town early in the morning; and when they arrived on the plain where they were to die, the executioner himself hesitated, for (said he) they have not been tried. "Do what I command you," harshly replied the archbishop's emissary, "and leave the responsibility to the prince!" and the heads of these youthful liberators immediately fell beneath the sword.[344] [344] Zauner, Salzburger Chronik. iv. 381.