The pastoral letters of the incomparable Jurieu directed to the Protestants in France groaning under the Babylonish tyranny, translated : wherein the sophistical arguments and unexpressible cruelties made use of by the papists for the making converts, are laid open and expos'd to just abhorrence : unto which is added, a brief account of the Hungarian persecution.

The FIFTH PASTORAL LETTER. THE Christian Purity of the Apostolick Church opposed to that of Popery. Letters of some Confessors. (Book 5)

My well beloved Brethren in our Lord Jesus Christ, Grace and Peace be given to you from our God.

IN our third Letter, we promised to give you a brief History of the changes that have happened in Christianity, in the first five hundred years of the Church, that from thence you may under∣stand the-unfaithfulness of Monsieur de Meaux, and your Converters, which tell you with so much im∣pudence, that Christianity is come down from the Apostles to them without alteration. We have been obliged to delay the performance of that promise, that we might make some reflections upon an infor∣mation, that hath been given us concerning the Con∣duct of the new Converts. This was the subject mat∣ter of our fourth Letter. We will return again at this time to the matter which we have discontinued, and give a short pourtraiture, and description of the Christianity of the first Age, that you may see the changes that have happened in the Ages following

The first Age of the Church.

WE cannot know the opinions, and practices of an Age, with any certainty but by the Au∣thors of that Age. We have no Authors of the first Age of the Church, but the Apostles and Evange∣lists And though others should be found, that may be referred to that first Age, we shall leave them to the second, to which also they do belong, because it is certain that those, (i. e. the Apostles and Evan∣gelists) do suffice to teach us what was the Religion of the Apostolick Church. It is above all things just, that we see what was the Religion of that first Age, and by consequence we must consult the Writers of it. This is the more certain, because they were Divinely inspired, and are the only infallible Doctors that we have. In so much that if the Romish Religion be founded in these infallible Writers, we are content that you abandon, and give up your selves to your Converters. But on the contrary, if nothing thereof be found there, it is just that you believe, that all that we reject hath been added to the Christian Reli∣gion.

It is a prodigy that surpasses all belief, that Popery should be the Christian Religion, and that the Foun∣ders thereof should not speak one word concerning it. It is true, the Evangelists, and Apostles, learn us to believe one God in three Persons, and one Son of God made Man, who dyed for the sins of Mankind, Rose again, Ascended into Heaven, and will come again to judge the quick and the dead, and to send one part of them into everlasting Torments, and to give the other Rewards infinite, for extent and dura∣tion. But this is not Popery, this is Christianity. Popery is a Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of our Lord, every day offered to God for the sins of the living

and the dead. It is a new Jesus made of Bread, descending at all hours between the Hands of the Priest, which they adore as the great God. It is the Worship, and Invocation of a second sort of Media∣tor, and Intercessor, to whom they build Temples, erect Images, and Altars, to whose honor they Sacri∣fice Jesus Christ, by whose name they swear, to whom they make Vows, and in one word to whom they give all those divine Honors that are given to God himself. It is an intermediate state betwixt Hea∣ven and Hell, called Purgatory, in which for a time Souls endure the pains of fire, and the torments of the damned; Purgatory which is the foundation of a thousand other Worships, Penances, Prayers for the dead, Masses, indulgences, Stations, Jubilees, Morti∣fications, and human satisfactions. To conclude, for I will nor say all, Popery is an institution of a new Head, and Spouse for the Church, into whole hands the Lord Jesus hath committed all his Authority, and Rights to pluck up, and to plant, to build, and to destroy, to bind and to loose, to make and unmake Kings, and to keep the Keys of Heaven and Hell. Behold what Popery is, and once more I will say, it is a prodigy that God should give us Scripture to in∣struct us in his Religion, and that he should not say one word of the greatest, and most considerable parts of it there. In the Name of God, my Brethren, be not taken in this unhappy snare, into which I perceive that some of you are fallen. The Scripture could not say all, say they, it hath left Commission to the Church to say the rest. Now is it possible that per∣sons can permit themselves to be taken by so gross an illusion? If the thing under debate were small, peradventure it might be conceded, but it is about Adoration of the Sacrament, that is to say a piece of Bread, and giving religious Worship to Creatures, and Images. The thing debated is about Celebration

of a Sacrifice, the most important thing in the World in Religion, yea about the Sacrificing of Christ himself, the greatest Sacrifice that can be imagined. And can it be believed that God will send us to Tra∣dition concerning it. It is to have renounced all ho∣nesty to advance such a proposition, and to be cre∣dulous even to blindness, to believe it. Therefore if I can prove that the Scripture says nothing at all for the establishment of Popery, I have gained my Cause, at least for the first Age, in which I now am, and have proved sufficiently that Popery was then unknown. Let us proceed to some of its Ar∣ticles.

The Sacrifice of the Mass makes a great figure in the Roman Religion, and holds a principal place there. It is the Idol for which they have the greatest jealousie. We cannot better understand what hath been the Opinion, and Sentiment of the Church in all Ages, concerning it, than from the Ceremonies, Actions, and Words which have been practised in the Celebration of the Eucharist.

To search the Sacrifice of the Mass in the Old Testament, as the Papists do, is an extravagance that hath no example, for the Old Testament speaks only of the Worship, and Ceremonies of the anci∣ent Religion. To search it in other Texts of the New Testament, than those which teach us the man∣ner of its Celebration, is to search it where naturally it ought not to be found. It is therefore precisely in the Institution of that Sacrifice that we must find the Nature of it. Now the Evangelists, and St. Paul tell us with one consent, that what Christ Jesus did in that memorable Action is there. The night in which he was betrayed, he took Bread, he blessed it, brake it, and gave it to his Disciples, saying take eat, this is my Body. Afterwards he took the Cup, blessed it also, and said this Cup is the New Testament in my Blood, which

is shed for you, drink ye all of it, take, and divide it among your selves, do this in remembrance of me. In fine they sung a Hymn, that certain Psalms according to the Custom of the Jews. They arose, and so the Cere∣mony was ended. On that, I beseech you my Bre∣thren, call to witness the Consciences of your Perse∣cutors, and Converters, and enquire a little of them, what there is in it, that can have any resemblance with the Mass? Where is the Gradual, the Introit, the Canon, the Ite, Missa est? But you will say these are but indifferent Ceremonies, which may be added. It is a great question whether they might be added, yea, or no. Nevertheless let us let that Point alone at present. Let them shew you at least what is essen∣tial therein. Where is the Oblation? Where is the Elevation? Where is the Adoration? Where is the Genuflection? Where is the Sacrifice, and presenta∣tion of the Victim? Jesus Christ took Bread, and gave it to his Disciples, saying this is my Body. In the Roman Church these words are not said to the Communicant, they are said at the Consecration, a long time before the Communion. Jesus Christ gave Bread to his Disciples to be eaten without Cremo∣ny, or Mystery. They were sitting, or rather lying upon Beds, at a Table, as the manner of the Anci∣ents was. It was a prodigious stupidity in the Disci∣ples not to cast themselves on the ground, and Adore the great Miracle of Transubstantiation, and the Real Presence of Jesus Christ, lying hid under the Species of Bread and Wine, whilst they bore him in their own proper Hands. These ignorant persons so prone to admiration, who Adored Christ Jesus when he appeased a storm at Sea, which was an action assuredly, that a Spirit of a Nature infinitely inferior to God could do, would they not have Adored him, when he did a Work so great as the Creation of the World. But if the Disciples were so stupid as not to

Adore this Mistery, would Jesus Christ be so negli∣gent as to suffer them in this state of impiety and in∣devotion? It was that which the Disciples did, or rather did not do. Hath it any thing in Commune with the Service. of the Roman Church, with that Action by which the Host is lifted up that it may be Adored, with that Worship that all the World give to it, by kissing the ground at the sight thereof, with the Custom of carrying it in Pomp about the Streets that it may be Adored. Press your Converters, and enquire of them, did the Apostles Adore it? If they say yea, ask them why they continued sitting, and why they never said one word of it? If they con∣fess that they did not Adore, ask them why they will constrain you to do it? Why do you desire that we should do more than the Apostles?

And as to the Oblation and Sacrifice, where are they? The Oblation of the Victim cannot be made till after the Transubstantiation, after that the Body of Christ is made present by Consecration, after these words, This is my Body. Now after these words, Je∣sus Christ presented nothing to God, he presented to his Disciples, yea he did not pronounce those words, This is my Body, but as he was giving the Bread to his Disciples. The Oblation therefore is not necessary, the Sacrifice is not essential, for Christ Jesus did not practise it.

Stay not there. Press these Doctors to tell you, whether Christ Sacrificed himself in the first Institu∣tion of the Sacrament of the Eucharist? You will see them perplexed, if they say that he Sacrificed himself. Ask them why he Sacrificed himself upon the Cross the next day? The first Sacrifice of his Body which he made by breaking the Bread, was it not Propitia∣tory for the sins of the Living and the Dead? Behold then the sins of Men expiated before his Death, and therefore there was no need of his Death to make

that expiation. The Sacrifice of the Mass is at this day, says Monsieur de Meaux, a Sacrifice of Com∣memoration.

Now the Sacrifice which Jesus Christ offered in the first: Eucharist was no Sacrifice of Commemorati∣on, for we do not Commemorate a future event, and a thing which is not yet come to pass, so that the Sa∣crifice which is at this day made, is not the same thing with that which was made by Jesus Christ in the first Eucharist. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the Sacri∣fice of the Flesh of our Lord bruised, and his Blood poured out, but in the first Eucharist the Flesh of Christ was not broken, nor his blood spilt. So that Christ Sacrificed that which yet was not, and pre∣sented an Oblation under a relation under which he did not yet subsist. There be certainly a thousand ab∣surdities in saying, that Jesus Christ Sacrificed him∣self in the first Eucharist, many Papists have acknow∣ledged it. If your Converters have as much sincerity as many of their Doctors have had, to confess that Jesus Christ did not Sacrifice in the first Eucharist, demand of them by what right they Sacrifice at this day? For they ought not to do any more than Christ did. And he has not commanded them in saying do this, to do any thing but what he himself did. So that if he did not Sacrifice, he hath not commanded them to Sacrifice afterward. Therefore it ought to remain certain, that in the first Age the Sacrifice of the Mass as well as its Ceremonies were intirely unknown.

As to what appertains to other Sacraments, as is that of Marriage and Penance, he must have a mind blinded by prejudice beyond all imagination to believe they may be found in the Scripture. Mar∣riage and Penance are indeed found there, but there is not one word which does establish them as sacred Ceremonies designed to seal the Covenant of Grace,

and to confer forgiveness of sins. Confirmation is found there, i. e. the custom of laying on of hands for the giving the Holy Spirit, and that of Anoint∣ing the Sick to recover them from Diseases. Some of the Proselytes of these Gentlemen make a great business of it, and have said to us, as a great reproach, that we have taken away Confirmation and Extreme Unction. It is a great pity that minds which seem inlightned, should stumble at trifles. And is it not clear, that this Imposition of Hands, and Extreme Unction was designed for doing of Miracles, which are long since ceased? But they say that the following Ages did nevertheless practise it. That we shall see afterward.

The Invocation of the Holy Virgin and Saints, the Worship of Relicks, Adoring of Images, and the Service of Creatures in Popery, is an affair so con∣siderable that it fills almost all. Nevertheless the Scri∣pture of the New Testament says nothing of it. Nor is it possible, that Men well Educated can per∣suade themselves, that these are Apostolical Tradi∣tions, when we see not the least footsteps of them in the Writings of the Apostles. It is a blindness which cannot be understood. As to matter of Fact we can have no dispute with Papists concerning it. They must acknowledge that the Apostles, and Evan∣gelists speak not one word, either of the Invocation of Saints and Angels, nor of the Veneration of Re∣licks, nor of the Adoration of Images. As to mat∣ter of Right, if the Church has power to introduce these new Worships, let it be proved, and put past doubt and Controversie: for I do affirm that he must be smitten with a spirit of blockishness, that main∣tains that we may Religiously invoke creatures with∣out the Authority of God, and order of his Apostles. Plainly it will be said, that the Apostles have appoint∣ed the Invocation of Saints; and that they them∣selves

have practised it, but they have left nothing written concerning it. I do affirm, that he must have a Forehead made of Brass who shall say such a thing. And the new Converts, who can be persuaded of it, make no use of their reason. It will never en∣ter into the mind of a reasonable Man, that the A∣postles have appointed Invocation of Saints, and said nothing of it in their Writings.

Purgatory, which they would have pass for a little thing, is nevertheless a very great one. For Prayers for the dead, publick and private Masses, and almost all the Roman Worship is founded thereon. So that the Holy Spirit could not let it slip. If there be a Purgatory, it must be in the Scripture, or there is none.. I take it for granted, and 'tis to scoff People, to go search this pretended Fire, in the prison whence we must not go out till we have paid the utmost farthing, in the fire that ought to try all things at the end of the world, in the prison where are the Spirits to which Noah preach'd. If Heaven and Hell were no other ways revealed in the Scripture, the profane would have a fair opportunity to laugh at us.

The Authority of the Pope is the last of those Ar∣ticles of Popery that I have represented. 'Tis an Affair about which there can be no Controversie, which has any foundation in the World. Ask your Converters where-is the Pope in the Scriptures, they will quote to you the Words of Jesus Christ to S. Peter, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church. Call a Turk, a Jew, or any other Man, that hath common sense, and ask him, whether he sees therein, that God hath established a Man at Rome with full authority to guide the whole Church, to damn, to save, to judge of all Differences, to determine without Appeal, to excommunicate Kings, Princes and Sove∣reigns, he will believe you laugh him to scorn. The new Converts which see therein the Apostolick Chair

from S. Peter to Innocent the Eleventh, have very good Eyes.

I beseech you, my Brethren, take your Converters a little to those Texts of Scripture, where S. Paul enu∣merates the Officers of the Church. He has given some to be Pastors, Teachers, Apostles, Evangelists, Bishops, Deacons, Elders and Prophets; in those places where he declares the Duties of those who en∣joy the Offices of the Church. Press them, say I, and demand of them, whether they dare say, that the Apostle hath omitted the first of all Offices, an Of∣fice alone in its kind infinitely superior to all others. Ask them if they do believe in good earnest, that S. Paul declared the Duties of Bishops in general, and that he said nothing for the Regulation of the Bishop of Bishops. I am persuaded, if you press them ear∣nestly thereon, they will blush in your Faces.

Behold, I do maintain, that I have said enough al∣ready for the History of the first Age. The silence of the Scripture about all the Articles of Popery is an indisputable proof, that then it was wholly un∣known. But there is much more, you have an hun∣dred positive Proofs, that then the Christian Religion was wholly opposite to Popery. Against the Real Presence you have all those Passages where the Eu∣charist is called Bread, and a Commemoration of the Death of our Lord; all those where 'tis said, our Lord is on high, and not here below. Against the Sacrifice of the Mass you have all the Epistle to the Hebrews. Against the Worship of Creatures you have the Decalogue, and a thousand other Com∣mandments which do appoint, that you adore and invoke God alone. Against the taking away the Cup, and the Adoration of the Eucharist, you have the History of its Institution. Against Purgatory you have an hundred Texts which tell you, that after this life Believers go to Heaven. Against the Pope

you have all those places, where our Lord, and the Apostles forbid the Domination of Church-Men, both over their Flocks, and one another. This is not a place to engage in a long Controversie by the Scripture; we compose a History, not a Disputa∣tion. Know therefore historically, in the following Articles, what was the Primitive Christianity. Be∣hold what was the form of the Apostolick Church.

1. Christians having as yet no Churches, assem∣bled where they could for the Service of God; and it was almost always from House to House. This is apparent both in the History of the Acts of the A∣postles, and the Epistles of S. Paul.

2. In the Assemblies they preached, and declared the Word of God. This is also certain, and read in divers Texts in the Book of the Acts.

3 They brake Bread from House to House, the Sacred Scripture says so expresly, that is to say, they had no Altars, Pattins, Communion-Cloaths, or holy Habits to remove from place to place. The Myste∣ries were celebrated in a perfect Simplicity.

4. Ordinarily the Sacrament was celebrated at or∣dinary and sober Meals, where Christians came by invitation. About the end of the Meal they brake Bread, precisely with those Ceremonies which S. Paul describes in 1 Cor. 11.

5. The Sacrament of Baptism was also administred with the same simplicity, they contented themselves with dipping persons in Water, with the Invocation of the adorable Trinity. As is seen in all the Baptisms spoken of in the Book of the Acts.

6. It had been an Abomination to have seen Images. And those which have the confidence to shew at this day Images, as made by S. Luke, and from the time of the Apostles, are impudent beyond all imagination. Altho these Images should be things indifferent in Re∣ligion, how is it that the Apostles should scandalize

the Jews, who had Images in that horror, that they broke in pieces the Ensigns of the Roman Emperors. How is it, that the Jews, which sought pretences a∣gainst S. Paul to destroy him, as an Apostate, and Vio∣later of the Law, never objected to him, that he pro∣posed Images to be adored?

7. In the Holy Places there was no Altar, but to consecrate, and communicate they serv'd themselves of the first Table that came to hand, they sprinkled no Holy Water on those that entered their Churches, they made no Sign of the Cross in the Celebration of the Mysteries.

8. They spake and Preached in a Language under∣stood by all the world; they officiated in Greek through∣out all Greece, in Latin at Rome, and in all the West to every one according to their Language.

9. They gave the Communion to all under both kinds.

10. Celebration without Communicants was a thing altogether unknown; for the Eucharist was cal∣led a Supper or common Meal. Now a Meal where one Man drinks and eats alone was never called a Supper, or common Repast.

11. The Pastors were equal amongst themselves. Not to enter into the Controversie about the Diffe∣rence between a Bishop and a Presbyter, which is not at all necessary for you. It is certain, that all the Bi∣shops of different Churches were all equal among themselves.

If we falsifie in any of these Articles, your Con∣verters shall do well to shame us; but they will be ob∣liged to do it by Holy Scripture. For they and you must remember, that we are upon the History, and that we follow the Ages in their order; and so it's ne∣cessary, that in the first Age they shew us all by the Writers of that Age, which are the Apostles and their Disciples.

Seeing it is not at all in our Design to make a Treatise of Controversie upon the first Age, no more than on those that follow, this is sufficient for its Hi∣story, and we must pass to the second. But forasmuch as we cannot, at the present, go very far in the second Age, we will delay the History thereof to a follow∣ing Letter, and we will finish this with some Letters of our Confessors, where you will see the Character of true Christianity, and Martyrs; you have already seen one Letter of a famous Confessor, behold ano∣ther of the same Author. You will understand the Loveliness of this second Letter the better by reading that which was the occasion thereof, which was an Answer to the first. And therefore you shall have them both here.

May 27, 1686. To our Dear Brother Monsieur de M— Confes∣sor, and Martyr of Jesus Christ, condemned to the Gallies at the Tournelle.

I Have received your Letter, my dear Brother, dated from the Tournelle. It hath caused me more joy than if I had received one from the Pallace at Versailles, or Louvre, written by the Hand of the greatest King in the World. You do me much greater Honor than I do de∣serve, to chuse me to whom you may impart the glorious advantages that God bestows upon you. Another, it may be, would answer by condoling, and complaining of the Evils that you suffer. But as for me, God forbid, that I should look upon you as unhappy. Your state is worthy of Envy, your Chains are heavy, and your Irons shameful, according to the opinion of the world; and if you bore them with any other Spirit than you do, I should complain

thereof. But with the Courage and Piety, which you seem to me to have, I do not believe, that there is a person in the world more happy, and more glorious. The Yoke of Christ is heavy to the Men of the World which are weak; but it is sweet and easie to faithful Souls that bear it with patience. Your Sentiments and Dispositions are Christian, my dear Brother, and worthy of emulation, but beware of one thing, that is Pride. If you continue this glorious Work as you have begun it, your name will be put in the Catalogue of holy Martyrs, whose names yet live laden with Blessings. God will distinguish you in his Rewards, you shall be with Jesus Christ amongst the first raised from the dead, which shall judge others. But attribute the Courage that you have to the Grace of God, which works this great Work in you, so worthy of admiration. Alas, we have seen pillars broken by the wind of Tempta∣tion, Men fall unhappily, which we had called the Suc∣cessors of the Martyrs, but which have been found Suc∣cessors to Peter, who through weakness denyed his Master. Who is it that hath sustained you among so many Falls, but the Hand of the Almighty God, who supports whom he pleaseth, and permits to fall whom he will by the un∣unsearchableness of his Judgments? What an Honor is it, my dear Brother, to have been willing to chuse you, and make you an example of that holy perseverance which is so rare at this day. Be of good courage in the name of our great God, and most compassionate Saviour Jesus Christ, and remember, my dear Brother, that you suffer for him who suffered for you, and render to him that which you have received from him. Remember that the loving Saviour offers you a Crown at the end of you Race, and that he says to you, Soldier of Jesus Christ be of good courage, Fight the good fight, he which overcomes, I will cause to sit down on my throne, as I also have overcome, and am set down with my father in his throne. Remember, that the Angels, are at present, Spectators of your Combat, that they wait the issue, and

that they prepare a place for your holy Soul in their holy Society. Either you will continue in these Torments, or you will surmount and escape them. If this last happens, as I very much hope, how glorious will you be among your Brethren! You will have right to say as S. Paul, Let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks, and scars of our Lord Jesus. We shall kiss your wounds, and we shall behold you with envy and admiration. If you lose your life in your slavery and pains, God will prepare for you in the Heavens a Glory distinct from others; for you must believe the Crown of Martyrs is more rich, and illustrious than that of ordinary Believers. Say them, All things well considered, this light and tran∣sient Affliction is not worthy to be compared to the Glory which is to come, and which shall be revealed in me. Would to God I could depaint before you the Glory of Heaven, the Joy of Souls which see God and possess him, the Satisfaction of the Blessed, which are plunged in an Ocean of Delights, the Transports of Saints, which embrace their Divine Saviour, which are in the glorious Society of the Patriarchs, which sing the Praises of God with Angels, and are full of Joy, which exceeds all understanding! In the name of God, dear Brother, lift up your eyes that way, and let that grand object sup∣port you.

Take heed of the perilous Temptations, to which the World, and your own Heart may expose you. 1. Your Heart may peradventure say, the Difference which is be∣tween the Roman Religion and mine is so little, that 'tis not worth the while to suffer Martyrdom for it. Say thereon, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me. Rome is that spiritual Babylon, concerning which, God has said, Go out of her my people. The Church of Rome is the Court trod under foot by the Gentiles for the space of twelve hundred and sixty days. The Papists are the Gentiles, which tread under foot the Church of God, and oppress it; their Images are the Idols of the

ancient Pagans, and their Saints are in the place of the false Gods of Antiquity. The Sacrament which they ap∣point to be adored, is an Idol which cannot be adored, without stirring up the holy Jealousie of the true Jesus Christ. Remember, my dear Brother, that our Truths are not less important than they were an hundred and fifty years ago, when our Fathers went joyfully to death, in defence of them. They deserved that they should die for them then, they deserve that we should suffer for them at this day.

Take head of another very grievous Temptation. Your Heart will say, What, must I condemn to Hell all those persons that have fallen through weakness, which go to Mass by constraint? Without doubt God will shew them mercy, and save them. He will do the same by me, I will follow their example, I shall have the same lot with them. To that, remember the Precept of Jesus Christ, Judge not that ye be not judged. Leave the Brethren that are fallen to the Judgment of God. We do hope that God will shew them mercy, that is to say, that he will give them Repentance of their great fault; but in the name of God, be not tempted to imitate them. Is it not cer∣tain, that the state in which they are, is at least doubtful? And is not yours certain? Will it not be then a madness to quit a state, and way which certainly leads you to the Great∣est Glory of Paradise, to put your self in a way which may lead you to ruine and damnation; this is the best that you can think of it. Moreover, my dear Brother, you ought to remember, that where much hath been given, much will be required, the Favours which God hath bestowed upon you hitherto are so great, that you can never make sufficient acknowledgments for them. He hath given you a courage and resolution that hath few Examples. Oh! how precious is the Talent that you have received? But also how faulty will your laziness be if you go dig and hide it? When a person falls at the beginning of his Race, it will be said he was not fit for so long a Course, and

Men will excuse him. But if he run vigorously within two steps of the end, and having his hand already upon the Crown, lets it go, and loses it, all Men will blame him, and treat him as wretched, and sloathful. Run you therefore the race that is set before you with pa∣tience, and perseverance, seeing you are encompas∣sed with so great a Cloud of Witnesses. Look to that Cloud of holy Martyrs of Jesus Christ, which have gone before you, which have been Burnt, Tortured, torn with Pincers, sometimes whole years together, which have seen their Bowels fall out in the Fire before they gave up the Ghost. The Chain which you wear about your neck is fifty pounds, but it is more supportable than flames of Fire. Say therefore, We have not yet resisted unto blood fighting against sin. How glorious is the Chain that you bear about your neck! It is more precious than if it were of Gold and Diamonds. Being coloured with your sweat, and sometimes with your blood, it may one day prove, (if it pleases God) the most precious of your movea∣bles, and you will say, behold there the Carcanet, and Collar that my Divine Spouse hath given me. Behold the Nuptial Jewel wherewith he hath honoured me. He hath done me the honor to make me conformable to him in his Sufferings, that I may be conformable to him in his Glory.

In the name of God, my dear Brother, do not suffer your self to be softned by the memory of your Wife and Children. God who is rich in Mercy, the Father of the Fatherless, and Husband of the Widow, will take care of her and them, and not leave them without all Consolati∣on. He that loves Father or Mother, Wife or Children, more than me, is not worthy of me. We ought not to love any thing but God, and for the love of God, this good God will be to us in the stead of all things, and will comfort us effectually. The moment of time in which you leave the Prison, to go to the Galleys, to which you are designed, will be a terrible moment to you; but in the

name of God fortifie your self against the horrors of it, and say, I follow Jesus Christ my Saviour, he went forth of the Judgment-Hall bearing his Cross, and I go out of my Prison bearing my Chains. I shall arrive at my Calvary, but I shall also arrive at the Mount of Olives, at the Mountain, of Peace, and at last I shall ascend up into Heaven to my God, and dear Redeemer. In your Journey you will bear your Chain by the Roads, but it will sparkle with glory, and whereas the shame and in∣famy wherewithal Galley-Slaves are laden, is usually the heaviest part of their burthen, on the contrary you will be laden with glory, and your Enemies themselves will admire you. I praise God for the moderation with which you speak of your Persecutors, therein I observe a proof that you are a true Martyr of Jesus Christ. Continue to bless, and pray to God for them. When Men suffer for an ill Cause, it is always with impatience, and fury against those that are the cause thereof. But the true Religion inspires this spirit of sweetness and kindness. So that without going further than your own Heart, you may there find evidences of the truth of the Religion that you defend. Call to mind our glorious Ancestors, and their Sufferings, and say, they were not Fools, and desperate persons, when they sufiered for the same Truths that I defend. On the contrary, they were full of Piety, good Understand∣ing, and Zeal. I will therefore imitate them, and not be troubled at the Judgment that the Men of the World shall make concerning it. Endeavour to get a Bible, or a New Testament, it matters not what Translation it be, it will be always sufficient for your Consolation. If this Letter come to your hands, inform me, if possible, where your dear Wife is, to the end that I may comfort her. She it a good Woman, and I have always esteemed and loved her, and I hope God will have pity on her. Fare∣wel my dear Brother. Mademoiselle de P— your Sister, is well. I communicated to her your Letter for her Con∣solation. Do not fear lest we should forget you in our

Prayers. Do not forget us in yours. Pray to God to preserve this small Country, in which there are so many of his Children. Your Prayers proceeding out of Irons will be more effectual than ours. The Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Amen.

From the Tournelle, July 2. 1687.

I Have received that which you did me the honor to write, it hath been a great Consolation to me, and I did not expect less from so faithful a servant of God as you are. It hath not only edified and confirmed me, but it may produce the same effect upon some few others to whom we have thought fit to communicate it. I have not the satisfaction to read it, as often as I have desired, and do yet desire. I have not read, it but in secret, be∣cause of the difficulty of getting any thing from abroad without the knowledge of our Guards. I return you thanks for the care you have had of representing so much to the life, what I ought to fear, and hope, in the condition and state wherein I am. I had already formed to my self Ideas sufficiently clear of those things, and thanks be to God, your good advice hath impressed them more strongly upon my Heart, so that I have reason to hope, that with help from on high, God will finish that good Work that he hath begun in me, and that my Sufferings shall end in his Glory, my own Salvation, and the Edification of my Brethren. When I make reflection upon the merciful conduct, of God towards me, I am ravished in admiration thereof, and cannot find words sufficient to testifie my sense of them, and my acknowledgment for them. There are few Prayers that I make which are not accompanyed with tears of joy, when I make mention of them. As soon as our Churches were shut up in the Province where I lived, and that pretious liberty lost, which now we

breath after, God put it into my Heart to go and search it at Lixim, where yet they did enjoy it, and a few days after we were deprived of it there, as well as elsewhere; without staggering I put my self to find it among Strangers, forsaking with courage and joy, all the accommodations of Life which we enjoyed in France. In these Travels, and in the different Prisons, and Dungeons, through which the providence of God led me, I have been preserved from vio∣lent temptations, which have made almost all our Bre∣thren fall, and which would not have failed to have born me down with the first. For the imprisonments that I have suffered this day seven months compleat, are a small mat∣ter in comparison of those terrible tryals, and nevertheless I have not been without giving some marks of my weakness. The tears of a Wife, and Family which are dear to me, and which could not shake me at Strasburgh, joyned to those of two Brother-in-Laws, which came to see me at Chalons, prevailed with me to accept certain propositions, which were made to me by two persons the most consi∣derable of that Province; but a few days after God having shewed me my fault, and presented me an occasion to re∣pair it, I embraced it with Zeal, Joy, and Tears, and the Father of Mercies, that knows how to bring light out of darkness, made use of my infirmities to give me that vi∣gor and firmness that I have had ever since. This gives me ground to hope that he will continue this favour to me to the end, and that he will always proportion his Gifts and Graces to the tryals whereunto he shall please to expose me; for that which was done not being executed, other offers were afterwards made unto me, which touched me less than the former, and I rejected them without any delibera∣tion; wherewithal they were so provoked, that on the morrow I was put in the Dungeon. Thirteen days before my Condemnation, being in the Prison at Paris, one of my friends, Tutor to the Children of the King, and Madam de Mortespan, with his Majesties leave came to see me; he proposed to me, that I should go eight or ten months to

the Bishop de Meaux to be instructed (so they speak here.) I soon returned him thanks, and assured him, that time was not capable of changing my Illuminations and Persua∣sions, and that I did believe, that Monsieur de Meaux would give me no more satisfaction than other Ecclesia∣sticks that I had seen. It is about eight days since that M. Morel le Riche Partisan sent me word, that he would take me out of my Chains on the morrow, if I would take time, and that undetermined, faithfully to imploy for my In∣st••uction, and did assure me, that the promise that should be made me should be faithfully observed. 'Twas Le — which spake to me in his Name. I prayed him to go quickly and tell M. Morel, that I was sensibly affected with the kindness that he testified towards me, and that I made him all the acknowledgments imaginable, and gave him my humble thanks; but I was resolved to expiate my fault, by suffering the penalties to which I was condemned. I give you this particular account of things M. that you may know the Disposition of my Soul. The manner after which I suffer, and the bright side on which God causes me to be∣hold all my Evils, persuade me, that he will do me the fa∣vour to be faithful to him even to the death. I do not fix my consideration on the estate; in which I am, which is much more uneasie to all those that see it, than to my self. I carry it only to those Recompences that God has promised to those that fear his Name. I am certain that the light Af∣flictions wherewithal he is pleased to visit me, will produce in me, according to his promises, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory. I comfort my self on this, that the Sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be com∣pared with the Glory that shall be revealed in us.

I assure my self of what S. James says, Blessed is he that endureth temptation when he is tryed, for he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath pro∣mised to those that love him. I rejoyce in this, that our Saviour declares them happy that suffer for Righteousness sake. M. I make all my Glory and all my happiness to

consist in this, that my Saviour has not thought me un∣worthy to suffer shame for his Name. I support my self on the Rock of Ages, I put my whole trust in him, I expect no succour or assistance but from him alone. Upon a Founda∣tion so solid, I promise my self that nothing shall be able to shake me, at present he makes me feel the effects of a singular goodness, in the midst of wicked Passengers, which it pleases him that I suffer, he makes me to tast the sweet∣ness of true and solid good, he fills my soul with that joy unspeakable and glorious, which surpasses all understanding, he fills me with that hope by which he hath sustained all the happy Confessors of his Truth, and by which I hope he will sustain me, as well as they. My principal study is to disin∣gage my self from Earth, to conceive a disgust for the World, and an ardent desire for Heaven. This, Monsieur, is my ordinary imployment, as far as the infamous place where I am imprisoned will permit it. I call it infamous, because one never hears an honest word there, all rings and sounds again with filthiness and execrable Blasphemies. There is such a noise for the most part night and day, that I have scarcely found heretofore one happy moment to lift up my Heart to God. I have been so oppressed with sleep that I have oftentimes fell under it before I finished my Prayers, when I awake at three or four in the morning, I indeavour to sleep no more, to the end that whilst we are a little at rost, I may with some attention perform my Devotions to God. I have had more liberty for ten or twelve days, for when the weather is fair they let the Pri∣soners go forth, and keep them in a Court all the day, un∣less it be six which they keep inclosed. I imploy one part of this time in Reading, Meditation, and Prayer, and I take the liberty to sing some Psalms, as I have done in all the places of my Captivity, and no body hath complained thereof. Behold in two words an abridgment of our mi∣sery. We lie three and fifty of us in a place which is not above five fathom in length, and one and a half in breadth. There lies on my right side a Countryman sick,

with his Head at my feet, and his Feet at my Head, and so it is with others. There is not it may be one among us, which do not envy the condition of many Dogs and Horses. This makes us all wish that the Prisoners may soon depart, but that is a secret that must not be told us; but as far as we can judge, they will depart the next week. There were 95 of us yesterday condemned, but there dyed two on that day, and one on this, and we have yet 15 or 16 sick, and there be few escape. I have had five fits of a Tertian Ague, but God bethanked I am very well recovered, and prepared to take my Journey to Marseilles. We shall take in Burgundy some of our Brethren, which are in Pri∣son for the same reason with my self, who am the first that have had the honor to be Condemned by the Parliament of Paris. There remains no more, Monsieur, but that I in∣treat you to continue▪ to me the assistance of your Holy Prayers. I desire the same favour of Mademoiselle your Wife, whom (with your leave) I do here assure of my re∣spect. Obtain for me, if you please, the same advantage from those Frenchmen of your acquaintance, which God doth admit to your Holy Assemblies. Monsieur M— arrived yesterday, but I have not yet had the honor to see him. Not having the liberty to write to my Sister, nor my Nephew her Son, I must be content here to give them my Salutations. I do not write this, but in great uncer∣tainty whether it can go hence. If your great imployment will permit you to give some Consolation to my Wife and Children, as you have made me hope, and she expects with a great deal of joy, I intreat you do it. You may well imagin that our separation will be a thing terrible to us all, and above all to her. Before I received your Letter, I did nor forget in my Prayers those things which you recommended to me. I pray God encompass you about with his protection, and preserve you many years to labour pro∣fitably in his Vineyard.

N••••••mber 1. 1686.