The Fourth Part of the Prosperity of Germany

TO THE READER.

sufficient time has been granted to me.

But the more vile and contemptible the attire in which these present matters appear, the greater the powers and the more noble the virtues they hide beneath their sordid cloak. I had indeed intended to keep this Fourth Part with me longer so that, brought to light at a more convenient time, it might exhibit itself in public more adorned with secrets of greater importance. Among those secrets stands out the concentration of Gold and Silver, and their reduction into such a form and figure that they could by no means be recognized by enemies suddenly attacking, which may God mercifully avert from us, and by this means, one could ensure that things hidden in such an unknown garment could neither be snatched away nor carried off.

But since in the previous Third