us, dear father, where we shall find it.' He then showed us
a little way out of the town, and when we came to the Black Bear,
behold, the landlord, instead of refusing us, as all the others had
done, came to meet us at the door, and not only received us, but kindly
begged of us to lodge there, and took us into a room.

"There we found a man sitting alone at a table, and before him lay a
book; he greeted us kindly, and bid us approach and sit by him at the
table; for we were seating ourselves quietly on a bench close to the
door, as our shoes (if one may be allowed to write it) were so covered
with mud and dirt, that we were ashamed to enter the room on account of
our dirty footmarks. He invited us to drink, which we could not refuse,
and as we found him so kind and cordial, we seated ourselves by him at
his table as he had asked us, and called for a quart of wine, that we
might return his civility by asking him to drink. We supposed him
however to be a knight, as he was dressed in hosen and jerkin, with a
red leather cap, and without armour, and sat, according to the custom
of his country, with a sword at his side, with one hand resting on the
pommel and the other clasping the hilt. His eyes were black and deep
set, flashing and sparkling like stars, so that one could hardly bear
to look at them.

"Shortly after, he asked where we were born, but answered himself: 'You
are Swiss; from what part of Switzerland do you come?' We replied,
'From St. Gallen.' He then said, 'If you are going, as I hear, to
Wittenberg, you will find there some good countrymen of yours, Dr.
Jerome Schurf and his brother Dr. Augustin.'

"We said, 'We have letters to them;' and we proceeded to inquire: 'Can
you inform us, sir, whether Martin Luther is now at Wittenberg; or if
not, where he is?'

"He answered, 'I know for certain that Luther is not now at Wittenberg,
but will return soon. Philip Melancthon is however there, who teaches
Greek, and others who teach Hebrew. In truth I would advise you to
study both, as they are needful for the right understanding of the Holy
Scriptures.' We replied, 'So help us God! as long as He grants us life,
we will not desist till we have seen and heard this man; for on his
account we have undertaken this journey, as we learn that he will
overthrow the priesthood, together with the mass, that being a service
founded on error. As we have been brought up by our parents, and
destined from our youth to be priests,