On the Restraint of the First Electors of Saxony in Adopting and Establishing Luther's Doctrine, Volume 2

against those men of base character who, having stripped away all restraint in embracing the rites of Luther, were led and captivated merely by the pillaging and plundering of sacred possessions. I seem to myself to be treating a question neither ignoble nor unpleasant to the readers, and all the less to be commended by me because the investigation that is accustomed to be instituted concerning the divine work of a purged religion is always held to be more noble, and because I can less persuade myself that all those devoted to the purer rites have fallen into such oblivion of such great Princes that, having clearly set aside their memory, they would not want anything to be recalled that could in some way serve either to defend or to praise them. I shall touch upon some part of this subject in these academic dissertations of mine. For I do not think myself to be one who could exhaust that subject and fully adorn the role of defender that I have accepted. I know how meager are the powers of my own intellect. Nor do I consider myself sufficiently equipped with a wealth of learning or a supply of resources. But just as it is noble to dare in great things, so the duty of piety that I undertake seems easily to excuse my boldness. Otherwise, I will employ every modesty, lest any injury be brought by me upon my adversaries, or I grant any weight to a charge whose trustworthiness cannot be established. But as for that which will most contain the matter and the case, I shall take pains to ensure that the topic I prepare to treat is explored from the complete monuments of historical events,