After some time De Soto came in again, and taking up the New Testament which the emperor had sent to him, he requested Enzinas to sit down beside him. Then lowering his eyebrows, and wrinkling his forehead, as though to render his appearance the more formidable, he kept silence for a while. At last he began: 'Francis, we two have met here alone to confer upon the New Testament, in the presence of God, the angels, and the saints whom you behold on these altars. You regard the study of this book as profitable to piety, and I consider it injurious. Its prohibition has been the only means of preserving Spain from the contamination of sects. Francis, you have accomplished a most audacious enterprise, and done an impious deed in daring to publish a version of the New Testament in defiance of the laws of the emperor and your own duty to our holy religion. It is an atrocious crime which merits more than mere death. Further, you have been in Germany at the house of Philip Melanchthon; you extol his virtues and learning everywhere, and this alone is considered with us a proceeding worthy of capital punishment.[137] How deplorable it is that you, still so young, and only beginning your studies, should have fallen so low! It is my duty to consider the good of the church universal rather than the safety of a single man. Your crimes are so serious that I know not how you can escape the penalty with which you are threatened.' Enzinas was unspeakably grieved at this speech. So much superstition, impiety, and cruelty overwhelmed him. At the same time he knew that he could not escape the great dangers which were impending over him. In this Dominican house he breathed the heavy and deadly atmosphere of the Inquisition, and he seemed to behold around him its terrible features, its chains, and its instruments of torture.
THE MASK DROPPED.
Nevertheless he took courage and, bearing witness to the Gospel, extolled the unspeakable value of Holy Scripture, and set forth the reasons which he felt to be conclusive for reading it. 'The Old and New Testaments,' he said, 'were given to us from heaven, and there is nothing more salutary or more essential to mankind. Apart from this book we should know nothing of the only-begotten Son of God, our Saviour, who, after having redeemed us by the sacrifice of himself, raises us to heaven to live there with him forever. This is a doctrine which was never taught by any philosopher, and is only to be drawn from these sources. Without it, all human thought is blind and barren, and no creature can obtain salvation.'[138] He said that if it were a crime to go to Germany and to confer with the scholars of that country, it was a crime which had been committed by the emperor, and by many princes and excellent men who had conversed with Melanchthon, Luther, and other doctors. He was still speaking when an unpleasant apparition silenced him. The door had opened, and a monk of hideous aspect entered the cell. His eyes were fierce, his mouth awry, his aspect threatening. Every thing about him betokened a bad man, and one who was meditating some cruel purpose. It was the prior of the Dominicans. He turned towards Enzinas, and suppressing his malice, meekly withdrew his head from his cowl, saluted him, and stated that his valet was below and was come to call him to supper. This was the message agreed on between the two monks as the signal that all was ready. 'I know the way,' said Enzinas, who was bent on prolonging the interview; 'I shall find my lodging without the aid of a servant; please tell him that he may return to the house.' The prior went out. Enzinas then requested the confessor to tell him his opinion of the translation, as the emperor had asked for this, and it was indeed the object of their conference. But the signal appointed had been given, and the confessor put an end to the interview. 'It is too late now,' said he, 'come again to-morrow if it suits you.' Enzinas, therefore, fearing to be importunate, took leave of the monk, and De Soto's servant conducted him as far as the court-yard. But gloomy thoughts were crowding into his mind. As he passed through the convent he had seen a number of monks, in a state of eagerness and excitement, some going up, others going down. In their looks he saw strange agitation and fierceness. They cast upon him sidelong glances expressive of terror; they spoke low to one another, and uttered words which Enzinas could not understand.[139] It was evident that this immoderate agitation in the monastery and among the inmates was occasioned by some unusual occurrence. Francis conjectured what it might be; it began to arouse anxiety in his breast; and he wondered whether some great blow was about to fall on him.
When he reached the court-yard a man, who was a stranger to him, but who looked civil, came up and inquired whether his name was Francis de Enzinas. He answered that it was. 'I want to speak with you,' said the stranger. 'I am at your service,' replied the young Spaniard. They then passed on towards the gate of the monastery. The vast convent of the Dominicans with its outbuildings occupied a considerable part of the present site of the Mint, opposite the Theatre Royal, as well as some adjacent land. The gate by which Enzinas had to go out opened upon this place. As soon as it was unbarred he saw a large body of men armed with halberds, swords, and other weapons of war. They threw themselves upon him in a threatening manner.[140] Meanwhile the man who was in his company laid hold of his arms and said, 'You are my prisoner.' 'There was no need,' said Enzinas, 'to assemble such a troop of executioners against a poor man like me. They should be sent against brigands. My conscience is at peace, and I am ready to appear before any judge in the world, even before the emperor. I will go to prison, into exile, to the stake, and whithersoever you may please to conduct me.' 'I will not take you far,' said the unknown. 'Had it been possible to decline the mission which I am fulfilling, I assure you that I should have done so. But the chancellor Granvella has compelled me, asserting that he had received express orders from the emperor.' The prisoner, with his guide and his guards, crossed a small street, and arrived at the prison of the Vrunte, vulgarly called the Amigo, where the noble young man was confined, for having translated into good Spanish the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This took place on December 13, 1543.
ENZINAS IN PRISON.
The first four hours, from six at night till ten, were very painful. Enzinas had a lively imagination, and he saw before him great and numberless dangers, among which death seemed to be the least. All these perils were drawn up in battle array around him, and he seemed actually to see them.[141] But they did not appall him. 'How great soever may be the perils which await me,' he said, 'by God's grace I possess, for encountering them, a courage that is stronger and greater than they are.' Nevertheless, the treachery of the 'wicked monk' tormented him so much that he found it hard to endure. 'If only,' he thought, 'he had made fair war on me, if from the first he had shown himself my enemy....' He remained sunk in sorrow and dejection.
They had placed him in the apartment where all the prisoners were; but as he expressed a wish to be alone, he was conducted to an upper chamber. Weighed down with care, he was dejected and silent. The man who had brought him there looked at him and at length said, 'Of all those who have been brought to this place, I never saw any one so distressed as you. Bethink you, brother, that God our Father cares for his children, and often leads them by a way which they do not choose. Do not, therefore, be cast down, but have good courage. Your age, your manners, your physiognomy, all bear witness to your innocence. If you have committed any offence incident to youth, remember the mercy of God.' Francis listened with astonishment to the words of this man, and then related to him the cause of his imprisonment and the means by which it was effected. On hearing this, the man, whom he had taken for one of the jailer's servants, appeared to be deeply affected, and going up to Francis embraced him. 'Ah!' said he, 'I recognize in you a true brother; for you are a prisoner for the same Gospel for the love of which I have been enduring these bonds for eight months. You need not be surprised, brother; for it is a characteristic of the Word of God that it is never brought to light without being followed by thunders and lightnings.[142] But I hear some one coming up; let us say no more for the present.' This man was the pious and charitable Giles Tielmans, of whom we have formerly given an account,[143] and who was afterwards burnt. From this time he came to see Enzinas every morning and evening, and spoke to him so forcibly and so tenderly that Enzinas felt ready to suffer death to confirm the truth of the Gospel.
EXAMINATION.
On the fourth day of his imprisonment, the imperial commissioners, members of the Privy Council, came to conduct the inquiry. They entered, with great parade and a magnificence almost royal, into the place where the prisoners were assembled. All the latter rose and retired, leaving Francis alone with the commissioners.
The examination began in Latin. 'Francis,' said the commissioners, 'you are to tell us the whole truth, and in that case, although your cause is most hateful, we shall treat you with gentleness, unless we are obliged to wrest from you by force what we want to know.' They then exhibited the papers on the basis of which they proceeded to the examination. Enzinas recognized the handwriting of the confessor of Charles the Fifth. Two crimes especially formed the subject of the inquiry. 'Have you been to Wittenberg?' 'Yes.' 'Have you been acquainted with Melanchthon?' 'Yes.' 'What do you think of him?' Francis saw that he was caught, and that his answer would put into the hands of his enemies 'a knife for his own throat.' Still he did not falter. Never did this noble young man disown his friends. 'I think,' said he, 'that of all the men I ever knew he is the best.'[144] 'How can you be so impudent,' exclaimed his judges, 'as to speak thus of Melanchthon, a man that is a heretic and excommunicated?'