Again, another stanza.
_Wy zijn, O Heer! nu in den strijd, Och! wilt ons doch bewaren, Van ons vyanden, nu ter tijd, Die ons benouwen aen allen zijd’, O! Heer, ons doch bevrijd! Op dat wy wel volherden. O God gy zijt een Heere groot, Sterkt ons altijd in onsen nood._
After that, the following words were written by Gerrit van Byler:
_Hope of Believers_: Though they condemn me here upon this earth, I nevertheless certainly believe with the prophet David (Ps. 27:13): That I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living; hence I rejoice in the Lord, and am of good cheer and undismayed, assured that my Redeemer liveth. _Spes mea in Deo._[338]
[338] My hope is in God.
In Newgate, at London, in September, in the year 1575. Written by me.
EXTRACT FROM THE APPENDED MATTERS IN THE OLD MARTYRS MIRROR, EDITION OF 1631, PAGE 964, COL. 2.
We received, too late, a certain chronicle of England, by Egmont Howes, a nobleman in London, printed A. D. 1615, by Thomas Dauwson, in which, on page 678, the following is related, as having occurred under Queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1575:
On Easter-day, being the 3d of April, about nine o’clock in the forenoon, there was discovered a gathering of Dutch Anabaptists, Hollanders, in a house beyond the Aldgate; seventeen of whom were apprehended, and four cast into prison.
On the 21st of May, on Whitsuntide eve, one man and ten women, Dutch Anabaptists, were condemned, in the Consistory of St. Paul’s church, to be burnt in a place called Smithfield; however, after much labor and pains with them, only one woman turned, and the rest were banished from the country.
On the 22d of July two Dutch Anabaptists were burned in the place called Smithfield, who died in great terror, weeping and crying. So far the aforementioned author.
We have deemed it well to add this here, since it serves to confirm the foregoing; as also, to testify that they did not suffer for any reviling against Her Majesty (as circulated by some), but only for their faith. And this is the more authentic, because it was recorded by the hand of their adversaries.
TWO LETTERS WRITTEN BY THESE IMPRISONED FRIENDS, AS WE HAVE FOUND THEM IN A SMALL, OLD, PRINTED BOOK.
We poor and despised strangers, who are in persecution for the testimony of Jesus Christ, wish all men, of whatever race or office, from God, that the Lord would grant them a long peace, so that we may live in peace among one another, in all godliness, to the praise and glory of the Lord, and the salvation of the soul.
Since we are by so many persons, both with word and pen, very unjustly accused and slandered, we are for this important reason constrained briefly, in writing, to present the ground of our faith, and thus make it known as follows:
We are not addressed, and interrogated concerning our faith, with a meek spirit, as the holy Scriptures teach; but reproach is heaped upon reproach, and lie upon lie, to increase and augment our afflictions and sorrows; and because they also have no pity for our poor weak women and children. Our country and kindred, and our property, we had to leave (partly, because of the great tyranny), and fled as lambs before wolves, only for the true evangelical truth of Jesus Christ, and not for any sedition or heresy, as the Munsterite errors or abominations were, and as (God forbid!) is reported of us. We fain would that our whole faith and life were written on our forehead, so that every one might know and see what we believe, and what we seek and desire here upon earth. There should nothing be found but a true faith in full accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and an unblamable life, seeking to provide bread for our wives and children, even as God has commanded and as the Scriptures teach, 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8; Eph. 4:28; 1 Thess. 4:11. O that our persecutors knew that this is the desire of our hearts, they certainly could not but have great pity and compassion upon us poor, despised strangers, if there be any human pity and compassion in them at all, and they would, according to the words of the Lord, have compassion upon us, as the prophet says: “Bring the poor that are afflicted to thy house.” Is. 58:7. Moses says: “If a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him; but the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.” Lev. 19:33,34.