The First Letter From Raphel Van Den Velde, Written To His Wife.

Grace and peace from God our heavenly Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, be with you, my dear and in God beloved wife; and the supreme Comforter, the Holy Ghost, be with you and console you, and lighten your heart in all your tribulation and affliction, which I well know, are exceedingly great. Hence I hope to write your love a little, for your consolation; for I hope that it will be a great comfort to you, when you will read it, even as also my heart was exceedingly comforted and rejoiced, when I received your letter, on Wednesday, about five or six o’clock [P. M.], when in the morning I had been tortured from about eight until ten o’clock. I thank the Lord, that he kept my mouth, so that no one need be troubled by it; for when I had been laid upon the bench, I did not open my mouth to criminate any one, but cried, sighed, and prayed to God. The lords said: “Hearken to us, and we will shorten the pain; yea, we are sorry that we must inflict it upon you.” But when I would not listen to them, lying there bound and ropes tightly twisted around my shins and thighs, and over my heart, and my arms tied together behind my back, so that they lay under my loins, and a cord with knots having been put around my head, which lay on a pebble-stone, they began winding it with an iron chain, so that I thought nothing else but that they were winding and crushing my head all to pieces; and on my thighs and shins, so that it seemed to me, that all my bones, flesh, veins, and sinews were going to pieces. Then thought I: O Lord, what torture this is! O Lord, I shall not be able to endure it. O Lord, succor me now, for the distress is great. Then I composed myself, and committed the matter to God; and instantly all my members became as dead, and the lords kept calling: “Tell, tell; and we shall shorten your pain.” And when I would still not tell, they spoke in Latin to Master Hans, and then the latter went and made two cords fast to my great toes, in the form of a double knot, and stretched me out thereby, which caused me exceeding pain. When I would yet not tell, they caused the cords on my thighs and shins to be twisted still more tightly, and the knots pained me so, that I thought that I must die. And still they kept calling: “Speak, speak; and we shall shorten your pain.” Then thought I: O Lord, how shall I be able to endure this; must it last long yet? Then the thought came into my mind, that the eternal pain should be still greater, and should last forever. Then I took courage again, and cried to God: Help me in this distress, that I must not bring my neighbor into the same affliction. And the Lord gave me such courage, that I resolved rather to die on the bench, and kept silence. And as they did still not obtain anything from me, to the implication of my neighbor, Master Hans took water (during the entire time a cloth had lain on my face), and holding my nose shut with one hand, began to pour water on my abdomen and thence all over my breast, and into my mouth, even as one should drink when he is very thirsty. I think that the can from which he poured out the water held about three pints. And when I was at the end of my breath, and wanted to fetch such, I drew the water all into my body, whereupon I suffered such distress, that it would be impossible for me to relate or describe it; but the Lord be forever praised: he kept my lips. And when they could still not obtain anything from me, they caused the cord which was on my thigh to be loosed and applied to a fresh place, and wound it much tighter than before, so that I thought he would kill me, and began to shake and tremble greatly. He then proceeded to pour water into me again, so that I think he emptied four such cans, and my body became so full of it, that twice it came out again at the throat. And thus I became so weak that I fainted; for when I recovered from my swoon, I found myself alone with Master Hans and Daniel 975 de Keyser. And Master Hans was so busily engaged in loosing all my cords, that it seemed to me that they were concerned over me. But the Lord in a large degree took away my pain every time; whenever it became so severe that I thought it was impossible to bear it, my members became as dead. Eternal praise, thanks, honor, and glory be to the Lord; for when it was over I thought that, by the help of the Lord, I had fought a good fight.

I would write you much more about it, but I leave it till another time. Hence, my dear wife, let us thank God for his grace. On Monday I did not think that I was approaching such a happy week, and as regards the bruises from my torture, I hope that it will be well; but it must have its time. Be not grieved on account of my sufferings; but praise God in this matter, for my mind, I hope, is unchanged and immovable; for though they should torture me twice yet, I hope to endure all they inflict upon me. But it may indeed be called torture, for it is a great pain. I also am ready not only to suffer myself to be tortured, but also always to let my flesh be burnt alive at the stake for the truth. I must also write you something about the joy and gladness which I now have in the Lord; how the Lord strengthens, comforts and rejoices my heart, when I consider the Scriptures, that I, who am such an unworthy man, may be a partaker of Christ’s sufferings; I can now say with the apostle, that I bear the marks of Christ in my members. Galatians 6:17.

Further, my dearest, I inform your love, that I received your letter, whereby my heart was greatly comforted and rejoiced, so that for joy I could not refrain from weeping; which was a sure sign of godly sorrow, and the same worketh to salvation. 2 Cor. 7:10. Thus I understood from it your great grief, much greater than you can say or write. But, my dearest, I pray you by the mercies of God, that you will to some extent lay aside your grief concerning me, and remember how, or in what manner we received each other from the hand of the Most High; was it not under the condition, that the Lord should always be the dearest, and that we must leave each other, if it be his holy will? And now your love well knows, that this is certainly the will of the Lord, and nothing else; for if it had not been the will of the Lord, I would have escaped as well as you. Hence, my beloved, let us be moderate, and be content with such things as we have (Heb. 13:5), as I hope from your love that you will do, and, if you think it well, rather let the girl go, and keep your child with you. And in the meantime, teach him something yourself, and diligently keep him busy at something with you. But above all, I pray you, take good heed to yourself, for the Proctor General questioned me much in regard to you, and at divers times they asked me concerning my brother, but I did not answer them thereupon; but they knew it well already, as they said. And Daniel de Keyser came into my cage, and also asked me much in regard to my brother. They also questioned me concerning my child, and whether he was not baptized, which I told them; hence take good heed, or peradventure they might take him, and greater trouble might result from it. We shall probably have time to write more about this matter; but now I write only a little of this and a little of that, for my head is not in a condition to write much, but I hope that it will improve. To-day I have been greatly tired with speaking against two Jesuits concerning our faith; in the presence of the clerk of the criminal court, and Master Jacob Hesseling, the Proctor General, and a councilor; but the Lord be forever praised and thanked, they had to give up with ignominy.

I hope by and by to write more fully about every thing. Tell my dear brother, also to write something, and greet him much for me, as also his wife, and my dear sister, with the peace of the Lord, and that they write me something, since I am exceedingly much burdened and concerned for them. And take good heed, for no one knows what bonds are, except he that tries them, this I may well say, for which I thank and praise the Lord with a joyful heart. I hope that I am over the worst and my heart is much resigned in suffering or affliction, and in death, but when I begin to think of parting from my love, and my dear son, then I cannot compose my heart so easily. But this comforts me much, that my child can keep his mother. And be not over-careful, my love; the Most high cares for you and also for your child; and our dear Lord has shown us much grace, that he has permitted us to live together so long. Yea, be not too careful, this I pray you, my love; but cast your care entirely and gladly upon the Lord; he will provide for you, and give you another husband in my place, if it be for your good. Ps. 55:22; 1 Pet. 5:7; Philip. 4:6.

Herewith I will commend you, my dearest wife and sister in the Lord, to the almighty God and to the rich word of his grace; adieu, my love.

O you have been such a good and excellent housekeeper to me; O my love, I thank you from the depths of my heart for your great faithfulness and willing service, which you have so faithfully shown me in all obedience. And I pray you all, dear friends, that you would diligently help me pray to the Lord, for it is now time, the conflict is nearing its height, this I well experience, and I apprehend that Jeronymus, our brother, will also experience it; the Lord be gracious unto him; I comfort him now and then, as best I can.

Greet Vintgen from me with the peace of the Lord, and let me know, how it went with them all. Greet Jan and Klaerken from me; and K., and tell him to write me something. And also greet in my name all those that fear God, and always associate with the righteous, and you will become more righteous still. Adieu, adieu.

Written in the dark, on the 24th of May, A. D. 1576. Adieu, my wife, adieu, my child.

On Thursday the 24th of May I was brought before the lords once more, and there sat two Jesuits. I was very feeble from the torturing. They began and asked me, why I had suffered myself to be so long seduced, and questioned me concerning my faith. Then I said: “Have I come here to teach you? by no means. Do you confess your faith to 976 me? I am come to be instructed.” Then he began to confess his faith, just like children that are learning. “Well, this is my faith,” he said. Then I said: “Prove it with the word of God, and I will also believe it.” Then he began from John 3, that the children must be baptized; also from Mark 16 and Matt. 28, where he so entangled himself, that he did not see how he could get out of it; and went from there [he went on] to circumcision, where he likewise knew not what to do. Finally they had to confess that it did not apply to baptism which greatly surprised me. And when they saw that all that they did went backwards, they all began to talk Latin at the same time, and I sat there and looked on. Eamus (let us go), they said, and wanted to go, for it struck eleven and we had come together a little after eight. And when they were determined to go, I said: “I pray you, my lords, write your faith down for me, so that I can consider it.” But they would not do it. “If you do not believe our words,” said they, “you would not believe our writing.”

O, thought I, if I could get that, I should have you; I should soon show to you, that your faith is not contained in the Scriptures.

Further, on the 25th of May there came the penitentiary from the bishop, and another, and Friar Pieter de Backer, and they approached me very subtly. They led me upon a very high mountain, and [said that] if I would yield just a little, all should be well. Master Jacob Heyselinck said Yes, he should help me, and the matter was in his power; that I should only seemingly recant a little: “Dear Raphel, how sorry I am; it pierces me to my very heart.” Then I said: “O my lords, you say that I should recant a little; This I will gladly do; yea I will recant altogether, if you can show me something better than the word of God; but not otherwise, or my faith should not rest upon the word of God, but upon the words of men, and I well know what the prophet says: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. Jer. 17:5. O my lords, that would not be converting; you would have to prove it to me with the holy Scriptures, or we shall not do it.” And after many words we parted once more, and I thanked them for their trouble. Sometime afterwards the clerk of the criminal court, the Proctor, and Friar Pieter de Backer came and entreated me again. I said I was sorry that they entreated me. They said: “But we shall show it to you very clearly;” and commenced another mystery concerning the incarnation of Christ. And when I began to answer, he put his Testament away. And many other things they said. Then I said: “If it is your pleasure, I shall reply to you upon every thing, one after the other;” and when they heard how I began to answer them, they slipped away and said adieu, and I did the same. And Friar Pieter said: “I shall come again in a day or two.” “If you please.” said I. “O,” said he, “how sorry your mother must be.” But I said nothing. And in the afternoon they sent me a book, entitled “The Shield against the Anabaptists,” which I should read; and in two or three days the penitentiary should come to see me again.

Here, dear brethren and sisters altogether, you may have heard whether I suffer temptation or not, but I write it only very briefly, else it would take much too long to write it. But the Lord be thanked for his great grace, who so faithfully strengthens me and governs my mouth to his praise. Though the outward man perish, this is small loss; the inward man is renewed from day to day, for which eternal praise and thanks be to the Lord, for I may now well say with Pieter van Werwicke:

I cannot tell it (express the joy); yea, I think that if every one of the hairs of my head were a tongue, I could not express it. And that they torment me with examinations, this I deem a recreation, for I get out of my stinking hole every time, into the pure air, and this rejoices my heart.

Herewith I will commend you to the Lord, and to the rich word of his grace. Always endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and purify your souls before the Lord, if peradventure God be pleased to let you fall into the same trouble; if one is not a good Christian previously, one can hardly become one here, this I well experience, O dear brethren and sisters, I pray you by the love of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will show love to my dearly beloved wife and my dear child, in all love, in unity, in kindness, and in patience, Bear one another in love, this I pray you from the bottom of my heart, and consider in what trouble she now is. Alas, you are sorry on my account, for which I thank you, for it is godly sorrow; but she has the greatest reason to be sorrowful. O she has lost so much, and my son too; but I must resign myself herein, for it is the will of the Lord; who will hinder it? O, when I think of her and her grief, and of my child, I cannot restrain myself; but I hope that the Lord will help me also in this. I beseech you by the love of God. O brethren, my dear brother, write me once how she is situated, how it is with her tribulation, and with my dear son.

O my dear son, I am taken from you too soon. O dear brethren, do this much for my sake; and for the Lord’s sake; you will thereby afford such great comfort to my heart. O it seems to me that I have not heard anything for such a long time, and of my son I do not know that I have had any intelligence; and of our Tanneken. O poor lamb! Adieu my dear brother; adieu my dear sister; adieu to all your little ones.

Adieu, adieu; may God grant grace, that we may rejoice hereafter. Written by me, Raphel, your weak brother in the Lord, with many tears and sighs; not on my own account, as though my mind were ill at rest—God forbid, it was in eleven years never better, the Lord be thanked; but it is my weak nature. If I have written too little or too 977 much in any thing, excuse me, since my mind is much engaged, and my mind is getting confused from all the troubles. Written the 25th of May, in the year 1576.

Raphel van den Velde.