[431] This letter must have preceded by some days the last conflict
of the five prisoners. Foreseeing their end near, they wrote, on
the 5th May, to the Seigneurie of Berne, to thank them for the
testimonials of affection which they had received from them. "If it
has not pleased God," they said, "to preserve life by your means,
it has at least been prolonged thereby ... in spite of the fury of
all those who would have desired long ago to put us to death. Since,
then, that He is pleased that our blood should soon be shed for the
confession of his holy name, we reckon ourselves far happier than if
we were set at liberty, for as he is true and all-powerful, he will
strengthen us, and will not permit us to be tormented beyond our
strength; and after that we have suffered awhile, he will receive us
into his heavenly kingdom, and will bestow upon us eternal rest with
himself...." It was the 16th May when the five scholars were told
to prepare for death; they received that intelligence with a pious
serenity. The stake was set up upon the _Place des Terreaux_; they
proceeded thither, singing psalms, and repeating passages of holy
writ. "Having arrived at the place of death, they cheerfully mounted
on the heap of wood, the two youngest first.... The last who went up
was Martial Alba, the elder of the five, who had been a long time on
his knees in prayer to the Lord. He earnestly requested Lieutenant
Tignac to grant him a favour. The lieutenant said to him: What would
you? He said to him: That I might kiss my brethren before I die.
The lieutenant granted his wish. Then the said Martial kissed the
other four who were already bound, saying to each of them, _Adieu,
adieu, my brother_. The fire was kindled; the voice of the five
confessors was heard, still exhorting one another in the midst of
the flames: _Courage, my brothers; courage_.... These were the last
audible words of these five valiant champions and martyrs of the
Lord."--_Hist. des Martyrs_, lib. iv. p. 231.
He exhorts them to steadfastness unto the end, in the assurance
of eternal joy reserved in heaven.
FROM GENEVA, _May 15, 1553_.
MY VERY DEAR BROTHERS,--We have at length heard why the herald of
Berne did not return that way. It was because he had not such an
answer as we much desired. For the King has peremptorily refused
all the requests made by Messieurs of Berne, as you will see by the
copies of the letters, so that nothing further is to be looked for
from that quarter. Nay, wherever we look here below, God has stopped
the way. This is well, however, that we cannot be frustrated of
the hope which we have in him, and in his holy promises. You have
always been settled on that sure foundation, even when it seemed
as though you might be helped by men, and that we too thought so;
but whatever prospect of escape you may have had by human means,
yet your eyes have never been dazzled so as to divert your heart
and trust, either on this side or that. Now, at this present hour,
necessity itself exhorts you more than ever to turn your whole mind
heavenward. As yet, we know not what will be the event. But since it
appears as though God would use your blood to sign his truth, there
is nothing better than for you to prepare yourselves to that end,
beseeching him so to subdue you to his good pleasure, that nothing
may hinder you from following whithersoever he shall call. For you
know, my brothers, that it behoves us to be thus mortified, in order
to be offered to him in sacrifice. It cannot be but that you sustain
hard conflicts, in order that what was declared to Peter may be
accomplished in you, namely, that they shall carry you whither ye
would not. You know, however, in what strength you have to fight--a
strength on which all those who trust, shall never be daunted, much
less confounded. Even so, my brothers, be confident that you shall
be strengthened, according to your need, by the Spirit of our Lord
Jesus, so that you shall not faint under the load of temptations,
however heavy it be, any more than he did who won so glorious a
victory, that in the midst of our miseries it is an unfailing pledge
of our triumph. Since it pleases him to employ you to the death in
maintaining his quarrel, he will strengthen your hands in the fight,
and will not suffer a single drop of your blood to be spent in vain.
And though the fruit may not all at once appear, yet in time it
shall spring up more abundantly than we can express. But as he hath
vouchsafed you this privilege, that your bonds have been renowned,
and that the noise of them has been everywhere spread abroad, it
must needs be, in despite of Satan, that your death should resound
far more powerfully, so that the name of our Lord be magnified
thereby. For my part, I have no doubt, if it please this kind Father
to take you unto himself, that he has preserved you hitherto,
in order that your long-continued imprisonment might serve as a
preparation for the better awakening of those whom he has determined
to edify by your end. For let enemies do their utmost, they never
shall be able to bury out of sight that light which God has made to
shine in you, in order to be contemplated from afar.
I shall not console, nor exhort you more at length, knowing that
our heavenly Father gives you to experience how precious his
consolations are, and that you are sufficiently careful to meditate
upon what he sets before you in his word. He has already so shown
how his Spirit dwells in you, that we are well assured that he will
perfect you to the end. That in leaving this world we do not go
away at a venture, you know not only from the certainty you have,
that there is a heavenly life, but also because from being assured
of the gratuitous adoption of our God, you go thither as to your
inheritance. That God should have appointed you his Son's martyrs,
is a token to you of superabounding grace. There now remains the
conflict, to which the Spirit of God not only exhorts us to go,
but even to run. It is indeed a hard and grievous trial, to see
the pride of the enemies of truth so enormous, without its getting
any check from on high; their rage so unbridled, without God's
interfering for the relief of his people. But if we remember that,
when it is said that our life is hid, and that we must resemble
the dead, this is not a doctrine for any particular time, but for
all times, we shall not think it strange that afflictions should
continue. While it pleases God to give his enemies the rein, our
duty is to be quiet, although the time of our redemption tarries.
Moreover, if he hath promised to be the judge of those who have
brought his people under thraldom, we need not doubt that he has a
horrible punishment prepared for such as have despised his majesty
with such enormous pride, and have cruelly persecuted those who
call purely upon his name. Put in practice, then, my brethren, that
precept of David's, and forget not the law of God, although your
life may be in your hands to be parted with at any hour. And seeing
that he employs your life in so worthy a cause as is the witness
of the Gospel, doubt not that it must be precious to him. The time
draws nigh when the earth shall disclose the blood which has been
hid, and we, after having been disencumbered of these fading bodies,
shall be completely restored. However, be the Son of God glorified
by our shame, and let us be content with this sure testimony, that
though we are persecuted and blamed we trust in the living God. In
this we have wherewith to despise the whole world with its pride,
till we be gathered into that everlasting kingdom, where we shall
fully enjoy those blessings, which we now only possess in hope.
My brethren, after having humbly besought your remembrance of me
in your prayers, I pray our good Lord to have you in his holy
protection, to strengthen you more and more by his power, to make
you feel what care he takes of your salvation, to increase in you
the gifts of his Spirit, and to make them subserve his glory unto
the end.
Your humble brother,