We have already heard that, principally by Luther's encouragement, he married a daughter of Mayor CRAPP, of Wittenberg, on the 26th of November, 1520. His wife, CATHARINE, was of the same age as himself. Shortly after his marriage, he was able to write of her to a friend, that she deserved a better husband than himself. It was therefore to be expected that their union would be a happy one, and so it was. They regarded each other with the greatest affection, and thought and felt in harmony. If one, for instance, bestowed anything upon the poor, it filled the other with joy.[24] Frequent attacks of illness disturbed, or we should rather say promoted, their happiness. He was greatly troubled with the stone; and she suffered from the same disease, and also an affection of the liver. It is therefore not to be wondered at, that the oft-repeated illness of his wife filled Melanchthon with the deepest compassion, and that he often freely expressed his sorrows in his letters. She bore the cross to her own gain, and greatly longed to leave this vale of tears. She endured her sufferings patiently, and found her principal comfort in the book of Psalms, which has so often proved itself a lasting blessing to many souls. Frequently did she utter the prayer in Psalm lxxi, 18: "Now also, when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not." Camerarius, who was intimately acquainted with her, bears the following testimony: "She was a very pious woman, who loved her husband devotedly; an industrious and active mother of her family, liberal and benevolent towards all, and so careful for the interests of the poor, that she did not only lose sight of her ability and strength in the distribution of her charities, but even interceded for them among her friends, with the greatest earnestness, and even impetuosity. She led a spotless life, and was so anxious to cultivate a pious and honorable character, that she did not concern herself about expensive entertainments, or costly dress."