_Another letter from Maeyken Boosers to her brethren and sisters._
O my dearest and much beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, I greet you once more with the peace of the Lord, that the same may remain with you forever. Amen.
I let you know that these my enemies still keep tormenting me about baptism; but of the incarnation of Christ they say nothing to me. The Dean told them my faith, and they asked me nothing except whether I believed that Christ was David’s son. I replied that he was the Son of the living God. “Oh! oh!” said the Dean. The lords asked: “Is it not written: Out of the seed of David according to the flesh?” Acts 13:23. The Dean answered them, for there was no hearing; he frequently told me I lied, because I withstood him, that he could not show me that the apostles had baptized children. They all fell upon me at once, and said that no one could enter the kingdom of heaven, except he were born of water and of the Spirit. They hastily asked me whether I did not confess this too. I said: “This Scripture belongs not to children, but to the adult, who have ears to hear.” Then they arose and said: “You labor under an opinion.”
Thus, my dear friends, I expect to be brought before them once more to-morrow. Hence I pray you to entreat the Lord for me, that he would direct my mouth to his praise and glory. Herewith I will commend you forever into the hands of God, and kindly ask you to receive my simple writing in good part, for I seek nothing but to please God, from the simplicity of my heart; and I wish nothing, alas! save, that I might please the King of kings and Lord of lords in my calling; then I should indeed have been born at a blessed time. Herewith peace; farewell; nothing more after this. Take this for an eternal adieu.
After this, Maeyken Boosers was burnt to ashes, at Doornick, having commended her soul into the hands of the Lord.
WILLEBOORT CORNELISS, PUT TO DEATH FOR THE EVANGELICAL TRUTH, AT MIDDELBORGH IN ZEALAND, THE 14TH OF SEPTEMBER, IN THE YEAR 1564.
_A letter of Willeboort Corneliss, written from his imprisonment at Middelborgh, and which he sealed with his blood._
The grace and peace of God the heavenly Father, which have come to us through Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, comfort you in all your tribulation, my dearest sister in the Lord; and the Holy Ghost guide you into all truth and righteousness unto the end; and the mighty hand of God keep you and me in the straight way, that we may walk aright unto the end. Amen.
For, my dearest and beloved sister in the Lord, in this miserable and sorrowful world we are counted a prey to every one, as the prophet tells us. Isaiah 59:15. Yea, Christ Jesus himself says: “Ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.” Matthew 10:22. Yea, we are counted as deceivers, and yet are true; we are become a spectacle; we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. 2 Cor. 6:8; 1 Corinthians 4:9; 2 Cor. 4:8,9. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter; but in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Rom. 8:36,37. For, my dear lamb, we know that we must through much tribulation and suffering enter into the kingdom of heaven; knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. Acts 14:22; 2 Cor. 5:6. Hence Peter says: “I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” 1 Pet. 2:11. Therefore, my dear lamb, though you have now with Abraham left our fatherland, be therefore not slothful in your business; but be fervent in spirit; redeeming the time; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; distributing to the necessity of saints; and see that you are given to hospitality. Romans 12:11–13. For, my dear lamb, though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” 2 Cor. 4:16.