3d. Signs and wonders in the heavens, which were seen here and there, and which are recorded by other Pomeranian writers of these fearful times; for instance, by Micraelius.[4] But when these events formed part of the tale itself, as, for instance, the cross on the Streckelberg, I, of course, allowed them to stand. 4th. The specification of the whole income of the church at Coserow, before and during the terrible times of the Thirty Years' War. 5th. The enumeration of the dwellings left standing, after the devastations made by the enemy in every village throughout the parish. 6th. The names of the districts to which this or that member of the congregation had emigrated. 7th. A ground plan and description of the old Manse. I have likewise here and there ventured to make a few changes in the language, as my author is not always consistent in the use of his words or in his orthography. The latter I have, however, with very few exceptions, retained. And thus I lay before the gracious reader a work, glowing with the fire of heaven, as well as with that of hell. MEINHOLD. [1] The original manuscript does indeed contain several accounts which at first sight may have led to this mistake; besides, the handwriting is extremely difficult to read, and in several places the paper is discoloured and decayed. [2] It is my intention to publish this trial also, as it possesses very great psychological interest. [3] Horst, _Zauberbibliothek_, vi. p. 231. [4] _Vom Alten Pommerlande_ (of old Pomerania), book v. INTRODUCTION The origin of our biographer cannot be traced with any degree of certainty, owing to the loss of the first part of his manuscript. It is, however, pretty clear that he was not a Pomeranian, as he says he was in Silesia in his youth, and mentions relations scattered far and wide, not only at Hamburg and Cologne, but even at Antwerp; above all, his south German language betrays a foreign origin, and he makes use of words which are, I believe, peculiar to Swabia. He must, however, have been living for a long time in Pomerania at the time he wrote, as he even more frequently uses Low-German expressions, such as occur in contemporary native Pomeranian writers. Since he sprang from an ancient noble family, as he says on several occasions, it is possible that some particulars relating to the Schweidlers might be discovered in the family records of the seventeenth century which would give a clew to his native country; but I have sought for that name in all the sources of information accessible to me, in vain, and am led to suspect that our author, like many of his contemporaries, laid aside his nobility and changed his name when he took holy orders.