The commissioners now passed on to the second point. 'In your translation of the epistle to the Romans, chapter iii., verse 28,' they said, 'we find these words printed in capitals: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. For what reason,' they continued, 'have you had this Lutheran maxim set in capital letters? It is a very grave offence, and deserves burning.'[145] 'This doctrine was not devised in Luther's brain,' replied Enzinas. 'Its source is the mysterious throne of the Eternal Father, and it was revealed to the church by the ministry of St. Paul, for the salvation of every one who believeth.'
Meanwhile the tidings of the arrest of Enzinas had burst upon Antwerp like a bomb-shell, and spread grief among all his kinsfolk and his friends. Irritated at one time by what they called the imprudence of the young man, at another filled with compassion for the calamity which had befallen him, they went without delay to Brussels, his uncle Don Diego Ortega heading the party, and proceeded direct to the prison. 'Thou seest now,' they said to him, 'the fruit of thy thoughtlessness. Thou wouldst not believe what we told thee. What business hadst thou to meddle with theology, or to study the sacred writings? Thou oughtest to leave that to the monks. What hast thou got by it? Thou hast exposed thyself to a violent death, and hast brought great disgrace and lasting infamy upon thy whole race.' When he heard these reproaches Enzinas was overpowered with bitter grief. He endeavored by great meekness and modesty to assuage the anger of his kinsmen, and entreated them not to judge of the merits of an enterprise by its result.[146] 'I am already unhappy enough,' said he; 'pray do not add to my pain.' At these words his kinsmen were affected. 'Yes, yes,' they said, 'we know thy innocence; we are come to rescue thee if it be possible, or at least to mitigate thy suffering.' They remained, indeed, a whole week at Brussels; they went frequently to the confessor and to several great lords, and earnestly entreated that Francis might be set at liberty, and especially that the matter should not be referred to the Spanish Inquisition, since in that case his death would be inevitable. But they returned to Antwerp distressed at their failure, though not without hope.
SPIRITUAL CONSOLATIONS.
Enzinas had gradually recovered from his excitement. Books had been brought to him, and he read them diligently. There was one work especially which made a deep impression on his mind. This was the 'Supplication and exhortation of Calvin to the Emperor and to the States of the Empire to devote their utmost attention to the re-establishment of the church.'[147] This work was highly praised by Bucer, and Theodore Beza said of it that perhaps nothing more vigorous had been published in that age. 'The perusal of this work while I was in prison,' said Enzinas at a later time to Calvin, 'inspired me with such courage that I felt more willing to face death than I had ever felt before.'[148]
But his chief delight was meditation upon the Holy Scriptures. 'The promises of Christ,' he said, 'allay my sorrows, and I am wonderfully invigorated by the reading of the Psalms. Eternal God! what abundant consolation this book has afforded me! With what delight have I tasted the excellent savor of heavenly wisdom! That lyre of David so ravishes me with its divine harmony, that heavenly harp excites within me such love for the things of God, as I can find no words to express.'[149] He occupied himself in arranging some of the Psalms[150] in the form of prayers, and went on with his task till he had translated them all.
Francis was not satisfied with meditation alone; he joined with it deeds of unremitting zeal and charity. The prison discipline was not severe. The jailer, one John Thyssens, a man of about thirty-eight, had long carried on the trade of shoemaker, and had afterwards undertaken by contract the maintenance of the prisoners. He was very negligent in the discharge of his duties, and allowed a large measure of liberty to the prisoners and their friends. Inhabitants of Brabant, of Flanders, of Holland, of Antwerp, and gentlemen of the court came to visit Enzinas. In this way he saw nearly four hundred citizens of Brussels, among them some persons of quality. Many of them were acquainted with the Gospel; others were ardently longing for the word of God, and entreated Enzinas to make it known to them. He knew the danger to which he exposed himself by doing this, but he did not spare himself; and many gave glory to God because they had received from a poor prisoner the pearl of great price, the heavenly doctrine. 'There are more than seven thousand people in Brussels who know the Gospel,' they told him; 'the whole city is friendly to it;[151] and were not the people in fear of their lives they would openly profess it.' It was hardly possible to name a single town in Belgium or in Holland whose inhabitants had not a desire to converse with him. He was a captive who proclaimed liberty to free men. 'The word of God,' some of them told him, 'is making great way amongst us. It grows and spreads day by day in the midst of the fire of persecution and the terrors of death.' Both men and women sent him money, but this he declined to accept.
Charles the Fifth, who, as we have seen, had arrived at Brussels on November 24, 1543, only remained there till January 2, 1544. On February 20 he opened the diet of Spire, demanded large aids both of infantry and cavalry, and in June set out at the head of his army for France. He took Saint-Dizier, advanced within two days' march of Paris, causing great terror in that city, and concluded peace at Crépy. He then returned to his own dominions, and entered Brussels October 1, 1544.[152]
HOPES.
This news awakened hopes for Enzinas on the part of his kinsmen at Antwerp, and the most influential among them immediately set out to solicit the release of the young man. They appealed to the confessor, who was ready enough to make promises, to the chancellor Granvella, to his son the bishop of Arras, afterwards archbishop of Mechlin and cardinal, and to Claude Boissot, dean of Poligny, master of requests. They all gave kind answers, but these were words and nothing else. The queen of France visited Brussels, and a report was spread that all prisoners would at her request be liberated. Some murderers, brigands, and other malefactors were, indeed, set free; the first of them was a parricide; but Enzinas and the other evangelicals were more strictly and severely kept than before.[153] At the same time, the emperor having gone to Ghent, the monks extorted from him some laws written in blood, which were promulgated in all the towns, and which enabled them cruelly to assail the Lutherans at their own pleasure.[154] 'On a sudden there broke out in Flanders a bloody persecution, a slaughter of Christian people, such as had never been seen or heard of.' From all the towns, not excepting even the smallest, a great number of people and of leading men, on being warned of the danger which was impending over them, took flight, leaving their wives, their children, their families, houses, and goods, which were forthwith seized by the agents of the emperor. But there was a large number who could not fly. All the towers were filled. The prisons in the towns had not room to hold the victims. They brought in two hundred prisoners at a time, both men and women. Some of them were thrust into sacks and thrown into the water; others were burned, beheaded, buried alive, or condemned to imprisonment for life. The like storm swept over Brabant, Hainault, and Artois. The unhappy witnesses of this butchery asserted that 'for many ages so many and great cruelties had not been perpetrated, nor seen, nor heard of in all the world.' Such was the joyful entry which Charles the Fifth made into his good country of Flanders and the good town of Ghent, in which he was born.
Tidings of these things were brought day by day into the prison at Brussels, frequently with a large number of captives. When Enzinas and his friends heard of the slaughter they were amazed and terrified. Will there be any end to this? they asked. It might well be doubted whether such men would ever be satiated with the blood of their fellow-men! Enzinas began to regret that, from confidence in his own innocence, and for fear of bringing the jailer into disgrace, he had not availed himself of several opportunities which had offered of making his escape from prison. A circumstance which soon occurred helped to bring him to a decision.