Another Letter From Hans Bret, Written To Hans C., One Of The Brethren In The Church.

Consider how all God’s righteous ones comforted themselves with the word of the Lord. So, do also you console yourself with it; have it in remembrance all your life; let it be planted in your soul, that it may save you. James 1:21.

Thus, my beloved brother Hans, I bid you adieu; adieu, if it should be the last time that I write you. I pray you, my dear, persevere steadfastly in exhorting, instructing and teaching, according to the gift which God through his unspeakable grace has given you. If you have received much, dispense liberally; if you have little, communicate also of that little. Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you. 1 Pet. 3:15. Get much gain with that which you have received, so that the Lord may say to you: Come, thou faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Matt. 25:21. Behold, dear brother, if a man is faithful to the Lord, he will not leave him unrewarded for it. Hence, God says in his Revelation to John: He that remains faithful shall receive the crown of eternal life. Rev. 2:10; Matt. 19:29; James 1:12. Do also you, my dearest brother, remain faithful, so that you may with all God’s righteous ones be crowned with the crown of eternal life; to this end may the good God strengthen you, that you may enjoy this forever. Amen.

My dear brother H., my heart and mind writes you indeed more, according to the little gift which I have unworthily received from the Lord; but I lack paper, and I am afraid that you will hardly be able to read this, since the paper blots so. O, I thank you so heartily for what you have so faithfully sent me. I was so glad, that I should not be able to describe my joy to you; for I had not heard from you for a long time. I pray you, thank our brother H. very heartily in my name, for his letter, which I could not read without tears, because of his comforting exhortation. He writes me that I should write a letter to A. H. and one to B. O brethren, I would most gladly do so, rather than eat; but the enemies of the truth have prevented me from it, so that I do not know how I could send you the letters. I know not how I shall send this letter; but I have written it in the hope that our dear Lord would provide a means; and though I would like to write more, I have no more paper. I have written this with a little bilberry juice; I hope that if it pleases the Lord you will send me some writing materials, to employ myself while I must pass my time here. Hence, dear brother, no more for this time, through want of paper.

Herewith I bid you adieu; adieu, my brother, adieu. The God of comfort and of peace, the God of Jacob and of Israel, keep you in the faith of the truth; may he be with you forever. Amen.

I greet you, dear brother, with a holy kiss of peace. Greet my mother very heartily in my name, and all my sisters, and our brother H., my master. Say that I sent her a letter not long ago; but whether she received it, I do not know. Greet all the saints in my name. Grace and peace be with you all. Amen.

Written by me, your weak brother, whom you well know, at present in bonds for the testimony of the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Rom. 1:16.

Hans Bret.

Note.—When this great heat of persecution which the papists had kindled everywhere as far as their jurisdiction extended, began to abate in several cities of Holland and Zealand, and especially in the town of Middelborgh, where the Prince of Orange, William I., of worshipful memory, had granted liberty of conscience, for the Anabaptists as well as for others, so that many of the innocent and defenseless lambs of Christ settled down there, and in quietness served God with a thankful heart; some of the citizens of said city, though they had previously themselves been under the galling yoke of popery, envied them for this, and obtained so much from the magistrates there, that there was announced to all the Anabaptists that sojourned there: That they should have to swear allegiance to said city, in the form of an oath, and, moreover, arm themselves, together with other citizens, with external 1000 weapons, to resist the enemy; and that if they did not do this, they should be obliged to cease from their trades and occupations tending to the sustenance of the body, to close their houses, etc.