The third letter to Weller is dated August 15th.  It reads as follows:  “Grace and peace in Christ.  I have forgotten, my dear Jerome, what I wrote you in my former letter concerning the spirit of melancholy, and I may now be writing you the same things and harping on the same string.  Nevertheless, I shall repeat what I said, because we all share each other’s afflictions, and as I am suffering in your behalf, so you, no doubt, are suffering in mine.  It is one and the same adversary that hates and persecutes every individual brother of Christ.  Moreover, we are one body, and in this body one member suffers for every other member, and that, for the sole reason that we worship Christ.  Thus it happens that one is forced to bear the other’s burden.  See, then, that you learn to despise your adversary.  For you have not sufficiently learned to understand this spirit, who is an enemy to spiritual gladness.  You may rest assured that you are not the only one who bears this cross and are not suffering alone.  We are all bearing it with you and are suffering with you.  God, who commanded:  ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ certainly declares by this commandment that He is opposed to these melancholy and death-bringing thoughts, and that He, on the contrary, would have us cherish lively and exceedingly cheerful thoughts.  So the Psalmist declares, saying:  ‘In His favor is life,’ Ps. 30, 5 [Luther understands this to mean:  He favors life] and in Ezekiel God says:  ’I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live’ (chap. 33, 11).  On the other hand, etc.  Now, then, since it is certain that such melancholy is displeasing to God, we have this reliable comfort that if this demon cannot be entirely removed from us, divine strength will be supplied to us, so that we may not feel the affliction so much.  I know that it is not in our power to remove these thoughts at our option, but I also know that they shall not gain the upper hand; for we are told:  ’He shall not suffer the righteous to be moved,’ if we only learn to cast our burden upon Him.  The Lord Jesus, the mighty Warrior and unconquerable Victor, will be your aid.  Amen.” (21a, 1543 f.)

These three letters constitute the whole evidence for the Catholic charge against Luther that he offered advice to Weller that is immoral and demoralizing.  The indictment culminates in these three distinct points:  Luther advises Weller 1. to drink freely and be frivolous; 2. to commit sin to spite the devil; 3. to have no regard for the Ten Commandments.  Since we shall take up the last point in a separate chapter, we limit our remarks to the first two points.