PRAEFATIO.

it is at least our duty to conduct our meetings in private places without sedition or disturbance, so that we may enjoy the food of life, of which we are defrauded by those who boast themselves to be antistites overseers or presiding bishops; so that we may pray to God peacefully, and be strengthened in the doctrine of the Gospel by the use of the most holy Supper. In doing this, we are certainly not doing anything for which we might be suspected of sedition; indeed, those who are most hostile to us cannot bring any other charge against us with any semblance of truth, except that it is not for us to stir up the Church in parts. But the defense we have brought forward seems sufficiently solid: that we seek food because we are hungry in our souls; and since it is not permitted to enjoy the truth openly, we endeavor to hear it in private houses. Furthermore, our