Godfrey Brenz; a tale of persecution

Introduction

The spirit of persecution which prevailed during the sixteenth century is not dead; it is not even sleeping; it is only waiting; waiting for a return of the opportunity which certain ones are unceasingly, untiringly laboring to bring about.

Are we striving as diligently for the spread of Christ’s kingdom of peace; for purity and freedom to worship God as he is revealed to us in his holy word?

Unto Death, .

Godfrey Brenz.

Chapter I. The Body Or The Soul?

“But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake.”

HE bell of the Heilberg monastery

-L was tolling as if for the dead. The prior had ordered this sign of mourning, more emphatically to proclaim his abhorrence of the fact that two of his monks had embraced the opinion that the word of God is superior to human tradition ; that divine power is conveyed not alone through the rites and superstitions of priestly rule.

The youthful “heretics,” as they were called, had been banished to the convent prison, under the sentence of remaining there, without food or drink, until they should retract their “errors,” or until a' more severe penalty should be passed

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upon them. The names of the two were Godfrey Brenz and Reynold Weihl. They both started, and, in the dim light, looked into each other’s faces as the mournful sound of the tolling bell reached their ears.

“The death knell!” exclaimed Reynold, with a shudder.

“Courage,” responded his companion. “If we are even to die for the truth let us not falter. It is not our cause, but his who has said, ‘Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.’”

It was now the second day since the two young men had been thrust into the dark, damp chamber, from which they saw no way of escape save by retraction, and, to one of them at least, retraction meant eternal death.

“Yet it is said that the good friar Probst, of the Augustine Convent at Antwerp, has recanted,” argued Reynold, still trembling.

“So Peter once denied his Lord under

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the stress of cowardly fear,” answered Godfrey, “and I make no doubt that friar Probst will soon be brought to weep as bitterly over his fall. If not,” he added, solemnly, “alas for his hereafter!”

There was a short interval of silence, broken only by the slow, mournful knell of the convent bell. Reynold gave a little start of terror as each new stroke fell on his ear.

Godfrey presently roused himself, and grasping his fellow prisoner’s hand, said, earnestly and firmly:

“Let us think of what the Christ himself has spoken for the help of just such as we are: ‘And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.’”

“True, true,” assented the other; “say it over again, brother Godfrey. Thou art stronger than I, let me lean on thee.”

“Nay,” replied Godfrey, at the same

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time tenderly supporting his weak and trembling friend, “nay, my brother, place no dependence upon mortal man who may fail thee in the hour of need; but lean upon the arm that holds up the universe; so shalt thou never be moved. Thou who didst first find the light, let not darkness overwhelm thee; look up and trust to the Omnipotent.”

The conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the prior, who, hoping something from the gloomy association of the tolling bell, now asked them, sternly, if they were ready to retract and return to truth and duty.

Reynold remained silent, but his companion soon proved that he was in no wise intimidated. He answered, respectfully but unwaveringly :

“How can we retract?” he asked, “when to retract means to deny the Lord who has bought us?”

“You are ignorant, you are ignorant,” urged the prior, “you do not understand what you are saying. How should young monks like you know more about the

THE BODY OR THE SOUL? 1 1

way of salvation than his holiness the pope, the bishops, or even the lower clergy of the church? Submit yourselves to those who are in authority over you, and save yourselves and your convent from trouble and disgrace. You know nothing, nothing. Be humble and obedient, my sons,” he concluded, with an attempt at fatherliness.

Reynold still maintained a timid silence, but Godfrey answered, intrepidly :

‘“One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.' ”

“You have been led into error by reading impious and dangerous books. Promise to shun them in the future; retract your statement that none but God can forgive sin ; return to the duties of your convent and all will be well,” urged the prior.

“We have read no book but the word of God, and we cannot deny his truth,” was Godfrey’s firm reply.

“I denounce you as hopelessly contumacious and a fit subject for the inquisitor’s torture-chamber, or the stake itself!” the prior angrily retorted.

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“And what have you to say?” he demanded, turning to the hitherto silent Reynold.

“Oh, father!” gasped the terrified monk, “give me a little more time — give me until to-morrow, at least, to decide.”

“It is well,” answered the prior. “Take heed how you decide,” he concluded, threateningly.

He passed out of the cell, and the key turned gratingly in the lock behind him.

Chapter II. Beware Of The Inquisition

“ He that loveth his life shall lose it ; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”

T HE day waned slowly away. Twilight fell down over the convent, and the lights twinkled out in the town near by, and then, as the hours wore on, died away one by one, and all was darkness. Even the stars were hidden by clouds, and to those not immured in a gloomy dungeon the night was blackness, but the darkness of the convent prison seemed a darkness that could almost be felt by the two, who, weary and weak as they were with fasting, slept but little as the slow hours wore on.

Godfrey thought of Peter and his angel rescuer from a fate like that which seemed to stare himself and his companion in the face. But no angel came to open the door and bid them come

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forth free. Yet, as the time passed on, a sense of security, of peace and safety seemed to fall like a benediction upon the soul of the young monk, as he reflected that he too was suffering imprisonment for the Master’s sake, and that the resources of heaven are never exhausted.

He listened for a little while to the regular breathing of the tired Reynold, who had finally fallen asleep; then he rose to his feet and groped noiselessly along the wall, feeling, somehow, as if called to action. He felt his way around and around the narrow apartment, unconscious of the object of his movements, yet feeling strangely impelled to continue his contracted march.

The stones were cold and damp to the touch, and the darkness seemed to deepen before his straining eyes, as still round and round he went.

Suddenly he seemed to feel, rather than hear, a stroke upon the wall, succeeded by another and still another, and he who had been firm and calm in the presence of the one who talked of the torture-chamber and the stake, now found himself trembling as he heard, or rather felt, the blows upon the wall, which might mean rescue.

The thought passed through his mind that God is not restricted to angelic liberators, great and mighty as they are, for his purposes, when he chooses to make use of them. Mortal man may accomplish his will, however weak and feeble he may be when unaided by divine strength.

The prisoner waited with what patience he could summon, the slow, steady blows that seemed to make but little impression beyond the faint jar that was communicated to the hand still pressed against the slimy stone? Presently the strokes, or the sensation, ceased. Was the captive mistaken altogether? Was his imagination, heightened by fasting, excitement and weariness, running away with his judgment? Were his impressions playing him false? Was he mistaking the pulsations of his own heart for the beating of some one against the outside of his prison walls?

He waited almost breathlessly; he pressed his hands against the cold stones until the chill seemed to penetrate every portion of his frame, and he trembled violently. But the sound, or sensation, had certainly ceased. A little while before, he had felt that he could die for the truth, but later, he had been impressed with the thought that he was to live to make that truth known to others; that God had chosen him as an instrument for the promulgation of his word. Was his premonition but the freak of distracted nerves, of a disordered brain?

The silence grew more and more oppressive. He could hear his own heart beat plainly now. He felt a painful longing to speak to some one, to hear some one speak to him. He had the half formed thought of rousing up his timorous companion for the sake of his company, and then the reflection came that Reynold was forgetting his hunger and terror in the sleep which had been given him. However, if such was the case, his oblivion was not of long continuance, for he presently started up, exclaiming :

“Ah! pray, give me a little more time !”

When fully awake, he felt about for his fellow captive, and finding himself apparently alone, he called out, in a frightened tone :

“Godfrey! brother Godfrey! Where art thou?”

“Here,” answered Godfrey, and Reynold made his way to the spot, guided by his voice. He grasped his friend’s arm with shaking hands.

“I dreamed that we were being led out to — ah! what is that?” he interrupted himself to ask, excitedly.

The worker outside, recovered from fatigue, had recommenced the intermitted labor, and the sound of the strokes was unmistakable. Not many minutes had elapsed, though it seemed longer to the two who awaited deliverance, when a current of air, pouring into the cell, assured them that an aperture, however small, had been effected.

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A little later, a voice was heard, asking, cautiously:

“In the name of truth, is any one within?”

“Ay, two of us, prisoners for the truth’s sake,” answered Godfrey.

“Then if you would be free, push with all your might against this stone,” tapping against it. “There is a slight displacement on account of the hillside having slipped away from the wall, and I have further loosened the stones. Put to your strength.”

The united strength of the two was speedily brought to bear upon the block of stone indicated, but their united strength was small, and the effort seemed utterly futile. Again and again they tried to move the mass that shut them in from freedom. Their unknown friend resumed work on the outside of the wall, but no result was apparent, except a faint streak of light coming through the small opening, which warned them of the approach of day, and of the hopelessness of escape, should it overtake them before their effort should succeed.

BEWARE OF THE INQUISITION.

Tired out at last with a struggle which seemed to be unavailing, the two unhappy youths were nearly ready to cease their striving, when suddenly a sensation as if some part of the wall had given way on the outer side, was followed by the sound of a suppressed groan.

“Alas !” exclaimed Reynold, “we have perhaps killed our rescuer.”

“I am much afraid that we have at least injured him,” answered Godfrey. “It is plain that we must desist.”

“Not so,” responded the voice outside, with a brave ring, despite the little quiver of pain which accompanied it. “ My injury is but trifling, and I will take myself out of the way, lest another stone fall on me. Work for your lives, and when you are free, hasten to seek a place of safety. The country is being scoured by servants of the inquisitors, for the recapture of Voes, Esch, and Lambert. Beware of the Inquisition. There is no more that I can do for you.”

The voice ceased, and after waiting a moment the prisoners redoubled their

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efforts. Weariness was forgotten, and it was not long before the moving of the stone was distinctly perceptible to the two to whom it meant so much. Little by little they forced it from its position in the mass of masonry, and then suddenly it toppled from its place, and the glow of the eastern sky broke upon the sight of the pair, who hailed it with a joy which liberated captives only can know.

One by one the two monks forced their way through the narrow opening ; first Reynold, and then Godfrey. Each in turn, as he emerged from the prison, looked about for a sight of the one who had been the instrument of their release; but no one was to be seen, save a woman some distance away, slowly driving the cows home to the milking. She walked with a staff, as if very old and feeble, and did not appear to notice the escape ; but the two lately liberated men chose another direction for their flight.

“She may be a friend, or she may be a foe,” remarked Godfrey. “We will run no risks after so remarkable a deliverance.

BEWARE OF THE INQUISITION.

But I would have liked much to see and thank our deliverer of the gentle voice and the strong arm.”

“May God bless and keep him, whoever he may be,” responded Reynold, fervently.

Chapter III. Farewell

“ Heaven and earth shall pass away : but my words shall not pass away.”

W HILE the light of truth had been gradually and faintly dawning in the Franciscan Monastery at Heilberg, it was shining with greater power in other convents, notably that of the Augustines at Antwerp. Though the prior had been arrested, and, with the fear of man before his eyes, had in his surprise and alarm retracted, those who were left behind, as if imbued with courage from on high, continued to hold fast, and preach the doctrine of salvation by the grace of God. Crowds collected in the church of the Augustines to receive the bread of life thus freely offered to them, until the attendance grew so large that many were unable to gain admittance. The preaching went on until stopped by force. Some of the laborers ( 22 )

FAREWELL.

were imprisoned, and others compelled to flee for their lives.

Yet the light of truth was not quenched. In spite of the fact that the New Testament in the vulgar tongue was strictly prohibited, and many copies had been seized by the priests and magistrates, and committed to the flames, the word of God still spread. The precious volume which had brought peace aind comfort to hearts long groping in darkness, was kept hidden like gold or gems, and cherished as the true source of wealth.

The Inquisition had extorted a recantation from one who had most zealously sowed the truth broadcast; but it could not prevent the growth of the heavennurtured seed; and in face of the fact that torture and death were threatened, the believers in God’s word multiplied day by day. So long compelled to feed upon the empty husks of human tradition, of rites and ceremonies that in themselves separated between them and the Saviour of sinners; depending on the merits of creatures who could not save themselves ;

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with consciences burdened with sin which no priestly absolution could remove ; when the truth came to them it was welcomed as the father’s feast to the starving prodigal ; it was grasped as the strong rope let down to the drowning who had lately been struggling to save themselves, or grasping at the straws of finite aid.

But if the truth was thus gaining ground, the powers of evil were marshalling their forces with redoubled diligence to stem the tide which, unchecked, meant a sweeping away of power and wealth maintained through the subordination of the souls and bodies of the people. The truth must not be permitted to fall undimmed upon the eyes of the masses. The word of God meant light and liberty; and so a relentless persecution was commenced, a persecution which included alike the propagators and receivers of the doctrine of grace.

The names of Aleandro and Glapio, of Egmondanus and Hochstraten, were to the followers of Christ as the names of wild beasts, whose mission is to tear

FAREWELL.

and devour the helpless. Yet, standing bold and firm against the sad picture of the fall of some, weakened and intimidated by the enemies of the gospel, are the bright examples of many others who chose to endure torture and even death rather than to renounce the truth; counting it joy to suffer for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was a perilous time for the two refugees from the Heilberg convent. While there were many who would willingly have harbored and protected them, even at the risk of their own lives, the two monks were unable to distinguish between the friends of Christ and the friends of Rome, and one' false step would have speedily destroyed the liberty which they had lately attained, assisted by their unknown friend.

It was now the third day since they had taken food, and the pains of hunger were felt by both, but especially by Reynold, whose physical as well as mental strength was inferior to that of his companion.

As they neared a cottage by the way-

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side he announced his intention of calling for something to eat, regardless of the risk of pausing so near the place of their late imprisonment.

“My brother, I pray thee hold out a little longer,” protested Godfrey. “A few hours more will bring us to my mother’s house where we shall find food, and safety for at least a short interval of rest.”

“Do you go on,” answered Reynold. “ I can go no further till I break my fast.”

Godfrey hesitated for a moment.

“It is perhaps better that we should separate,” he said, “yet I like not to leave thee, my brother. God bless and keep thee. Trust in him. Be prudent, but, oh, above all things be true ! Thou didst first show me the way of life, and I shall remember thee. Farewell.”

There was a clasp of the hand, and so they parted. There is a solemnity in every farewell, but in times like those of which our story tells, a parting often meant a final separation on earth, or a reuniting at the Auto da fe!

So Godfrey went on his way, and his late companion knocked at the door of the cottage.

A woman came to answer the summons, with a lock of wool in her hand, her busy fingers manipulating it industriously, while she looked questioningly at the monk who stood before her.

“My good woman, I ask a brief shelter and a morsel of food, for the love of God,” said Reynold. His evident weakness and weariness seemed to appeal to the woman’s sympathy.

“Be pleased to enter,” she said; “I have not much to offer, but to such as it is, thou art welcome. We are hard working people who live upon the fruits of our own labor,” she added, and Reynold felt the remark as a reflection upon the idle, beggarly existence which he had lately known.

“I desire to enter upon the same kind of a life,” he said, humbly. “I first became a monk in order to save my soul.

I have just left the monastery with the same end in view. I have learned that Christ saves us freely without works or merits of our own.”

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The hostess looked at him keenly for a moment as if debating in her mind whether he were sincere or only trying to lay a snare for her feet. Seemingly satisfied with the result of her scrutiny she said heartily :

“Then thou art doubly welcome in God’s name.”

Producing a jug of milk and a snowy loaf, with cup and plate, she sliced the bread, liberally, and invited him to partake.

The poor monk seated himself at the table eagerly, and ate almost ravenously until the keenness of his hunger was abated, while the woman sat down by the big heap of wool in the corner of the room and continued her work, glancing now and then from the window near by.

“The soldiers from Mentz have been in the neighborhood, of late,” she said, speaking as if to herself, “and I mistrust me they are not far away even now.”

As if in answer to her apprehensions, a man came into view a little later, ascending the slope on which the cottage stood.

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“Hist, they are coming indeed!” exclaimed the woman, in a low, warning tone. “Art thou in danger of arrest?”

The instant pallor of Reynold’s face answered her before he could speak.

“Quick, quick!” she said; “come here and lie down !”

The frightened man obeyed unquestioningly, and the woman piled the fleecy covering above and around him, and then seated herself hurriedly in the chair from which he had just arisen.

In another instant the door was opened, and a soldier entered without ceremony.

“Thou dost break thy fast late,” he observed, looking around the room as he spoke. “Hast thou been abroad in the night attending heretical gatherings?”

“Not I,” answered the woman. “I spend my nights in sleep, at home ; but appetite is a very good guide to the table, I hold. Wilt thou join me in a cup of milk and a slice of bread, since that is the best I can offer?”

“Nay,” replied the soldier, surlily. “I am on the tracks of some heretics; hast thou any hidden about the premises ? h

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The woman laughed, as if the idea were amusing.

“Thou canst see for thyself,” she answered, “unless indeed it be that heretics are invisible creatures.”

The man gave her another surly glance, and then opened the doors of the cupboard and looked within, the woman watching him with an undisturbed countenance, but inwardly praying fervently that the fugitive monk’s small, slight form might escape notice under the heap of wool.

Walking close by the spot where the trembling man lay concealed, the soldier thrust his sword into the snowy mass, just grazing the cheek of the terrified one, who momently expected another thrust which should transfix him. But the searcher was apparently satisfied with his investigation, and contenting himself with saying, grimly, “If thou dost think that heretics are invisible, just wait until we have caught a few of them, and thou wilt see what a fine bonfire can be made of them,” he left the house as informally as he had come.

Chapter IV

THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. “ But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.”

T HE persecution of “heretics” was indeed going forward relentlessly. Rome was sparing no pains to try to compel men to submit to her decrees, to conform to her requirements, and to believe unquestioningly all that ignorant priests — themselves often grossly immoral, and caring only for self-indulgence and gain — might tell them to believe.

Multitudes lay in the fetters of a bondage which enslaved both soul and body, forbidden under severe penalty even to seek for emancipation. Christ had said, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed;” and “The Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them .” Rome imprisoned men for conscience’s sake, and called loudly for bloodshed and burning.

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But while men, claiming to be commissioned by God himself, were thus trampling underfoot all rights, human and divine, the word of God was silently making its influence felt like the sun which gives light and warmth without violence and without noise. Wherever it found its way, he verified his promise, that it should not return unto him void. It wrought a transformation that surprised its enemies, and aroused them to renewed hostility. But wisdom is ever justified of her children, as our Saviour said. The wide difference displayed by the partisans of popery and the advocates of the gospel could not fail to be apparent to the thoughtful.

The great German reformer, zealously combating all ideas of compulsion or constraint in matters pertaining to religion, proclaimed :

“Our first object must be to win men’s hearts, and for that purpose we must preach the gospel. I would constrain none, for faith is a voluntary act. Faith consists in a firm belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; that having taken

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our sins and iniquities upon himself, he having borne them on the cross, is their sole and almighty atonement ; that he stands continually before God ; that he reconcileth us with the Father/'

Comparing these utterances with the printed word circulating among all classes, many dared to believe for themselves, in defiance of those rulers who sought to uphold the power of Rome. The fanatical Duke George declared of the German New Testament:

“Even after my prohibition, many thousands of copies were sold and read in my states!"

The conquests of the gospel, however, were not confined to the lowly. The truth penetrated to the castles of the great, and there were some who learned that Christ is Lord of all, and realized that the highest happiness is to follow him with the meekness and humility of little children.

Two pious monks, converted by the study of the New Testament, and yearning to bring others to the source of peace 3

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and comfort, were boldly preaching the gospel at Freiberg, where stood the castle of Duke George’s brother Henry.

The duchess, noted for her piety and her horror of heresy, was wont to reproach a young lady of her court for her attendance upon the preaching of the monks, who, as she said, were “renegades from the holy mother church.”

“How canst thou listen to this brother Godfrey and his colleague?” she asked one morning, severely. “Know that thou art encouraging attendance upon their preaching by thy presence.”

“My dear duchess,” answered her friend, “thou art a princess of Mecklinburg. Thou art entitled to all respect because of thy birth and position. Thou art entitled to more because of thine own personal worth of character. Thou art a lady of piety and devotion to thy husband and son. Thou art a true friend, and I prize thy friendship more highly than thou thyself knowest; but at the risk of seeming disrespectful, at the risk of offending your highness, I beg of thee

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not only not to oppose my attendance upon the preaching of these monks, but to hear them thyself and be convinced that they are speaking the words of Christ. It has been said, alas, how truly, ‘Not many mighty, not many noble are called.’ ”

There were tears in the speaker’s eyes as she thus appealed to her friend, and the duchess, hesitating only for a moment, replied, not unkindly :

“Well, my dear Cornelia, I will even humor thy fancy, and hear these men for myself; but expect not me to be convinced by the harangues of heretics.”

When the duke heard of her intention, he offered but faint opposition. Though imbued to some extent with sentiments which went for piety among the great, he cared more for pleasure and the gratification of his appetite than for the concerns of the soul, whether his own or others.

“Well, hear these monks if thou wilt,” he said, carelessly, “but encourage them not with gold or silver; nor thou, cousin,”

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he added, addressing the duchess’ companion. “I have not much faith in these priests, though I stand by the church and religion. Look not incredulous,” he went on, “know thou, I have even gone to the Holy Land, and made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Iago of Compostella. I placed a hundred golden florins on the altar of the saint, and said to him, ‘O Saint Iago, to please thee I came hither. I make thee a present of this money, but if these knaves (the priests) take it from thee, I cannot help it, so be on thy guard.’ ”

The duchess, who had heard the story before, was meanwhile caressing her little Maurice, a lovely child about a year old, and breathing a silent prayer to the virgin, that he should grow up to become as pious a man as his father, but more reverential, for the gentle lady was somewhat shocked by the duke’s open avowal of his lack of faith in the clergy. A far more powerful One than the virgin, even God himself, would one day set this same child for the rise of many in Christendom.

But to return to the duchess and her

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friend. They went to the church together on the following day. “Brother Godfrey,” as he was called, — no less a person than the faithful monk, who, with his companion, had evaded the toils of the inquisitors by escaping from the convent prison at Heilberg, — preached a plain and earnest sermon from the words of Christ, “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.” Pathetic complaint, applicable then and now, as in the days when it was spoken, that men are wont to turn aside, in their search for life, to creature agencies, to human devices, to broken cisterns, while the Saviour himself stands waiting to give the water of life freely to all who will but come to him !