3. The duty of the regular church-authorities on the             matter (Th. 67-80).     Conclusion (Th. 81-95).         1. The objections of the laity of the indulgence-traffic             (Th. 81-91).         2. The evil motive of the traffic in indulgences, with             special references to the statements of Th. 1-4 (Th.             91-95). H. Hermelink in Krüger's Handbuch der             Kirchengeschicte (1911), III, 66. [36] Weimar Ed., I, pp. 525 ff. I LETTER TO THE ARCHBISHOP ALBRECHT OF MAINZ OCTOBER 31, 1517 To the Most Reverend Father in Christ and Most Illustrious Lord, Albrecht of Magdeburg and Mainz, Archbishop and Primate of the Church, Margrave of Brandenburg, etc., his own lord and pastor in Christ, worthy of reverence and fear, and most gracious. JESUS[1] The grace of God be with you in all its fulness and power! Spare me. Most Reverend Father in Christ and Most Illustrious Prince, that I, the dregs of humanity, have so much boldness that I have dared to think of a letter to the height of your Sublimity. The Lord Jesus is my witness that, conscious of my smallness and baseness, I have long deferred what I am now shameless enough to do,—moved thereto most of all by the duty of fidelity which I acknowledge that I owe to your most Reverend Fatherhood in Christ. Meanwhile, therefore, may your Highness deign to cast an eye upon one speck of dust, and for the sake of your pontifical clemency to heed my prayer. Papal indulgences for the building of St. Peter's are circulating under your most distinguished name, and as regards them, I do not bring accusation against the outcries of the preachers, which I have not heard, so much as I grieve over the wholly false impressions which the people have conceived from them; to wit,—the unhappy souls believe that if they have purchased letters of indulgence they are sure of their salvation;[2] again, that so soon as they cast their contributions into the money-box, souls fly out of purgatory;[3] furthermore, that these graces [i. e., the graces conferred in the indulgences] are so great that there is no sin too great to be absolved, even, as they say—though the thing is impossible—if one had violated the Mother of God;[4] again, that a man is free, through these indulgences, from all penalty and guilt.[5]