Philip Melanchthon, that for his sake alone, to enjoy the conversation and the instruction of so great a man, I would fly to the ends of the world.[80] Aid me in my project. This you may do by giving me letters to facilitate my access to Luther, Melanchthon, and other scholars, and to obtain for me their kindly regard.' This was not all. Enzinas delivered to Alasco's wife, as an act of homage to her husband, the antique and valuable sword presented to him by a Spanish noble. 'You will say to me,' he adds, '"What would you have me do with a sword?" I know that you are armed with a better, one which penetrates deeper than any other, the Word of God. But I send you this as a token of the love that I bear to you, and of the respect that I feel for the gifts which God has given you.' This letter is dated May 10, 1541. Francis Enzinas was not able to go immediately to Wittenberg. He had to undertake a journey to Paris in the summer of 1541, partly to see his elder brother then residing there, and partly to attend on his aged uncle, Peter de Lerma, who was now drawing near to his end. The young man was thus with his aged kinsman on two most solemn occasions--his departure from Spain, and his death. Francis found him weakened, but still enjoying the use of his fine faculties. He went frequently to see him, and they had long and confidential interviews. The suavity of the old man, and his seriousness unmixed with severity, charmed and delighted Francis,[81] who from infancy had always loved and honored his relative, and now esteemed it a privilege to testify to the last his respectful affection. His parents wrote to him from Burgos to take the greatest care of his aged uncle. He therefore went daily to see him, and his visits made glad the heart of the old man. Suddenly, in the month of August 1541, Peter de Lerma exchanged the miseries of this world for the joys of the life eternal.[82] The patriarch of eighty-five and the youth of twenty-five were together at this solemn moment. Life was just beginning for Francis at the time when it was ending for his uncle; and the former, like the latter, was to experience all its burdens. As the sole representative of the family, he gave the old man honor and reverence till his death.[83]