Translated from Latin.
You see, dear reader, that even before our time there have always been some godly and holy men in the church, who, not daring to express their spirit and opinion publicly, were not able to do so.
The people of the Church, who were not willing to confess, but in their corners, as the Church was then driven into the wilderness by the dragon (as Revelation 12:6J says), wept out their sorrow and groaned for the day of visitation.
'*) In 1535 a booklet was printed at Wittenberg, which has the title: Qverelade fide pii et Spiritualis Parrochi (ut videtur) ante hoc nostrum saeculum, nuper reperta. Vittembergae 1535. At the end: Excusum Vittembergae per Nicolaum Schirlentz. In it, an unnamed author describes the way of life of the prelates, princes, nobles, burghers and merchants in rhymed verse. He laments that faith is nowhere to be found, that in the whole world only deceit and deception triumph. Luther provided it with a short preface, which is found only in the Erlangen edition, opp. vor. ar^., tom. VII, p. 531. After this we have translated.