Excerpt from Leaders of the Reformation The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century is the principal source of our civil and religious freedom. We are living in the era which it inaugurated, and are moulded by its influence. For this reason it deserves to be studied by all who are interested in the development of the Church and State. The author has not ventured to write a history of this eventful period. He has, however, made it the subject of many lectures, and of these a series is here presented. Though the best authorities have been consulted and freely quoted, the general purpose has been popular rather than scholastic. It has not been deemed necessary to burden the text with proofs and references. Of the work of the most distinguished leaders of the Reformation no more than a brief sketch has been attempted but men of less celebrity have been assigned to the position which is believed to be their due. It will be observed that there has been no dispo sitiou to exalt some men at the expense of others, and that subjects of controversy have not been prominently presented. It is believed that calm and dispassionate study of the lives of the Reform ers will prove that they were all pervaded by a common life; and that though their errors were numerous their purposes were exalted. When these facts are fully recognized, prejudice and ex elusiveness must pass away; and in the fullest sense of the prophecy, there will be one fold and one Shepherd. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.