De betoverde weereld ... in vier boeken

Moreover, exactly 8 weeks ago, having been very kindly addressed regarding its content by very dear friends who had never seen the book and yet had heard much about it, in consultation as to what would be best to do here: I wrote to the printer Nauta that I would buy all the copies from him myself, and pay ready with a good profit; in order to get them into my power in this way. Then my intention was, while I let the remaining two books be printed here, to deliberate in the meantime with the same friends and others, whether I should let the public publication of these first two books proceed, since it was already widespread in Friesland and sold from there in whole or in parts, and notorious throughout the world: or whether I should rather let it remain with me until the entire work should be done. The first seemed best, to avoid the appearance that I myself dreaded coming to the light with my work; or had regret for the writing, about which so much was to be said. The other, however, agreed with my first objective, as said in the beginning: that was, to publish the entire work together, first conceived so small, though now worked out more broadly; so that everyone might have seen how it hung together, and especially from the last part, what fruit it could do in the world. But just as this escaped me for reasons just recounted; so it has gone here too. For after the exchange of letters, seeing clearly that I would never reach an agreement with the bookseller Nauta regarding the aforementioned buyout: I was forced to leave the books, being out of my power, in his; and to pursue my lawful objective in another way, under God's blessing. Therefore, having finally taken leave of him by a following letter, I have afterwards, only 4 weeks ago, come to an agreement with my previous Bookseller here, Daniel van den Dalen, to start the entire work again from the ground up: and revised, explained more closely or confirmed here and there, in this form as the Reader sees here, to have it printed on several presses at once; and to issue one book after the other, to satisfy the Reader all the sooner. For the 750 copies that Nauta printed of the first two books cannot stretch far, and are, as one may notice, mostly already among the people. Also, the publication of that work before the time, when it was not yet perfected, gave cause and occasion for such a new arrangement. Now I give the Reader the first

book, augmented with a Chapter at the end: which I found necessary to add thereto. The three others I hope (with the help of God) to let follow from month to month. Thus a greedy curiosity (I hope) will be ignited from one read part to the other, making my work be considered more thoughtfully; and making the godly Reader more capable of pronouncing a more discreet judgment than could have been in that first misunderstanding. This was all I had to say about that unusual and no less strange way in which this book comes into the world beyond my expectation.

Now I have yet to speak of my objective, and what brought me to such an opinion as I maintain in this entire work. One part was my own inclination to understand everything I had to know, not according to probability, but thoroughly; another part was the strange encounters I had in Friesland over my first writings: which through experience made me see how little account is to be made of human judgment in what they have generally once accepted either to teach or to do. For my book on the Catechiſmus Catechism was first unanimously condemned by the Friesians, without about 200 Predikanten Ministers or Preachers knowing the reason why it was condemned; thereafter indeed twice again unanimously approved as good, without the least bit in the pieces that were disputed, as far as the doctrine is concerned, having been changed: (these are wonders that I recount) so that gave me all the more cause to think that a sincere Christian pupil, and above all a teacher, must strive for such certainty as he may draw from the ground of the matters beyond human judgment. Therefore I have since also applied myself to that, that under God's grace, of all such things as I had to know for myself and teach to others, I might be certain, following not the trend; but the Scripture, and Reason, where it was applicable alongside the Scripture. Accordingly, having no objective to bring anything to light except where it seemed to me the world was concerned: I never took the pen in hand to write what was already well written. But to skim away the errors in doctrine and life, which have taken hold of the majority of men, as much as was in me: or at least to improve the order: whether I was the first in that, or that I had something further than what had occurred to me from others. I have above others also yet another special reason for this. It is not much less than 26 years since I obligated myself in the High School at Franeker a university city in Friesland, to faithfully advocate and defend the true doctrine of the Gereformeerde Reformed