# Hans Van Overdam Put To Death At Ghent; Also His Confession, Written In Prison, And Afterwards Sealed With His Blood, In The Year 1550.

1550 · Historical source

Source: Martyrs’ Mirror. Original heading: HANS VAN OVERDAM PUT TO DEATH AT GHENT; ALSO HIS CONFESSION, WRITTEN IN PRISON, AND AFTERWARDS SEALED WITH HIS BLOOD, IN THE YEAR 1550.

Source heading; not independently verified

Hans van Overdam, together with his fellow-prisoners
for the testimony of Jesus Christ, wishes all
brethren and sisters in the Lord, grace, peace, and
an ardent love, from God the Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, to whom be praise, honor, and majesty
forever and ever. Amen.

My most dearly beloved, grieve not on my account
(Eph. 3:13), but praise the Lord that he is so
good a Father to me, that I can suffer bonds and
imprisonment for the testimony of Christ, for which
I also hope to go into the fire. The Lord give me
strength through his Holy Spirit. Amen. Walk in
the fear of the Lord, even as you are called. 1 Corinthian
7:17. And though we see one another no
more in the flesh, may we behold each other hereafter,
in the kingdom of our Father, where I hope
soon to be. The peace of the Lord be with you.
Amen.

O dear brethren and sisters in the Lord, my
heart’s deepest desire and prayer is (Rom. 10:1),
that you may constantly give more and more diligence
to make sure the calling whereunto you are
called by God the Father, through Christ, to the
majesty and glory of the kingdom of his beloved
Son, who purchased his church with his own blood,
and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
that he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such
thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph. 5:25–27.

Therefore, O dear friends, mark here what great
love the Father has shown us, that he did not spare
his only begotten Son, and how Christ so willingly
delivered himself up, and suffered the most ignominious
and shameful death of the cross, and shed
his precious blood, for us, to wash and cleanse us
from our sins. O dear brethren and sisters, let us
take heed, and diligently pray and watch, lest the
saving grace of God, and the unspeakable love of
the Father, and of Christ, be neglected or forgotten
by us (Heb. 12:15), through the cares and
anxieties of this world, or through the lusts and
desires which kill the soul, and we be washed and
scoured off as spots and wrinkles from the glorious
church of Christ; yea, cut off as unfruitful branches,
and destined to the fire. For, my most beloved, it
is not enough, that we have received baptism upon
faith, and been engrafted by it into Christ, if we
do not hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast
unto the end. Heb. 3:14. Therefore, if there
is any one that feels that he is become a spot or
wrinkle, let him see to it that he make haste, before
the day come upon him, as the snare upon the
bird; let him repent with true sorrow and penitence,
469
lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble
knees, and run with full strength the race that is set
before him, lest that which is lame be turned out of
the way; but that it may much rather be healed
and strengthened, that we may pass the time of our
sojourning here in the fear of God, and keep ourselves
unspotted from this wicked evil world, which
is full of deceit, snares, and nets, which the devil
sets for the purpose of seducing the souls of men,
and of taking them captive by manifold lusts and
wiles.

O Lord, preserve (from this murderer) thy pilgrims
who walk in the hope of thee, and expect
their help and comfort from thee alone. O heavenly
Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord, preserve us
that thou mayest perform the good work which
thou hast begun in us, to the praise and glory of
thy holy name. O thou Almighty and everlasting
God, how utterly incomprehensible is thy grace
and fatherly mercy upon those that fear and love
thee. O Father, who should not fear such a God,
who knows how to deliver his own; though they
may seem to be forsaken here for a little season,
despised of all men, rejected and cursed on this
earth; yet he does not forsake his own through
the consolation of his Holy Spirit in our hearts,
who makes us bold and joyful, that we may suffer
reproach for his name. And we hope through the
goodness of God; that our pilgrimage will soon end,
and we shall be delivered from this miserable world
and vale of tears, and that this earthly house of our
tabernacle will be dissolved, that we may be brought
home to our heavenly Father, and receive the crown
of everlasting life, which is set before us, and which
we hope no creature shall take from us. To this
end, may the Almighty and eternal God, the merciful
Father, strengthen us through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.

Dear friends, let me tell you, how it went with me
before my imprisonment, and how they treated us
after my imprisonment.

At the time when the four friends concerning
whom I composed the hymn, and whose burning I
witnessed, were offered up, I heard it stated that
they had assailed the friends who yet remained in
prison, with great cunning and deception, through
the advice of the false prophets, whose minds are
constantly filled with the subtlety of the devil, even
as they had boasted that they would do. Our
friends that remained there, were two lads and a
girl, for whom we daily very diligently prayed the
Lord, fearing, lest they might by some means be
moved from the faith. We daily expected that they
would also be put to death, and because of their
youth I was impelled in my heart to station myself
at the scaffold, when they were to be put to death,
in order that, if they should be troubled on any account,
I might comfort them, and also reprove the
monks, who greatly distress and vex our friends
when they are led to death. But, alas! the poor
children did not get so far; for they imprudently
allowed themselves to be drawn into disputations
with the false prophets, though they had been
sufficiently warned to beware of it as they valued
their souls; for it is not given to every one to dispute,
but boldly to confess the faith. This when received
from the Lord, well becomes Christians.

But when these poor lambs engaged in controversy,
they became perplexed in their consciences,
and apostatized from the truth, which gave the false
prophets cause for great boasting, since they had
won their souls, and brought them back to the holy
church. When I heard this, my soul and spirit
were greatly grieved on account of the loss of the
poor sheep, and because the false prophets, and also
the councilors gloried so much in the fall and destruction
of the poor lambs and children, whom
they had driven to this by adjuring them as you
shall hear in the sequel.

Being thus sorrowful, I sighed and complained to
God over the violence and power of the devil, which
he exerts through the children of unbelief. Then
the thought came to me, to write a few letters—for
the purpose of informing them in several places—reprehending
their vain joy over the loss of the
poor lambs whose souls they had murdered. I then
began to write, and while thus engaged, my soul
was so kindled, that what I had intended to be a
little letter of a hand-breadth, became a letter of a
whole leaf. The Lord opened my understanding,
so that in a wonderful manner I proved to the lords,
by references to the Scriptures, their punishment
with the whole Roman Empire and its end. In the
letter I wrote, that I desired and requested liberty
publicly to dispute with all their learned men, in
the presence of a great fire, into which the defeated
party should be cast; also, that they should let the
poor lambs in peace, and that they should leave the
sword to the secular power, and contend with the
word of God.

Having completed this letter, I showed it to the
brethren, who were well pleased with it. I then had
a brother, who was a better writer than I, make six
copies of it. In the meantime, the poor, ruined
lambs were released from prison, and recanted everything.
One of the lads died the same day on
which he came out, a league from the city, and
thus became an example to those who seek to save
their life.

At the time that this occurred I came with Hansken
Keeskooper from Antwerp, and we made all
our arrangements for the disposing of our letters.
On Saturday evening we sent the letters to the
lords of the city, and also posted two open ones in
the middle of the city, that every one might read
them. We greatly praise and thank the Lord, that
we did this before we were apprehended: for we
were all betrayed by a Judas, who was among us,
and who seemed to be one of the most pious of all
the brethren that were there, so successfully could
he practice his deception. It had long been his aim,
as we now perceive, to betray a large number of the
friends. This traitor was present when the letters
were posted. We had appointed to meet together
on Sunday morning, to speak of the word of the
Lord; for I desired to take leave of the brethren,
intending to go on a journey the next day. But the
Lord be praised, who had ordered it otherwise.
Early in the morning, Hansken went with me to
the woods where we were to assemble. We did not
470
find our friends at the place where we expected to
meet them. We hunted for them a good half-hour,
and came to the conclusion that they had not yet
come, as there had been a heavy rain the evening
before. We were about to turn back, when I said:
“Let us go; they may be here ahead of us,” and
sang softly; that, if they were there, they might
hear us. I then heard a rustling in the woods, and
said to Hansken: “Our friends are here.” We
stood still, and looked to see who should come out.
Then three men with weapons and sticks came forth.

I said: “Well, boys, have you been hunting a
hare, and have not caught it?”

Their faces turned pale as death, and they stepped
up to us, and seized me by the arm, saying: “Surrender.”

Thus they apprehended us, saying: “We have
caught a great number besides.”

We then saw a whole wagon full of our brethren
sitting bound, and three Judges with all their servants,
a great number, who guarded them. When
we came to them, we saluted our brethren with the
peace of the Lord, and comforted them with his
words, boldly to contend for his name.

We then reproved the Judges for being so desirous
of shedding innocent blood. Thereupon they
coupled Hansken and me together with iron fetters,
and also our thumbs. We expected they would
take us to the city; but as we had been apprehended
in another seigniory, we had to go half a league
further. We regarded it as very fortunate that we
could be together so long, thus being enabled to
comfort one another on the way, with the word of
the Lord, before they separated us.

We were then taken to a castle, a league from
the city, where we were all kept together in one
room, remaining there three days; for this was the
law of the seigniory where we had been apprehended.
There we thanked and praised the Lord
our God for having ordered it so well, that we had
so much time freely to admonish one another. Much
people also came from the city, to see and hear us;
but towards the last no one was permitted to come
into our room. There the chief Bailiff of the country
of Aelst examined us in regard to our faith, which
we freely confessed to him. We expected to be
taken to Aelst; but as the bailiff of Ghent had put
us into the wagon when we were apprehended, to
take us to Ghent, all of us had to be taken to that
city. The traitor who had betrayed us, was apprehended
with us, that we might not notice it. He
was put into a separate room, and we felt much
compassion for him, because he could not be with
us; for we knew not that he was our betrayer. He
was also taken along in the wagon, to the prison
at Ghent, where we first learned that he had betrayed
us.

When we were brought out of the castle, to be
taken to the city, much people had come from the
city to see us; there my brother’s wife, who was a
sister, was apprehended, because she spoke to me,
and was put into the wagon; also a man who wished
us Godspeed. We freely spoke to the people that
had come, telling them that those who would turn
from wickedness, and follow Christ, had to be a
prey for every one. Is. 59:15. There were many
who would have liked to talk with us, but did not
dare do so, because of the wicked judges. There
were ten of us; two were ready [for baptism], and
four were novices; the other two were apprehended
because they spoke to us. Thus they took two
wagon loads to the city, in broad daylight. On the
way, they also apprehended a woman, only because
she said to us: ‘God keep you.’ She also had to
sit in the wagon. But if they had apprehended all
who spoke to us when we came into the city, and
to whom we replied with the word of God, they
could not have carried them in twenty wagons, as
the people came running from every corner which
we passed; as water which runs down from the
mountains, and becomes a large stream, so the
people flowed together, which continued from one
of the gates of the city to the castle of the count,
which stands at the other end of the city, a walking
distance of about one hour. We were led up to the
castle, and the judge of the country of Aelst, delivered
us over into the hands of the lords of the
Imperial Council. Here we were separately confined,
some into upper rooms. The women also
remained above; but eleven of us were led into a
gloomy, deep dungeon, containing divers dark cells
built of masonry, in which we were put in separate
parties of three and three. But Hansken and I were
put into the darkest of all, in which there was a
small quantity of crumbled straw, about an apron
full, with which we might help ourselves. I said:
“It seems to me that we are with Jonah in the
whale’s belly, so dark it is here; we may well cry
with Jonah to the Lord, that he will be our comforter
and deliverer; for we are now deprived of all
human comfort and assistance.” This did not deject
us, but we praised and thanked God, that we
were permitted to suffer for his name. We also
spoke to our brethren that lay in other cells; for we
could easily hear each other speaking. After we
had lain there for three or four days, Hansken and
I were both summoned before the lords, where we
were examined, and interrogated concerning the
ground of our faith, and when we had been baptized.

The Lord then, according to his promise, gave
us a mouth, to speak boldly, and we requested to
be allowed publicly to defend ourselves with the
word of God. They replied to us, that they would
send us learned men, who would instruct us; whereupon
we were taken below again.

Shortly after, I was taken above into another
room, to two councilors and a clerk. There they
interrogated me very closely, where I had been,
and if I knew that I had been banished six years
ago, in the time of Martin Huereblock, and where
we had held our meetings; all of which they knew,
for the traitor had already told them. I said: “Why
do you ask me, who have come from foreign countries?”
(For I purposely did not wish to ask much,
that, in case I should be apprehended, I might not
have much to answer.) “Why do you question me
so closely? have you not yet enough innocent blood
to shed? do you thirst for still more?” “Ask as
471
closely as you want to,” said I; “the righteous
Judge shall ask you again, if you do not repent.”

They then asked me still more, and adjured me
by my baptism, that I should tell them; “For,”
said they, “we know that you people do not lie;
hence tell us.”

I said: “That you know that we do not lie, is to
us a testimony of salvation, but to you of perdition
(Phil. 1:28), because you put such to death; but
your adjuration has no power against the truth.”

All that I said was written down, and they threatened
to torture me if I would not tell them everything.
I said: “I can not tell you what I do not
know.” Thus they tormented me for a very long
time. Thereupon I was taken below again. In this
manner they dealt with all our friends, with each
separately.

One Saturday I was taken above again into the
same room. Four monks were present; the guardian
of the Minorites, with another, and the Superior
of the Jacobines, with another. With me there came
a young brother, who had not yet received baptism,
but was ready for it.

When I had seated myself, I asked them what
they wished. They said they were sent by the lords,
to instruct us, and to converse with us concerning
the ground and articles of faith. I replied that I was
ready to be instructed with the word of God, and
to hold converse concerning the ground and articles
of faith, and this publicly, in the presence of the
judges who were to judge us, and of our brethren
and sisters that were imprisoned with us.

Ans. “This they will not permit.”

Hans van Overdam. “Well, let them do what
they please; we will not dispute secretly and alone,
lest our words be perverted behind our backs.”

Ans. “We will not pervert your words.”

Hans. “No, we know you well.”

Ques. “What do you take us for? what evil did
we ever do you? pray, tell us what evil do you
know of us?”

Hans. “If you would know it then; I regard you
as false prophets and seducers.”

Here we got into a dispute concerning their spiritual
semblance, and the command of the Pope regarding
the purity of the priests and monks, and
why they were called spiritual, and others secular,
when all ought to be spiritual.

They then said: “This is not profitable; let us
dispute about the articles of faith.”

Thereupon I said: “What I have said I have
said.”

They replied that they would tell it to the lords.
Thus we separated, having disputed with each other
for fully two hours. Two days after, Hansken and
I were summoned before the lords; the four monks
were present, and attempted to engage us in a disputation.

I then said to the lords: “My lords, I ask you,
in what house are we, in a house of justice, or of
violence?”

Ans. “In a house of justice.”

Hans. “God grant that it be so; but, my lords,
of what do you accuse us, that you keep us imprisoned
and confined like thieves and murderers?
Have we wronged any one, or do you charge us
with violence, murder, or roguery?”

Ans. “No; we know no such thing of you.”

Hans. “Well, my lords, why then have you imprisoned
us?”

Ans. “Your adversaries will tell you that.”

Hans. “Are you our adversaries?”

Ans. “No, but we are judges.”

I then said to the monks: “Are you our adversaries?”

Ans. “No.”

Hans. “Well, if no one is our adversary, why
are we imprisoned?”

A councilor then said: “The Emperor is your
adversary.”

Hans. “We have not offended against his Imperial
Majesty according to the power which he has
received from God, and will obey him in every
ordinance, as far as we can do so consistently with
the truth.”

Councilor. “You have held meetings of this new
doctrine, and the Emperor has commanded that this
should not be done.”

Hans. “God has not authorized him to make
such commandments; in this he transcends the
power which God has given him, and in this we do
not recognize his supremacy; for the salvation of
our souls concerns us more, so that we show obedience
to God.”

The monks then said: “We are your adversaries,
in that your doctrine is not good; for if it were good,
you would not preach in woods and corners, but
openly.”

Hans then said: “Grant us a free place in the
market, or in your monasteries and churches, and
see whether we then shall go into the woods; but no,
you are afraid that you would be reproved; hence
you have brought it about, that you cannot be reproved,
and have driven us from cities and countries.”

Monks. “Alas! we have not done it; the Emperor
does it.”

Hans. “You have urged him to it.”

Monks. “We have not.”

The lords also then began to speak against us,
why we were not content with the faith of our parents,
and with our baptism.

We replied: “We know of no infant baptism,
but of a baptism upon faith, concerning which the
word of God teaches us.”

We then had many other words, and reproved
them for undertaking to be judges in matters of
faith, when they did not understand the Scriptures.
“If you would be judges, be impartial, and let the
matter proceed in regular order; let both parties
appear together, and let our brethren and sisters
that have been brought prisoners here together with
us, be with us. Then one of us, whose mouth the
Lord shall open, will speak, and the others shall
listen in silence while he is speaking; and thus shall
also our adversaries do.”

Lords. “We will not let you come together; we
would have you dispute alone here.”

We then said: “My lords, it would be the most
convenient for you, and the whole matter could be
472
finished with one disputation; otherwise you will
constantly have to dispute anew with one or two at
a time.”

Lords. “What then? we will not have it so.”

Then a councilor said: “They want to have them
together, in order to seduce one another still more;
therefore they cannot be allowed to come together.”

Hans. “My lords, you say that you are judges,
but we regard you as our adversaries; for you seek
to injure us in every way, and to cause us and our
brethren by violence and subtlety, to apostatize
from our faith.”

Ans. “Why should we not do this, in order to
bring them back?”

Hans. “Well, my lords, hear this: since we see
that you are no judges, but our adversaries, and
employ, wherever you can, all violence and subtlety,
to your advantage, and our detriment: Firstly, you
have by violence deprived us of our testaments, in
which we find our consolation; secondly, you have
confined us separately, some in deep, dark dungeons,
others in rooms up above; and thirdly, you
seek to outwit and deceive us by separate disputations,
afterwards to say behind our backs, to our
brethren, that you had overcome us, and, vice versa,
to say the same to us concerning our brethren and
sisters; therefore, my lords, we will not dispute here,
unless our brethren and sisters are present.”

When they heard that their design against us
did not proceed according to their wish, they became
greatly enraged, and also the monks. We saw
easily enough to what it amounted, and that all they
did was pure deception; for though it was proven
by the Scriptures, with regard to several articles,
that they were in the wrong, yet they would not acknowledge
it, and excused themselves with the Emperor
and his mandates, and the monks with the
long continued customs of the Roman church (Wisdom
14:16), and the great number of our forefathers;
and when the contrary had been proven to
them from the Scriptures, it was just as before, even
as though one should have talked to the stove.

We then said: “My lords, will you not permit
us, to dispute in regular order, as we have requested?”

Ans. “No.”

“Well then,” said we, “You know the ground
of our faith, which we have freely confessed to you;
you may now do with us as you please (Jer. 26:14),
as far as God will permit; but take good heed what
you do, for there is a judge still higher than you.
Eph. 6:9. May the Lord open the eyes of your understanding,
that you may see how miserably you
are seduced and deceived by the false prophets, indeed
so that you fight against God and the Lamb,
for which it will go hard with you, unless you repent.”

We were then led away again, as we would not
dispute further; for we had agreed upon this, when
we were together yet in the castle, out of the city,
lest they should take the simple unawares by disputations.
Hence they could not persuade any that they
had overcome them, all knowing that they were not
to dispute, except in the presence of the others, in
which case the disputation would tend to the consolation
and admonition of our brethren and sisters
who should hear it; for when we saw that they did
their best we would not let anything be wanting on
our part, seeing necessity demanded it. When they
perceived that this did not promise success, they
tried another scheme. They sent a councilor and
two friars, a grey and a black, into a room, before
whom a brother or sister, one at a time, were
brought, to dispute with them and to defend the
ground of their faith; but they declared that they
would not dispute alone in a room, but openly,
when we should be together before the lords. They
then said: “We adjure you by your faith and baptism,
that you dispute here.” The brother replied:
“I know my faith and baptism; but with your adjuration
I have nothing to do; hence let us come together;
for this is just what we wish, to dispute
openly with you, but not thus alone in a room.”
Another was then summoned, and thus it went until
all had been brought before them; but no one
would dispute in this manner. Thereupon I also had
to appear alone in a room, before a councilor and
two monks, who likewise began to adjure me. I
then said: “Why would you adjure me, to cast
roses before dogs, and pearls before swine, that you
may trample on them? No, this the Lord has forbidden
me to do. Matt. 7:6. Nay, I esteem the
words of God far too precious, than that I should
let the light shine in vain here, whereby no one
would be enlightened, but it would only be blasphemed
and mocked, as you do when the truth is
told you.”

Then they adjured me still much more; but I replied:
“Why do you adjure so much? I care
not for your adjuration; for it is the manner of sorcerers,
who adjure against the truth. 2 Chron. 33:6.
But I now see clearly, how the souls of our two
brethren and sisters were murdered and seduced
(Ezek. 13:19), it was through your sorcerous adjuration,
as they did not guard themselves against the
subtlety of the devil, and had not the gift to dispute.”

The guardian then said: “You boasted in your
letter, that you would dispute publicly; why do you
not dare do it now?”

Hans. “You monk, I still desire with all my
heart to defend my faith with the word of God, publicly
before all men (1 Pet. 3:15); but your cap
would shake quite differently, if you had to dispute
with me at the risk of the fire, and if the authorities
would not protect you.”

Councilor. “No, we have no desire to let you dispute
publicly; you are now in our hands.”

Hans. “I desired it, before I knew that I should
fall into your hands; but I see well now, that I have
fallen into the talons of the eagle (2 Esdra 11), and
whoever gets into them cannot escape without losing
soul or body.”

Councilor. “Who is the eagle, the Emperor?”

Hans. “No, it is the Roman Empire or power;
read the letter I wrote you; it will tell you.”

We then exchanged many more words, and the
monks became angry at me, and commenced to
utter puffed-up words. I then said that Paul had
prophesied correctly concerning them, that they
473
were blasphemers, proud, and puffed up. 2 Timothy
3:2.

Thereupon friar Jan de Croock became so enraged
that he began to cry: “Fools, fools, heretics, heretics
are you!”

Hans. “Behold, is this not a fine teacher? but
Paul says that a teacher must not be a brawler, nor
angry.” 1 Tim. 3:3; Tit. 1:7. The councilor felt
ashamed that the monk acted so disgracefully, and
commanded him to be silent.

At another subsequent time there came two secular
priests: Sir Willem of Nieuwenland, and the
parish priest of St. Michael. I asked them what they
desired. They replied: “We have come to seek
your soul,” This time I kept under cover as much
as I could, in hopes that we might dispute openly
before the lords, as they told me that they would
use their best endeavors in this direction. But when
I heard that it could not be, I thought, when they
came again with the clerk, we must accost each
other in quite a different way, from what we did
the last time. I then asked: “What do you wish?”

Ans. “We desire that you suffer yourself to be
instructed; for, behold, we seek your soul.”

Hans. “Do you then take so much pains to
seek souls?”

Ans. “Yes.”

Hans. “Well then, go into the city, to every
place, to the drunkards, whoremongers, swearers,
railers, covetous, proud, idolaters, revellers, gluttons,
and murderers, who shed innocent blood; all
these are still your brethren; go, seek their souls;
Christ has found mine.”

Ans. “We admonish them, and then we have
delivered our souls.”

Hans. “That is not enough; you must go to
them, and reprove them, and if they will not hear
you, you must bring them before the church, and
reprove them openly; if they still refuse to hear,
exclude them from the church, and let them be
unto you as heathen and open sinners, as Christ
teaches, and Paul writes to the Corinthians. Reprove
also your judges, who do violence and injustice,
yea, who shed innocent blood.”

One of the priests then said: “Should we go and
reprove the magistrates?”

I asked whether God was a respecter of persons.

Ans. “No.”

Hans. “Would you be a minister of God, and
have respect to persons?”

Ans. “This would cause an uproar in the city,
and they would kill us.”

Hans. “Then suffer for righteousness’ sake.”

But it seemed to me they had no great desire to
suffer for it. In short, we treated so much of the
ban, that if the words of Christ and Paul were followed,
the Pope, Prelates, Emperor and King, yea,
they themselves with all their multitude would be
excluded, and only a very small number remain.

I then told them that their house was all on fire,
kindled by the flames of hell, and that they should
first extinguish that, before coming to see whether
our house was in danger of fire. Whereupon they
went away; one of the priests came no more. In
this manner I dealt also with Sir Anthony van Hille;
he tormented the others, but let me alone.

Herewith I commend my dear brethren and sisters
in the Lord into the hands of the Almighty God
and Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Written while in prison for the testimony of Christ.
I lay in a dark dungeon for a month; I am now in
a deep, round hole, where there is a little more light,
and here I have written this letter. I hope to offer
up my sacrifice this week, if it is the Lord’s will,
together with those whom the Lord has foreordained
thereto; for if it does not take place this week, it will
no doubt be deferred for two months yet, because no
court will be held for six weeks. Know, that our
brethren and sisters are of good cheer and courage,
through the grace of the Lord; God be praised
for it. I beseech you, by the brotherly love which
you bear to me, that you send this letter to Friesland,
particularly to Emdenland; I mean this same
letter, as soon as you can; you may copy it, but
make haste with it. I kindly desire that it be preserved,
so that it may not be torn or soiled. The
brethren that are in the dungeon with me, greet
you all with the peace of God. We daily pray to
the Lord for you; do so also for us. Walk in the
peace of the Lord, and it will be well with you.
When this letter has been read, send it to Antwerp,
that it may be sent to the church at Emden, so
that it may be read to every one; this I desire of
my dear brethren, through the brotherly love which
you bear to me.





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