Towards the close of 1520, he dined with some professors and friends at the house of Otto Slutov, one of the patricians of the town and inspector of the church of Treptow. Slutov had just received a copy of Luther's 'Babylonish Captivity.' 'You must read that,' he said to Bugenhagen, as he laid the volume upon the table, around which the guests were seated. Availing himself of the invitation, the rector turned over the leaves of the book during dinner-time, and after having read some passages he said aloud to the company present,--'Since the birth of Christ, many heretics have attacked and roundly abused the church; but among them there has not been one more execrable than the man who has written this book.' He, however, took away the volume by leave of his host, read it and reread it, meditated and deliberately weighed its contents; and at each perusal scales seemed to fall from his eyes. Some days afterwards, finding himself in the same company, he made a confession to them. 'What shall I say to you? The whole world is blind and plunged in the deepest darkness. This man alone sees the truth.' He read to his friends page after page, undertook the defence of each paragraph, and brought most of them to the same convictions that he had received himself. J. Kyrich, J. Lorich, the deacon Kettelhut, Abbot Bodelwin and others acknowledged the errors of the papacy, and endeavored to turn people from their superstitions and to make known to them the merits of Jesus Christ. This was the beginning of the Reformation in Pomerania. [Sidenote: CONVERSION OF BUGENHAGEN.]