[_Lat. orig. autogr._--_Library of Geneva._ Vol. 107a.]
[215] Conclusion wanting in the original manuscript.
[216] Peronne de Pisseleu, wife of Michel de Barbançon, Seigneur de Cany, one of the personages of most importance in Picardy. This lady, instructed in the Reformed faith by Laurent de Normandie, lieutenant of the king at Noyon, and the friend of Calvin, had for a long time to endure the severity of her husband, who afterwards came at a later period to be a partaker of like faith.--_Bèze, Hist. Eccl._, tom. ii. p. 244.; De Thou, lib. xxv. Madame de Cany, sister of the Duchess d'Etampes, favourite of the late king, had possessed an unbounded influence at court, which she always used for generous purposes. Her ordinary residence was the Château de Varanues, situated on the Oise, near to Noyon.
Exhortation to a courageous and honest profession of the truth.
MADAME,--I would not have taken the liberty to write to you, if a man, whom I ought to trust among all others, had not emboldened me to do so, by assuring me that my letter would be agreeable to you. That is, Monsieur de Normandie, who, feeling himself obliged to you for the kindness you had shewn him, had a special desire to do you service, so far as he had the means, and besides, has such a care of your salvation as he ought to have who knows that you have loved him, as partaker of a common Christian faith. On this account he has induced me to write to you, thinking that not only you might take pleasure in my letters, but that they might perhaps be profitable for you, as well for your consolation in present extremity, as to exhort you to perseverance so needful in the midst of such manifold temptations. And would to God I might have more ample opportunity of compliance with his request. But seeing that it is his pleasure that we should be separated by so great a distance, which does not permit more frequent communication between us, I beseech you, Madame, to take what I do write as a testimony of the earnest desire which I have to promote your salvation. If, because of the confession you have made of your Christianity, murmurs and threatenings rise up against you, you must bear in mind to what we are called, which is, that notwithstanding all sorts of contradiction on the part of the world, we must render to the Son of God the homage which belongs to him. These indeed should be to you as so many warnings to prepare yourself for greater things, for neither great nor small ought to seek exemption from suffering in the cause of our Sovereign King, in which his honour is as much involved as our salvation. Above all, since himself has begun by shewing us the way, who among us shall dare to refuse to follow him? Where is the greatness, or the elevation, that can bestow greater privilege upon us than on himself? And more than that, if we can appreciate the honour he confers upon us in making use of our service to maintain his so precious truth, we shall hold it to be a peculiar advantage, rather than be annoyed on account of it. True it is, that the human understanding cannot apprehend that; but, seeing that the infallible wisdom of God pronounces, that those who are persecuted for the testimony of the Gospel are most happy, at all hazards we must needs acquiesce in that judgment. And indeed, who are we that _we_ should maintain the cause of God? Where is our sufficiency for it, seeing that we are altogether inclined to falsehood? How should we be witnesses for his truth, unless by his own special gracious permission? On the other hand, seeing that we deserve on account of our sins to suffer all shame of face and ignominy, every sort of misery and torment, yea were it even a hundred thousand deaths, if that were possible, have we aught to complain of, ought we not rather to rejoice, when, forgetting our faults, he wills that we should suffer for his name? Therefore, inasmuch as we are so froward and carnal that we cannot reach such elevation, let us beg of this gracious God that he would please to imprint in our hearts that which naturally we find so strange. Furthermore, let us take to ourselves the example of the Apostles, who counted the reproach of the world as a great honour, and even gloried in it. In short, let us never think that we have fully received the truth, if we do not prefer, above all worldly triumphs, to fight under the banner of our Lord Jesus, that is to say, to bear his cross.