s to fall into the hands of the enemy, let him think
that God, having so arranged, is pleased to have him for one of the
witnesses of His Son, and therefore that he has no means of drawing back
without breaking faith with Him to whom we have promised all duty in
life and in death--Him whose we are and to whom we belong, even though
we should have made no promise.

In saying this I do not lay all under the necessity of making a full and
entire confession of everything which they believe, even should they be
required to do so. I am aware also of the measure observed by St. Paul,
altho no man was ever more determined boldly to maintain the cause of
the gospel as he ought. And hence it is not without cause our Lord
promises to give us, on such an occasion, "a mouth and wisdom" (Luke
xxi., 15); as if he had said, that the office of the Holy Spirit is not
only to strengthen us to be bold and valiant, but also to give us
prudence and discretion, to guide us in the course which it will be
expedient to take.

The substance of the whole is, that those who are in such distress are
to ask and obtain such prudence from above, not following their own
carnal wisdom, in searching out for a kind of loop-hole by which to
escape. There are some who tell us that our Lord Himself gave no answer
to those who interrogated Him. But I rejoin, First, That this does not
abolish the rule which He has given us to make confession of our faith
when so required. (I Peter iii., 15.) Secondly, That He never used any
disguise to save His life: and, Thirdly, That He never gave an answer so
ambiguous as not to embody a sufficient testimony to all that He had to
say; and that, moreover, He had already satisfied those who came to
interrogate Him anew, with the view not obtaining information, but
merely of laying traps to ensnare Him.

Let it be held, then, as a fixed point among all Christians, that they
ought not to hold their life more precious than the testimony to the
truth, inasmuch as God wishes to be glorified thereby. Is it in vain
that He gives the name of witnesses (for this is the meaning of the word
martyr) to all who have to answer before the enemies of the faith? Is it
not because He wished to employ them for such a purpose? Here every one
is not to look for his fellow, for God does not honor all alike with the
call. And as we are inclined so to look, we must be the more on our
guard against it. Peter having heard from the lips of our Lord Je