Another Letter From Hans Bret, Written To His Beloved Mother, The 19th Of July 1576.

Therefore my mother, if you should hear any thing of me that is not true—for the devil is crafty, and deals much in lies, to grieve the righteous—do not hearken to it; as I also trust that you will not: for my mind is unchanged, for which I thank the living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to his name be praise for ever and ever, through his only Son Jesus Christ our Savior, who strengthens me, poor, unworthy, despised man with his Holy Spirit, to resist all the enemies of the truth, who seek to spoil me of my salvation (Col. 2:8), for which they have no power, for the Lord is my strength, as the prophet says: He is my song; I shall with joy draw water out of the well of the Savior. Is. 12:2,3. Again the Lord says by the prophet Isaiah; I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not: I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye few men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer. Is. 41:13,14. Of whom should we be afraid, for the Lord hath said it. Therefore, my mother, take courage with me, to overcome, like Joshua and Caleb, the great and strong giants, the princes of this world, and not to fear them, and thus to take the promised land, the kingdom of heaven. Of whom should I be afraid, when we have this glorious consolation, that they that trust in the Lord, shall not be ashamed, for the prophet says that the Lord will not forsake the righteous even unto death; yea, the Lord says by the prophet Isaiah: “Can a mother forget her child, that she should not have compassion on the fruit of her womb? and though she forget, yet will I not forget thee; for I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, saith the Lord.” Ps. 25:3; Is. 49:15,16. Remember, again, how the Lord speaks by the prophet Malachi, saying: The Lord has a book of remembrance before him, in which he has written all them that fear him, and he shall deliver their souls from death. Mal. 3:16. Happy are those then, that have feared the Lord, for David says: “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord.” They who then have not been ashamed to walk in the ways of the Lord, their names are recorded in heaven in the book of life. Luke 10:20. Hence rejoice with me, my mother; I should like to write you still more, that you would always walk in the ways of the Lord, and never depart therefrom, and bring many to the knowledge of the truth, but my paper is failing me. I pray you, my dear and beloved mother, take this little knowledge and simple writing from me in good part, for I write you out of love, and impart to you of this little gift which the Lord, through his unspeakable grace, has given me, unworthy man.

You further write me in your consoling letter, whether I have any lack of the necessaries of life. O no, I have enough, the Lord be thanked. You also write in your letter, that if I desired you, I should write so, and you should come, though you had to pay for it with your blood. O my dear mother, why should I desire this; I shall never desire it, for you could not help me. For my refuge is the Lord alone; he is my helper; he it is that gives me strength to overcome and to go to battle valiantly. Hence, my mother, walk prudently, for they are cruel to shed the innocent blood. However, they can do no more than the Lord permits them. If I were to write more concerning it, my paper should not suffice, for I intend to relate to you yet, that I have been twice more with the priests since I wrote the letter to you, so that in all I have been before the priests four times; but twice I wrote you a little; hence I also hope to write you a little now. The third time I spoke with the Dean, but mostly against the inquisitor, for he wants to be master; his name is Pardo. We talked much of the Supper, and there was present a Bailiff, the new one, and a man that could speak English. I heard Pardo talk much of the Supper, which was contrary to the word of the Lord; and he asked me, whether it was not true that Christ gave his apostles his own body, and that his disciples ate it. I said that he gave his disciples bread, and what they ate was bread; and that he gave his disciples wine, and what they drank was wine, and not changed, as you say.