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diff --git a/77359-0.txt b/77359-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ce711d --- /dev/null +++ b/77359-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6525 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77359 *** + + + + + LETTERS + + OF + + JOHN HUSS, + + WRITTEN DURING HIS EXILE AND IMPRISONMENT; + + WITH + + MARTIN LUTHER’S PREFACE; + + AND CONTAINING A + + GENERAL VIEW OF THE WORKS OF HUSS. + + BY + + ÉMILE DE BONNECHOSE, + + AUTHOR OF “THE REFORMERS BEFORE THE REFORMATION,” ETC. + + Translated by + + CAMPBELL MACKENZIE, B.A., + + TRIN. COLL. DUBLIN. + + EDINBURGH: + WILLIAM WHYTE & CO., + + BOOKSELLERS TO THE QUEEN DOWAGER; + + LONDON: LONGMAN AND CO.; DUBLIN: W. CURRY JUN., AND CO. + + MDCCCXLVI. + + + + + PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + Page + + INTRODUCTION, vii + + PRELIMINARY NOTICE, 1 + + Preface of Dr Martin Luther, to the Letters of John Huss, + published by him in the year 1537, 3 + + + LETTERS OF JOHN HUSS. + + +Attestation of Peter Maldoniewitz, called the Notary+, 13 + + + FIRST SERIES. + + LETTERS WRITTEN AT THE PERIOD OF THE INTERDICTION + OF JOHN HUSS, AND OF HIS EXILE FROM + PRAGUE IN 1411;--SOME OF THEM MAY HAVE + BEEN WRITTEN IN 1410. + + +Letter+ I. To the College of Cardinals, 14 + + II. To Zawyssius, his Calumniator, 17 + + III. To Master Martin and to Master Nicolas of Myliezyn, 19 + + IV. To the Rector of the University of Prague, 21 + + V. To John Barbat, 24 + + VI. To the believers in Prague, 29 + + VII. To the same, 38 + + VIII. To the Church of Prague, 41 + + IX. To the Hearers of the Word of God at Prague, 43 + + X. To the same, 46 + + XI. To the same, 48 + + XII. To the same, 51 + + XIII. To the same, 54 + + XIV. To the Inhabitants of the town of Luna, 58 + + XV. The Priest Wychewitze to John Huss and his friends, 61 + + + SECOND SERIES. + + LETTERS WRITTEN BY JOHN HUSS, AND OTHER + PERSONS, AT THE PERIOD OF THE COUNCIL OF + CONSTANCE. + + +Letter+ I. To Master Martin, 67 + + II. John Huss to the Bohemians previously to his + setting out for the Council, 69 + + III. Letter written from Nuremberg to his Congregation + at Prague, 72 + + IV. John, Curé of Janowitz, to the faithful believers + of Prague, 75 + + V. John Huss to the people of Bohemia and his friends, 77 + + VI. * * * * 79 + + VII. To the people of Bohemia, 81 + + VIII. To the inhabitants of Prague, 84 + + IX. John Huss to a Priest, 86 + + X. To Peter Maldoniewitz, 88 + + XI. To the believers in Prague, 89 + + XII. To John of Chlum, 91 + + XIII. To the same, 94 + + XIV. To the same, 96 + + XV. To the same, 97 + + XVI. To the same, 101 + + XVII. To the same, 102 + + XVIII. John Huss to his Benefactors, 103 + + XIX. To John of Chlum, 107 + + XX. To Peter Maldoniewitz, 109 + + XXI. Peter Maldoniewitz to John Huss, 110 + + XXII. Reply of John Huss to Peter, 113 + + XXIII. To John Huss, 115 + + XXIV. John Huss’s Reply, 117 + + XXV. To the same, 119 + + XXVI. John of Chlum to John Huss, 121 + + XXVII. To John of Chlum, 123 + + XXVIII. John Huss’s Reply to Peter the Notary, 126 + + XXIX. To one of his Friends, 129 + + XXX. To his Noble Benefactors, 131 + + XXXI. John Huss’s Reception by the Council, 135 + + XXXII. To his Friends, 137 + + XXXIII. To his Friends, 139 + + XXXIV. To the Noble Lord, Henry de Schopeck, 142 + + XXXV. To a Friend, 143 + + XXXVI. To the Faithful of Bohemia, 144 + + XXXVII. Profession of Faith, &c., 148 + + XXXVIII. To his Disciple, Master Martin, 150 + + XXXIX. To the Lord Haulikon, 153 + + XL. To some Friends, 155 + + XLI. To John Cardinal, 159 + + XLII. John Cardinal to John Huss, 161 + + XLIII. * * * * 163 + + XLIV. To a Friend, 165 + + XLV. To a Friend, 169 + + XLVI. To his Friends, 170 + + XLVII. To his Friends at Prague, 172 + + XLVIII. John Huss to the University of Prague, 177 + + XLIX. To his Friends, 179 + + L. To the same, 181 + + LI. To his Friends, 184 + + LII. To John of Chlum, 185 + + LIII. To the same, 186 + + LIV. To Master John Christian, 189 + + LV. To his Benefactors, 190 + + LVI. To his faithful Friend Ledertz, 191 + + REMARKS ON THE WORKS OF JOHN HUSS, 193 + + +Analysis of the Treatise on the Church+, 202 + + + NOTES. + + +Note+ A, 217 + + B, 218 + + + + + INTRODUCTION. + + +Towards the end of the fourteenth century there was born in Bohemia, a +man whose name is inseparably connected with one of the most important +revolutions of modern Europe. His history I have narrated in a +preceding work.[1] I there placed before my readers the great events of +that memorable epoch, and exhibited on the stormy stage of the world +this Christian, whose death, even more than his life, agitated his +country and all Germany. My object, in the present work, is to complete +the first,--to finish the portrait of the illustrious reformer of +Bohemia, by making him also known in his domestic life--the effusions +of his private intercourse. The man is completely revealed in his +correspondence; and I here publish all that the friends of Huss have +handed down to us. + +These Letters, which are translated now for the first time into our +tongue, were never intended for the public eye, having been addressed +by Huss to his disciples and friends, to be perused far from the +view of his enemies, and under the shade of the domestic roof. They +furnish most precious documents to history, and are unquestionable +testimonies of the spirit and character of their author. Though they +are not remarkable either for profundity of thought, or for style and +singularity of doctrine, there, nevertheless, exhales an innocent +candour and an angelic piety, like a fragrant perfume, from every page. +What especially pervades them, are the Christian thoughts on the fall +of man, and his regeneration through Jesus Christ;--the conviction +that all the things of this world pass away, and are but the shadows +of things eternal;--that man is nothing without God;--that there is +nothing but darkness or false lights wherever the divine flame does +not penetrate;--and, lastly, above all these thoughts, subsists that +which embraces all the rest--that “+Faith is life+.” We behold in his +correspondence, a soul superior to seduction as well as to terror; a +firm and upright reason which penetrates every subtilty;[2] originates +in the conscience alone; clings tenaciously to what appears to it to +be the truth as to man’s most precious possession, as to the treasure +which has nothing to fear, neither from rust nor robber. (Matt. vi. 20.) + +Huss was one of those spirits, more contemplative than practical, +which, after having recognised an idea as true, admit of no medium +or arrangement in propagating it, and concern themselves for the +consequences not more for others than for themselves. The inflexibility +of his character equalled his probity of feeling; and it may be +affirmed that, in all respects, both by the heart and the intelligence, +Huss was of the number of those who appear in the world as if +predestined to martyrdom. Yet he sought not after it like a passionate +sectarian or a blind enthusiast; he was as far from possessing that +pride which complacently feeds itself on its own conceptions, as from +that sullen fanaticism which causes a man voluntarily to shorten his +life by useless rashness, through dint of persuading himself that death +is desirable. Before entering into a contest with his superiors, John +Huss hesitated, consulted, and examined. Visited with ecclesiastical +censures at Prague, he knew not whether he should obey and be silent, +or continue to preach the Gospel. “I burn,” says he, “with an ardent +zeal for the Gospel, and my soul is sad; for I know not what to resolve +on.”[3] At a later period at Constance, when condemned and ready to +die, he wrote, “I exhort you, in the name of the Lord, to detest every +error that you may discover in my works; but keeping in mind this truth +which I have ever had in view, pray for me.”[4] He faithfully depicts +his feelings in a letter which he addressed at the same period to the +priest Martin, his disciple, an admirable letter--a true model of +prudence and every Christian virtue. “Attach thy soul to the reading +of the Bible, and especially the New Testament. Fear not death, if +thou desirest to live with Christ; for he has said himself, _Fear not +those who kill the body, but who cannot destroy the soul_. If they +should trouble you on account of thy adhesion to my doctrines, answer, +I believe my master to have been a good Christian; and touching what he +has taught and written, I have neither read nor understood all.” Huss +was neither a superstitious man nor a visionary; nevertheless he had +visions and received warnings in his sleep; he foresaw what came to +pass,[5] yet refused to attach faith to his dreams. He does not dare to +place trust in them, and distrusts his senses rather than slight the +authority of a single precept of his God; he repeats this text, “Place +no confidence in dreams;” and after having related them to his friends, +he adds, “I write this not because I consider myself a prophet, or that +I would exalt myself, but to shew I have suffered bodily and mental +temptations as well as a great fear of transgressing the commandments +of the Lord.” Resignation was predominant in his mind;--the most +absolute submission to the Divine will, as well as an ardent desire to +become acquainted with it. “Pray,” says he, “fervently to the Lord, +that he may grant me his Spirit, and that I may dwell in truth, and be +delivered from all evil. If my death should add to his glorification, +pray it may arrive speedily, and that he may enable me to support my +ills with constancy. But should it be better for my salvation that +I return amongst you, we will implore of God to enable me to return +from the Council without a spot, viz., that I may keep back nothing +from the truth of the gospel of Christ, in order to be enabled to +discover more surely its light, and bequeath to our brethren a good +example to follow.” The sacrifice which he made of his life was the +more exemplary, and his martyrdom the more sublime, because he had felt +beforehand all the terrors of death; it was in God that he sought for +support against them. “Beseech the Lord to grant me the assistance of +his Spirit, that I may confess his name even unto death.... I shall +stand in need of his Divine aid, although I am confident he will not +suffer me to be tried beyond my strength.”[6] + +His confidence in God did not forsake him to the last moment. “Our +Saviour,” says he, “raised Lazarus from the dead after the fourth day. +He could also snatch me from prison and death,--I, an unfortunate man, +if it were for his glory, for the advantage of the faithful, and my +own good.”[7] And yet, when in chains, and awaiting death, he is more +occupied with the interests of others than his own; his soul, calm, +pious, and compassionate, sympathizes with all around him; his jailors +are exhorted and instructed by him. He thinks with tenderness of his +disciples, of the faithful believers of his church, of his friends; the +sight of his benefactors draws tears from his eyes, and he writes to +them in these touching terms, “Generous Seigniors, my comforters and +faithful defenders of the truth, you whom God has sent me as my angels, +I cannot fully express how much I am grateful for so much constancy, +and for all the charitable kindness you have shewn to me, a weak +sinner, but servant in hope of Jesus Christ.”[8] + +His poverty being great, he regrets not being able to remunerate +his friends who have assisted him with money. He bequeaths them all +he possesses, which is but little; for the surplus of his debts he +addresses an appeal, with a confidence altogether Christian, to all +who are rich, and conjures them to pay for him those who are poor. He +promises them, in exchange for the worldly riches which they advance +to him, spiritual and imperishable wealth.[9] Every word that falls +from his lips or his pen affords signs of that virtue so well defined +by the apostle; of that charity, so mild, patient, and benevolent, +to which nothing is indifferent, because in everything it finds an +opportunity of exercising itself usefully, and fulfilling a duty. At +the approach of death, he feels his ardent zeal redoubled for the +salvation of his brethren and dear disciples, and includes in the same +solicitude all those who have listened to his preaching; and in his +last exhortations no one is excepted. When on the point of appearing +before the King of Heaven, all earthly distinctions vanish before his +eyes; and the soul of the obscure workman is to him as precious as that +of the monarch. His own soul presents an unalterable calm amidst the +most cruel pains, and sometimes unbends to a sweet and tranquil gaiety. +Though a prey to so many outrages, he utters neither threat nor murmur; +he pardons his enemies; he blesses and adores the hand of God which +tries him, and sees in these rigours only marks of his love. + +Shortly before his death he writes to his friends thus:--“When we shall +meet hereafter in a happy eternity, you will know with what clemency +the Lord deigns to assist me in my trials.”[10] + +Such does +John Huss+ appear in the edifying Letters of which we here +present the translation; and it is impossible to peruse them without +repeating, with Luther,--“If this man was not a generous and intrepid +martyr and confessor of Christ, certainly it will be difficult for any +man to be saved.”[11] + +We have penetrated in every direction into this mind so eminently +Christian; we have shewn in all its aspects this soul so marked with +candour and so powerful; and it now remains to us to assign to John +Huss his place among the men who have agitated the world, and to +determine the work which is personal to him, what, in fact, he has left +behind him that is durable. To succeed in such an endeavour, we must +take into account a prejudice which still prevailed at that period. +False notions had for centuries been in circulation, and had taken root +in Christendom, relative to the authority of individual convictions, +judgment, and conscience. It was denied that man, sustained by Divine +grace, could find in himself any assistance; it was believed to be a +meritorious act of Christian virtue to seek for no direction in one’s +own internal feeling, and to trample reason under foot; an opinion was +adopted, not because in itself it had been found conformable to the +Scriptures or to truth, but because it was considered to agree with +the decisions of some great doctor, pope, or council, or because it +was found in Augustin, Origen, or Jerome. Tradition alone was listened +to; and it was altogether forgotten that the first Christians, who had +sprung from the Jews and Gentiles, were accustomed to consult their +conscience before all, in face of the altars of Paganism, or of the +temple still standing at Jerusalem, and that they took for their only +guide this secret and inflexible monitor. A few eloquent men--a few +great minds--had, it is true, consulted their individual opinions, +rather than yield to clerical and traditional authority. Abelard and +Berenger, in France, had given proof of boldness and independence in +proclaiming their doctrines; but they grew timid when it was necessary +to defend them; their voices died away, and their heads were bowed low, +before the menaces of popes and councils. In Italy, Armand de Bresse +had ventured openly to resist the pontifical power; but the revolution, +of which he gave the signal, was a civil rather than a religious one. +Numerous sects and whole populations had, in different countries, +emancipated themselves from the yoke, by depending on that irresistible +force which the sympathy of the masses and the association with a whole +nation creates, in order to think, believe, and suffer. England, in +fine, had witnessed a powerful mind,--that of Wycliffe, nourished by +the Scriptures,--bring to light a body of doctrine, from which, at a +later period, sprang the code of the Reformation;[12] but Wycliffe +escaped alive the solemn sentence of an œcumenical council;[13] and +many doubt whether he could have passed triumphantly through that +formidable ordeal. + +It was reserved for the little town of Constance to afford a spectacle +which the world had not witnessed for ages. There, one man, weakened by +sickness and long imprisonment, isolated from a few friends dispersed +and trembling, resisted, strong in the gospel and in his conscience, +all that external authority could display to intimidate and subjugate +souls. He yields not before the efforts of all the spiritual and +temporal powers united. John Huss, lastly, by his example, still +more than by his doctrines, re-opened to the Christian world a path +that had been long closed; and, if it is permitted to compare sacred +things with profane, effected in the sphere of religion and morality +what, at a later period, Columbus brought to pass in the external and +physical world; he laid open a new empire, or, to speak more correctly, +he discovered a domain which had been forgotten for ages--that of the +Conscience in matters of faith. Inquiry was a field interdicted to +all. Huss entered on it anew, in the midst of hostile clamours, and +re-opened it amidst the noise of the thunder and the tempest. He fell +in his attempt; but it was important to prove that the conscience +of the Christian was stronger than all the powers of the earth; for +that end one of those sublime sacrifices which terminate in death was +requisite. John Huss, therefore, must die; and in his death consisted +his victory. + +It was the firmness of his character which gave him influence over the +people, like most of those whose passage through the world has left +the most durable impression. He was great, especially by the heart; +and although he was, by the qualities of his mind, one of the most +distinguished men of his age, yet his greatness was rather moral than +intellectual. He established no new system, nor attached his name to +any religious creed; and his glory is, in consequence, the purer. Not +being the author of his doctrines, he had no personal interest in their +triumph; and the love of the truth did not, in his heart, confound +itself with vanity. He was not able to obtain external liberty for +religious worship; but he did more; for by his faith, by his courage +before a tribunal the most elevated in the opinions of men; by the vast +renown of his virtues, condemnation, and martyrdom, he caused a part +of Europe to understand the sacred right of that freedom of conscience +which, when properly employed, constitutes the Christian equally on +the throne as in chains. John Huss, in a word, greatly contributed to +bring back Christianity to its primitive character, viz., that of +being the religion of the heart, and to restore its real spirit--a +spirit of life, of progress, and of liberty. If Religion be not this; +if it be the monopoly of a college of priests, or the privilege of a +sect, it becomes immediately exclusive, intolerant, and oppressive. The +history of antiquity, as well as of modern times, teaches us that men +who constitute themselves as infallible interpreters of the Divinity, +make their gods after their own likeness. The Creator of the world +would soon be no longer in their mouths a compassionate Father, who +gives to all his children on earth an equal right of approaching him +in adoration and prayer, and who presents his word to all minds, like +his Son, to the regards of every creature; but a jealous master, ever +ready to punish and strike at the will of his interpreters, at the cry +of those who call themselves the representatives of his power. Religion +would no longer be that celestial and internal bond which attracts the +soul to God by love; it would become the yoke which masters externally +by constraint--a dreadful instrument of punishment to the souls which +it abases, by placing them under restraint, and more destructive, if +possible, to men’s minds than to their bodies. It is on this account +that the generous Christians of all Churches who have heroically +resisted the oppressors of the conscience, are justly entitled to the +imperishable admiration and gratitude of all who adore in spirit and in +truth. Among these no man was ever more remarkable than +John Huss+; +for no other ever did more to restore to the Conscience, in the heart +of man, that throne which it ought never to have abdicated. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _The Reformers before the Reformation. Fifteenth Century. John Huss +and the Council of Constance._ 2 vols. + +[2] Consult, in particular, Letter xl. of the Second Series. + +[3] First Series, Letter iii. + +[4] Second Series, Letter xlviii. + +[5] _Ibid._, Letter xxxiii. + +[6] Second Series, Letter xi. + +[7] Ibid. Letter xviii. + +[8] Second Series, Letter xviii. + +[9] Second Series, Letter xxv. + +[10] Second Series, Letter xxx. + +[11] Preface of Luther, page 12. + +[12] See _The Reformers before the Reformation_, Hist. Introduct., +section v. + +[13] Wycliffe died thirty-five years before the Council of Constance +condemned his memory and works. + + + + + PRELIMINARY NOTICE. + + +The Letters of +John Huss+ were collected by his friend, Peter +Maldoniewitz, the notary, and it was the great Reformer of the +sixteenth century, Martin Luther, who first published them, rendering +justice to the faith, doctrines, and noble character of their author. +Luther at first translated into Latin four letters, written by Huss +in Bohemia, and published them in 1536, together with those which +the nobles of Bohemia and Moravia had addressed to the Council of +Constance. Wittemberg was the place where he published them, on +the occasion of a general council being convoked by Paul III.[14] +He joined to these letters a preface, of which the following is an +extract:--“My object in publishing these letters,” said Luther, “is, +if God should permit the council to assemble, to warn such persons as +might be present to beware of following the example of the Council of +Constance, in which the truth was exposed to such lengthened and such +violent attacks; nevertheless, it triumphs now, and, holding erect +its victorious head, shews forth that guilty assembly in its true +colours. Undoubtedly, God has sufficiently manifested in that council +how he resists the proud, and confounds the haughty, by their own +imaginations, without paying any consideration to outward dignity.”[15] + +The following year, Luther published a complete edition of the letters +of John Huss, and prefixed to it a preface which we subjoin, and in +which he enumerates, with great power, the principal claims of Huss to +the esteem and admiration of posterity. This preface also contains some +interesting and curious details; and Luther even narrates in it the +strong impression produced on himself in his youth, at first reading, +by chance, some of the writings of that Christian whom he had been +taught to execrate as a dreadful heretic. Luther is supposed to have +drawn up the summary of contents which are found at the head of most of +the letters of John Huss, in the collection of his works,[16] and we +have most carefully preserved them. + +The letters of John Huss are divided into two series, each of which +refers to a different period of his life: the first is that of his +interdiction and exile from Prague in the years 1410 and 1411; the +second comprehends the period which elapsed from his departure from the +council till his death. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] This council, which was first convoked at Mantua for the year +1537, then at Vicenza, did not open until 1542, in the city of Trent. + +[15] The several editions of this Preface, which will be found at +the end of the volume (Note A), present numerous variations. We have +considered it best to follow the first edition, which was most kindly +communicated to us by M. Frederic Monod, one of the clergymen of the +Reformed Church at Paris. + +[16] _Hist. et Monum. Johan. Hus_, vol. i. Nuremberg, 1715. + + + + + PREFACE OF DR MARTIN LUTHER, TO THE LETTERS OF JOHN HUSS, PUBLISHED BY + HIM IN THE YEAR 1537. + + In order to render more prudent, and to instruct, by means of the + tyrannical judgments of the Council of Constance, all theologians + that may be hereafter called to sit in a council of the Roman + Church. + + +Should any man read these letters, or hear them read, being, at the +same time, in possession of a sound intelligence, and, in the face +of God, having a regard for his own conscience, he will not, I am +convinced, hesitate to allow that John Huss was endowed with the +precious gifts of the Holy Spirit. Observe, in fact, how firmly he +clung, in his writings and his words, to the doctrines of Christ; +with what courage he struggled against the agonies of death; with +what patience and humility he suffered every indignity; and with what +greatness of soul he at last confronted a cruel death in defence +of the truth;--doing all these things alone and unaided, before an +imposing assembly of the most powerful and eminent men, like a lamb +in the midst of wolves and lions. If such a man is to be regarded as a +heretic, no person under the sun can be looked on as a true Christian. +By what fruits, then, shall we recognise the truth, if it is not +manifest by those with which John Huss was so richly adorned? + +The greatest crime of John Huss was his having declared that a man of +impious life was not the head of the universal Church: he allowed him +to be the chief of a particular church, but not of the universal one; +just the same as a minister of the word, whose life is criminal, still +remains minister according to external appearance, although he is not, +on that account, a member of the saints in his church. In a similar +manner, John Huss denied that an impious and flagitious pontiff was a +worthy one, although seated on the throne of the Church; it is as if we +should declare that Judas, being both traitor and robber, was not an +honest man, although he had been called to the functions of an apostle. +Every effort, in fact, was made to prevail on John Huss to admit that +a criminal pope ought to be regarded as a saint, and was infallible; +that his words and acts were alike holy, and ought to be received and +respected as so many articles of faith. All the men of the Council of +Constance, wise as they were considered, would have lent a favourable +ear to such assertions,--they who, when they had dethroned three +culpable pontiffs, did not allow to any one the right of condemning +them to the flames! But when John Huss said the same things, they +dragged him at once to the stake! + +The door was (once more)[17] thrown open to similar events, by the +indulgences which the Roman pontiff scattered with such profusion +over the whole world, and by the jubilee which he instituted at Rome +to build the church of St Peter: for the pope, amongst his other +inventions, declared, and afterwards confirmed by his bulls, that the +souls of such persons as, having undertaken a pilgrimage to Rome, +should happen to die on the way, should at once take flight to heaven; +and, in his quality of God on earth, and God’s viceroy, he orders, most +peremptorily, the angels to bear such souls upwards on rapid cars. +Tetzel, the bearer of the indulgences of the bishop of Mentz, in like +manner taught that the souls would spring from purgatory to heaven, as +soon as the clink of the money paid into the treasury should be heard; +but when shortly after he was confounded and put to shame, he shut his +impudent mouth. + +It was to oppose such impieties, calculated as they were to disgust +even a brute animal,[18] that John Huss, preacher of the Word of God at +the chapel of Bethlehem at Prague, put himself forward. He denied that +any such power was given to the Roman pontiff, who, he boldly declared, +might be mistaken in that as well as many other things. Having then +taken the great liberty of inculcating that the pope can err (a +heresy then considered far more frightful than to deny Jesus Christ), +he was constrained by violence to confirm what he had maintained in +saying, that an _impious pope_ was not a _pious_ one. All then were +in wild commotion, like so many wild boars, and they gnashed their +teeth, knit their brows, bristled up their coat, and, at last, rushing +precipitately on him, delivered him cruelly and wickedly to the flames. + +One of the first articles that it was necessary to admit at that period +was, that the Roman pontiff was infallible; and such was the opinion of +the jurisconsults of the Roman court. It did not appear presumable that +any error could emanate from so elevated a quarter; but when personal +presumptions are formed, it often comes to pass too much is presumed. + +The extraordinary mistake of these men on so important a point, and the +manifest outrages which John Huss suffered from them, only served to +animate him with greater courage. A conscience pure of all crime before +God and before the world, affords a man a great consolation in his +misfortunes; and if his suffering should be for the name and glory of +God, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter of the afflicted, immediately comes +to his aid, and lends him assistance against the world and against +demons, as Christ has promised (Matt. x.) in these words: “It is not +you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you;” and +(Luke xxi.) “For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your +adversaries shall not be able to resist and gainsay.” + +I have heard from some persons worthy of faith, that the Emperor +Maximilian said, in speaking of John Huss, “They have done great +injustice to that excellent man.” Erasmus of Rotterdam, in his early +writings, now in my possession, has declared that John Huss had been +burned, but not convinced; and the general opinion amongst pious men +of that day was, that he had been loaded with outrage and violence. +I will relate here what Dr Staupitz narrated to me of a conversation +which he had with his predecessor, Andrew Prolès, a man of birth and +merit, relative to the rose of Dr John Zacharias. This Zacharias +was represented in the cloisters bearing a rose in his hat, as a +distinction for him, and an affront to John Huss. Prolès, seeing this +image, said, “I would not consent to wear that rose.” Staupitz having +inquired for what motive, Prolès replied, “When it was maintained +before the Council of Constance against John Huss, that the pope could +not be represented by any one, Dr Zacharias brought forward the passage +of Ezekiel (chap. xxxiv.), _It is I who am above the shepherds, and not +the people._[19] John Huss denied that these words could be found to +form part of the chapter alluded to; and Zacharias offered to prove the +contrary, from the very Bible which John Huss had brought from Bohemia: +for Zacharias, like many others, had often visited Huss for the +purpose of convincing him, and he had by chance happened to perceive +the passage in question. The Bible was then produced in the assembly, +and it shewed that Zacharias was right. John Huss, nevertheless, +maintained that the Bible was not a correct one, and that the other +versions would not confirm it; but being overwhelmed by the clamours +of his adversaries, he lost his cause, and Zacharias received a rose +from the Council, in perpetual memory of this fact. And yet,” observed +Prolès, “it is certain that these words are not found in any correct +Bible, whether manuscript or printed, and that they all testify against +Zacharias.” Such was the account of Prolès to Dr Staupitz. + +The verse alluded to is found in all German, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew +Bibles, as it was quoted by John Huss; but at Constance they could not +admit it in any other way than as quoted by Zacharias, who deserved +neither to receive the rose nor to wear it. + +The adversaries of John Huss’s opinions have themselves testified +to his learning. Thirty years back, I heard several able theologians +declare that “John Huss was an exceedingly superior doctor, and that +he surpassed in erudition and knowledge all the persons composing the +council.” His writings, and, amongst others, his _Treatise on the +Church_, and his _Sermons_, confirm this eulogium. + +When I was a divinity student at Erfurt, my hand happened to alight, +one day, in the library of the monastery, on a volume of John Huss’s +sermons. Having read, on the cover of the work, the words, _Sermons +of John Huss_, I was immediately inflamed with a desire to ascertain, +by perusing this book, that had escaped from the flames, and was thus +preserved in a public library, what heresies he had disseminated. I was +struck with amazement as I read on, and was filled with an astonishment +difficult to describe, as I sought out for what reason so great a +man--a doctor, so worthy of veneration, and so powerful in expounding +the Scriptures--had been burned to death. But the name of Huss was, at +that period, such an object of execration, that I absolutely believed +that if I spoke of him in terms of praise, the heavens would fall on +me, and the sun veil his light. Having then closed the book, I withdrew +sad at heart, and I remarked to myself, by way of consolation--“Perhaps +he wrote those things before he fell into heresy.” At that time I was +still ignorant of what had passed in the Council of Constance. + +All that I could say would only add infinitely to the high character of +John Huss. His adversaries render him a striking, though unintentional +testimony; for if their clouded eyes could open to the light, they +would blush at the remembrance of the things which they themselves +narrate. The author of a collection of the acts of the council, written +in German, and enriched with very many remarkable details, endeavours, +with all his power, to cover with odium the cause of John Huss; and +yet he declares, that when Huss beheld himself stripped of all the +dignities of his order, he smiled with intrepid firmness. According +to the same author, also, Huss, when conducted to the funeral pile, +constantly repeated--“Jesus, Son of God, have pity on me!” At the +sight of the fatal stake to which he was to be fixed in order to be +burned, he fell on his knees and cried out--“Jesus, Son of the living +God, who suffered for us all, have pity on me!” Beholding a peasant +bringing some wood to feed the flames, he again smiled with mildness, +and uttered these words of St Jerome--“O holy simplicity!”[20] A +priest having drawn nigh, and demanded if he desired to confess, Huss +replied, that he was ready to do so; and the priest having insisted on +the necessity of abjuring, John Huss refused, saying that he did not +consider himself guilty of any mortal sin. + +The man who, in the agony of death, invoked, with so firm a heart, +Jesus the Son of God--who, for such a cause, delivered up his body to +the flames with so strong a faith, and so stedfast a constancy--if such +a man, I repeat, deserves not to be considered a generous and intrepid +martyr, and true follower of Christ, it will be difficult for any one +to be saved. Jesus Christ himself has declared:--“He who confesses me +before men, him will I also confess before my Father.” What more shall +I say? The Roman pontiff raises many men to the rank of saints, of whom +it would be difficult to predicate if they are with the elect or with +the devils; and he precipitates into hell a man like this, when it +results, from the examination of his whole life, that his place is in +heaven.[21] + +I have again specified these matters, in order that they may serve as +a salutary warning to such of our theologians as may repair to the +approaching council; for should they resemble the men who assembled +at the Council of Constance, the same thing will happen to them as to +their predecessors--the acts which they will be anxious to conceal and +bury in oblivion shall be dragged forth to the open day, and published +everywhere. The doctors of Constance were convinced that no person +would ever presume to accuse them, either by word or writing, and +much less in the teeth of the cruelest menaces, to honour John Huss +as a saint, and condemn them for their conduct. Events have, on the +contrary, either by me or by others, verified the predictions of John +Huss. Our theologians, strong in their authority, anticipate no peril. +I admit their power to be equal to what they possessed in John Huss’s +time; but it is not less certain, that he who then stood at their +tribunal now sits in a place where his judges must give way before him. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[17] We add these words, omitted by Luther, but necessary to complete +the meaning of the passage. + +[18] “Quos nullus neque asinus neque porcus ferret.” + +[19] It is not easy to see, in reading this recital, what force the +adversaries of Huss could draw from the passage, for the Eternal is +alone spoken of, who announces that he comes himself in the place of +bad pastors. The argument of Zacharias cannot have any weight except +with those who absolutely behold God in the pope, and who imagine that +all that is said of the Eternal in the Scriptures is applicable to the +pope. + +[20] Luther here confounds two events. The touching expression which he +mentions is erroneously attributed to John Huss; it fell from the lips +of Jerome of Prague.--(_Vide_ “_The Reformers before the Reformation_.” +Vol. II., Book III., Chap. XII.) + +[21] Luther adds:--“Sunt igitur in numero sanctorum tuorum diaboli, et +tu vicissim in ipsorum, mi pontifex Romane.” + + + + + LETTERS OF JOHN HUSS. + + + ATTESTATION OF PETER MALDONIEWITZ, CALLED THE NOTARY. + +These pages are all faithfully copied from the Letters of John Huss, +written with his own hand, and they correspond, word for word, with the +originals.[22] + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[22] This attestation of the faithful Maldoniewitz is found after John +Huss’s letters, in the old collection of his works.--_Johann. Hus. +Hist. et Monum._ vol. i., p. 95. + + + + + FIRST SERIES. + + LETTERS WRITTEN AT THE PERIOD OF THE INTERDICTION OF JOHN HUSS, AND + OF HIS EXILE FROM PRAGUE IN 1411;--SOME OF THEM MAY HAVE BEEN + WRITTEN IN 1410. + + +The letters of this series contain the greater part of the admirable +exhortations addressed by John Huss to the believers of his church. +They are not distinguished either for the great diversity of incidents, +or the dramatic interest of those in the second series, but they +clearly evidence the great intrepidity, Christian piety, love for his +brethren, and true greatness, that pervaded the mind of Huss. The +writer already felt a presentiment of his martyrdom; and it is easy to +perceive in reading them, that he would not give way when his time was +come.[23] + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[23] For historical details relative to this period of the life of John +Huss, see _The Reformers before the Reformation_, vol. i., book i. + + + + + LETTER I. + + TO THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS[24] + + [In this letter, John Huss complains of having been falsely + denounced, and humbly demands to be dispensed from being obliged to + appear in person. For the same purpose, John Huss makes an appeal to + John XXIII.,[25] which has been inserted in his history, accompanied + by the testimony of the Academy of Prague.] + + +I write with the humble submission and respect that is due to your +commands, Reverend Fathers in Christ; you who are clothed with an +apostolical character, who shine as great lights to enlighten the +nation, and who are elevated to power in order to efface the sins of +the world, to snatch souls from the snares of Satan, and to succour +those who suffer in Christ’s name.[26] I would humbly have recourse +to your fatherly counsels, incapable as I am of supporting the burden +which weighs me down. The evils that overwhelm me date from the time +that a portion of the Church withdrew their obedience from Gregory +XII. I then recommended with success, in my sermons before the +Barons, Princes, Clergy, and People, their adhesion to the College of +Cardinals, for the union of my holy mother Church. It comes to pass +that the Reverend Father in Christ, Sbynko, Archbishop of Prague, +an adversary of the Sacred College, caused a pastoral letter to be +affixed to the doors of the churches, prohibiting all the masters of +the University of Prague, and in particular myself, from exercising any +functions of the sacred ministry, under the pretext that the masters of +the University of Prague, who had adhered to the Sacred College, had +withdrawn their allegiance from our Holy Father Gregory XII. and the +Holy See. But facts must be judged by their results, and it occurred +that the Archbishop was constrained, by the decrees of the Council of +Pisa, to approve of the conduct of the masters.--Such was the first +origin of the accusation laid against me, and of all my troubles. + +The Sacred College of Cardinals having promised many favours to their +adherents, I have kept in remembrance these promises, and have placed +trust in them, as one should do in the promises of those who are the +pillars of the Church. I therefore implore your Reverences, and on my +knees I conjure you, to cast a regard of kindness on my misfortune, +that I may be dispensed from appearing in person,[27] and from other +most painful obligations resulting from it. I am innocent of the things +of which my adversaries accuse me; and of this I call to witness our +Lord Jesus Christ. I am willing to appear in the presence of the +University of Prague, of all the prelates, and of all the people who +came to hear me, and before them to give, by word and by writing, a +full and absolute account of the faith that I guard in my heart, and +to confess it, even at the peril of being burned to death.[28] Your +Reverences may be assured of this confession by public documents as +well as by the testimony of the University of Prague. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[24] Of all the letters that have been saved of John Huss, this is the +only one addressed to his ecclesiastical superiors, the dignitaries +of the Church. It is valuable, inasmuch that it shews the respect +with which he addressed them, his ardent desire to convince them of +the purity of his doctrines, and the fear which he felt of a rupture, +without any mixture of weakness. + +[25] It is in the text, _Scripsit ejus totam_; but this pretended +letter is the act of appeal drawn up at Prague before a notary, June +23, 1410.--(_Hist. et Monum. Johan. Hus._ vol. i., p. 112-116.) + +[26] John Huss attached to the acts of good priests the efficacy which +the Roman Church attributes indefinitely to those of all priests.--See +_The Reformers before the Reformation_, vol. i., book i. + +[27] Before the pope. + +[28] “Etiam igne ad audientiam posito.” + + + + + LETTER II. + + TO ZAWYSSIUS, HIS CALUMNIATOR. + + +Grace to you and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ. It has come to my +ears that you have accused me of heresy. If this be true, send me word, +and you shall know then, by the grace of God, what is the faith which +I confess, which I defend, which I do not dissemble in the shade, but +which I profess as becomes a true Christian. And, would to God that +your eyes might be opened as to the manner in which, for nearly thirty +years, you have shorn your flock in Praschatitz. Where do you dwell? +How do you labour? How do you feed your flock? You have forgotten +these words of the Lord:--“Wo unto the shepherds, who only care for +themselves, and do not feed their sheep!” Tell me, I pray you, are you +penetrated with that part of the gospel of Christ, which says--“_The +good shepherd goeth before his sheep, and his sheep follow him; for +they know his voice_.” The time will come when you must render an +account of your sheep and of your numerous benefices, concerning which +it is said in your own ordinances, that he who can live upon one, +cannot retain another without committing a mortal sin. + +Meditate, then, on these things, and accuse not your neighbour of +heresy. If you know him to be a heretic, you ought to warn him, +according to the Apostle’s precept, a first and a second time; if he +refuse to listen to you, avoid him; and even should you be chosen to +condemn him, still you must demonstrate by the Scriptures, that you +condemn him justly, and deliver over his books to the flames. + +I write you these few lines, to warn you fraternally, according to the +precept of Christ, which tells us:--“If thy brother has just sinned, +warn him in secret.” Receive, then, my words, my brother, and declare, +if you have thus spoken of me. Prove that I am a heretic, and I will, +with humility, correct myself, and you shall receive a reward for +having rescued a man from error. Nevertheless, I hope by the grace of +Almighty God, that my faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is as great as +yours, and that I am not less prepared to die for it with humility. + + + + + LETTER III. + + TO MASTER MARTIN AND TO MASTER NICOLAS OF MYLIEZYN. + + [He consults them on the subject of the interdiction pronounced + against him from the pulpit.[29]] + + +May peace be with you, that peace that is not given with the world, +with the flesh, and the devil. The Lord has said:--“You shall have +tribulations in the world; but if you persevere in well doing, who can +do you harm?” I burn with an ardent zeal for the gospel; and my soul +is sad, for I know not what to resolve on. I have meditated on these +evangelic words of our Saviour (John, chap. x.):--“The good shepherd +giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling and not the +shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and +leaveth the sheep and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth +the sheep.” + +I have also meditated on these words from St Matthew, (chap. x.):--“But +when they persecute you in one city, flee ye into another.” Of these +two precepts, so different to each other, which ought I to follow? I +know not. + +I have meditated on the letter of St Augustin, to an illustrious +bishop, who consulted him in a like case. Augustin thus terminates +his answer:--“He who takes to flight, and does not deprive, in so +doing, his church of the evangelical ministry, does what the Lord has +commanded him; but he who, in his flight, takes away spiritual food +from the flock of Jesus Christ, is an hireling, who, when he sees the +wolf approaching, fleeth, because he careth not for his sheep. It is +because thou hast consulted me, well-beloved brother, that I write thee +these things, which appear to me to be according to both truth and +charity; but I invite thee not to follow my counsel, if thou findest +a better. What can be more advisable, in such an extremity, than to +offer up prayers to God to have pity on us, after the example of some +holy men, who have obtained by their prayer, not to abandon the Church +of God, and who have persevered in their good resolutions, even in the +very teeth of their enemies?” Such is the opinion of St Augustin. + +Inform me, then, if you acquiesce in these words; for although the +necessary aliment of God’s Word is not wanting to my flock, my +conscience reproaches me with my absence, as a scandalous act. + +I fear, on the other hand, that my presence during the term of my +interdiction might be the means of tearing this food away from +my flock, and of depriving them of the Holy Communion and other +advantages, which concern Salvation. Therefore, let us pray humbly +to Almighty God, that he may deign to reveal to us what I ought to do +in the present circumstance, in order that I may dwell in the right +way. The advice that the blessed St Augustin expresses in his letter, +is wise: he establishes in fact, that in circumstances where we may +be anxious for ourselves alone, flight is permitted, and he cites on +the point the example of St Athanasius; but should the whole flock be +exposed, we must resign ourselves to our lot, in order to do what may +prove most useful to the Church. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[29] He also asks his friends whether he ought to quit his church; and +it is probable that he wrote this letter before leaving Prague. + + + + + LETTER IV. + + TO THE RECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PRAGUE. + + +Venerable Rector, I have received great consolation from your letter, +in which you declare, amongst other things, that “the just man shall +not be afflicted, whatever may befall him;” from which you infer, +that temporal tribulations, and my separation from my friends, ought +not to discourage me, neither sadden nor cast me down, but, on the +contrary, should fortify and make me glad. I accept with gratitude this +consolation. I cling to the words of Scripture, and say, If I am just, +no trouble, whatever it may be, could sadden me, so as to turn me from +the path of truth. If I live, and wish to live holy, in Christ, it is +necessary that I suffer persecution in the name of Christ; for as it +was necessary that Christ should suffer in order to enter into glory, +we also should bear our crosses, miserable beings as we are, and should +imitate him in his passion. + +I protest, then, venerable Rector, that I have never felt myself +overwhelmed by persecution; that I am only borne down by my sins, and +by the errors of the Christian people. What, indeed, are the riches of +the world to me? What affliction can their loss cause me? What is it to +me to lose the favour of the world, which makes us swerve from the path +of Christ? What signifies infamy, which when supported with humility, +proves, purifies, and illuminates the children of God in such a manner, +that they shine and radiate, like the bright sun, in their Father’s +kingdom? And, lastly, what is death, if this miserable life be torn +from me? He who loses it in this world triumphs even over death, and +finds true life in the next. + +But men, blinded by luxury, vainglory, and ambition, understand not +these things. Others are turned away from the truth by fear, and +languish on in a strange perplexity, deprived of charity, patience, +and of every other virtue. On the one hand, they are urged on by +knowledge of the truth; and, on the other, by the fear of losing their +reputation, or of exposing their wretched bodies to death. For my own +part, I will expose mine to it (I trust with the assistance of our Lord +Jesus Christ), if his mercy comes to my assistance; for I do not desire +to live in this corrupted age, unless I can lead to repentance myself +and others, according to the will of God. This is what I ardently +desire for you; and I exhort you, as well as all those united to you, +to hold yourselves ready for the combat; for behold already appear the +preludes to the beginnings of Antichrist: the combat is near, and the +poor bird[30] must flap his wings against the wings of Behemoth, and +against this tail of Antichrist, that always engenders abominations. + +The prophet has shewn it to us when he declares, that he who teaches +falsehood is the tail of Antichrist, and a grave old man is the head. +The Lord will confound both one and the other; he will confound the +pope and his preachers, his officers and his doctors, who, under a +false name of holiness, conceive abominations. What greater abomination +is there than that of the prostitute, who abandons herself publicly +to every comer? Nevertheless, the abomination is greater still of him +who, sitting in high places, offers himself, as if he were God, to +the adoration of all;[31] traffics in spiritual things, and sells all +that he possesses not. Woe, then, unto me if I preach not against such +an abomination! Woe unto me if I weep not, if I write not against it! +Can you find one man for whom such things are not a calamity? Already +the great eagle takes its flight and cries to us: “Woe! woe to the +inhabitants of the earth!” + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[30] John Huss alludes to his name, which, in the Bohemian, signifies +_goose_. + +[31] “Adhuc major est abominatio bestiæ, quæ parata est a quocumque +veniente adorari.” + + + + + LETTER V. + + TO JOHN BARBAT. + + [Huss consoles him, and justifies himself by exposing why he + preferred obeying God, who had commanded him to preach, to the pope, + the archbishop, and all those who had prohibited him from so doing.] + + +I salute you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! + +I have learned, my beloved friends,[32] your grievous affliction. Look +upon it as for your good; for it is to bring to light your firmness and +your constancy, that you have fallen into various temptations. + +I also, my very dear friends, have been tempted; and I rejoice at last +that I am called a heretic for the gospel’s sake, and excommunicated +like a rebellious and wicked man. To fortify in me the sweet calm of +my soul, I have called to mind the life and words of Christ and the +Apostles (Acts, iv.). I remembered in what manner Annas, the high +priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and all the kindred of +the high priest, when they addressed the Apostles, prohibited them +from speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus. “_But Peter and John +answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God, +to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but +speak the things which we have seen and heard._” And when the same +priests prohibited them a second time from preaching, they replied +(Acts, v.), “_We ought to obey God rather than man_.” + +It is true that the pagans, the Jews, and the heretics, all regulate +their conduct on this precept of the obedience that is due unto God. +Alas! this maxim blinds those who are not Christians, but not the +Apostles, nor the true disciples of Christ. + +St Jerome says:--“If the master or bishop prescribes what is not +contrary to the faith or the Scriptures, the servant should obey. +But if he commands what is contrary to these, we must rather obey +the Master of the soul, than the master of the body.” And in another +place he adds:--“If the emperor orders you, to do that which is good, +execute the will of the emperor; should he require you to do ill, +answer, ‘It is better to obey God than men.’” + +St Augustin also says, in his _Sermon on the Words of the Lord_:--“If +my earthly presence commands that which you ought not to do, despise +this power, and fear a higher one. Consider the different degrees of +human power. Do you obey the under officer, if the proconsul orders +you the contrary? And if the proconsul orders you to do one thing, and +the emperor another, would you attempt to disobey the latter for the +former? If the emperor commands you to do that which is prohibited by +God, despise the emperor and obey God. We ought, then, to resist the +power of the devil or of men, when they suggest any thing against God; +and in doing so, we resist not, but obey even God’s commands.” Such are +the sentiments of St Augustin. + +Gregory also says, in his last _Treatise on Morality_:--“Know, +therefore, that evil should never be done from mere obedience.” St +Bernard writes in one of his letters:--“To do evil after the orders of +any one, is not to obey, but to disobey.” And St Isidore maintains, +that if he who is in authority does and orders a thing which is not +according to the Lord, or violates the written law, and orders it to be +overstepped, to him ought to be applied these words of St Paul: “If an +angel should descend from heaven, and preach to you a gospel different +from that which we preach, let him be accursed!” He also declares, +that whoever forbids you to do what is commanded by the Lord, ought to +be held in execration by all who love the Lord--he ought to be regarded +as a false witness and a sacrilegious person. + +It would appear from these words, that these names are applicable to +those who interdict the preaching of the Divine Word, and that such +persons are excommunicated according to the words of the Prophet, +“Cursed be those who resist thy commandments!” Jerome expresses the +same feeling as is experienced by myself, when he thus writes to +Rusticus, Bishop of Narbonne:--“Let no bishop abandon himself to +envy and anger, through an infernal jealousy, because the priests +exhort the people, preach in the churches, and bless the multitude.” +I declare, then, to those who prohibit me to do these things, that he +who interdicts priests from doing that which God commands, professes +himself to be superior to Jesus Christ. + +Bede, in speaking of our Saviour, repeats this passage:--“Go ye into +the village that is over against you, and immediately you shall find +an ass tied, and a colt with him: loose them, and bring them to me: +and if any man say any thing to you, say ye, The Lord hath need of +them; and straightway he will let them go.” Jesus Christ, says Bede, +teaches mystically the doctors, by these words, that if they meet with +any obstacle, if any one prevents them from freeing sinners from the +bonds of the devil, from drawing them to God in confessing the faith, +they ought not, for this reason, to renounce preaching his word, but +should, on the contrary, continue to insinuate it into their souls; for +the Lord has need of such labourers to edify his Church. Who could, in +fact, quote all that the saints have written, when teaching us, that it +is better to obey God than man? + +Our oppressors oppose to us these words:--“All, therefore, whatsoever +they bid you observe, that observe and do,” (Matth. xxiii.); but they +are reduced to silence by the prohibition which follows:--“But do not +ye after their works.” God says, (Deut. xxiv.)--“Do according to all +that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, +so ye shall observe to do.” The Lord desires, therefore, that he who +obeys, should only do so after his own commandments. It is also said, +(1 Pet. ii.)--“Servants be subject to your masters with all fear.” And +the Apostle further adds:--“Not only to the good and gentle, but also +to the froward.” Not, however, in things in which they are wickedly +inclined; for that would be to obey the devil. The will of God and the +Holy Scriptures, therefore, teach us, that obedience to superiors is +obligatory only in lawful matters. I have clung firmly to this truth, +and have preferred in my sermons, to inculcate obedience to God, +rather than to the pope and the archbishop, or any others that may +oppose this saying of Christ. + +I put my name to these words, in order to teach you how to confront the +emissaries of the devil.[33] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[32] Although this letter was more particularly addressed to John +Barbat, Huss intended it to be read to several others. + +[33] “Ut sciatis canibus diaboli obviare.” + + + + + LETTER VI. + + TO THE BELIEVERS IN PRAGUE. + + [He felicitates them on the constancy with which they listen to the + word of God.] + + +John Huss, a servant of Jesus Christ in hope, to all those who love +God, who confess his law, in expectation of the Saviour, with whom they +desire to live for all eternity! + +Grace be with you, and the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ, who offered +himself as a victim for our sins, to deliver us from this world of +affliction, and from eternal damnation, according to the will of God +the Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever! + +Dearly beloved,--Having learned your zeal and your progress in the +word of God, I render thanks unto the Lord, that he has deigned to +enlighten you to such a point that, perceiving the frauds of antichrist +and his ministers, you may not allow yourselves to be turned away from +the truth. + +I feel a lively confidence that his mercy will crown the work of +regeneration commenced in you, and that he will not permit you to turn +aside from the truth, whence many diverge through fear of danger, +apprehending man, a weak sinner as he is, more than the all-powerful +God, who has power both to kill and bring to life; to destroy and +to save; to preserve his faithful believers in the midst of grave +and numerous perils; and to give them in exchange for a brief space +of suffering an eternal life of inexpressible happiness. Wherefore, +beloved, do not let yourselves be borne down by terror; and do not +be frightened if the Lord should tempt some of you, by allowing the +ministers of antichrist to exercise their tyranny over you. God himself +has said to his servant, (Prov. iii.), “Be not afraid of sudden fear, +nor of the power of the wicked falling upon thee; for the Lord will be +at thy side, and will keep thy foot, that thou be not taken.” And he +has also said, by the mouth of his prophet David, “I am with him in his +day of trial: I will deliver him.” + +Knowing that, dearly beloved, consider, with St James, that it is +fortunate for you to fall into various temptations; because the trial +of your faith worketh in you patience, and that contributes to render +you perfect and entire, failing in nothing. + +St James also says,--“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for +when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which +God hath promised to them that love him.” Remain steadfast, therefore, +in the truth, and act in every thing like true children of God. Have +full confidence; for Christ has overcome, and you will overcome also. +Remember always Him who suffered so much at the hands of sinners; relax +not in your good resolution; but, laying down together the whole burden +of your sins, rush to the combat with your eyes fixed steadfastly on +Jesus, who established our faith, and who, for a glorious object, +despising shame, suffered the ignominy of the cross, and is now seated +on the right hand of God. + +The Creator, the King, the Sovereign Master of the world, without being +forced to it by his Divine nature, humbled himself, notwithstanding his +perfection, to our nature. He came to the assistance of us, wretched +sinners, and supported hunger, and thirst, and cold, and heat, and +fatigue, and want of sleep; he suffered, whilst instructing us, sorrow, +and grave affronts from the priests and scribes, to such a point that +they called him a blasphemer, and declared him to be possessed of a +devil, averring that he was not God, whom they excommunicated as a +heretic, whom they drove out of their city, and crucified like one +accursed. + +If, then, Christ supported such things from the priests--he who +healed all kinds of diseases, without any earthly recompense, by his +word alone; who cast out devils, raised the dead, and taught the +word of God; who never did injury to any one; who committed no sin, +and who endured every thing from his enemies, because he discovered +their wickedness;--if he supported such things, why should we be +astonished that the ministers of antichrist, who are more avaricious, +more debauched, more cruel, and more cunning than the Pharisees, +now persecute the servants of God, overwhelm them with insult, +excommunicate, imprison, and kill them? + +Remember what our Lord and our King said:--“If the world hate you, +know that it hated me before you. If you were of the world, the world +would love you as being of it; but because you are not of the world, +and because I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. +Remember what I say unto you; the servant is not greater than his +master: if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also; they +will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they +have not known Him who sent me.” + +Remember also the prophecy of our Divine Saviour, which declares that +his elect will suffer persecution from the world, that is, from the +wicked, who know neither God the Father, nor our Lord Jesus; for +although they confess with their lips that they know God, yet they +deny him by their reprobate actions. It is of them that St Paul spoke +to Titus, when he declared that their works are avarice, simony, +debauchery, and contempt of the word of God, placing human traditions +above the word of God, and performing no work of humility, charity, +temperance, and Christian love. + +Therefore is it, that the wicked will not cease to persecute the saints +as long as the war lasts between Christ and antichrist; for St Paul +has told us, that all who desire to live purely in Christ shall suffer +persecution, but the wicked shall advance in the path of perdition, +always deceived, and deceiving others. + +St Paul teaches us by these words, that all pious men will suffer +persecution for Christ’s sake; the wicked will be seduced, and will +seduce others, and their heart will swell with malice for their own +destruction. It is of them that our Saviour has spoken in these +words:--“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; +be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware +of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will +scourge you in their synagogues. And ye shall be brought before +governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the +Gentiles. They shall scourge you; the brother shall deliver up the +brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall +rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death; and +ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake, but he that endureth +to the end shall be saved.” This persecution shall last till the day of +judgment. + +The Lord spoke in this way to his disciples, in order that they might, +if possible, escape from such evils. He elevated their understanding, +that they might be prudent, and might be able to recognise, by their +works, the devouring wolves whose voracity would swallow up the whole +world. + +He also shewed them by what signs they might know false prophets, the +latter not agreeing with the true prophets, either in the explanation +of the Holy Scriptures, or in their works. There are false Christs, +calling themselves the chief disciples of Christ, and yet who prove +themselves, by their works, to be his greatest adversaries. These will +seek, by every means, to smother and suppress the Word of God; for it +condemns their insolence, pride, avarice, simony, and other evil works. + +They have made an irruption into the churches and places of worship, to +prevent the Word of God being preached there; but Jesus Christ has not +permitted them to bring their criminal undertaking to a prosperous end. +I understand that they intend destroying the chapel of Bethlehem, and +that they interdict sermons in the other places where the Word of God +is taught. But I feel a firm confidence that God will not permit them +to succeed. They wanted to entwine the simple bird[34] in the snare of +citations and anathemas; and they have already set their ambush even +for some of you. But if that bird, which is a mere domestic fowl, whose +flight is circumscribed, and far from lofty, has broken through their +nets, how much more will other birds, that soar aloft as they announce +the Word of God, despise such ineffectual wiles. They have thrown their +nets, and displayed their anathemas, like the image of a bird of prey, +to cast terror all around; they have flung about their fiery darts from +the quiver of antichrist, in order to prohibit the Word of God and His +worship; but the more they strove to disguise their real nature, the +more they rendered it visible; and in seeking to stretch forth their +traditions like nets, they broke them to pieces; in their anxiety to +gain the peace of the world, they destroyed not only it, but, at the +same time, the spiritual peace; and in their attempts to injure others, +they wounded themselves most. + +What happened to the priests of the Jews has befallen them; for they +have lost that which they were endeavouring to retain, and have fallen +into what they were striving to avoid. They hoped to succeed in +stifling and putting down the truth, which always conquers; and they +were ignorant that its very essence and characteristic consisted in +this, that the more attempts were made to dim its lustre, the more it +shone brightly forth--the greater the endeavour to suppress it, the +more it soared aloft. + +Pontiffs and priests, the scribes and Pharisees, Herod and Pilate, +and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, formerly condemned the Truth; they +crucified it and buried it; but it rose from the tomb and conquered +them all, sending forth in its stead twelve preachers of the Word. + +This same Truth, instead of acting feebly and inefficiently, has sent +to Prague mighty eagles, surpassing all other birds, by their piercing +sight, and which, by the grace of God, fly aloft in the air, and win +over others to Jesus Christ, who will strengthen all those who are +faithful to Him. He has said--“I will be always with you, even unto +the end of the world.” If, then, God, the most powerful and just of +defenders, is with us, what evil work can prevail against us? What +fear, what death, can separate us from Him? In what shall we be the +worse, if, for His sake, we were to lose our friends, the honours of +the world, or even our miserable life itself? We shall, at last, be +delivered from our load of misery; we shall receive a hundredfold +riches infinitely more precious, friends more dear, delight more +perfect, of which death cannot despoil us; for he who dies for Christ +will surely partake the triumph: he is freed from all misery of every +kind, and enjoys eternal bliss, to which our Lord Jesus Christ deigns +to conduct us all! + +Beloved brethren, and sisters no less dear to me, I write you this +letter, that you may remain fervent in the truth, which you have +acknowledged, and that you may not pay less attention than before to +the Word of God, on account of the cruel threats of his enemies; for +God is faithful to you, and will both strengthen you and keep you from +evil. + +In fine, I beseech you, dearly beloved, to pray for those who, with +the grace of God, announce the truth; pray for me also, that I may +write and preach still more against the malice of hell, and that God +may accord me in this combat that support which is so necessary in +order properly to defend his Word. You know that I do not hesitate +to expose this miserable body to the peril of death for God’s truth, +being well aware that nothing will be wanting to us in his Word, and +that his Gospel must be propagated more and more every day. Moreover, I +desire to live for those who suffer violence, and who have need of the +preaching of the Word, in order that the malice of antichrist may be +laid open, and the good not be made its victims. I preach, therefore, +in other places, and I officiate for those of whom I speak, being +convinced that God’s will must be accomplished in me, whether I suffer +or die by antichrist. But should I proceed to Prague, I am certain that +snares will be there laid for me, and that you will be persecuted by +my adversaries, who serve not God, but prevent others from serving him. +We pray to God for them, however, that, if any of the elect should +happen to be amongst them, they may be converted to the truth. May God +accord you full understanding of these things which I write you; may +he grant you perseverance; and may your heart be worthy of all these +blessings, through the merits of Jesus Christ, who suffered for us the +most cruel and ignominious death, leaving us his example, that we may +suffer the same, according to his holy will. Amen. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[34] Huss alludes here to his own name, which, in Bohemia, signifies +“_goose_.” + + + + + LETTER VII. + + TO THE SAME. + + [The same subject.] + + +The grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the believers +in Prague who sincerely love his holy Gospel! + +I, John Huss, the servant of God, do supplicate and conjure you, +well-beloved, not to abandon the truth which God, in his mercy, has +imparted to you. That power which has begun to operate in us, whom he +has chosen out, will continue, I feel convinced, still to do so, and +will give us, in our temptations, perseverance and strength. I myself +only live by his mercy and grace. I can declare, with St Paul, “For +me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, +this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For +I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with +Christ; which is far better: nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is +more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know I shall abide +and continue with you all, for your furtherance and joy of faith.” So +did St Paul write from his prison in Rome to the Philippians. + +I also say unto you, dearly beloved, that although I am not in prison, +I would willingly die for Christ, and be with him; and I say also that +I should be well pleased to preach to you again the Word of God, for +your salvation. I do not know which of these would be for the best; for +I have full confidence for myself in the mercy of God, and also fear +that some evil may arise amongst you, which may occasion persecutions +against the true believers, and be the cause of eternal perdition to +those who believe not. These rejoice and desire most ardently not +only to smother in me the Word of God, but also to shut the asylum of +Bethlehem, where I have preached the Gospel of Christ to you; but if +God consent not, their efforts will be vain; and if he permit it, such +a misfortune will come to pass on account of the wicked, as Bethlehem, +where the Lord was born, and Jerusalem, where he redeemed us, were seen +to be overwhelmed to the lowest foundation. + +As to us, let us render thanks to God, submitting constantly to his +divine power, which always assists those who love Him, and sets those +free who suffer for His sake, allotting their persecutors to eternal +torments. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, not to let yourselves +be cast down, but rather to pray to our Saviour Jesus Christ to give +you constancy to persevere in the faith to the end; and be persuaded +that he will accord you the free and unmolested preaching of his Word, +and that he will augment your strength in order to defend you from the +fury of that antichrist, against which he has prophesied in his holy +Scriptures. + + + + + LETTER VIII. + + TO THE CHURCH OF PRAGUE. + + +Master John Huss, servant of God, to all who in Prague are the elect of +God, and who love our Lord Jesus Christ and his Word, wishes mercy and +peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. + +Dearly beloved, I congratulate you on your listening assiduously to the +Word of God; and our merciful Saviour will assuredly send you firm and +faithful guides. May God, through our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, +grant you mercy, peace, and grace, for all good things, in order +that what you have well commenced in him, you may conclude in like +manner, and may persevere in doing so even unto the end. Acknowledge, +therefore, and draw on you the mercy of God, who sent his Son into +this world for our sakes; who allowed his Son to become man, and to +be humiliated, despised, and condemned by all, to such a point that, +when the people were called in by the priests to choose between two +prisoners, they delivered, in preference to Jesus Christ our Saviour, +a robber and murderer, and laughed to scorn our Lord, who said, by the +mouth of Jeremiah, “Lend an ear, and behold my anguish;” and again, +“See if any pain is comparable to mine.” + +He cried out to his Father, “My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?” Such +were his plaintive words whilst suffering on the cross an ignominious +death, and exposed to the blasphemies of the priests, who insulted him +at the foot of the cross, exclaiming, “He put his confidence in God; +let God deliver him if he can! Thou who couldest destroy the temple, +now come down from thy cross!” His cry was, “My God, Why hast thou +forsaken me?” And why did he utter that exclamation? In order that +we may recognise and admire his immense mercy; and that, supporting +with him the outrages of the wicked, we may look for our refuge in Him +alone: in order, in fine, that we may publicly shew our gratitude for +his Divine compassion, which has redeemed us from everlasting damnation. + +Such has been towards us the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who +recommended his disciples to say, into whatever house they entered, +“Peace be with you!” And when he raised up the dead, he said to them +also, “Peace be with you!” And before his death, when conversing with +his disciples, “I leave you my peace!” Wherefore, dearly beloved, I +implore him to accord you that same peace. May peace be with you from +the Lord, that you may live honestly and soberly--in calm, in justice, +and in piety; and that you may conquer your enemies and those of +God--the devil, the world, and the flesh. Peace be with you from the +Lord, that you may love each other, and your enemies also. Peace be +with you, that you may listen to his Word with attention and humility. +Peace be with you, that you may speak wisely and well, and that you may +escape from your enemies. Peace be with you, that you may learn how +to be silent with advantage; for whoever listens with humility never +disputes evil-mindedly with any one; he who speaks prudently triumphs +over the fool; and he who is silent in proper season, rarely acts +against his conscience. + +On account of all these things, may peace, grace, and mercy be with +you! peace, that you may have a tranquil conscience; grace, that +your sins may be forgiven you; and mercy, that you may be delivered +from unquenchable fire! May, then, peace be with you all, after this +miserable life, in the bosom of eternal felicity, from God, the Father, +and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. + + + + + LETTER IX. + + TO THE HEARERS OF THE WORD OF GOD AT PRAGUE. + + [He fortifies them, and inspirits himself against the anathemas of + the pope.] + + +I, Master John Huss, &c. &c., call on you, dearly beloved, not to allow +yourselves to be disturbed on account of my absence, or on account of +the maledictions with which the enemies of God overwhelm me. I have +faith in my Saviour, and I feel confident that all things will happen, +both to you and to me, for our good. Only beware of sin, and pity the +fate of those who, believing that they are acting well, oppose God and +his holy Word: like the Jews of old, who crucified Jesus Christ and +stoned Stephen, and of whom both Christ and Stephen said, “They know +not what they do.” They cannot hurt me, whether they prepare my cross +with blasphemy; or overwhelm me, like another Judas, with abuse which +they shout out in public; or, in fine, fling stones against the gate +of the temple, and overthrow it. In doing such things, it is against +themselves that they labour; and it is they who ought to tremble. + +They have imagined certain practices of worship in conformity with +human ordinances, in order to subject to their will men of simple +minds, and induce such to follow them; but God will bestow on his +believers the knowledge necessary to discern such practices, and to +recognise in them mere human traditions, by means of which their +inventions lead astray weak minds, separating them from the law of God, +and crushing them to the earth, by terrifying them with the thunders of +anathemas. + +God enjoins to pray for such men as we believe to be in error, and +to declare them condemned of God; but he has not ordered such snares +to be laid in his temple against innocent men. Perhaps, to judge by +their letters, they act in memory of the eternal damnation of Dathan +and Abiram, who, unworthy as they were, had presumed to pretend to the +priesthood. + +They designate, by these letters, all the priests who improperly usurp +the sacerdotal functions through love of riches, pleasure, dignities, +or other gratifications of the flesh. They pour out anathemas, and +vociferate like senseless disciples of Judas, as simonists and +reprobates really are. Let us pray to God, dearly beloved, that he may +deign to continue to us his blessings: no anathema will then be able +to reach us, but the Sovereign Pontiff, Jesus Christ, will bless us, +saying, “Come ye, blessed of my father, receive the kingdom which was +prepared for you from the beginning of the world.” + +Let us eagerly long for this blessing, dearly beloved; let us seek for +it and await its coming, living piously in this world, in order to +enjoy eternal life in the regions of heaven, by the merits of Jesus +Christ our Lord, blessed for ever and ever. + + + + + LETTER X. + + [Huss, whilst reminding believers of all the benefits with which the + Lord has loaded us in his first coming, elevates their souls to the + expectation and hope of the second coming and final judgment.] + + +John Huss, servant of God, to all believers, peace and mercy from God +the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Strengthen your hearts, dearly +beloved, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is nigh. You know +that Christ has come once already; ponder on it therefore, and fortify +your hearts by grace, and by the trial of affliction. Reflect, dearly +beloved, that the Son of God, himself God Eternal, became man, and +humbled himself in order to help us. The immortal Physician came to +heal our incurable sores: the all-powerful Lord came, not to trouble +the dead, but to vivify the living, and redeem his elect from eternal +death. + +The King of the world, the Supreme Pontiff, came to accomplish, by +his works, the law of God. He came into the world, not to rule over +the world, but to give his life for the redemption of a great number. +He came, not like a usurer, to swallow up the riches of the world, +but to redeem, by his blood, those whom sin had sold to the devil. He +came, omnipotent as he is, to suffer a bloody and ignominious death +from the Pharisees under Pontius Pilate, in order to free us from the +power of Satan. He came not to destroy the elect, but to save them; +as he himself has said, “I have come that they may have life;” that +they may have life here by his grace, and still more abundantly in +eternity; that everlasting life, reserved for all the elect, which is +unattainable to the proud, the luxurious, the avaricious, the violent, +the ambitious, the intemperate, the effeminate--all, in fact, who are +opposed to his words; but which shall be enjoyed by the elect alone, +who listen to his law, who accomplish it by their works, and who suffer +persecution. + +Meditate, therefore, in your souls on these benefits which our Lord +Jesus Christ has heaped on us by his first coming, and strengthen +your hearts, dearly beloved, by grace and affliction; for the second +coming of Jesus Christ is near, and, with it, the sentence of the Great +Judge, infinitely wise, infinitely just, infinitely formidable, from +whom neither the great nor the learned of this world can escape; whom +they can neither move by favour nor by gifts; and with whom will come +the just, the preachers of his Word, and all that have been unjustly +persecuted in the world. + +Nigh, then, draws the judgment of that severe and redoubtable Judge, +whose regard the wicked will not venture to encounter; the judgment of +Him at whose word all iniquity will be laid open: at his command the +bodies of the evil-doers shall be delivered to the flames, and their +souls shall dwell for all eternity with the devils, after having heard +from the mouth of God that just and terrible sentence, “Depart to the +everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” + +Meditate, then, dearly beloved, on these two things--the benefits of +the Saviour at his first coming, and his justice and judgment at his +second advent--and fortify your hearts by grace and the cross. And when +you suffer, arouse yourselves; lift up your heads (that is to say, your +minds), for your deliverance is nigh at hand,--your deliverance from +every misery, and from the eternal damnation which we shall be saved +from at the voice of that equitable Judge, who has said, “Come to me, +blessed of my Father, receive the heavenly kingdom that is prepared for +you.” Amen. + + + + + LETTER XI. + + TO THE SAME. + + [John Huss justifies himself, by the example of Christ, for having + quitted Bethlehem.] + + +Dearly beloved, the birth-day of the Son of God is near at hand; +purify, therefore, your dwelling, and let it be clean of all sin; +listen attentively and piously, according to your opportunity, to the +Word of God, and pay no attention to the evil-doers who forbid you +to meet at Bethlehem. They have endeavoured to lead you astray on +account of me, and now they no longer have that motive. As for those +who declare that I took to flight, I can reply, that I acted of my own +free will, in order to obey the Divine Word, and follow the example of +him who has said--“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your +words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of +your feet as a testimony against it. And if you are persecuted in one +city, flee to another.” And when the Jews sought to put him to death +before his hour was come, he often withdrew himself from their hands. +St John, in fact, has written--“Jesus therefore walked no more openly +among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, +unto a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.” +But the Jews sought for him, and often asked amongst themselves--“Why +comes he not on a feast day?” For the priests and Pharisees had ordered +whoever should discover his retreat, to inform them of it, in order +that he might be followed. It is not, therefore, surprising that, in +compliance with such an example, I should have withdrawn, and that the +priests should ask where I am. + +Learn then, dearly-beloved, that it is through the example and +recommendation of Christ that I removed to a distance from +you, through fear of being to the wicked an occasion of eternal +condemnation, and to the good a cause of sadness and mourning. I fled, +in order that impious priests might not prohibit the preaching of the +word of God, and that you might not be deprived, on my account, of the +Divine truth, for which, by the grace of God, I am ready to die. Know +also, dearly beloved, that it was necessary that Christ should suffer +within the period prescribed by his Father. Be assured, that whatever +God may have determined in relation to me, his will shall be done; and +should he deem me worthy to die for his name, he will summon me to +martyrdom; but if, on the contrary, my life is to be prolonged for the +preaching of his word, in like manner that is also in his will. + +Undoubtedly, some of your priests desire my return to Prague, and would +willingly see me there again, in order to their chanting the offices +and the mass being dispensed with: it is they whom the holy preaching +of the Gospel offends, on account of their avarice, their pride, and +their adulteries. But you, who love God’s word, and who make every +effort to unite yourselves to him, would be well pleased to see me, and +would gladly have me amongst you in a spirit of charity, like one of +your dear friends. For my part, I long to behold you again, in order +to be able to announce to you God’s word; for the principal care of +the ministers of the Church ought to be to announce, in all sincerity +and with fruit, the gospel of Christ, in order that the people may be +acquainted with the will of God, may avoid many evils, and be led into +the right path for living irreproachably. Woe, then, to such priests as +neglect the word of God! Woe to them who, when they can announce it, +live nevertheless in effeminacy and idleness! Woe to them who prevent +the word of God from being preached and listened to! + +Happy, on the other hand, are they who attend to it, who guard it in +their hearts, and who preserve it in themselves by good works. Christ +has blessed them, saying,--“Happy are they who hear the word of God, +and keep it.” May Christ, blessed for evermore, augment for us all this +great happiness! Amen. + + + + + LETTER XII. + + TO THE SAME. + + [He celebrates the joys and blessings of our Lord’s birth-day.] + + +My very dear brethren, Although I am separated from you in body, +not being perhaps worthy to preach to you any longer the word +of God, nevertheless, the love with which I yearn towards you +constrains me to approach and address you in a few words. This is +the day, dearly beloved, on which the angel of the Lord said to the +shepherds--“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall +be to all people.” And immediately, a multitude of the heavenly host +were heard to cry out,--“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth +peace, good-will toward men.” + +Knowing that, dearly-beloved, rejoice; for, this day a Child is born +of inestimable price, a man-God, in order that glory may be to God in +the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. Rejoice; for, +this day is born for us a Mediator, that man may be reconciled with +God, and that this peace may be spread over the earth. Rejoice; for, +to us is born a Physician, to make sinners pure from sin, to deliver +them from the power of Satan, to redeem them from eternal damnation, +to impart to all a heavenly joy, that glory may be to God on high, +and on earth peace, good-will toward men. Rejoice; for, to us is born +a King, to fill us with joy; a High Priest, to pour on believers +the Divine blessing; a Father, to adopt us as his children for all +eternity. To us is born a well-beloved Brother, a Master in every kind +of knowledge, a veritable Chief, a Judge of most perfect equity, that +glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. +Rejoice, sinners, for He who is born is the Son of God, the High Priest +who absolves all that repent, in order that glory may be to God on +high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. Rejoice, for this day +the holy bread, that is to say, God has made himself food for men, +in order to satisfy, with His body, all that hunger. Rejoice; for, +this day is born the Redeemer of the world, the Saviour of sinners. +Rejoice; for, this day an immortal God is born, in order that mortal +man may live for ever. Rejoice, for the Lord of the universe lay poor +in a stable, in order that our poverty might be changed into riches. +Rejoice, dearly-beloved, that the predictions of the prophets and of +the saints have been fulfilled. Rejoice, for the omnipotent Father and +the Son, abounding in wisdom and grace, are given to us, that glory may +be to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. Rejoice, +then, dearly-beloved, for the angel said--“Behold, I bring you good +tidings of great joy.” And what was that joy? That a Saviour was born +who would deliver us from all our miseries, and free us from sin. The +Son of God is given us, that great joy may be with us, and glory to God +on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men. Let us endeavour +to insure that this Infant which is born to us may accord us that +good-will, that peace, and that joy, which lasts for ever and ever. +Amen. + + + + + LETTER XIII. + + [He impresses on the believers of Prague the necessity of zeal, + and of a desire to hear God’s Word, and recommends them not to + renounce these things on account of the scandals arising from + wicked preachers.] + + +I desire ardently, dearly-beloved, that you may be delivered by Jesus +Christ from all your sins, and that, despising the vanities of this +world, you may overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. I am +anxious that, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you may +suffer all things with patience, with a view to salvation, and that you +may persevere even unto the end in your trials and afflictions. That +is what I demand for you, dearly-beloved, in my prayers; for God is my +witness that I laboured for upwards of twelve years in the vineyard +of the Lord, and that my greatest consolation in my ministry was to +perceive your zeal in listening to the divine Word, and the serious +repentance of a great number. + +Wherefore, dearly-beloved, I conjure you, by the passion of Jesus +Christ, to hold firmly to his Gospel, and so to conduct yourselves that +it may bring forth fruit in all your actions. Be not shaken in your +faith, and regard not those who, having placed only an uncertain foot +in the path, have turned aside elsewhere, and have become the most +violent enemies of God and of his disciples. + +You know, dearly-beloved, that Christ’s disciples, who held converse +with him, withdrew, and refused to follow him farther. Yet Christ +came to separate men from one another, for he has said--“I have +come to separate the son from his father, and the daughter from her +mother.” And also--“You shall be delivered up to men, and persecuted +for my name’s sake.” And in order that we may not be shaken by this +abandonment of his disciples, or frightened by persecution or death, +our Saviour added--“A hair of your heads shall not fall without the +will of God.” If, then, a single hair cannot perish, how can believers +themselves perish? Wherefore, dearly-beloved, preserve a real faith +and a sure hope; remain steadfast in the love of God’s Word; listen +with the most ardent affection to those whom the Saviour has sent you, +in order that they may preach his Gospel with constancy, and resist +the devouring wolves and false prophets of whom Christ has spoken, +when he said--“False prophets will come, and will lead astray many.” +Christ teaches believers to beware of them, and to recognise them +by their works, which are avarice, simony, contempt of God’s Word, +persecution of believers, calumny, zeal for human traditions, &c. These +men, in fact, wear sheep’s clothing: they assume the externals of the +Christian, and, as they are, within, devouring wolves, they rend and +devour Christ’s flock. It is of such that Christ has said to his +disciples:--“Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; be, +then, prudent as serpents, and simple as doves.” Let them be prudent, +said he, that they may avoid, like serpents, to allow themselves to be +crushed, and to permit the head of the Church of Christ to perish in +them: let them be simple as doves, in order to suffer with patience the +cruelty of the wolves. And we, dearly-beloved, already behold these +wolves clearly before us; but let us not suffer them to lead us astray, +and turn from the path by which we are striving to arrive at heavenly +joys. + +Preserve firmly faith, hope, charity, humility, mildness, justice, +modesty, temperance, sobriety, patience, and the other virtues, +adorning yourselves with good morals and good works. Rejoice that you +suffer persecution, for Christ has said--“Blessed are ye when men shall +hate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, +for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; +for behold your reward is great in heaven.” Who, then, is there that +possesses faith, hope, and charity, who will not support with patience, +contempt, and ignominy, for the love of his Saviour, when he is well +assured of receiving a hundredfold advantage in everlasting life? + +In the expectation of these things, remember this saying of Christ, +that “an affliction shall come such as never had been seen from the +beginning of the world.” And why? the Apostle tells us--“that a time +shall come when men will not receive the sound doctrines, but will +listen to false teachers with greedy ears;” they will leave the truth +and cling to fables. Thus is now accomplished the prophecy of St Paul, +who declares, that all who desire to live purely in Christ will suffer +persecution; and the impious will triumph in their ruin. + +Receive, therefore, dearly-beloved, the exhortation of St Peter; beware +of allowing yourselves to be led astray with others, by the error +of the wicked; do not permit your mode of life to be disturbed; but +increase in the grace of God, in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and +pray that God may graciously accord happy success to my preaching, +wherever a want of it may be felt, in the towns and villages, fields +and forests, in every place where I may be useful, in order that the +word of God may not be stifled in my mouth; uphold and console each +other under the protection of God the Father, of his well-beloved Son, +and of the Holy Spirit, who can preserve you from all evil, and procure +for you eternal joy. To him be praise and glory for ever and ever. Amen. + + + + + LETTER XIV. + + TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF LUNA. + + [John Huss recommends union, and teaches them to endure insults + rather than to avenge them.] + + +Master John Huss, an unworthy servant of God, to the believers residing +in the town of Luna. Peace, and the protection of our Lord Jesus +Christ, be with you! + +My very dear brethren, Although I cannot see you externally with my +eyes, but only with my mental vision, I am nevertheless acquainted with +your charity and your constant faith in God and in his Gospel. I know +that the Saviour has united you in faith, peace, charity, and attention +to his word, so that I find amongst you, more than in any other town of +Bohemia, that concord which so deeply rejoices my heart. I conjure you, +therefore, dearly-beloved,--I whose features are unknown to you, but +who am attached to you sincerely in God--I conjure you, in the interest +of your salvation, to love one another; to remain united, and to let +no man come between and divide you; for this precious unity, which +subsists between you by the true faith, will save you in the presence +of God; and God, through his mercy, will, in return, give you strength +to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. + +Meditate on these things, dearly-beloved, and allow no schisms, or +treachery, or jealousy, or violence, to spring up amongst you. Should +any obstinate disseminator of disturbance and discord arise amongst +you, warn him like a brother, but do not enter into any disputes before +the judges or courts of law; for that would cause the destruction +alike of your fortune, body, and soul. Study to avenge the insults +offered to God, rather than your own. Alas! it is in this point that +the whole world is mistaken; for all men are more ready to avenge their +own injuries than those of God. And that is the broad path opened by +Antichrist; and, above all, dangerous to us who are priests, and who +desire to see the ordinances of men more rigorously observed than the +commandments of God. Such, or such a priest, monk, or prelate, is a +fornicator or adulterer with impunity, and yet he insists on having his +own ordinances observed, under pain of excommunication! In like manner, +they do not inflict punishment on the laity who sin against God; but +should one of them presume to say--“My brethren, you have unjustly +condemned me!” they at once strike with the sword, because any one has +raised his voice against the injustice of his clerical judge. + +I have full confidence that the Lord will keep you free from these +evils, so that you may observe his word rather than the ordinances +of men. As long as you observe his word, no one can do you harm. +Wherefore, dearly-beloved, meditate deeply on these two things, which +are eternal and imperishable--condemnation and everlasting life. The +former will draw you into fire that lasts for ever, dreadful torments, +and a devouring and endless sojourn with devils; but in eternal life +all will be perfect joy, absence of affliction and suffering, and a +residence with God himself and his angels. For, as St Paul says--“Eye +hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of +man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” We +shall, therefore, be indeed blessed when we enjoy this beatitude, +of which the delights will be perfect and without drawback, and we +shall then behold who shall be condemned;--there all sins hidden in +the hearts of men shall be laid bare; there we shall reap a joy and +a consolation of which we shall never be deprived; there, in fine, +we shall be happy if we suffer anything here for Jesus Christ; for, +as gold is tried by fire, so shall we be proved by the cross and by +affliction, under the hand of Him that has produced the world from +nothingness. We shall therefore be happy, if we persevere to the end in +well-doing. + +Let us bear in mind, dearly-beloved, that the world is wasting away, +that death is at hand, and that we are here only on a pilgrimage. Live, +therefore, first of all piously, renouncing your sins; next, aspire +to heavenly joys; and, lastly, love God with all your heart, and have +confidence in him, that he may deck you out with his glory, through +the merits of Jesus Christ, and may make you sharers in his reign. Amen. + + + + + LETTER XV. + + THE PRIEST WYCHEWITZE TO JOHN HUSS AND HIS FRIENDS. + + +To you, dearly-beloved in the Lord, be salvation and all that is +most precious in the bosom of Jesus Christ--to you whom I love in +the truth, and not I alone, but all who have knowledge of the truth +that dwells in you, and will always remain there, through the grace +of God! I felt a most lively joy when our brethren came and bore +testimony to your true doctrine, informing us of the manner in which +you walk in the light. I have learned, dear brethren, with what rigour +Antichrist is proving you, by inflicting on believers various and most +grievous tribulations; and I feel no astonishment, if, amongst you, +as already almost everywhere in the world, the law of Christ has such +violent assaults to sustain from his enemies. Let us, then, strengthen +ourselves in the Lord our God, and in his infinite goodness: and let us +be confident that he will not permit his faithful followers to wander +aside from their object, provided we love him as we ought to do, with +all our heart. There would be no suffering borne by you, if iniquity +did not abound. Be not, therefore, shaken by any tribulation, or any +trial, supported for the sake of Christ; for we know with certitude, +that they whom the Lord judges worthy to be his children, are proved by +him in affliction: our merciful Father sends us persecutions in this +miserable world, in order to receive us afterwards into his grace. +The great Workman proves and purifies the gold, before he receives it +into his incorruptible treasury: the period of our life here below is +brief and transitory: the life which we hope for hereafter is full of +delight, and eternal. Let us, therefore, labour whilst we can to secure +our being admitted into this happy rest. What do we behold in this +perishable life, if not grief and mourning, and what ought above all to +afflict the faithful,--a too great abandonment and contempt of the law +of God. + +Let us, then, strive to attain, as much as is necessary, to durable +and eternal things, detaching our souls from those which pass away and +perish. Consider the ancient fathers, the saints of the old and new +alliance: have they not all traversed this same ocean of tribulation +and persecution? Were not some sawed in two, others stoned, others put +to death with the sword? All have passed by a difficult road, and so +followed the footsteps of Christ, who said, “Let him who serves me, +follow my steps.” Wherefore, placing before you the example of so many +saints who have preceded us, and being pressed on all sides by sin, +let us patiently await the combat which is offered us, our eyes fixed +on the foundation of our faith--on that Jesus who suffered the trial +of the cross; let us implore him who suffered every indignity from the +hands of sinners to support our souls; let us combat firmly against his +enemies, loving his law, and not being false workmen; but let us act +faithfully, and labour for the Lord, in the hope of an eternal reward. + +Thou, my dear Huss, my well-beloved brother in Christ, although my eyes +have never beheld thee, thy features are well known to me by faith and +affection; for this world cannot disjoin those whom the love of Christ +strongly binds together. Rejoice in the grace that has been accorded +thee: exert thyself like a valiant soldier of Christ: preach and +exhort, by thy word and thy example: recall all that thou canst into +the way of truth; for the truth of the gospel ought not to be held back +on account of some vain censures and antichristian excommunications. +Impart, then, strength to the members of Christ that are enfeebled by +Satan; and even should Antichrist be raised to the very topmost point +of power, his reign will soon finish. I rejoice, above all, that in +your kingdom, and elsewhere, God animates hearts, that support with +joy, captivity, exile, and even death, for Christ’s word. + +What more shall I say to you, dearly-beloved? I know not; but I confess +that my heart would dissolve with delight, if I could thus strengthen +and console myself under the law of the Lord. I salute, from the bottom +of my soul, all the believers and faithful disciples of the truth; and, +in particular, Jacobel, thy coadjutor in the preaching of the Gospel, +requesting him to pray in his church to the Lord for me. + +May the God of peace, who raised from the dead the Shepherd of the +sheep, Jesus Christ, our Sovereign Lord, render you capable of all +well-doing, in order that by his acting with you as he may deem fit, +you execute his will. All your friends, who have heard your constancy +spoken of, salute you. I desire most ardently to receive a letter from +you; for be assured that it affords me no trifling consolation. + +Written at London, on the day of the Nativity of the Virgin, in the +year of our Lord 1410.[35] + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[35] The signature runs thus:--“Vester servus cupiens in labore fieri +socius, Ricus Wychewitze, infimus Sacerdotum.”--This letter has been +erroneously attributed by several historians to Wyckliff. + + + + + SECOND SERIES. + + LETTERS WRITTEN BY JOHN HUSS, AND OTHER PERSONS, AT THE PERIOD OF THE + COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. + + +The letters of this Second Series were all written in the nine months +which elapsed between the departure of John Huss for the Council, in +October 1414, and the last day of June 1415, which immediately preceded +his execution. They form one of the most curious monuments of this +celebrated period, and present an irrefragable testimony in favour of +John Huss against his judges. We perceive in the early ones, by the +eagerness of the populations to flock to him on his passage, how great +was already the authority of his name and doctrines in Germany. In +reading those which come after, we are present at the grand scenes of +the Council; and had we not the concluding ones before us, we should +never perhaps know to what a degree this man, so intrepid and so firm +in his faith before God and men, was to the end filled with gratitude +towards his benefactors, torn with solicitude for his flock, full of +love toward his friends, and actuated by feelings of mercy towards his +persecutors. + +The letters of this series were collected without order of date by +Peter Maldoniewitz, and were so published by Luther. We have classified +them with great care, some from the indications given by Huss himself, +and the rest in the order of the events which they narrate. Some +letters of Huss’s friends have been included in the collection, and +add to the interest of this correspondence, at once so dramatic and so +truly Christian.[36] + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[36] For the history of this period of Huss’s life, consult _The +Reformers before the Reformation_, vol. ii., book iii. + + + + + LETTER I. + + TO MASTER MARTIN. + + [John Huss wrote this letter previous to his departure from Bohemia, + and left it sealed up in the hands of the person to whom it was + addressed, requesting it not to be opened until after his death.] + + +Master Martin, my much beloved brother in Christ, I exhort thee to fear +God, to keep his commandments, and to watch over thyself when in female +company. Be provident in listening to their confessions, that Satan may +not deceive thee by honied words; for Saint Augustin has said--“Trust +not thyself to devotion; for corruption is sometimes the greater +in proportion as the devotion is apparent; and disordered passions +may conceal themselves under a mask of piety....” Beware, then, of +incurring an irreparable loss: and I trust you will remain pure from +all commerce with women, for I have taught thee, from thy youth +upwards, to serve Jesus Christ.[37] Know, therefore, it is for having +condemned the avarice and disorderly life of priests, that, by the +grace of God, I suffer a persecution, which will soon be extinguished +by my death. I do not fear to be confounded for the name of Jesus +Christ. + +I conjure thee not to seek after benefices. Nevertheless, if thou art +called to a cure, let the glory of God, the salvation of souls, and +labour alone, occupy you, and not the possession of riches. If thou +shouldst obtain a church, take not a young woman for servant, and +avoid ornamenting thy house more than thy soul; above all, bestow thy +cares on the spiritual edifice; be pious and humble with the poor, and +consume not thy estate with feasting. If thou dost not amend thy life, +and abstain from sumptuous clothing and superfluities, I fear that thou +mayest be chastened, as I myself am,--I who have used such things, +seduced by the custom and approbation of the wicked, and troubled by +a spirit of pride which is in opposition to God. From thy youth, thou +hast known my preaching and private exhortations; it is, therefore, +useless to write thee more; but I conjure thee, by the mercy of our +Lord, not to follow me in any of the vanities into which thou hast seen +me fall. Know, alas! that before receiving the priesthood, I lost much +time in playing at chess, and through this game often suffered myself +to be provoked, as well as provoked others to anger. I recommend myself +to thy prayers before God, for this sin, and for my other innumerable +transgressions. I invoke his mercy for me, that he may deign to direct +my life, and that after the victory over the perverse powers of this +age, over the flesh, the world, and Satan, he may open to me at the +day of judgment the celestial country. Adieu, then, in Jesus Christ, +with all those who keep his laws. Receive my grey gown as a mark of +my remembrance of thee; nevertheless, if thou art ashamed of the grey +colour, dispose of it for the best, and as thou thinkest proper. Thou +wilt give my white gown to the Curé, my disciple; thou wilt also give +to George or to Suzikon, sixty silver groschen, or my grey gown, +because he has faithfully served me. + +_Outside the letter, Huss wrote_-- + +I conjure thee not to open this letter before thou hast ascertained the +certainty of my death. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[37] Ergo cave ne irrecuperabilem perdas, quam spero retines, +virginitatem; memento quia a juventate tua docui te servere +Christo-Jesu. + + + + + LETTER II. + + JOHN HUSS TO THE BOHEMIANS PREVIOUSLY TO HIS SETTING OUT FOR THE + COUNCIL.[38] + + +I, John Huss, in hope, priest and minister of Jesus Christ, to all our +well-beloved and faithful brethren and sisters, who have heard from my +mouth the divine word, and who have received the mercy and peace of God +and of the Holy Ghost, I pray they may continue to walk without blame +in the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. + +You know, dear brethren, that for a long time I have instructed you in +the faith, teaching you the word of the Lord, and not things foreign to +the truth; for I have always sought, seek now, and shall seek unto the +end, your salvation. I had intended, before I set out for Constance, +to refute the false testimonies, and confound the false witnesses, who +wish to bring me to the scaffold, but time has not permitted me, and I +will do it at a later period. You, then, who know these things, think +not, suppose not, that I encounter unworthy treatment for any false +doctrines. Dwell in the truth, and confide yourselves to the mercy of +God, who has given you the truth through me, his faithful preacher, to +know and defend the truth, and beware of false teachers.... As to me, I +am setting out to travel with a safe-conduct from the Emperor, to meet +and confound my numerous and mortal enemies, as will appear clearer +than the day, when they stand before me and produce against me their +false testimonies. + +Mine enemies in the Council, more numerous than were Christ’s, are +found amongst the bishops, and doctors, and also amongst the princes of +this age, and the Pharisees. But I confide myself entirely to Almighty +God and my Saviour; I hope, therefore, he will grant my ardent prayer, +and put prudence and wisdom in my mouth, that I may be able to resist +them; that he may bestow on me his Holy Spirit to fortify me in the +truth; so that the gates of hell shall not be able to lead me from it, +and that I may face, with an intrepid heart, temptation, imprisonment, +and the sufferings of a cruel death. + +Christ has suffered for his well-beloved; should we, then, be +astonished at his leaving us his example, in order that we may +patiently suffer all things for our own salvation? He is God, and we +are his creatures; he is the Lord, and we are his servants; he is the +Master of the world, and we are but frail mortals; he is not in want of +anything, and we are utterly destitute; he has suffered, and should not +we suffer also, especially when suffering is unto us a purification? +Truly, he who confides in Christ, and dwells in his truth, cannot +perish. Therefore, my beloved brethren, pray to him incessantly to +bestow his Spirit upon me, that I may dwell in the truth, and be +delivered from all evil; and if my death should contribute to his +glory, pray that it may come quickly, and that he may give me strength +to support my afflictions with constancy. But if it be better, in the +interest of my salvation, that I should return amongst you, we will ask +of God, that I leave the Council without a blemish; that is to say, +that I may keep back nothing of the truth of the gospel of Christ, +in order that we may distinguish its light more purely, and leave +to our brethren a fine example. Probably you may never again see my +countenance at Prague; but if the will of Almighty God should deign to +restore me to you, let us advance, then, with a better heart in the +knowledge and love of his law. The Lord is merciful and just, and gives +peace to his children in this world and after death. Let him watch over +you who has purified us by the sprinkling of his precious blood--of +that blood which is the eternal pledge of our salvation! May he permit +you to accomplish his will; and when you shall have accomplished it, +may he bestow on you peace and eternal glory, through Jesus Christ, +with all those who have dwelt in the truth! + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[38] This letter was written in Bohemia by Huss; several translations +of it were made by his adversaries to injure him before the Council. + + + + + LETTER III. + + LETTER WRITTEN FROM NUREMBERG TO HIS CONGREGATION AT PRAGUE. + + +Salvation be to you through Jesus Christ! Learn that from the day I +left Bohemia, I have travelled on horseback, and without concealment, +my face being uncovered. As I approached Pernau, I found the Curé and +his vicars waiting my arrival. When I entered the town[39] he drank +a large cup of wine to my health, and, with his vicars, listened, +in a spirit of charity, to my doctrine, and said that he had always +been my friend. All the Germans saw me afterwards with pleasure in +the new town. We went from thence to Weyden, where we beheld a great +crowd, as if in admiration; and when we had come to Saltzbach, I said +to the consuls and ancients of the city: “I am that John Huss, of +whom, without doubt, you have heard so much ill spoken. Behold me; +assure yourselves of the truth, by interrogating me yourselves.” After +much questioning, they received perfectly well all I said to them. +We _afterwards_ traversed Inspruck, and passed the night in the town +of Lauff, where the Curé, a celebrated purist, came, accompanied by +his vicars. I had a long conference with him; and he also received my +words with great attention. We arrived next at Nuremberg, where some +traders, who preceded us, had announced my arrival; which caused the +people to assemble in the thoroughfares, demanding which was John Huss. +The Curé, John Heluvel, wrote to me before dinner, stating his wish to +have a long conversation with me. I invited him to come, and he did so. +The citizens and masters afterwards assembled together, in the desire +of seeing and conferring with me. As soon as they came, I rose from +the table and went to meet them; and as the masters desired to argue +with me, I told them that I spoke in public, and that all who wished +to listen should hear me; and from that moment until night-time, we +discussed religious matters in the presence of the consuls and citizens. + +There was present a doctor whose words were deceitful; and I perceived +that Albert, Curé of Saint Sebold, saw, with pain, the approbation +given to my doctrines. Nevertheless, all the citizens and masters +remained satisfied. “Master,” said they, “truly, all that we have just +heard is catholic; we have ourselves taught these things for many +years; we have held them to be true, and still consider them such; +truly you will return from this Council with honour.” We separated +in the best terms with each other. Know that I have not yet met with +an enemy; and in all the hotels where I stop I am well received. No +hatred is stronger against me than that of some men from Bohemia. What +more can I say to you? The nobles, Wenceslaus, and John de Chlum, act +piously and nobly towards me. They are like heralds and advocates of +the truth. God assisting, all goes on well. The Emperor is in the +kingdom; Wenceslaus Lesma follows him, and we shall arrive in the night +at Constance, where Pope John is shortly expected. We understand he +follows the Emperor at a distance of sixty miles. + + [Written at Nuremberg on the Sunday before the festival of the Eleven + thousand Virgins.] + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[39] Huss adds, _in stubam_; but the sense which he attached to this +word is doubtful. + + + + + LETTER IV. + + JOHN, CURÉ OF JANOWITZ, TO THE FAITHFUL BELIEVERS OF PRAGUE. + + [Fragments of a letter attributed to John, Curé of Janowitz, and + inserted in the Latin collection of John Huss’s letters.[40]] + + +Very dear Friends, I desire you to be informed that an auditor of the +Sacred Apostolical Palace came to our lodging with the Bishop and the +Ecclesiastical Judge of Constance. They conversed with the master;[41] +and there has been a long debate between the Pope and the Cardinals on +the subject of his interdiction. They have decided a messenger should +go from them to the master, and inform him that the Pope, of his full +power, suspends the interdiction and sentence excommunicating him, +and prays him, in order to prevent scandal and public rumour, not to +present himself in places where the Pope and the Cardinals solemnly +officiate; granting him otherwise full liberty to visit the town, the +churches, and all other places he pleases. We have understood that they +all fear the next sermon which Master John intends delivering to the +clergy; and, in fact, some one yesterday--we know not whether a friend +or an enemy--spread the report that John Huss will preach to the +clergy next Sunday in the Cathedral of Constance, and will give a ducat +to all who are present. We are at present entirely at liberty in the +town. The Master officiates every day, and acts everywhere freely. He +does not keep at a distance from the king’s council, that, in the cause +of truth, which is also his own, nothing may be undertaken against him +before the arrival of the King of Hungary.[42] The Council has not yet +taken the affair into consideration; up to this time there has not +arrived any ambassador from the king or prince, neither from Gregory +nor Benedict; and we do not think the Council will open its sittings +before several weeks. Let all those who are personally cited be careful +of themselves, and know well that their names are publicly affixed to +the church-doors. Michael Causis chants his high deeds. The Seigniors +John Lepka and Wenceslaus of Lesma are the intrepid and zealous +defenders of the truth.[43] + + [Written at Constance on the Sunday before Saint Martin’s day.] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[40] This letter is important, as it shews in what manner Huss was +treated during the early part of his stay at Constance. + +[41] With John Huss. + +[42] The King of Hungary, to whom John of Janowitz here alludes, is +Sigismund, the second son of Charles IV., and brother of Wenceslaus, +King of Bohemia. This prince succeeded Robert to the imperial throne; +and the distinguished part he took in the Council of Constance is well +known. At that period he had not yet been crowned, and was usually +only designated by the titles of _King of Hungary_, and _King of the +Romans_, although he was, in fact, Emperor. To avoid all confusion, we +have already given him his imperial title, and shall continue doing so +throughout. + +[43] John of Janowitz terminates his letter with the following _jeu de +mots_:--“Auca nondum est assata, nec timet de assatione, quia præsenti +anno, sabbato ante Martini festum, occurrit ipsius celebris vigilia, +ubi ante non comeduntur.” + + + + + LETTER V. + + JOHN HUSS TO THE PEOPLE OF BOHEMIA AND HIS FRIENDS. + + +Salutation through Jesus Christ. We entered Constance after the +festival of All-Saints’ day, without having suffered injury in the +towns we passed through, and where we delivered public discourses in +Latin and German. We lodge at Constance, in the Great Square, near +the Pope’s hotel; and we have arrived without a safe-conduct.[44] The +next day, Michael Causis stuck up a notice on the church, containing +an accusation against me; he affixed his signature to it, with a long +commentary, which indicated, amongst other things, that this accusation +was directed against the obstinate John Huss, excommunicated and +suspected of heresy. I endeavour, with God’s aid, not to pay attention +to it, knowing that God has created him my enemy on account of my sins, +in order to judge whether I am willing or able to suffer something for +his name’s sake. + +Lutzembock and John of Lepka have visited the Pope, and spoken to +him about me: he answered, that he did not wish to resort to violent +measures. It is rumoured, though vaguely, that Pope Benedict is coming +from Spain to be present at the Council. We have learned to-day, that +the Dukes of Brabant and Burgundy have withdrawn from the camp. The +Pope and the Council must wait for the Emperor, who is to be crowned +at Aix; and as this town is seventy miles distant from Constance, I +do not think the Emperor can be here before Christmas; the Council +will be then near its close, unless it is broken up about Easter. The +living here is exceedingly expensive, a bed costing half a florin +a-week. Horses are at a high price, and seven florins are paid for a +horse that might be bought in Bohemia for six drachms. The Seignior +John and myself have sent ours to the town of Ravensburg, four miles +from here, and I think I shall not be long before I shall want common +necessaries. Mention my uneasiness to our friends, whom it would take +too long to name severally. The Seignior Lutzembock has gone to-day +to rejoin the Emperor, and has prohibited me from undertaking any +thing before the arrival of Sigismund. I hope I shall answer before a +public audience. Many Italians and Parisians are here, but few bishops +and archbishops: the cardinals, also, are numerous. When I traversed +Constance on horseback, I was surrounded by a large crowd of horsemen, +and the multitude pressed round me. Our Bohemians have spent all +their money on the road, and are already in want. I pity greatly +their distress, but I cannot give to all. I have only kept my horse +Robstein, the swiftest horse here, and which I guard, in case I should +wish to leave this city, and rejoin the Emperor. Salute our friends, +without excepting any one. This letter is the fourth I write from a +foreign country, and I date it, Sunday night after All-Saints’ day. +Not one of our Bohemian knights is at Constance, with the exception +of the Seignior John Lepka, who has protected and conducted me like a +true knight. He preaches more than I do, and proclaims everywhere my +innocence. Pray to God to sustain my courage. + + +John Huss+, servant of God in hope. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[44] Without a safe-conduct from the Pope. See Letter VI. + + + + + LETTER VI. + + +Know, my well-beloved friends, that I am well in every respect. I have +arrived at Constance without any safe-conduct from the Pope. Pray, +then, to God that he may grant me firmness; for many and redoubtable +adversaries rise up here against me, excited especially by the seller +of indulgences, the Deacon of Padua, and Michael Causis, who are +unceasingly plotting against me. Nevertheless, I fear them not, being +in hope that, after a great combat will come a great victory, and after +the victory my reward, and the confusion of my persecutors. + +The Pope will not put an end to the affair: “What can I do?” says +he; “it is you who are to act.” Two bishops, however, and a doctor, +have conversed with John Lepka, that we might agree without noise. I +conceive they are afraid that I should answer in public, but I hope I +shall be permitted to do so when the Emperor is present. + +We have been well received, and honourably treated in all the towns we +have passed through, and we have published declarations[45] in Latin +and German. In the imperial towns we held discussions with the masters. +The Bishop of Lubeck, who preceded us, and was a night in advance of +us, reported everywhere on the road that I was conducted in chains, in +a cart; and told the people he kept aloof from me, because I seduced +the minds of men. In consequence, whenever we approached a town, the +crowd ran to meet us, as if to a show. But this falsehood has turned +to the confusion of my enemies, and the people rejoiced on learning +the truth. Truly Jesus Christ is with me, like a valiant warrior, and +I defy all the power of my enemies. Live purely, and pray fervently, +that the God of mercy may assist me, and defend, through me, his Word. + +_Written on Saint Leonard’s eve._ + +I think, should the Council be prolonged, I shall want for common +necessaries: ask, therefore, for some assistance for me, but only under +condition agreed on, from those whom you discover to be really my +friends. Salute our brethren and sisters, and invite them to pray to +God for me, since I am in need of it. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[45] Intimationes. + + + + + LETTER VII. + + TO THE PEOPLE OF BOHEMIA. + + +May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, so that, +being delivered from sin, you may walk in grace, increase in modesty +and virtue, and enjoy, after this life, life eternal! + +My well-beloved, I conjure you all who live according to God’s +law, disdain not to occupy yourselves with the salvation of souls: +be careful, when listening to the word of God, that you are not +deceived by false apostles, who do not condemn sins, but who excuse +them: they flatter the priests: they do not shew to the people their +transgressions: they glorify themselves, extol their works, and +exalt their own virtue; but they deign not to imitate Jesus Christ +in his humility, in his poverty, in his cross, in his sufferings. It +is of them our merciful Saviour has said--“False Christs and false +prophets shall rise, and deceive many.” And to warn his elect against +them, he has said to them, “Beware of false prophets, which come to +you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves; ye +shall know them by their fruits.” And truly the followers of Christ +have the greatest need to be prudent and careful; for the Saviour has +said, “insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very +elect.” Watch, therefore, my beloved, through fear of falling into the +snares of Satan. It is necessary you should be the more circumspect +in proportion as Antichrist places in your way greater obstacles. The +last judgment is nigh, death will swallow up many, but the kingdom of +God is waiting for his elect, since for them he delivered up his body. +Fear not death; love one another; and endeavour, without ceasing, to +understand the will of God. Let the terrible and formidable day of +judgment be present ever before your eyes, for fear that you may sin; +think also of the joys of eternal life, to which all your efforts +should be directed; think also of the passion of our Saviour, that you +may bear with humility all things with him and for him; for if you bear +in mind his sufferings and his cross, nothing will appear too rigorous +for you; you will accept, without murmurings, tribulations, calumnies, +outrages, chains; and, should it be required, you will not hesitate +to lay down your life for the holy truth. Know, dearly-beloved, +that Antichrist has recourse, in his rage against you, to divers +persecutions; but he has been powerless against a great number; he has +not been able even to remove a single hair from their heads; learn to +know him by my example, although he is violently irritated against me. +Wherefore, I conjure you all to intercede for me in your prayers at the +throne of God, that he may grant me wisdom, mildness, patience, as well +as strength, to keep always in the heavenly truth. It is that which +has already conducted me to Constance; and during the whole journey +I have publicly and openly declared my name, as became a servant of +God. Nowhere did I conceal myself; but in no place have I found more +dangerous or declared enemies than in this city; and I should not have +had them for adversaries, if some Bohemian impostors, for the money +which they had received, and seduced by avarice, had not persuaded them +that I mislead the people from the good way. But I have good hope, by +the mercy of our Saviour and your prayers, that I shall persevere until +death in the immutable truth of our Heavenly Father. + +Know, lastly, that every one here has his duty assigned him; I alone +am neglected. It is the Pope who has regulated every thing here. I +recommend myself to our sweet Lord Jesus Christ, to the true God, to +the Son of the Virgin Mary, who ransomed us by a bitter death, and not +through our merits, from eternal punishment, from the power of the +devil and sin. + +On Saint Fabin’s eve (January 19), written at Constance, 1415. + + + + + LETTER VIII. + + TO THE INHABITANTS OF PRAGUE. + + [Huss conjures them to remember his doctrines, and to cling to the + Word of God.] + + +May God be with you! I conjure you, dearly-beloved, to attach +yourselves to the cause of the Lord; for several endeavour to stifle +the word, and take away from you the Gospel of Christ, which I have +preached unto you, in order to turn men from their salvation. Reflect, +in the second place, on the slights and outrages which your nation +inflicts on you;--which hypocrites wickedly excite against you; think +of the infamies and insults heaped upon you; in a word, support all +things with joy and patience. + +If Satan insults you, if Antichrist holds you in derision, he cannot +harm you more than a dog tied-up, as long as you love the Word of God +and defend it with all your power. Look at me! Satan has persecuted +me for some years past, but he has not been able to do me any harm, +because I trust in God. I will even say more, God strengthens in me +every day joy and contentment. Remember also, that to deny a thing, +is to abjure what one believes, be it the true faith or a heresy. If +a man is a Christian, and if, through fear of death or persecution, +and seduced by the wiles of the demon, he joins the sect of Jews and +Pagans, and declares on oath that he does not wish to be a Christian, +he denies the true faith. But if another has adopted a heresy; if, for +example, he does not believe Jesus Christ to be God; if, in the end, he +abjures this opinion, it cannot be said of him that he persists in his +error. Acknowledging, therefore, how much he sins who denies the truth +when he has once come to a knowledge of it, or who adheres to error or +heresy, and esteeming more than all, the Word of God, let us celebrate +his glory above all things, and live in charity with all men. Wrestle +courageously against the imposture of Antichrist, having with you your +Saviour, who strengthens you, and whom no one can vanquish. He will +not forsake you, if you do not forsake him; but will bestow on all the +faithful who believe in him, an eternal reward. I wrote these things, +not being able to come to you in person--1415. + + + + + LETTER IX. + + [John Huss to a priest, whom he reminds of his duties.] + + +My very dear Brother,--Be zealous in preaching the Scriptures, fill the +office of a good preacher of the Gospel, remember thy vocation, and +work like a favoured soldier of Christ. Live, first of all, piously +and purely; afterwards, teach faithfully and sincerely. Be unto others +an example in every good work; leave nothing to be desired in thy +discourses; recommend virtue, and bring back those who live wickedly +to the remembrance of eternal punishment; point out the joys of heaven +to those who live in faith and piety; preach assiduously but briefly; +explain, lastly, the Holy Scriptures prudently and with profit. Take +heed of affirming any thing uncertain and doubtful, for fear of being +taken up by adversaries who delight to find their neighbour in fault, +and bring contempt on God’s ministers; exhort to confession and to the +Communion of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, under both forms, that +those who sincerely repent of their sins may often communicate. + +I exhort thee, dear brother, not to frequent taverns or strangers, +in order not to live like the common run of men; for the more the +priest keeps aloof from public places, and dissipation, the more he +is acceptable to God. Nevertheless, refuse not thine assistance to +others, according to thy means. Preach with all thy might against +voluptuousness; it is a wild beast that devours men, for whom the +humanity of Christ has suffered. Wherefore, my dear friend, I conjure +you to avoid all impurity; for even when thou shalt most endeavour +to be useful, temptation will conceal itself, in order to lay hold +of thee. Shun entirely the company of young women, and trust not to +their devotion. Saint Augustin has said: “_Quo religiosior, eo ad +luxuriam proclivior, et sub prætextu religionis latet dolus aut venenum +fornicationis_.” Know, my dear friend, that their society has seduced +many, whom the life of the age has not destroyed. Introduce not, under +any pretext, women into thy dwelling, and do not hold too frequent +intercourse with them; lastly, whatever thou doest, fear God, and keep +his commandments, for so thou shalt be in the right path; thou shalt +not perish, but shalt curb thy flesh, master the world, vanquish the +demon, put on a divine spirit, find life, strengthen others, and place +on thy own head a crown of glory, which shall be given thee, by the +equitable and sovereign Dispenser of all justice. + + + + + LETTER X.[46] + + TO PETER MALDONIEWITZ. + + [John Huss wrote the following letters in the prison where he was + first detained, at the Monastery of the Minor Brothers, near the + Lake of Constance, outside the city walls.] + + +I have written nothing at present on my captivity except the letter, +if, indeed, thou hast sent it, in which I besought to be prayed for. +Thou understandest, without doubt, that I allude to the letter I +addressed to Master Jacobel, and in which I wrote: “My enemies have +said that I shall not obtain an audience, unless I, first of all, +pay two thousand ducats to the ministers of Antichrist for their +expenses.”[47] Michael[48] has brought a copy of this letter, and +the answer of Master Jacobel, which, I have reason to believe, is +severe for me. He came with the patriarch, accompanied by scribes and +witnesses, amongst whom was Master Nicholas. Stoggis stood up right in +front of me. One of the commissioners handing me the copy to read over, +asked me to declare on oath if it was mine. I answered; Yes, and I do +not believe, since the cruel salutations of Master Paletz, that any +thing troubled me more than these letters. I shudder at the wickedness +of Michael, and of his accomplices. As to Master Jacobel, who preaches +that we should beware of hypocrites, he is deceived by them more than +any one, and delivers himself up to them. I have not read his letter, +but I believe it to be severe. There were two copies in the same paper, +and I thought at first it was not an answer to mine, but a copy of the +letter of the Curé of Janowitz. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[46] This is the 43d in the collection of John Huss’s Works. + +[47] The letter thus alluded to has not come down to us. + +[48] Michael Causis. + + + + + LETTER XI. + + TO THE BELIEVERS IN PRAGUE. + + [A letter written from Constance, by John Huss, to the community of + Prague, during the early part of his imprisonment.[49]] + + +May God be with you; so that, in wrestling against Satan and the world, +you may persevere to the end. I conjure you, well-beloved, from the +prison which I inhabit, to pray to God for me, who do not blush to +bear affliction for him: pray that he may assist me; for all my life +lies in him, and your prayers. Beseech him, therefore, to grant his +Spirit unto me, that I may confess his name, even unto death. I cling +to his mercy and truth; and if at this time he deign to receive me, +let his holy will be done! But if it be his will I should live and be +restored to you, let his holy will again be blessed. I shall be in +need of his Divine assistance, although I am assured that he will not +permit me to be tried beyond my strength, and exposed to a peril that +will not ensure my salvation and yours; for the end of temptation, +should we hold fast in the truth, is to effect our salvation. Know, +dearly-beloved, that the letters I have left you, have been translated +by my adversaries, who have added to them many falsehoods. They write +so many articles and lies against me, that I have enough to do to +answer them from my prison. Their malice equals their fury. Jesus +Christ, our merciful Lord, has said to them whom he loved, “I will give +you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to +gainsay nor resist.” Remember, beloved, that I have never had anything +more at heart from the beginning than your salvation; it is in his name +that I have taught you the Word of God, and I shall never cease doing +so, even from the bottom of my prison. I do not doubt but that you +will make some mention of me. + +[Written on the eve before St Fabin’s day.] + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[49] This letter was read at Prague, in the Chapel of Bethlehem, and in +the other churches. + + + + + LETTER XII.[50] + + TO JOHN OF CHLUM. + + [He exhorts him not to depart, as likewise his friends, before the + end of the trial.] + + +Excellent Lord, I rejoice greatly at your good health, your presence +here, and the firm perseverance of your good and faithful heart in the +trouble which you take for me in my misfortunes. God has given you that +constancy to a higher degree than to any other person; he bestows you +on me for my support, and I hope it will be for your welfare in this +life and in the next. + +I beseech you, then, by the mercy of God, to wait for the termination +of the affair, like a soldier of Jesus Christ. If the Seignior John of +Janowitz, who lived with us, is in good health, I ask you to keep him +also near you. + +I think often with pleasure of the noble Seignior Wenceslaus Duba. I +pray you to transmit to him, saluting him from me, what I say of him in +my prison, and thank him for his undeviating fidelity. Salute also all +the other faithful Bohemians. + +I accuse myself, that, on the unexpected appearance of Master +Christian, my faithful master and benefactor, I could not restrain the +tears which flowed from my eyes. + +I was told you had left some time since with all your suite, but my +soul is comforted. The God of all goodness at one time consoles, at +another afflicts me; but I hope he will not forsake me in my trials. +I have again suffered horribly from the stone, from which I had never +suffered previously to my imprisonment; I have also been attacked by +fever, and seized with vomitings, and my jailors, who took me out of +the prison, thought I should have died here. + +There are now presented to me many articles, heaps of falsehoods, +besides those concerning which you have already received many answers. +I have not dared reply to the writing which you transmitted to me, on +the subject of the articles of the Parisian Doctors; for I could not +do it secretly, being closely watched. It is better for me to abstain, +rather than place in peril this faithful friend whom I recommend to +you.[51] + +I would willingly see you with the Seignior Wenceslaus and Master +Christian. If you speak to the vice-chamberlain, I think he will permit +you to be admitted. Converse before my guards in Latin.... I did not +dare keep the articles about my person. Make Peter copy what I have +written on the Ten Commandments of God. + +If I live I will answer the articles of the Chancellor of Paris;[52] if +I die, God will answer them for me at the day of judgment. + +I know not where is my faithful brother in Christ. Is Master Christian +with you? I pray you salute him, as likewise the Seignior Wenceslaus, +and the other faithful Bohemians.[53] + +Torment not yourself about the living being dear here. Live as you can; +and should God permit me to leave the prison, you will not repent these +expenses. + +If you see the Seignior Henry of Plumlovitz, or Stibor of Botz, salute +them for me. + +It will be eight weeks to-morrow that John Huss has been confined in +this refectory.[54] + +Noble and good Seignior, and defender of the truth, remain here with +constancy, you and the Seignior Henry, until the end arrives; and I +hope that our Saviour Jesus Christ will permit it to contribute to his +glory and to the ransom of my sins. + +I should behold with pleasure the Emperor commanding me to transmit him +my answers on the articles of Wycliffe. Oh! if God would deign to put +wisdom in his mouth, that he might comport himself amongst the princes +as the defender of the truth! + +I have finished to-day an essay on the Body of Christ; yesterday I +wrote another on Marriage. You will get them copied. Some Polish +knights, and a single Bohemian in their company, have visited me. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[50] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. li. + +[51] John Huss speaks twice in this letter of a friend whom he does not +name. + +[52] John Gerson. Huss adds,--Scribet in manifesto _Zeleznyian_. The +meaning of this latter word is not clear. + +[53] John Huss here repeats what he had said in a former part of +this letter, which is written in Latin, and is often very obscure, +indicating a certain derangement, occasioned, without doubt, by acute +sufferings. + +[54] In the refectory of the Minor Brothers. The date of this letter is +thus fixed as 22d January 1415. + + + + + LETTER XIII.[55] + + TO THE SAME. + + [John Huss, so many times and so perfidiously questioned by his + adversaries, declares again what he acquiesces in.] + + +Noble and good Seignior, I have great consolation experienced, and I +implore you in the name of God not to lose patience in taking so much +trouble about me for so long a time; the God of truth and of justice +will reward you for it. + +The Commissioners during several days wished to confide my affair to +twelve or thirteen head lawyers. I refused to consent to it. But, after +having written my answers to the forty-five articles of Wycliffe, as +well as to those of my own, which are alleged against me, I wrote with +my own hand a protest, by which I declared that I wished to appear +before the whole Council, and there uphold my faith. In it will be seen +the articles which have been falsely extracted from my treatise on _The +Church_, being added to and taken from, as well as the answer which I +wrote in prison, without the assistance of any book. + +I have never in my life found in my misfortune a more cruel comforter +than Paletz. + +All the clerks of the Pope’s chamber, as well as my keepers, treat me +with great attention. The Lord delivered Jonas from the belly of the +whale; Daniel from the lion’s den; the three young men from the fiery +furnace: and Susanna from the sentence of false witnesses; he can also +deliver me, if it should promote his glory and the preaching of his +word; if, on the contrary, my death is agreeable to the Lord, let God’s +name be blessed. If, at least, I was permitted to see only once the +Emperor with our Bohemians, I should be consoled in my affliction. + +I rejoiced in the news which I have received; truly the Lord has +comforted me. I was happy to hear of the Seignior Henry Snopek being +in good health. I wish to have a Bible sent me. Do not grieve on my +account. I conjure you to treat well this faithful friend, to whom I am +under particular obligations. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[55] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. lii. + + + + + LETTER XIV.[56] + + TO THE SAME. + + [Huss desires to have several things in his prison to beguile the + time, and fortify himself by the perusal of the Holy Scriptures.] + + +My good Seignior, endeavour to obtain a Bible for me, and send it by +this excellent man;[57] and if Peter, your secretary, has any ink, let +him give me some, with a few pens and an inkstand. + +I have no news of my Polish servant, nor of Master Cardinal; I have +learned only that your noblemen are here with the Emperor; wherefore, +I conjure you to entreat his Majesty in my favour, and in the name of +Almighty God, who has so generously bestowed his gifts upon him, and +on account of the justice and truth which ought to be made manifest +for the honour of God and the advancement of his Church; beseech his +Majesty to deliver me from my chains, that I may be enabled to dispose +of myself, and appear before a public assembly. Learn that I have been +very ill, and have been obliged to take remedies, but that I am now +better. Salute, I pray you, the Bohemian noblemen who are at the King’s +court. + +_Written in prison, and by the well-known hand of Peter our +secretary._[58] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[56] _Hist. et Monum. Johan. Huss_, Epist. liii. + +[57] Huss transmits, without doubt, this message by one of the keepers, +whom he praises in another letter. + +[58] Peter Maldoniewitz. + + + + + LETTER XV.[59] + + TO THE SAME. + + [He exhorts his friends to beware of the snares of his adversaries, + who, like the Corycæans, listen to and envenom all things.][60] + + +I have passed nearly the whole of last night in answering in writing +the articles that Paletz has drawn up; he labours directly for the +purpose of procuring my condemnation. May God pardon him, and be my aid! + +They affirm that the article concerning the depriving the clergy of +their property is heretical. Make the Emperor understand that if this +article is condemned as a heresy, it will follow that he himself, +as well as his father the Emperor and King of Bohemia,[61] will be +condemned as heretics, for having stripped the bishops of temporal +wealth. Do not send a letter by any one whom you cannot answer for as +for yourself. + +Tell Doctor Schmitz to beware of coming here, or Master Jerome, or any +of our friends. + +I am astonished that the Emperor has forgotten me, and does not +communicate with me. Perhaps I shall be condemned before I have said a +word to him. It is for him to see if it is to his honour to act thus. + +Noble and good Seignior John, my excellent benefactor, my intrepid +defender, I conjure you not to let yourself be troubled on my account, +nor for the losses from which you suffer; Almighty God will reward you +with usury. Salute, I pray you, our Bohemian Lords; I do not know any +thing concerning them, but I think that the Seignior Wenceslaus Duba is +here, as well as Henry Latzembock. + +If you decide upon any thing, let me know of it. Let John Bradazk, who +is so dear to me, pray to God, with all the others, for me, and cause +the Emperor to ask for the answers signed by my hand; those I have +drawn up for the articles of Wycliffe, as well as for those imputed to +myself. + +Let these answers be copied, but not shewn more than is necessary, and +let the copies not be too much multiplied, in order that the articles +may remain quite distinct. I know not if the petition will be read +which I forwarded to the Patriarch, to lay before the Council. I think +he will not present it. If it pleased God, the Emperor, by means of one +or two articles, might reduce to nothing the conclusions of the Doctors +of Prague, concerning the subtraction of property, the donation of +Constantine, and alms. I did not wish to deny these articles. It would +be necessary for the Emperor to allege some good motives, and that +these were suggested to him by some one who is not one of ours. If I +was free, I would speak alone with the Emperor. See him, in order that +the affair which concerns you, and to which you are attached, should +not be secretly transferred elsewhere, to prevent your interfering in +it any longer. + +Let Master John Cardinal be prudent, for those he imagines to be +friends are spies; and I have heard it said by several of those who +questioned me, A certain John Cardinal has confounded together the Pope +and the Cardinals, in saying that they were all simonists. Let Master +Cardinal keep as much as possible under the imperial roof, that his +person may not be seized as mine was.[62] No one has done me so much +harm as Paletz. May God forgive him! Paletz has directed everything. +He insisted upon citing all the persons who adhered to my opinions, +that they might be constrained to abjure. He has said, in my prison, +that all those who came to hear me, maintained that the material bread +remained after consecration. + +I am surprised none of our Bohemians visit my prison; perhaps they act +all for the best. Let this paper be torn directly after it is read. + +Send by the bearer of this letter another shirt. Seignior John, insist +with the Bohemians, that the citation of all those who are called upon +to appear, may be annulled; that the Emperor may consider his heritage, +and not suffer any ill-disposed person to harm it. Why can I not speak +to him once before being condemned? for I came here after his desire, +and with the promise that I should be permitted to return safe and +sound to Bohemia. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[59] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. liv. + +[60] Luther adds: “_Male loquentes etiam Cardinali Hostiensi_.” He is +deceived when he takes the Cardinal Osti for Master John Cardinal, +referred to in this letter: the latter was a Doctor of Prague, and a +friend of John Huss. The manner in which Huss expresses himself on this +subject, suffices to shew Luther’s error. + +[61] The Emperor Charles IV. + +[62] This alone is sufficient to prove that the person in question was +not Cardinal Osti, President of the Council. + + + + + LETTER XVI.[63] + + TO THE SAME. + + [He informs his friends of Pope John’s flight, and requests the + Bohemian Nobles to employ their efforts to obtain his deliverance.] + + +My keepers have already taken themselves away. I am no longer supplied +with food, and I am ignorant of the fate that awaits me in my prison. +I implore you to go with the other Nobles to the Emperor, to induce +him to put an end to my captivity, that he fall not, on account of me, +into sin and confusion. I beseech you also to come and see me with our +Nobles of Bohemia, for it is necessary that I should speak with you. + +Noble Seignior John, go and speedily find the Emperor with the Seignior +Wenceslaus and all the others; it would be dangerous to wait: it is +important for me that it should be done as soon as possible. Come +quickly, and learn the other things which I desire you to do. + +I fear that the Grand Master of the Papal Court may carry me away +with him this night, for he has remained to-day at the monastery. +The Bishop of Constance has written to me that he would not treat any +affair with me. The cardinals have done the same. + +If you love the unfortunate Huss,[64] take care the king gives me +guards of his own court, and that he delivers me from prison this +evening. + +_Written in prison on Sunday evening._ + +My noble lord, delay not! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[63] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. lvi. + +[64] Si diligitis miserum anserem. + + + + + LETTER XVII.[65] + + TO THE SAME. + + [He tells him of the consolation which he has received in prison.] + + +I have received great consolation from the visit of the Bohemian +noblemen, but I was much distressed at not having been permitted to see +you.[66] Master Christian has left the city, bearing the message of +Seignior Henry, and also of Master Jessenitz. I think the Council is +much agitated on account of the Pope’s flight. + +In all things executed, or to be executed, God should be consulted +before human reason. This is what they have not done, and it is why[67] + + * * * * * + +If God grants me a happy issue I will not forget this faithful +friend;[68] but if my death is only deferred, it is to you I recommend +him. + +I have discovered that the Seignior William is my friend; return him +thanks for me. + +I saw Wenceslaus Duba shedding tears when he spoke to me, and the +Seignior Mozka shewed me all the kindness of a friend. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[65] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. lv. + +[66] The regret thus expressed by Huss would lead to the presumption +that this letter, like the preceding, was addressed to John of Chlum, +whose name is not found among those of the Seigniors and friends of +John Huss, mentioned by the latter as having visited him in prison. + +[67] Here the text is deficient. + +[68] It is probable that this friend, whom he does not name, is the one +to whom he has already alluded in several preceding letters. + + + + + LETTER XVIII[69] + + JOHN HUSS TO HIS BENEFACTORS. + + [He returns them thanks; exhorts them to live purely; and reminds + them of the conduct of the Council towards Pope John XXIII. after + his flight.] + + +Most generous Lords, faithful defenders of the truth, and my consolers; +you whom God has sent as angels to me, I cannot fully express to you +how grateful I feel for all the constancy and charitable kindness that +you have shewn to me a poor sinner, but a servant in the hope of our +Lord Jesus Christ. I trust the Divine Jesus, our Creator, Redeemer, +and Saviour, will reward you in the present life, and give himself +unto you, as the most precious gift in the life to come. I exhort you, +therefore, by his mercy, to bind yourselves strongly to his law and +holy commandments. + +Noble Lord Wenceslaus, in taking a spouse, live purely in marriage, and +renounce the vanities of the age; and you, Lord John of Chlum, you who +already serve no longer the kings of the earth, dwell with your wife +and your children under the yoke of the Lord. + +You behold how the wheel of the vanities of the world turns round, +raising one man and depressing another, but giving to all whom it +raises a fleeting joy; after which comes the eternal punishment in fire +and darkness. + +You know of what description are these spiritual princes who call +themselves the true vicars of Christ and his Apostles; who proclaim +themselves the Holy Church, and the very Sacred Council that is +infallible; and which, nevertheless, transgressed in adoring John +XXIII., and in calling him most holy, when they knew him to be a +manslayer, impure, a simonist, and a heretic, as they have declared +him to be in the sentence which condemns him. Behold how they have +struck off the head of the Church; they have torn out the heart of the +Church; they have dried up the inexhaustible fountain of the Church; +they have violated and destroyed the imperishable refuge of the Church, +where every Christian should find a refuge! + +May God pardon Stanislaus, Paletz, and their brethren; for they thus +designated the Pope in the sentence which they rendered by the mouth of +Stanislaus.[70] + + * * * * * + +And now Christendom is without a Pope; it has Jesus Christ for the +Head, who directs it--for the heart that vivifies it by grace--for the +fountain which waters it with the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost--for +the imperishable and never-failing refuge, to which I have recourse +in my misfortune, in the firm hope that there I shall always find +direction, assistance, and an all-sufficient regeneration, and that God +will fill me with infinite joy, by delivering me from my sins, and from +this miserable life! + +The Council erred several times in erroneously rejecting some articles +from my books, as tainted with corruption, and mutilating several +passages, as will be seen on comparing these articles with my books. It +is there evident to both of us that Jesus Christ, the infallible Judge, +will not sanction all that has been done and said at this Council. +Happy, then, are they who, keeping his law, perceive, detest, and +avoid vain pomp, avarice, hypocrisy, the fraud of Christ’s enemies, and +who wait with patience the coming of the Sovereign Judge and his angels. + +I conjure you, by the bowels of Jesus Christ, to avoid bad priests, +and to love good ones, according to their works. I conjure you and the +faithful Barons, not to permit, according to your power, worthy priests +to be oppressed. It is for that purpose that God has raised you above +others; and I think there will be in Bohemia a great persecution of the +faithful servants of God, if he does not relieve them by the arms of +the secular lords whom he has enlightened by his Word, more than by our +spiritual chiefs. Oh! what madness to condemn as erroneous the Gospel +of Christ and the Epistle of St Paul, who professes to have received +the truth, not from men, but from God; and to reject the example of +Jesus Christ himself, of his apostles, and of the other saints, in +condemning the Communion of the Cup of our Lord, instituted for all +adult believers. Do they not say, the permission given to devout laymen +to participate with the lips in the Cup of Christ is an error! And if a +priest presents them this Cup to drink of, he is reputed in fault, and, +should he persist, is condemned as a heretic! + +O, St Paul, thou hast said unto all the faithful--“For as often as +ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death +till he come,” that is to say, until the judgment-day, when he shall +come; and, behold, already the custom of the Romish Church opposes the +accomplishment of thy Word! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[69] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xix. + +[70] John Huss repeats again here what he had previously said relative +to the Pope. We omit it as superfluous. + + + + + LETTER XIX.[71] + + TO JOHN OF CHLUM. + + [He alludes to the injuries which he had to suffer from the Council + and deputies.] + + +If my letter has not yet been sent to Bohemia, keep it, and do not send +it, for harm might come from it. + +The Emperor might well ask who was to be judge, since the Council +has not cited me to appear before him, nor have I been accused in +his presence. Nevertheless, the Council has cast me into prison, and +ordered its procurator to proceed against me. + +If I obtain a public audience, I ask, noble and excellent Seignior +John, that the Emperor should be present, and a place near him assigned +to me, in order that he may hear me with facility. I also pray, +that you, with the Seignior Wenceslaus, and my other protectors, +be present, if you can, and hear the words that Jesus Christ, my +procurator, shall put in my mouth, that whether I live or die, you may +be unto me true witnesses, that impostors may not say that I abjured +the truth which I preached. + +Know, that in presence of witnesses and notaries, I demanded, in my +prison, from the commissioners, that they would send me an advocate +and procurator; they promised to do so, and afterwards refused them to +me. I then confided myself to the Lord Jesus, that he may enlighten, +plead, and judge my cause. I do not think that there are other +subjects of accusation against me than these: _First_, The obstacle +I raised against the publication of the bull of the Crusades: they +are in possession of my treatise; they have read it to me, and I have +acknowledged it. _Secondly_, They accuse me of having officiated when +under excommunication. _Thirdly_, My appeal to the Pope is imputed to +me as a crime: they read this appeal in my presence, and, before all, +I joyfully exclaimed that this appeal should be mine. _Lastly_, in the +fourth place, I am accused of having left behind me at Prague a writing +which my enemies have interpreted against me, and in which I said--“I +quit the city without a safe-conduct.” You will answer this by saying, +when I left Prague, I had no safe-conduct from the Pope; and, in fact, +I had none; and I was not aware, when I wrote that letter, that you +were to accompany me in my journey.... + +After the public audience, should I obtain it, may the Emperor not +permit me to be cast again into prison,--may I gather the fruits of +your good counsels, and of those of your friends; and, if it should +please God, tell the Emperor several things, for the advantage of +Christendom, and for his own good. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[71] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xlix. + + + + + LETTER XX.[72] + + TO PETER MALDONIEWITZ. + + [John Huss’s Dream.] + + +Explain this night’s dream. I thought they wanted to destroy, at +Bethlehem, all the representatives of Christ, and that they destroyed +them. The next morning, on rising, I saw many painters, who were +painting finer and more numerous images. I looked at them with joy: +the painters said, with the crowd--“Let the bishops and priests come +now, and let them endeavour to destroy these designs!” Upon this, great +multitudes rejoiced at Bethlehem, and I with them; and on awaking, I +found that I was laughing. + +Several have published, that they wished to destroy what is written +at Bethlehem. I will send a copy of the treatises, which I have +transcribed in duplicate. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[72] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xliv. + + + + + LETTER XXI.[73] + + PETER MALDONIEWITZ TO JOHN HUSS. + + [Peter explains the dream to John Huss, according to the + interpretation of John of Chlum, whom, in pleasantry, they used to + call the Doctor of Bibrach; because, during John Huss’s stay in the + imperial town of Bibrach, as John of Chlum frequently conferred with + the priests and other lettered men, relative to the obedience due to + the Pope, excommunication, and other similar matters, the report was + disseminated in the town, that the nobleman, John of Chlum, had been + created Doctor in Theology.] + + +Dearest friend, Be not in any respect uneasy respecting the public +audience, for it occupies more attention than usual, as well as your +affairs; and we hope, with the grace of God, that every thing will +terminate happily. But trouble not your head with phantoms; forget +them, and think only in what manner you may reply to the objections +that will be made against you. And yet the word of truth, which cannot +err, forbids you to meditate too much; for it declares, that when you +are brought before men, it shall be suggested to you at the moment what +you ought to say. + +This is the explanation of your dream:--The image of Christ, painted on +the walls of the chapel, is his life, which we ought to imitate; it is +the same for the holy and ineffaceable Scripture which is represented +on the same place, and which, towards the evening, the enemies of +the cross endeavour to rub out, the sun withdrawing itself from them +on account of the iniquities of their life; all these things, then, +appear forgotten in the eyes of the world; but the next day, when +the sun of justice shall have risen again, the preachers of Christ’s +word will renew these same images, and will retrace them in a more +brilliant manner, then preaching on the house-tops what was before only +whispered in the ear, and, as it were, delivered up to oblivion. The +result will be a great source of joy to believers; and although the +humble bird,[74] at present placed on the altar, may be delivered up +to suffering in putting off a feeble body; yet our firm hope is, that +hereafter awakening, after this miserable life, as from a dream, it +will live with Him who is in Heaven, and will laugh to scorn those +impious persons, who endeavoured to destroy the image of Christ and the +Holy Scriptures; and that at the last with the divine protection, he +will again, in a more remarkable manner, retrace the latter, for his +flock and his dear friends. This is the explanation given by the Doctor +of Bibrach,[75] in comparing this dream with one of Daniel’s visions. + + * * * * * + +Your friends and faithful disciples are happy in receiving your +letters. The Ambassador of the King of France has arrived to-day at +Constance. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[73] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xlv. + +[74] Auca, _goose_, the signification of _Huss_ in Bohemia. + +[75] Peter adds, “Correspondenter hunc locum visionis Danielis exponens +conformiter illi; quo auca in mari natitans petræ inniti videbatur, +quorum utrumque inconvulsam sustentaminis innuit firmitatem.” + + + + + LETTER XXII.[76] + + REPLY OF JOHN HUSS TO PETER. + + [He explains his dream himself, and comforts himself by the Holy + Scriptures.] + + +I have received much consolation from what the Doctor of Bibrach has +desired you to write to me; his explanation is in accordance with my +own ideas. I forget neither this precept of Cato--“Disturb not thyself +with dreams;” nor the order of God--“Pay not observance to visions;” +and yet I hope that the life of Christ, which I imprinted at Bethlehem +by his word in the hearts of my hearers, and which his enemies have +endeavoured to destroy, by forbidding me to preach in that place, and +by wishing to pull it down,--I hope, I say, that this same life shall +be sketched hereafter far more effectively by preachers of greater +eloquence than myself, to the great joy of the people who cling with +all their might to the life of Christ; greatly shall I rejoice when I +awake, as our Doctor expresses it,--that is to say, when I shall rise +from the bosom of the dead! + +And as to the Scripture printed on the walls of Bethlehem, and relative +to which Paletz is so much irritated, declaring that I have abused the +people about it, this same Paletz insists on its being destroyed; +and in order to overwhelm me as much as possible, he has greeted me +in a most dreadful manner, as I shall relate hereafter, with God’s +permission. + +With respect to what I ought to reply to the objections that may be +brought against me, I rely on the Divine Saviour, to whom I have +appealed--whom, in presence of the commissioners, I have chosen for my +Judge and Advocate, declaring firmly, that “I selected for my advocate +and judge the Lord Jesus, him who would soon judge us all.” I committed +my cause to him, as he had confided his to his Father. It is he who has +declared, as our doctoral lord of Bibrach remarks,--“Take no heed of +what you shall say; for I will give you a wisdom and eloquence which +your enemies will not be able to resist.” + +Jerome has written:--“The Lord has said to us, Do not allow yourselves +to be troubled; fear nothing; you shall march to the combat, but it is +I who will fight; your mouth shall open, but it is I who will speak; +you shall be betrayed by your relations, your friends, your brothers; +and they will deliver you up to death. The injuries that we receive +from the persons who are strangers to us are less cruel than others; +our sufferings are so much the more bitter, that we expected more from +those who inflicted them on us; for we suffer not only in our body, but +also in our mind, from charity being destroyed.” This is what Jerome +says; and as to me, my grief proceeds, above all, from Paletz. + +In truth, the Doctor of Bibrach has the advantage over Lord Henry, and +over Master John of Janowitz. The other dreams will be also explained, +if it please God.[77] + +Let the Doctor of Bibrach keep to himself alone what he has imparted to +me, relative to my letters; for Christ has said,--“A man’s enemies are +of his own household, and you shall be betrayed by your own relatives.” + +Farewell! Be firm and constant all you that dwell in this city of +Constance.[78] Greet all my friends for me, but prudently, for fear the +question be asked, How you know that I have sent them a greeting? + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[76] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xlvi. + +[77] The Latin text has the word _cætera_; but it is probable that +dreams are meant. + +[78] Habete constantiam in Constantia omnes qui simul estis. + + + + + LETTER XXIII.[79] + + TO JOHN HUSS. + + [Huss is informed of several circumstances by his friends.] + + +Dearest friend,--Learn that your acts and the truth have never been +more the objects of secret and unjustifiable snares than at present; +however, your affair is postponed in consequence of a train of +incidents that have occurred, and which were not in any way connected +with it. + +All your friends, and particularly Christian, are most attentive to the +good widow, as to a second Sareptan.[80] + +A bit of triangular paper has fallen into the hands of your enemies: +it has been the subject of a denunciation; and the informations were +lodged so promptly, that it was impossible to prevent the act. + +The Doctor of Bibrach has been demanding, by what means, and by what +occasion, he can write to you: the conclusion that has been drawn, is, +that he is negligent about doing so. Write, I pray you, a few words of +consolation for your most attached friends. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[79] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. l. + +[80] This is the person who received John Huss into her house at +Constance. + + + + + LETTER XXIV.[81] + + JOHN HUSS’S REPLY.[82] + + +May the God of mercy preserve and strengthen you in his grace; and may +he impart to you, as well as to me, constancy in this city; for if +we continue constant, we shall obtain the succour of the Lord. It is +now that I learn to understand the saying of the Psalmist: Pray and +meditate on the sufferings of Christ and the martyrs: for Isaiah has +declared, that experience gives intelligence, and unless a man has +undergone temptation, he can know nothing. + +I do not understand what the Doctor of Bibrach inquires about; and I +form no conjectures relative to his being negligent in writing. I only +wish that he may be in good health; but that the health of the soul may +be first fortified in him by the Lord. What I desire most ardently for +him, is the improvement of his soul’s health as well as that of his +body, and after this life, eternal happiness with the saints.[83] + +Rejoice all you who are united in the Lord; salute each other, and +prepare yourselves to partake worthily of the body of the Lord before +the Feast of Easter. I have not been able to participate in this holy +sacrament for a length of time; and I shall still be deprived of it +as long as it shall be the good pleasure of the Lord. It was the same +with the apostles of Christ and a great number of the saints, who were +debarred from the sacrament in prison and in desert places. + +I rejoice that you are together, and that Zelizna Brada is with you in +good health. I also am well, being, as I hope, in Jesus Christ; and +I shall be still better after death, if I observe faithfully God’s +commandments. Oh! that God would accord me sufficient time to reply to +the Chancellor of Paris, who so rashly and unjustly, and in presence +of so great an assembly, did not blush to accuse his fellow-creature +of errors! But God, perhaps, by my death, or by his, will render all +writing on my part useless, and in his last judgment will clear up +every thing, far better than I could do by any work of mine. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[81] This letter has been, I own, classed under the same title and the +same figure as the preceding one in the collection of John Huss’s Works. + +[82] Huss commenced this letter by the following verses, which he wrote +with his own hand, to console himself, and wile away the time; they +are, however, so filled with _jeux de mots_ and abbreviations, that it +is impossible to translate them satisfactorily. We therefore give them +in the original.-- + + Litera gavisus, respondeo capiti istud, + Cœtus, lacus, ignis, ac testis restituere + Jonam, Danielem, tres Pu...Susannam, quia fuere + Justus, castus, puri, hæc conti...Spem retinentes + In Domino justo, qui liberat in se sperantes. + Poterit qui aucam, Dominus pie, carcere tetro + Eripere clausam, quæ se fœdaverit retro, + Quam purgat carcer, donat et instruit flere, + In lachrymas risus vertens, ut nunc sciat vere + Opprobria Christi, blasphemias, lumine recto + Cernere injurias et capite Sathanæ secto + Vincere morte, vel ut sibi dederit optima vita. + +[83] Huss here adds the following verses:-- + + Nocturnus, gradus, litaniæ, singulæ horæ, + Carceri sunt breves, vigiliæ dicere, leves. + Passo Christo patimur: sed hæc est passio nostra, + Nulla, vel modica, quæ tolleret crimina nostra, + Adjuvet vos Christus, ne glutiat nunc Antichristus. + + + + + LETTER XXV.[84] + + TO THE SAME. + + [He again requests that the noblemen who have been his protectors + should obtain him a hearing; and he prays earnestly to have the + Emperor and the Council applied to on the subject.] + + +Beloved friend in Christ, endeavour once more to persuade all our +noblemen to solicit the Emperor and the Council, that what they +promised may take place; for they declared to me,--“The facts alleged +against you shall be put down briefly in writing, and in an approaching +audience you shall reply.” Our noblemen, by reminding the Emperor +and the Council of their own words, can constrain them to do what +they have promised. Then in the Council, with the assistance of God, +will I loudly proclaim the truth; for, rather than to be thus basely +stifled by them, I prefer to have my body burned with fire; but I am +anxious that every Christian shall know what are my last words. I, +therefore, in the name of the Most High, conjure my noble friends to +act with energy, and to give me a last proof of their firmness. My +trust in the Lord, noble John, my generous and most faithful friend, +is unchangeable. May God award you a fitting recompense for all your +kindness. I conjure you not to withdraw until all has been consummated. +Oh! why am I not led forth to the funeral pile, rather than be thus +prevented from being heard! I still hope that the Almighty God will +deliver me from their hands through the merits of the saints. Let me +know, I pray you, if I shall to-morrow be heard before the Council. +Salute, from me, all my friends in Bohemia, and beseech them to pray to +God for me. Should I remain in prison, it will be a great consolation +to me, during my melancholy expectation of death, to know that you +have exhorted the masters to remain steadfast in the truth, as well as +the young maiden Petra and all her family. Recommend Master Jessenitz +to take unto himself a wife. Pray my good friend Guzikon and the curé +not to be angry with me for not having paid what I owed them, for +it was totally out of my power. Let those persons who have aided me +with their money, salute my friends in Christ of both sexes, and let +them pray to God for me. No one will repay them, as well as our Lord +Jesus Christ, the money they had advanced to me, it having been done +for his service. I should, however, be well pleased that the richer +persons paid the poorer; but I fear that in some this saying may be +confirmed,--_Tzosoczy to Smyssli_.[85] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[84] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxxv. + +[85] Luther has not translated these words. + + + + + LETTER XXVI.[86] + + JOHN OF CHLUM TO JOHN HUSS. + + [He informs him in what terms the Emperor explained, before the + deputies of the Council, his views relative to the audience. He + afterwards gives him some intelligence of the position and health of + his friends.] + + +Dearest friend,--Learn that the Emperor held a conference to-day +with the deputies of all the nations of the Council relative to your +affairs, and in particular concerning the public audience. All at last +replied to him that he had certainly promised you a hearing; and +your friends insisted on your being placed in an airy and wholesome +place, that you may collect your strength and allow your mind to become +tranquil, in order that, by a short respite, you may be better able to +reply. + +Therefore, in the name of God, quit not the truth in the slightest +degree, through any dread of losing this miserable life; for it is for +your greatest good that God has visited you with this trial. + +Your friends in Prague are in good health, and particularly the Lord +Schopeck, who rejoices exceedingly that you are shortly about to +sustain the desired combat for the truth. We pray you earnestly to +consign to paper your final opinion relative to the communion of the +cup, and your reasons therefor, in order that it may be communicated +to our friends in proper season; for there exists some difference of +opinion on the subject amongst the brethren, and many are troubled +thereby. They refer the matter to you and to your writings. + +Your friends grieve at the reply of your jailor, and particularly +Jessewitz; but the past cannot be recalled. They praise amongst +themselves, and admire greatly, your firmness. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[86] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xlvii. + + + + + LETTER XXVII.[87] + + TO JOHN OF CHLUM.[88] + + [John Huss replies separately to all the articles. He also enumerates + the annoyances to which he is subjected by several bishops relative + to a quantity of gold pieces which they affirm to be in his + possession.] + + +As well as I can remember, I know nothing more, and I am ignorant for +what object the public hearing will be given me. I have protested in +writing in presence of notaries; I have also addressed to the whole +Council a petition which I shewed to the patriarch, and in which I +demand to have permission accorded me to reply separately to each +article, as I had already replied by writing. The public audience will +perhaps be allowed me for the purpose of replying in a scholastic form, +or perhaps God will graciously permit me to preach. + +I hope that, by the grace of God, I shall never depart, even slightly, +from the truth, such as I know it. Pray to Him, therefore, to protect +me! + +As to what touches the communion of the cup, you possess the writing +in which I have advanced my opinion on the subject, and my reasons for +holding it. I have nothing farther to say, except that the Scriptures +and the Epistles of Paul prescribe this practice, and that it was in +use in the primitive Church. If possible, obtain permission for those +who are anxious to partake of it from religious motives, to do so;[89] +but be guided in your conduct therein by circumstances. + +Let my friends not conceive any alarm at my replies in private. I +cannot see how these things could have been otherwise, since all was +decided by the Council, even previously to my being thrown into prison. +In a document published by the Commissioners, and which has been read +to me, I am called a heresiarch, and a seducer of the people. But I +hope that what I have uttered in the shade, will be, at a later period, +preached in the open day.[90] + +I was interrogated, the evening of the day on which I saw John Barbat, +respecting the forty-seven articles; and I replied as I had done in my +preceding protest. Taking each article separately, they asked me if +I desired to defend it: my reply was, that I referred the matter to +the decision of the Council, as I had previously done, and I asserted +of each article, as previously, “It is true; but in such and such a +sense.” “Will you defend it?” they asked me; and my answer was, “No; I +abide by the decision of the Council.” + +I call God to witness, that, under the circumstances, I saw nothing +better to reply, as I had antecedently given it under my own hand that +I should not defend any thing obstinately, but that I was ready to be +instructed. These questions were put to me, because it was reported +that I had informed the Emperor that I wished to defend three or four +articles. They even asked me what I had declared to the Emperor, and +I replied, that I had not said anything of the nature attributed to +me.[91] Michael Causis was present, with a paper in his hand, and +urging on the patriarch to force me to reply to his questions; and +whilst this was going on, some bishops entered. Michael has invented +something new. God has been pleased to allow him and Paletz to stand +against me for my sins. The former scrutinises my letters and my +writings; and Paletz brings forward all the conversations that we held +together in bygone years. + +The patriarch maintained openly that I was exceedingly rich; and an +archbishop said to me, “You have seventy thousand florins.” Michael +asked me before them all, “Eh! what has become of that robe-full of +florins? How much money of yours have the barons of Bohemia in safe +keeping?” Oh! certainly I suffered much to-day. One bishop said to me, +“You have established a new law:” another, “You have preached all these +articles;” and I replied warmly and strongly, with the aid of God, and +concluded by asking, “Why do you overwhelm me with insults?” + +Write nothing to me of the witnesses cited to appear, for no step has +been taken about them, either by themselves, or by the king, or by the +citizens of Prague. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[87] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xlviii. + +[88] This letter appears as if it were a reply to the preceding one, +from what is said in it about the sacrament of the cup. + +[89] _Si potest fieri, attentetis ut saltem permittatur per bullam +illis dari, qui ex devotione postulaverint._ It is not easy to say what +Huss meant by the expression _per bullam_. + +[90] Sed spero quod quæ dixi sub tecto prædicabuntur super a tectu. + +[91] John Huss adds, _Sed sicut scitis, &c._, “but as you know,” &c., +and does not terminate the sentence. + + + + + LETTER XXVIII.[92] + + [Huss replies to Peter the notary, who had encouraged him to give + proofs of constancy. + + This letter, says Luther, is a noble testimony in support of the + saying of the Apostle Paul, that virtue will improve in affliction, + and God brings forth fruits in us by temptation.] + + +May salvation come to thee from Jesus Christ! I dare not rashly say, +with St Peter, since my fervour and courage are infinitely inferior to +his, that “though all men shall be offended because of Christ, yet will +I never be offended.” + +Jesus Christ has never, in express terms, declared me to be blessed +like Peter, and has not promised me such precious gifts. I maintain, +at the same time, against several together, an attack more vigorous in +its nature and more terrible. I, however, can declare, that, having +placed my trust in Jesus Christ, I shall adhere to the truth, even unto +death, with the aid of the saints and his own. + +If the Lord John of Chlum suffers any loss on my account, do thou, my +dear Peter, take thought to repair it when thou shalt have returned. +Pay attention to the master of the mint, and his wife, who imprudently +engaged themselves for me, and to all our other friends, known to the +Curé, my disciple. If any horse remains still my property, it ought to +come into the possession of Lord John, with the car. + +As to thee, if Master Martin or Master Christian live, thou shalt +receive from them a part of the sixty-four or seventy pieces of money; +and I wish that this portion were larger. Bear in mind, however, +that I do not pretend, by this money, to recompense thy ardent and +unchangeable love for the truth, or the services that thou hast +rendered me, and the consolations which thou hast lavished on me in +my hours of difficulty. May God be thy great recompense for all these +things, for I possess nothing that is worthy of thy acceptance. Should +it be granted me to live at Prague; and if my return to that city is +not impossible, I would share every thing with thee like a brother. I +do not, however, form any wish to return thither, but inasmuch as it +may be in accordance with the will of the Lord in heaven. I do not know +to whom I can entrust the viatica which I still possess, and which I +had bequeathed to Master Martin. Dispose of my books according to the +directions that I sent to him, and choose for thyself from amongst +them such of those written by Wycliffe as shall please thee. I am much +alarmed for our brethren, who, I fear, will be persecuted, unless the +Lord interpose in their favour; and I am apprehensive that many will be +offended. + +Salute, I pray thee, with a great affection, the Bohemian and Polish +noblemen, and render thanks, in particular, to the Lords Wenceslaus de +Duba and John de Chlum, who, I hope, will be present at the audience of +the Council. + +Farewell in Jesus Christ! + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[92] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxix. + + + + + LETTER XXIX.[93] + + TO ONE OF HIS FRIENDS. + + [He mentions what happened to him in the audience, which was accorded + him four days before the eclipse of the sun.[94]] + + +The Lord, to-day, gave me a firm and intrepid heart. Two articles were +struck out, and I am in hope that a greater number will be treated in +like manner. They were all crying out, like the Jews against Jesus. +They have not yet come to the principal count, viz., to the avowal that +all the incriminated articles are found in my writings. You committed +an error in judgment in presenting the treatise against an unknown +adversary. Do not shew, with the treatise on the Church, anything +besides that against Stanislaus and Paletz. + +It is well that they had desired my book to be given back to them; for +some persons cried out loudly to have it burned, particularly Michael +de Causis, whom I myself heard. I never thought that I had, in that +multitude of priests, only the brother, and a Polish doctor whom I +knew to be such. I rendered thanks to the Bishop Lytemissel, for he +said but these few words: “_Atzo Huss to bie utzmil_.”[95] + +I am grateful to you for the manner in which you have arranged the +articles: it will be well to have them published under that form. The +presidents have asserted that I elsewhere published another definition +of the Church, and they wanted to know what it was. + +Greet the lords who are believers, and the friends of the truth, and +pray to God in my behalf, for I have need of it. I think they will not +pardon me the opinion which I quoted from St Augustin respecting the +Church, the predestinated members, the elect, and the bad bishops. + +Oh! that an audience may be accorded me, in order that I may reply to +the arguments by which they attack the articles of my treatises; many +of them, now crying out, would then be silent: but the will of God be +done! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[93] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxxvi. + +[94] This is an error of Luther’s; the first audience was given the day +before the eclipse, on June 6. + +[95] The meaning of this does not appear. + + + + + LETTER XXX.[96] + + TO HIS NOBLE BENEFACTORS. + + [This letter teaches us in what consists the trial of spiritual + combats; it shews how true is what we confess in the Creed, that + there is but one holy and universal Church,[97] and that the riches + of this Church are common to all. Man is for his fellow-creature, an + angel and a God in misfortunes.] + + +I am delighted that the treatise against an unknown person has not been +discovered, as well as several others. + +I have been able these latter days to nourish my soul with better +things,[98] than since Easter day until last Sunday. I imagined this +Council to contain more order and decency. May the noble John, my +friend, be blessed in eternity. I should with pleasure learn in what +state is Barbat, who refused to follow the counsels of his friends. + +Since they are in possession of my book, I have not felt any want of +the work. Preserve carefully the list of the first articles, with +the proofs; and if you should want any testimonies for any of the +articles, assign witnesses. The most important article is that entitled +_All that a virtuous man does, he does virtuously_. + +I am suffering from a toothach, and during the heat have been seized +with vomitings of blood. I suffered also from the stone and headach. +These are punishments for my sins, and signs of God’s love. Since they +have condemned my treatises, I pray you to suppress the last letter +written in Bohemian, which I sent to-day, in order that the people of +God should not believe that all my books are condemned, as I was afraid +of, from a letter I received yesterday. + +It would be desirable that no letter written in this prison should be +known; for what God intends to do with me is still very uncertain. +I fear that Ulric may have published some of my letters. I conjure +you, therefore, in God’s name, to pay the greatest attention to the +letters--to your words and acts. Oh! how much I was consoled by +receiving your letters, and in writing you mine! I hope, with the grace +of God, that men may one day derive instruction from them. + +As long as I know you remain with the young Seigniors at Constance, I +shall be comforted, even though I should be already condemned to death. +I regard it as certain that God has bestowed you on me, as angels to +strengthen and console me,--me, a weak and unfortunate man, in the +midst of my temptations. What they have been, what they are, and will +still be, the Almighty God knows. He who has compassion on me, He who +is my refuge, my support, and my deliverer, in Him have I placed my +trust. + +Two delegates of the Council asked me in prison, “If I possessed +several books which I had made use of in my researches?” I answered, +that “I possessed them.” They asked me, “Where?” “In Bohemia,” I +replied. They inquired of me, “Whether I had none here?” I denied +having any, which is the fact, although I had previously brought with +me the book of Sentences, the Bible, and some other works. I learned +from them that John, my pupil, had withdrawn; and they said to me, +“Have you no other observations to offer?” “No; what I have said, is +the truth.” “Will you abjure and recant?” “No,” I replied; “but come +to the Council; there you shall hear me. I am to appear before it, and +there will I answer. Why do you tempt me? Have you come to console a +prisoner, or add to his affliction?” Then, after having again exchanged +some words, they withdrew. Take care of the books, if you have any; as +for me, I am not aware of any. + +Tell Master Jessenitz, that the notary has perfidiously changed my +evidence concerning the explanation of the bull, which, as you have +heard, I strongly affirmed before the Council. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[96] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxxvii. + +[97] Catholicism. + +[98] _De bonis plus comedi._ I did not think it possible to understand +these words but in a figurative manner. + + + + + LETTER XXXI.[99] + + [John Huss relates with what horror and rage he was greeted by the + Council.] + + +I, Master John Huss, in hope, servant of Christ, and ardently desiring +that believers in Christ may not, when I shall have ceased to live, +find in my death an opportunity for scandal, and look on me as an +obstinate heretic, do take to witness Jesus Christ, for the sake of +whose word I have wished to die; and I leave in writing the remembrance +of these things for the friends of truth. + +I had often declared, both in private, in public, and before the +Council, that I would consent to an inquiry, and would submit myself +to instruction, abjuration, and punishment, if it was demonstrated to +me that I had written, taught, or disseminated, any thing contrary to +the truth. But fifty doctors, who stated that they were deputed by the +Council, having been frequently corrected by me, and even in public, +for having falsely extracted articles from my works, refused me any +private explanation, and declared that they would not confer with me, +saying _You ought to submit yourself to the decision of the Council_. +And the Council mocked when, in the public audience, I quoted the +words of Christ and the holy doctors; at one time they reproached me +with misunderstanding them, and, at another, the doctors insulted +me.[100]... + +An English doctor, who had already said to me in private, that Wycliffe +had wished to annihilate all science, and had filled his books and his +logic with errors, began to discourse on the multiplication of the body +of Christ in the consecrated host, and, as his arguments were weak, +he was told to be silent; then he cried out: “This man deceives the +Council; take care that the Council be not led into error as it was by +Berenger.” When he was silent, another discussed noisily concerning the +created and common essence. All began to clamour against him. I then +demanded that he might be heard, and said to him, “You argue well; I +will answer you most willingly.” He also broke down, and he added in a +sullen voice: “_This man is a heretic_.” The Seignior Wenceslaus Duba, +John de Chlum, and Peter the notary, valiant champions and friends of +the truth, know what clamours, what unworthy raillery and blasphemies +were poured upon me in this assembly. Stunned by so much noise, I said, +“I thought there was to be found in this Council more decency, more +piety, and more discipline.” All then began to listen, for the Emperor +had commanded silence to be observed. + +The cardinal who presided said to me--“You spoke more humbly in your +prison.” I answered--“It is true; for then no one clamoured against +me, and now they are all vociferous.” He added--“Will you submit to an +investigation?” “I consent to it,” replied I, “within the limits which +I have fixed.” “Take this for the result of the inquiry,” resumed the +cardinal, “that the doctors have declared the articles extracted from +your books to be errors, which you ought to efface, in abjuring those +already testified against you by witnesses.” The Emperor afterwards +said--“This will soon be committed to writing for you, and you will +answer it.” “Let that be done at the next audience,” said the cardinal; +and the sitting closed. God knows how many trials I have suffered +since![101] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[99] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xv. + +[100] John Huss alludes here to a discussion, not very intelligible, +on the community of the essence in the Divine Persons. We give it in +the original: Quidam autem cardinalis supremus concilii, et a concilio +deputatus in publica audientia, accepta una charta, dixit: Ecce unus +magister sacræ theologiæ præsentavit mihi argumentum istud, dicatis +ad illud. Erat autem argumentum de essentia communi, quam concessi +esse in divinis. Postea ipso deficiente, quamvis reputaretur doctor +theologiæ valentissimus, dixi sibi de essentia communi creata, quæ +est primum esse creatum communicatum singulis creaturis: ex qua ipse +volebat probare remanentiam panis materialis, sed notabiliter ad metam +nescientiæ argumenti reductus obmutuit. + +[101] For the detailed account of this second audience, consult _The +Reformers before the Reformation_, vol. ii. book iv. chap. 4. + + + + + LETTER XXXII.[102] + + TO HIS FRIENDS. + + [He complains that the Emperor Sigismond had treated him with less + prudence than Pontius Pilate did Jesus Christ.] + + +Salutation in Jesus Christ. What I am informed by Peter affords me +pleasure. I do not keep his letters, but destroy them immediately. Let +not the sexterni[103] be sent me; for I fear the danger that might +accrue to the messenger and some other persons, I still earnestly +entreat that all our Seigniors may solicit collectively for me a last +audience with the Emperor; for, since he told me at the Council, that +an audience would shortly be granted me, in order that I might reply +briefly in writing, it will be a shame for him should he violate the +promise which he has given me. But I believe his word on this subject +will be as stable and firm as in the safe-conduct. + +Several persons warned me in Bohemia not to rely on his safe-conduct; +others told me that Sigismond would deliver me up to my enemies; the +Seignior Mykest was one of these. Duvoki said to me, in the presence +of Jessenitz, “Master, regard it as a certainty that you will be +condemned.” I presume that he was aware of the Emperor’s intentions. I +thought the latter was well versed in the law of God and the truth. I +understand now that his wisdom is not great. He has condemned me before +my enemies. Why has he not done like Pilate, who, after having heard +the accusers, exclaimed--_I find nothing to condemn in this man_. If, +at least, he had said--“I have given him a safe-conduct. If he will not +submit to the Council I will send him to the king of Bohemia, with your +sentence and the testimonies in support of it, in order that he may be +judged by this prince and his clergy.” Sigismond, in fact, intimated +to me by Leffl, and others, of his intention to grant me an audience +whenever it might be necessary, and of his resolution to save me from +all danger, should I not submit to the judgment. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[102] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxxiv. + +[103] Sexterni, a coin of these times. + + + + + LETTER XXXIII.[104] + + TO HIS FRIENDS. + + [He relates the frightful visions which diversely affected him, + although events have confirmed the truth of all his dreams.] + + +The Lord be with you! The warning of the Lord is more precious to me +than gold and topaz. I hope, then, in the mercy of Jesus Christ, that +he will grant me his Spirit, that I may hold fast in the truth. Pray +to the Lord; for the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. May +the Almighty God be the reward of my well-beloved Nobles, who with a +constant, fervent, and faithful heart, persevere in justice. God will +enable them to know the truth in the kingdom of Bohemia. But that they +may cling to it, it is necessary they return to Bohemia, forgetting +vainglory in order to attach themselves to a King who is neither mortal +nor subject to our miseries, but who is the King of Glory, giving +eternal life. + +Oh! with what sweet pleasure did I press the hand of the Seignior John, +who did not blush to offer it to me, an unfortunate man--to me, a +heretic, in chains, despised and loudly condemned by all. I shall not +much longer hold discourse with you; salute, therefore, our faithful +Bohemians. + +Paletz came to visit me in prison, and accosted me in my deep distress, +by telling me, in presence of the Commissioners, that since the birth +of Christ, there had risen no heretic more dangerous than Wycliffe and +myself. He further declared, that all those who have listened to my +preachings are infected with this heresy, which consists in affirming +that the material bread remains in the sacrament of the altar. “O +Paletz,” I answered, “how cruel are these words! and how much thou +sinnest against me. I am about to die; perhaps when I rise from my bed +I shall be conducted to the stake. What reward will they give thee in +Bohemia?” I should have perhaps abstained from writing these things, +for fear of appearing to hate them. + +I have ever kept in mind these words, “Put not your trust in princes;” +and this other text, which says, “Cursed is he who trusts in man only.” + +Be prudent, for the sake of God, whether you should remain in this +place, or whether you return; do not carry about you any of my letters, +but disperse my writings amongst all our friends. + +Learn that I have had a great combat to sustain, in not wondering at +my dreams. I dreamed of the Pope’s evasion before it took place, and +after the event being related, I heard, in the night-time, the Seignior +John say, “The Pope will return to you.” I have dreamed of Master +Jerome’s captivity, but not in what way it should occur; and likewise +of the different prisons to which I should be conducted, such as they +were afterwards assigned to me, but without any particular details.... +A multitude of serpents often presented themselves before me, rolled up +into a circle, the head forming the tail. I have seen many other things +besides. + +I write this, not that I consider myself a prophet, or that I should +exalt myself, but in order to tell you I have experienced both mental +and bodily temptations, as well as great fear of transgressing the +precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think now of these words of +Jerome, who said to me, “If I go to Constance, I do not believe I +shall return thence.” A worthy shoemaker, André Polonus, said, whilst +bidding me farewell, “May God be with you: I can hardly hope that +you will return safe and sound, very dear Master John, you who cling +with so much force to truth. May the King, not he of Hungary,[105] +but of Heaven, bestow on you his blessings for the true and excellent +doctrines I have learned from you.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[104] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxxiii. + +[105] The Emperor Sigismund. + + + + + LETTER XXXIV. + + TO THE NOBLE LORD, HENRY DE SCHOPECK. + + +May God be with you, noble Henry! I received your letter on the +Wednesday before the fete of Saint Vitus, and it caused a great joy, +although in prison, and in the expectation of death. I conjure you, +my dear lord, to live according to God’s law, keeping in your soul +those things which you have heard and learned of me. If, nevertheless, +some of them appear to you unworthy of being preserved, reject them. +I hope, however, I have taught you nothing concerning our Lord which +was against the law of God. I could write at great length on this +subject; but I will say in few words, “Keep the commandments of God, be +merciful unto the poor, shun pride; bear in mind these words, ‘Remember +what thou art, what thou wert, and what thou shalt be....’” Beloved +lord, keep me also in remembrance; salute for me your noble wife, your +family, and all my friends; for I presume, that before my death, which +is hastening on, you will never see me more; and this death I am ready +for. + +_Written on the fifth day before the festival of Saint Vitus._ + +May God be with you, my dear Bohemians, and with me! for I am suffering +for his Word. + + + + + LETTER XXXV.[106] + + TO A FRIEND. + + [Huss alludes to the hymn noted down on parchment, which he composed + in Bohemian for Schopeck.] + + +You will forward the letter on parchment to the Seignior Henry +Schopeck; I have kept it in my prison in remembrance of him; and I +composed this hymn during my leisure hours. + +Noble Henry, my faithful friend, remember the words you have heard from +me, in order that you may obtain eternal glory. Remember what I have +said unto you:--I am confident God will grant me his Spirit, that I may +be enabled to support some temptations, for his name’s sake. + +_Written, the Sunday before Saint Vitus, in the expectation of death._ + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[106] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xlii. + + + + + LETTER XXXVI.[107] + + TO THE FAITHFUL OF BOHEMIA. + + [John Huss wrote this letter in his own handwriting in his prison at + Constance, to console the king and kingdom of Bohemia, and to warn + them not to abandon the true Evangelical doctrine, nor the Chapel of + Bethlehem, nor the faithful doctors of the Gospel, notwithstanding + the rage of Satan and of the world, but to live in piety and + justice, each one according to his calling.] + + +I, John Huss, in hope servant of God, desire, that the believers in +Bohemia who love the Lord, may live and die in grace, and at last +obtain eternal life. + +You who are high in dignity, you who are rich, and you who are poor, +you all who are the faithful and well beloved disciples of the Lord, +I conjure you all to obey God, to glorify his word, and to elevate +yourselves by listening to his precepts. I conjure you to cling to the +divine word, which I have preached according to the law and after the +testimony of the saints; I conjure you, if any amongst you, either +in public meetings or in private conversations, have heard any words +from me, or read any writings of mine contrary to God’s truth, not to +attach yourselves to such, although my conscience does not reproach me +with having said or written any thing of the nature to which I refer. +I conjure you besides, if any one has remarked any thing trifling, +either in my discourses or my writings, not to imitate me in that, +but to pray to God that he may pardon my frivolity; I conjure you to +love priests of good morals, and to honour, in preference, those who +exert themselves in diffusing the word of God; I conjure you to beware +of deceitful men, especially impious priests, of whom the Lord has +said, they are outwardly dressed in sheep’s clothing, while within +they are ravening wolves; I conjure the powerful to treat their poor +servants with kindness, and to command them with justice; I conjure +citizens to keep a good conscience in their profession, artizans to +apply themselves carefully to their callings, and to keep before their +eyes the fear of God, and domestics faithfully to serve their masters; +I conjure the masters of arts to live honestly, to instruct their +pupils faithfully; first of all, teaching them to fear God, afterwards +exerting themselves for the glory of God, the good of their country, +and their own salvation, and not to attach themselves strongly to mere +rules of propriety, whether for the sake of riches or for worldly +honours; I conjure the pupils of the public school, and all scholars, +to obey their masters in all lawful things, and to labour with the +greatest zeal, in order to advance one day the kingdom of God, their +own salvation, and that of other men. I conjure you all to bestow your +thanks on the generous noblemen, Wenceslaus Duba, John of Chlum, Henry +Plumlovic, Wylem Zagee, Nicholas, and the other Bohemian, Moravian, +and Polish Seigniors, who, as zealous defenders of God’s truth, +opposed this Council with all their power, endeavouring to obtain my +deliverance; in particular, I mention Wenceslaus Duba and John of +Chlum. Believe all they may report to you, for they were present at +the Council on the days when I replied. They know what Bohemians have +risen against me; they are acquainted with the unworthy deeds which +were imputed to me by them; they are aware how the whole assembly +vociferated against me whilst I was answering all the questions that +were asked. I conjure you to pray for the King of the Romans, and for +your own, and for the Queen, in order that the God of mercy may dwell +with them and with you, now and for ever. + +I write you this letter in my prison and with my fettered hand, +expecting after to-morrow my sentence of death, and having an entire +confidence in God that he will not forsake me; that he will not suffer +me to renounce his word, or abjure errors wickedly ascribed to me by +false witnesses. When we shall meet again in a happy eternity you will +know with what clemency the Lord deigns to assist me in my cruel trials. + +I know nothing concerning Jerome, my faithful friend, unless that he +is detained in a wretched prison, waiting, like myself, for death, on +account of that faith which he so courageously spread through Bohemia. +But the Bohemians, our most cruel adversaries, have delivered us to +the power of other enemies and to their chains. Pray to God for them. +I conjure you, inhabitants of Prague, above all to love my Chapel of +Bethlehem, and to have the word of God preached there, should God +permit it. The fury of Satan is stirred up against that place. Seeing +that the power of darkness was weakened in it, he has excited the +parochial clergy against that temple. I hope God will protect it, +and that his word will be preached there with more success by others +than by me, a weak and infirm man. Lastly, I conjure you to love one +another, to shut out no one from the path of divine truth, and to watch +that the upright be not oppressed by violence. Amen. + +_Written on the night of the Monday before Saint Vitus, and sent by a +good and faithful German._ + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[107] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xi. + + + + + LETTER XXXVII.[108] + + (NOT ADDRESSED TO ANY BODY.) + + [The authentic profession of faith, in which John Huss declares, with + the assistance of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he will not abjure the + truth which he has acknowledged, unless further enlightened by the + Scriptures.] + + +My last and firm determination is, that I refuse to confess as +erroneous the articles which have been truly extracted from my works, +and that I refuse to abjure those which have been attributed to me by +false witnesses; for to abjure implies that one has held erroneous +opinions--it is, in fact, to reject them, and adopt others of a +contrary tendency. God knows that I have never taught these errors, +imputed to me by those who have retrenched from my works many truths +and falsified them. Were I aware that, in the articles I confess to, +there was one contrary to the truth, I would correct it, and most +heartily strike it out. Nay, I would teach and preach the contrary. +But, although some parts may be considered scandalous and erroneous by +those who are displeased with such doctrines, yet I do not believe that +there is a single passage which is opposed to the law of Christ or to +the words of the holy apostles. + +I detest and condemn all false interpretation imputed to my articles +against my intention, submitting myself to the correction of our Divine +Master, and confiding in his infinite mercy, that he himself may deign +to wash me clean from such sins as I am ignorant of.[109] I return +thanks to all the Bohemian Barons, and especially to King Wenceslaus, +and to the Queen, my gracious Sovereign, that they have loved me, +have acted piously towards me, and have worked ardently to procure my +deliverance; I render thanks also to the Emperor Sigismund, for his +good intentions in my favour; I render thanks to all those Nobles of +Bohemia and Poland who have shewn themselves firm in defending the +truth, and in endeavouring to break my chains; I desire the salvation +of all, here below in grace, and afterwards in a glorious eternity. + +May the God of all goodness bring you back into Bohemia with perfect +health of body and soul, that, serving in this world, Christ, our +Sovereign, you may attain eternal life! + +You will salute for me all my friends, to whom I cannot write; if I +saluted by name some, and not others, I should appear to except some +persons; and those to whom I did not write would think I did not keep +them in remembrance, or did not love them as I ought to do. + +_Written in prison, and in chains, the sixth day before the festival of +St John the Baptist._ + + +John Huss+, in hope, servant of Christ. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[108] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xx. + +[109] Quod ab occultis peccatis meis ipse me mundavit. + + + + + LETTER XXXVIII.[110] + + TO HIS DISCIPLE, MASTER MARTIN. + + +Master Martin, my dear disciple, my well-beloved brother in Christ, +live according to the law of Christ; be zealous in the preaching +of God’s Word. I conjure you, in the name of the Lord, not to seek +rich clothing like unto that which I was fond of, alas! and which I +wore, neglecting to shew an example of humility to the people whom I +instructed. Attach thy soul to the reading of the Bible, and especially +that of the New Testament; and in obscure passages, have recourse to +commentators as much as it is in thy power to do so. + +Dread the intercourse of women, and be circumspect, when thou listenest +to them at confession, lest thou shouldest be caught in the snares of +unlawful desires; for I hope thou hast guarded all thy purity, and +that thou belongest wholly to God. + +Be not afraid of dying, if thou wouldest wish to live with Christ, for +he has said himself, Fear not those who destroy the body, but cannot +kill the soul. If they should ask thee concerning thy adherence to my +doctrines, answer, “I believe my master has been a good Christian, in +what he has taught and written; I have neither read all, nor understood +all. I speak as I think.” I hope that the mercy of God, with the aid of +well-disposed people, will enable us to live in peace, although Paletz +labours with his associates to get all my adherents condemned. But +know that the Lord lives, who can in his grace preserve you, and can +confound and destroy all the enemies of his word. + +I recommend to thee my very dear brethren; act towards them as thou +knowest is right. Thou wilt salute Peter, with his wife and family, and +all those who belong to the Church of Bethlehem: Catherine, that holy +girl, and the Curé Guzikon, Maurice Hatzer, and all the friends of the +truth; Geskonière, the Seignior Gregory, all the Masters, Jessenitz, +Kuba, the two Simons, and Nicholas Haulikon. Let all those who possess, +or shall possess, my books be prudent. Thou wilt also salute all +my well-beloved brothers in Christ, the doctors, the writers, the +shoemakers, the tailors, in recommending them to be zealous for the +laws of Christ, to advance humbly in wisdom, and not to make use of +their own commentaries, but to have recourse to those of the saints. +Thou wilt tell Henry Liffel to give to Jacob, the writer, the piece of +money which was promised him. + +Salute Matthew, formerly my disciple at Bethlehem, and especially +Master Matthew Chudy, and the faithful John Vitlis, that they may pray +for me, a sinner. + +Incline my brother’s sons to exercise some worldly calling; for I +should be afraid, if they took upon them a spiritual charge, that they +might not fill it as they should do. Satisfy as well as thou canst, +those to whom I owe something; should they wish, nevertheless, to +forget these debts for the love of the Lord, the Lord will bestow on +them much greater riches. + +Keep in mind all the good thou hast heard from my lips; and if thou +hast discovered in me any thing which was not according to propriety, +detest it, and pray to God that he may deign to pardon me. Meditate +without ceasing on what thou art, on what thou hast been, and what thou +mayest become. Deplore the past, amend the present, dread the future, +that is, sin. + +May the God of grace console thee, as well as all our above-mentioned +brethren, that He may conduct you with all the others to his glory, +in which, I firmly hope, of his mercy, all will rejoice before thirty +years have passed over. + +Adieu, my well-beloved brother; dwell always with Christ Jesus, thou, +and all those who love the name of our Lord. + +_Written in prison the Sunday after Saint Vitus._ + + +John Huss+, in hope, servant of God. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[110] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxviii. + + + + + LETTER XXXIX.[111] + + TO THE LORD HAULIKON. + + [Huss invites him not to oppose administering the blood of Jesus + Christ to laymen under the form of wine.] + + +As a preacher of the word of Christ, my very dear brother, do not +oppose the administering of the Cup, it being a Sacrament instituted +by Jesus Christ and his apostles. No text of Scripture is opposed to +it, but only custom; and I think that this was established only through +negligence and forgetfulness. But it is not custom which we should +follow, but the example of Christ. The Council, alleging custom as a +motive, has declared the Communion of the Cup by layman to be an error, +and has ordained, that whosoever should practise it, shall be punished +as a heretic, if he did not amend this practice. Already, then, has the +malice of men condemned as an error an institution of Christ. I conjure +you, by the love of God, not to attack Master Jacobel, that there may +not be any division amongst the faithful, and that Satan may not find +a new subject for joy. Prepare yourself as quickly as possible, my +dear brother, to suffer for the Communion of the Cup. Lay aside all +fears which is unworthy of you, and remain firm in the truth of Christ, +exhorting the other brethren by the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I +think that they will give you, in support of the Communion of the Cup, +what I have written at Constance. Salute the faithful in Christ. + +_Written in irons, on the eve of the day of the Ten Thousand._ + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[111] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xvi. + + + + + LETTER XL.[112] + + TO SOME FRIENDS. + + [Great victory over the gates of hell, and over those who, with + unexampled cunning, and under specious pretexts, solicited John Huss + to abjure the truth of the Lord.] + + +A multitude of people have come to exhort me, and amongst them many +doctors, but few brethren, as the Apostle has said. They were prodigal +in their counsels and phrases; they told me, that I could and I ought +to abjure my scruples in submitting my will to the Holy Church, which +the Council represents; but not one of them can avoid the difficulty, +when I place him in my situation, and ask him, if, being certain of +having never preached, or defended, or entertained heresy, he could, +in safe conscience, formally confess that he abjured an error which +he never supported. Some of them stated, that it was not necessary to +abjure, but merely to renounce the heresy held or not held; others +maintain, that to abjure signifies to deny what is attested rightly or +erroneously. I would willingly swear, I replied to them, that I have +never preached, held, or defended, the errors which are imputed to me; +and that I will never preach, hold, or defend them. And when I spoke +thus, they immediately retired. + +Others insist that, supposing a man really innocent were found in +the Church, and this man, through humility, confess himself guilty, +he would be well deserving: thereupon some one cited, amongst the +ancient fathers, a certain saint, in whose bed had been covertly put +a prohibited book. Inculpated and examined on this subject, the saint +denied the fault, but his enemies answered, “Thou hast concealed the +book, and put it in thy bed;” and this book having been found there, +the saint confessed himself culpable. Some supported this opinion by +the example of a certain holy woman, who lived in a monastery in the +disguise of a man. She was accused of being the father of a child. +She confessed it, and kept the child: her innocence was afterwards +discovered with her sex. Many other means were also proposed to me. + +An Englishman addressed me thus, “Were I in your place, I would abjure; +for in England, all the masters, and all men held in consideration, +who were suspected of adhering to the opinions of Wycliffe, have been +severally cited before the archbishop, and have abjured.” + +Lastly, yesterday they were all agreed in engaging me to place myself +at the mercy of the Council. + +Paletz came at my entreaty, for I desired to confess to him. I asked +the commissioners, and those who exhorted me, to give me for confessor +either him or another. And I said, “Paletz is my principal adversary; +I wish to confess to him; or, at least, give me in his stead a man +qualified to hear me: I conjure you to do so in the name of the Lord.” +This last desire was accorded: I confessed to a monk, who piously and +most patiently listened to me; he gave me absolution, and counselled +me, but did not enjoin me, to follow the advice of others. + +Paletz came: he wept with me when I besought him to pardon me for +having uttered before him some offensive words, and especially for +having called him a forger of writings. And as I reminded him that, +in a public audience, when he heard me deny the articles cited by +the witnesses, he rose up and cried: “This man does not believe in +God,”--he denied it, but truly he said it, and perhaps you heard him +do so. I reminded him, in what manner he said to me in prison, in +presence of the Commissioners, “Since the birth of Christ, no heretic +has written more dangerously than Wycliffe and thou.” He also insisted, +that all those who have read my sermons are infected with the error +concerning the sacrament of the altar. He has now denied it, adding, +“I did not say all, but a great number.” And yet it is certain that +he said it. And when I took him up by saying, “Oh! Master Paletz, how +much you wrong me in accusing my auditory of heresy!” he did not reply +anything, and he exhorted me, like the others, always repeating, that +through me and mine much harm had been done. He told me, also, that he +possessed a letter addressed to the Bohemians, in which was written, +that, at the Chateau, I sang some verses on my captivity. In the name +of Heaven, take great care of my letters: do not let them be carried +to any clerical person, and let our Seigniors only trust some laymen. +Inform me whether they accompany the Emperor. Jesus Christ, by his +grace, preserves me immoveable in my first resolution. + + +John Huss+, in hope, servant of God. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[112] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxx. + + + + + LETTER XLI.[113] + + TO JOHN CARDINAL. + + [John Huss replies to the Father, that is to say, to the + Cardinal,[114] clearly establishing, that it is better to die for + the truth than to depart from it, though only a nail’s breadth, even + under the false pretext of the good of the Church.] + + +May the Almighty God, sovereignly good and wise, deign to bestow on my +Father eternal life, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ! + +Reverend Father, I am most grateful for your benevolent and paternal +interest. I dare not submit myself to the Council in the limits that +you trace out to me; whether because I should be obliged to condemn +many truths that they term fraudulent; or because I should be obliged +to perjure myself by abjuring and confessing that I had held errors, by +which I have greatly scandalized the people of God, who have heard me +say the contrary in my preaching. + +If, then, in the Book of the Maccabees, it is written of Eleazar, a +man of the ancient law, that he refused to lie, by confessing that he +had eaten meats prohibited by the ancient law, for fear of acting thus +against God, and leaving a bad example to posterity; how should I, a +priest of the new law, although unworthy, through the terror of pain +of a short duration, consent gravely to transgress the law of God, +by keeping back from the truth, by perjuring myself, and, lastly, by +offending my neighbour? + +Truly, it is more advantageous to die than to fall into the hands of +God by flying from a momentary evil, and perhaps afterwards to fall +into the fire, and into eternal opprobrium. Therefore, since I have +appealed to Jesus Christ, to the Judge sovereignly just and powerful, +confiding to him my cause, I am resolved to adhere to his decision, and +to his holy and sacred sentence, knowing that he will judge all men, +not according to false witnesses, or to the errors of councils, but +according to the truth, and their own merits. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[113] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxxix. + +[114] Luther erroneously believed that the person whom John Huss only +designates under the name of Father, for fear of compromising him, +was the Cardinal of Osti. J. Lenfant has clearly demonstrated that +the person, to whom John Huss gives this name, was a monk called John +Cardinal. (See the _History of the Council of Constance_, book iii.) + +The following is the form of revocation he invited John Huss to sign, +and which Luther has inserted in the collection of John Huss’s letters, +under the number xxxviii. + +“I, the undersigned, besides the protest which I have already made, +and do here repeat, again protest, that although many things which I +have never thought of have been imputed to me; nevertheless, for all +the things which I am accused of, whether extracted from my works, or +obtained from the deposition of witnesses, I humbly submit myself to +the mercy, judgment, explanation, and correction of the Holy Council +General, in order to abjure, revoke, and retract them. I will submit +to penance, and will do all that the Holy Council shall decide in +its mercy for my salvation, throwing myself on its indulgence, and +recommending myself to it with entire discretion.” + + + + + LETTER XLII.[115] + + JOHN CARDINAL TO JOHN HUSS. + + [The Father insists on the counsel which he has given: “whoever thou + mayest be who readest these pages, see how the false title of the + Church deceives the excellent Cardinal.”[116]] + + +In the first place, my well-beloved brother, do not let yourself be +troubled by the fear of condemning truths; for it is not you who will +condemn these, but those who are your superiors and ours. Meditate on +these words, “Rely not on your own prudence.” There are many wise and +conscientious men in the Council: “My son, listen to thy mother’s law.” +This is my point. + +I come to the second, concerning the perjury of the matter. This +perjury, even if it be one, will not fall on you, but on those who +exact it. Heresy ceases where obstinacy ends. Augustin, Origen, the +Master of the Sentences, and many others, have erred, and returned with +joy from their errors; I also often thought that I perfectly understood +certain things, in which I was mistaken. When better informed, I +returned with eagerness to a different opinion. + +I write briefly; for I write to an intelligent man. Do not stray from +the truth, but arrive at it; you will not perjure yourself but will +become better. Do not offend, but edify. The Jew Eleazar obtained a +great glory, but Judas with his seven sons, and the eight martyrs, +obtained much greater. Paul did not hesitate to be let down in a basket +in order to propagate a better law. May Jesus Christ, the Judge of your +appeal, accord you apostles like these.[117] Some combats for the faith +of Jesus Christ are still due from you. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[115] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xl. + +[116] Luther falls again into the same error; see note 2 of page 159. + +[117] This passage is exceedingly obscure. It may be seen that it +relates to what John Huss had said that he would appeal to Jesus +Christ. In law are called apostles certain letters which the appellant +ought to obtain from the judges to whom he has appealed; because, +if they are not obtained after a certain delay, he is supposed to +have renounced his appeal, and is obliged to submit to his first +judgment.--Lenfant, _History of the Council of Constance_. + + + + + LETTER XLIII.[118] + + [Huss relates another combat of the flesh and spirit for the + confession of the truth, a combat worthy of fixing the attention of + pious men.] + + +Salutation to you, through Jesus Christ! I beseech you, for God’s +sake, not to shew my letters, nor to publish them; for I fear they +might place several persons in jeopardy. If Vitus remains, let him be +prudent. I rejoice greatly to learn that my gracious Lord is coming to +me. Our Saviour raised up Lazarus to life on the fourth day, when he +already began to decay. He preserved Jonas in the belly of the fish, +and restored him to his preaching; he drew Daniel in safety from the +lion’s den that he might write his prophecies; he preserved from the +flames the three young men in the furnace; and he delivered Susannah, +already condemned and on the point of perishing. + +Wherefore, he could as easily snatch also from prison and death me, +unfortunate man that I am, were it conducive to the glory and advantage +of the faithful, and to my own welfare. The power of Him who drew Peter +out of prison by his angel, when condemned to die at Jerusalem, and +who caused the chains to fall from his hands, is not diminished. But +let the Lord’s will be done; may it be fully accomplished in me for his +glory and my sins! + +A Doctor said to me--“If in all things I would submit to the Council; +every thing would then be good and legitimate for me.” He added--“If +the Council asserted you had but one eye, although you have two, still +it would be necessary to say the Council was right.” “If the whole +world,” replied I, “should affirm such a thing, I could not, as long +as I possess the use of my reason, assent to it, without wounding my +conscience.” After other conversation he abandoned his argument and +said to me, “I confess I have not chosen my example well.” + +The Lord is with me like a valiant warrior; the Saviour is my light and +salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord defends my life; who shall make +me tremble? In these latter times I often repeat this sentence--“Lord, +I suffer violence, answer for me; for what shall I say to my enemies?” + + +John Huss+, servant in hope of Jesus Christ. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[118] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxxii. + + + + + LETTER XLIV.[119] + + TO A FRIEND. + + [An admirable confession of the infirmities of human nature. The + latter does not struggle against evil only, for the flesh strives + perpetually against the Spirit, and is not easily brought under its + yoke. Reader, peruse this letter, and rejoice.[120]] + + +Salutation to you, through Jesus Christ! Learn, very dear friend, that +Paletz, in endeavouring to persuade me, told me that I ought not to +dread the shame of an abjuration, but to think only of the good which +would ensue from it. I answered, “The opprobrium of being condemned and +burned is greater than that of sincerely abjuring. What shame should I +fear, then, in abjuring? But tell me, Paletz, how wouldest thou act if +thou wert assured that errors were falsely imputed to thee? Wouldest +thou wish to abjure them?” “That, in fact, would be hard,” replied he; +and he wept. We afterwards spoke of many things which I refuted. + +Michael de Causis, this miserable man, has appeared several times +before my prison with the deputies of the Council, and whilst I was +with them, said to the keepers, “_By the grace of God, we shall soon +burn this heretic, on whom I have spent many florins._” Know, my +friend, that nevertheless I do not express in this letter a vow of +vengeance: I leave it to God, and I pray for this man from the bottom +of my heart. + +I again exhort you to be prudent with my letters. Michael has forbidden +that any person should be introduced into my prison, even the wives of +my keepers. O Great God! how far does Antichrist extend his power and +cruelty! but I trust that his reign will be cut short, and his iniquity +laid bare, in the midst of a faithful people. + +The Almighty God will strengthen the hearts of the faithful whom he +has destined, from before the beginning of the world, to the crown +of immortal glory. Though Antichrist shall exercise his fury as he +pleases, nevertheless he shall not be able to prevail against Christ, +who, according to the words of the Apostle, will destroy him by a +single breath of his mouth; and the creature then shall be delivered +from the bondage of corruption, and clothe itself, says the Apostle, +with the glorious liberty of the sons of God!... + +I am greatly consoled by these words of our Saviour, “Blessed are ye +when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their +company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for +the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for, +behold, your reward is great in heaven.” (Luke vi.) An admirable +consolation, though difficult, not to understand, but to receive well; +for it invites us to delight in afflictions. + +Saint James observed this rule, with the other Apostles. “Count it,” +says he, “all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, +that the trying of your faith worketh patience; but let patience have +her perfect work.” (St James, chap. i.) Truly it is difficult to +rejoice thus with an unshaken heart, and to consider all trials as +subjects for rejoicing: it is easy to say, but difficult to do it. He +who was the most patient and the most intrepid, who knew that he should +rise again the third day, should vanquish his enemies by his death, and +redeem his elect from condemnation, was, nevertheless, troubled in mind +after the Last Supper, and cried, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto +death.” The Gospel informs us that he groaned and trembled; that an +angel comforted him in his agony; and that his sweat was, as it were, +great drops of blood falling down to the ground. But, in his agony, he +said to his disciples: “Let not your heart be troubled; for I shall be +with you to the end of the world.” + +And his valiant soldiers, their eyes fixed upon their Chief, the King +of Glory, have endured a great combat. They have passed through fire +and water, and have not perished; and have received from the Lord that +crown, alluded to by St James, when he says, “Blessed is the man that +endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown +of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.” A glorious +crown! which the Saviour will grant to me, I firmly hope, and to you +also, fervent defenders of the truth, and to all those who persevere +in the love of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has suffered for us, +bequeathing us his example, that we might follow in his footsteps. It +was necessary that he should suffer, as he himself has declared; and +we, who are his members, must suffer with Him who is our Head; for he +has said: “If any one will come with me, let him take up his cross and +follow me!” + +O Divine Jesus, draw us nigh unto thee, weak as we are; for, if thou +dost not draw us nigh unto thee, we cannot follow thee. Fortify my +spirit, that it may become strong and resolute. The flesh is weak; but +let thy grace protect, assist, and save us; for without thee we can +do nothing, and are, above all, incapable of facing, on thy account, +a cruel death. Give me a determined mind, an intrepid heart, a pure +faith, and perfect charity, that I may be enabled to lay down my life +for thee, with patience and joy. Amen. + +Written in prison and in irons, on the eve of the festival of St John +the Baptist, who was decapitated for having risen up against the +corruption of the wicked. May he pray for us to Jesus our Lord! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[119] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxx. + +[120] We remind the reader that the headings of the Letters being +written by Luther, we have not in any way changed them. + + + + + LETTER XLV.[121] + + TO A FRIEND. + + +To-morrow, at six o’clock, I am to answer on the following points:--I +am asked, in the first place, if I am willing to acknowledge as +erroneous all the articles extracted from my books, if I abjure them, +and if I engage to preach the contrary? In the second place, whether I +am willing to confess that I have preached the articles imputed to me +by witnesses? Thirdly, and lastly, if I abjure them? God grant that the +Emperor may hear the words which God will put into my mouth; and if I +am accorded pens and paper, as I hope I shall, by the grace of God I +will make the following answers in writing:-- + +“I, John, servant of Jesus Christ, refuse to confess that any of +the articles extracted from my books are erroneous, through fear of +condemning the opinions of the holy doctors, and, above all, of St +Augustin. Secondly, I refuse to admit that I have held or preached the +articles which are imputed to me by false witnesses. Thirdly, I refuse +to abjure, through fear of perjuring myself.” + +In the name of Heaven take great care of my letters, and send them to +Bohemia with precaution, lest they may place many persons in danger. +Keep me in remembrance, should you not receive news from me again; and +pray to God that he may bestow constancy on me and Jerome, my brother +in Christ; for I believe, as I understood from the deputies, that he +will suffer death with me. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[121] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxvii. + + + + + LETTER XLVI.[122] + + TO HIS FRIENDS. + + [Last resolution of John Huss, to which, with the grace of God, he + desires to remain faithful.][123] + + + * * * * * + +These are the things which the Council has often required of me; but +they imply that I revoke, that I abjure, and that I accept a penance; +and I cannot do it, without denying, in many things, the truth. In +the second place, I should perjure myself in abjuring and confessing +errors falsely _imputed_ to me. In the third place, I should afford a +great scandal to the people of God who have listened to my sermons; +and it would be better that a millstone were tied round my neck, and +that I were plunged to the bottom of the sea. Lastly, If I acted in +this manner, to avoid a momentary confusion and a short trial, I should +fall into _disgrace_ and _much more terrible sufferings_, unless, +indeed, I repented of them before my death. Wherefore, in order to +fortify myself, I have thought of the seven martyrs of the Maccabees, +who preferred rather to be torn in pieces than partake of meats +prohibited by God. I have thought of St Eleazar, who, according to +what is written, was not willing to confess he had eaten of prohibited +meats, for fear of leaving a bad example to posterity, but preferred +martyrdom. Having, then, before my eyes many saints of the new law, +who accepted martyrdom rather than consent to sin, how should I, who +have exhorted others in my preachings to patience and firmness, be thus +guilty of perjury, and of so many vile falsehoods, and scandalize also, +by my example, many children of the Lord? + +Far, far from me be such a thought! Our Saviour Jesus Christ will +reward me fully, and bestow on me in my trials the assistance of +patience. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[122] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xlv. + +[123] This letter, such as it has reached us, is, without doubt, only a +fragment; the first words indicate as much. + + + + + LETTER XLVII.[124] + + TO HIS FRIENDS AT PRAGUE. + + [He encourages and exhorts them not to be frightened on account + of the Council having delivered his writings to the flames. He + reminds them of the corrupted morals of that assembly, and of the + condemnation of Pope John.] + + +I ought to warn you, my well-beloved, not to let yourselves be alarmed +by the sentence of those who have condemned my books to be burned. +Remember that the Israelites burned the writings of the prophet +Jeremiah, without, nevertheless, being able to avoid the lot which he +predicted for them. God even commanded, after the destruction by fire +of this prophecy, that a new and more extended one should be written, +which was done; for Jeremiah dictated it in his prison, and Baruch +wrote, as it is written in chapter xxxvi. or xlv. of Jeremiah. It is +also written in the Book of Maccabees, that impious men burned the law +of God, and killed all those who were the depositaries of it. Under the +new alliance they burned the saints with the books of the divine law. +The Cardinals condemned and delivered to the flames many books of St +Gregory, and would have burned them all, if they had not been preserved +by his servant Peter. Two Councils of priests condemned St Chrysostom +as a heretic; but God made their lie manifest after the death of him +who was surnamed _St John of the Golden Mouth_. + +Knowing, therefore, these things, let not fear prevent you from reading +my books, and do not deliver them up to my enemies to be burned. +Remember that the Lord has said, Before the day of judgment there +shall be a great desolation, such as has not been witnessed since the +beginning of the world to this day; and such, if it were possible, the +elect themselves might be led astray; but on account of them these days +shall be shortened. Think of that, my well-beloved, and be firm. This +Council of Constance will not extend to Bohemia; many of those who +compose it will die before they have succeeded in forcing my books from +you. The majority will be dispersed on every side like storks; and they +will discover, on the approach of winter, what they shall have done in +summer.[125] Consider that they have declared the Pope, their chief, +worthy of death for his enormous crimes. Courage, and reply to these +preachers who teach that the Pope is God on earth; that he can sell +the sacraments, as the canonists declare; that he is the head of the +Church in administering it purely; that he is the heart of the Church +in vivifying it spiritually; that he is the source whence springs all +virtue and all good; that he is the sun of the holy Church, the certain +asylum, where it is important that all Christians should find refuge. +Behold! already this head is, as it were, severed by the sword; already +this terrestrial god is enchained; already his sins are laid bare; this +never-failing source is dried up--this divine sun is dimmed--this heart +has been torn and branded with reprobation, that no one should seek an +asylum in it. The Council has condemned its chief, its own head, for +having sold indulgences, bishopricks, and other things. But among those +who have condemned him are to be found a great number of purchasers, +who have, in their turn, engaged also in this unworthy traffic. There +was amongst them the bishop, John Litomissel, who twice wished to buy +the bishoprick of Prague; but others had the advantage over him. O! +corrupt men! Why have they not, first of all, torn the beam from their +own eyes; since it is written in their own law: “Whoever shall purchase +a dignity with money shall be deprived of it.” Sellers, therefore, and +buyers, and whosoever shall interfere in this shameful contract, be ye +condemned, as St Peter condemned Simon, who wished to buy from him the +virtue of the Holy Ghost. + +They have anathematized the seller and condemned him, and they +themselves are the purchasers; they have affixed their hands to this +pact, and they remain unpunished! What do I say? They traffic in this +merchandise even in their very dwellings! There is in Constance one +bishop who has bought, another who has sold, and the Pope, for having +approved of the bargain, has received money from the two parties. * * +If God had said to the members of this Council, “Let him amongst you +who is without sin pronounce the sentence of Pope John,” undoubtedly +they would have withdrawn one after the other. Why did they formerly +bend their knees before him? Why did they kiss his feet? Why did they +term him most holy, when they saw in him a homicide, a heretic, and +a hardened sinner? For in this manner did they already speak of him +in public. Why did the Cardinals elect him Pope, knowing that he had +caused the death of his predecessor?[126] Why did they suffer him, +since his accession to that office, to traffic in holy things? Do they +not form his Council, to remind him of what is just? and are they not +as much to blame as he for these crimes, since they tolerated in him +vices which were common to them all? Why did no one dare resist him +before his flight from Constance? They all feared him then, as their +very holy father; but when, with the permission of God, the secular +power laid hold of him, then they conspired and resolved that he should +not escape death. + +Truly, already have the malice, abomination, and turpitude of +antichrist been revealed in the Pope and other members of this Council. +The faithful servants of God may now understand these words of the +Saviour, who has said, “When you shall behold the abomination of +desolation foretold by the prophet Daniel,” &c. Truly, the supreme +abomination is pride, avarice, and simony in deserted places,--that +is, in dignities, where neither goodness nor humility, nor any virtue, +is now to be found, as we now witness in those who are high in honour +and places. Oh! how much I desire to unveil all the iniquities that +I am acquainted with, in order that the faithful servants of God may +keep on their guard against them! But I hope that God will send after +me more vigorous champions; and there are now already those who will +better expose all the cunning tricks of antichrist, and who will expose +themselves to death for the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will +give unto you and me eternal beatitude! + +I write this letter on the day of St John the Baptist, in prison and in +chains, and I bear in mind that St John was beheaded in prison for the +word of God. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[124] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xiii. + +[125] John Huss was burned to death in the month of July. + +[126] See the _Reformers before the Reformation_, vol. i., book i. + + + + + LETTER XLVIII.[127] + + JOHN HUSS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF PRAGUE. + + +Honourable Masters, bachelors, and students, of the University of +Prague, you whom I cherish in Christ Jesus, I exhort you all to love +one another, to extirpate schism; to honour God above all things; in +reminding yourselves how much I have always desired that the progress +of our University should turn to the glory of God; how much I have +bewailed your discords and your violence, and how I have always +endeavoured to maintain united our illustrious nation. Remember also +how much my life has been embittered by the outrages and blasphemies of +some amongst those whom I most loved, and for whom I would willingly +have exposed my life. And now they inflict on me a cruel death? May the +Almighty God forgive them, for they know not what they do; and I pray +with a sincere heart that he may spare them! My well beloved in Jesus +Christ, dwell in the truth that you have known, which triumphs over +all, and which increases in strength even unto eternity. + +Know, also, that I have neither revoked nor abjured any article. The +Council wished that I should acknowledge as false and erroneous all the +articles extracted from my books. I have refused, unless they proved to +me their falsehood by the Scriptures. If there is really some erroneous +meaning in these articles I detest it, and refer its correction to +our Lord Jesus Christ, who knows my sincerity, and is aware that my +intention is not to maintain an error. And all of you likewise do I +exhort, in the Lord, to detest every error that you may discover in my +works; but in respecting that truth, which I have ever kept in view, +pray for me, and support each other in the peace of God. + +I, John Huss, in chains, and already on the verge of the present life, +awaiting to-morrow a cruel death, which, I hope, will wash away my +sins, not finding in myself any heresy, by the grace of God, confess +with all my soul the truth in which I believe. + +_Written five days before the Festival of St Peter._ + +I conjure you to love Bethlehem, and to put Gallus in my place; for I +think the Lord is with him. I recommend to you Peter de Maldoniewitz, +my very faithful and courageous comforter. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[127] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xviii. + + + + + LETTER XLIX.[128] + + TO HIS FRIENDS. + + [He explains to them how God permits his elect to be put to death, + and cites several examples by which he sustains and consoles + himself.] + + +My well beloved in the Lord, many causes, and especially the +expectation of my speedy death, had made me suppose that the letters +I recently wrote to you would be the last. Now that a delay is +accorded--since it is permitted me to converse with you by letter, I +write to you again, to testify, at least, all my gratitude. In what +concerns my death, God only knows why it is deferred, as also that of +my very dear brother Jerome, who, I hope, will die in a holy manner, +and without a stain. I know that he acts and suffers now with more +firmness than I, infirm sinner that I am. God has granted us much time, +that we might better recall all our sins, and direct ourselves with +greater energy to repentance; he has given us this time, that a long +and great trial might efface our sins, and thus bring consolation with +it. He has granted it to us, that we might meditate on the execrable +outrages and cruel death of our King and merciful Lord, Jesus Christ, +and that we should thus support our own evils with greater constancy; +that we might at last remember that the joys of eternal life do not +immediately follow this world’s joys, but that it is by passing through +great tribulations that the saints enter the kingdom of God. Some of +them have been, without shrinking, sawed in twain; others have been +burned, stripped of their skin, buried alive, stoned, crucified, +crushed between millstones, dragged here and there unto death, +precipitated to the bottom of the waters, strangled, cut into pieces, +overwhelmed by outrages before their death, and tortured by hunger in +their prisons and in their chains. Who could describe the torments and +agonies which all the saints have suffered for the divine truth under +the old and new covenant, and especially those who have branded the +iniquity of priests, and who have raised their voices against it? It +would be a strange thing at present to remain unpunished when attacking +the perversity of priests, who will not endure any blame. + +I rejoice that they are now obliged to read my works, where their +corruption is depicted, and I know they read them with greater +attention than the Holy Scriptures, in the ardent desire of finding out +errors. + +_Written on the Thursday before the Festival of Saint Peter._ + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[128] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xiv. + + + + + LETTER L.[129] + + TO THE SAME. + + [John Huss relates how the Council, on the deposition of false + witnesses, and on account of his works, has condemned him, without + having read them.] + + +I have resolved, dear and faithful friends in our Lord, to make +known to you in what manner the Council of Constance, swelled with +so much pride and avarice, has condemned as heretical my books, +written in the Bohemian tongue, without ever having seen or read them, +and which it could not have understood, even when it had listened +to the reading of them. For this Council is filled with Italians, +French, Germans, Spaniards, and persons from all countries, and of +every different language. They could not be understood but by Bishop +John de Litomissel, by several Bohemians, my enemies, and by a few +priests of Prague, who have first to calumniate the truth of God, +and afterwards our Bohemia, which I hope is a country of a perfect +faith, remarkable for its attachment to the Word of God, as well as +for its good morals. And if you had been at Constance you would have +witnessed the detestable abomination of this Council, which calls +itself infallible and very holy; an abomination of which, many of the +country of the Grisons have said, the city of Constance could not wash +herself of in thirty years, and almost every body, supporting with +great difficulty the great corruption, which is to be seen in it, is +irritated against the Council. When I first appeared in the presence +of this assembly to reply to my adversaries, seeing that every thing +was done without order, and hearing a general clamour, I cried aloud, +“I thought the Council had possessed more good breeding, charity, and +discipline.” Then the first of the Cardinals answered, “Is it thus +that thou speakest? Thy language was more modest in prison.” “Yes,” +I replied, “for in prison no one vociferated against me; and now you +are all vociferous.” It is thus this Council, which has done more evil +than good, has acted towards me with inordinate violence. O my faithful +friends, my well-beloved in God, suffer not yourselves to be alarmed at +the sentence these men have delivered against my books. Like insects, +they will disperse here and there, and there, like winged insects, +their ordinances will endure as long as the spiders’ webs. They +endeavoured to shake my perseverance in the Word of God, but they were +not able to daunt the courage which God had armed me with. They refused +to examine the Scriptures with me, although my words were supported by +the testimonies of several noble Seigniors ready to suffer ignominy +with me for the cause of truth, and who remained firm to my party, and +especially Wenceslaus Duba and John of Chlum, introduced to the Council +by the Emperor Sigismund himself. + +Having said, that, if I had erred, I should be glad to be instructed +of my errors: “Since you desire to be instructed,” replied the Grand +Cardinal, “you must first of all abjure your doctrine, conformable +to the sentence of the fifty doctors and interpreters of the Holy +Scriptures.” An excellent advice! Therefore, St Catherine should +renounce the Word of God and faith in Jesus, because fifty doctors +opposed her! But this sublime virgin did not yield; she remained +faithful unto death; she thus gained over her judges to Christ; but I +cannot in the same manner persuade mine; it is wherefore I have thought +fit to write to you, in order you might be informed they have not +vanquished me neither by the Scriptures nor by reason, but tried me by +terror and by lies to extort an abjuration from me. The God of mercy, +whose justice I have glorified, was with me. He is still with me now, +and I am confident he will remain with me unto the end. + + Written the fourth day after the Festival of John the Baptist, + in prison, in chains, and in the expectation of death; and yet I + dare not say, on account of the hidden judgment of God, that this + letter may be my last; for, even now, the Almighty God may effect my + deliverance. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[129] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xii. + + + + + LETTER LI.[130] + + TO HIS FRIENDS. + + [He returns them thanks for their kindness.] + + +May God be with you, and grant you every felicity, for the kindness +you have heaped on me. Suffer not the Seignior John,[131] my best +friend, my other self, to expose himself to peril for my sake. I ask +this of you, of you, Seignior Peter, in particular, in the name of the +Lord. Lastly, I conjure you to live according to God’s word, and obey +his precepts, as I have taught you to do. Render thanks to his Royal +Majesty for all the benefits that I have received from him. + +Salute for me your families and my other friends, whom I cannot name +here individually. I pray to God for you; pray to him for me, to that +great God, near whom, with his aid, we shall all yet arrive. Amen. + +I think that I shall have to suffer for the word of God. But you will +not, I conjure you in his name, permit his ministers and saints to be +rigorously treated. + + +John Huss+, in hope, servant of God. + +P.S.--Peter,[132] my very dear friend, keep, in remembrance of me, my +fur cloak. Seignior Henry, may you live in health with your wife. I +thank you for your kindness: may God heap his riches upon you. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[130] _Hist. et. Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxiv. + +[131] John of Chlum. + +[132] Peter Maldoniewitz, surnamed the Notary. + + + + + LETTER LII.[133] + + TO JOHN OF CHLUM. + + +I am greatly rejoiced that the Seignior Wenceslaus desires to take to +himself a wife, and to flee from the vanities of the world. It is time +he should retrace his steps. He has for a long time travelled kingdoms, +played at the lance, wearied his body, spent his fortune, and offended +his soul. Let him then renounce such a life, and dwell at home in peace +with his wife and servants, there to serve God. It is better, indeed, +to serve God without sin, in peace and tranquillity of mind, than to +serve any other master amidst great anxieties, and to the peril of our +souls. Give these lines to my excellent friend to read. + +The Lord still preserves the life of John Huss, and will continue +to do so, as long as it is his good-will, against the efforts of +avaricious, proud, and impious men of this Council, where there are but +few (God knows if I exaggerate) who obey his precept. + +_Written on the Festival of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul._ + + +John Huss+, in hope, servant of Jesus Christ. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[133] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxiii. + + + + + LETTER LIII.[134] + + TO JOHN OF CHLUM. + + +My very dear benefactor in Jesus Christ,--It is no slight satisfaction +to me to be able to write to you. Your letter, dated yesterday, has +made me understand, first, how will be unveiled and exposed to the +light the iniquity of this perverse assembly, of the great prostitute +spoken of in the Apocalypse, with whom, spiritually, the kings of the +earth pollute themselves, by quitting the truth of the Lord, in order +to assist the lies of antichrist, by seduction, fear, or in the hope of +acquiring by this alliance the advantages of the world. + +I understood, secondly, that the enemies of the truth begin to be +alarmed. Thirdly, I recognized the charitable order, the intrepid +firmness, with which you confess the truth; and, lastly, I saw with joy +that you wished to put an end to the vanities and laborious servitude +of the age, and combat for our Lord Jesus Christ; to serve whom, is, as +St Gregory expresses it, to reign. He who faithfully serves him will be +served by him in the celestial realms. He has said, “Blessed is that +servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching; verily I +say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods.” The +kings of this world do not act in this manner towards their servants; +they love them only as long as they are useful and necessary to them. +This is not the conduct of Jesus, the King of Glory, who crowned +the holy apostles, Peter and Paul, introducing the former into the +celestial kingdom by crucifixion, &c., the latter by decapitation; +the first after having been imprisoned four times, and delivered by +an angel; the second after having been beaten thrice with rods, once +stoned, often afflicted, and twice shipwrecked, and having lingered two +years in prison. Now they no longer suffer anxieties and torments, but +enjoy a sweet and unchangeable peace, as well as infinite joy: Peter +and Paul reign already with the King of Heaven; they are already among +the angelic choir, they behold the King of kings in his magnificence; +no sorrows afflict them, and they are filled with ineffable happiness. +May these glorious martyrs, now united to the King of Glory, deign +to intercede for us, that, strengthened by their assistance, we may +participate in their glory, after having suffered with humility; since +the all-powerful God has declared it is for our welfare that we suffer +in this world. Amen. + +_Written on the Festival of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul._ + +If you can, write to me again, I beseech you, in the name of the Lord. +I conjure you also to salute most particularly the Queen, my sovereign; +advise her to hold fast to the truth, and not to be scandalised on my +account, as if I were a heretic. Salute for me also your wife, whom I +conjure you to love in Christ; for I trust she is amongst the children +of God, through observing his commandments. + +Salute all the friends of the truth. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[134] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxii. + + + + + LETTER LIV.[135] + + TO MASTER JOHN CHRISTIAN. + + [Exhortation.] + + +Christian, my master and benefactor, keep steadfast in the truth +of Christ and in the love of his disciples. Fear not; for the Lord +will shortly afford us his protection, and augment the number of his +faithful believers. Be always kind to the poor, as thou wert wont; +guard thy chastity; flee avarice; hold not several livings, but keep +thy church, that the faithful may find refuge in thee, as in the bosom +of a father. O thou, whom I love, salute for me Jacobel, and all the +friends of the truth. + +_Written in irons, and expecting to suffer death._ + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[135] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xvii. + + + + + LETTER LV.[136] + + TO HIS BENEFACTORS. + + [He exhorts them to prefer serving our Saviour Jesus Christ, who will + not deceive them, rather than the princes of the earth.] + + +My excellent benefactors, I exhort you,[137] by the bowels of Jesus +Christ, you who defend the truth, to renounce the vanities of the age, +and to combat for our eternal King, Jesus Christ. Put not your trust in +princes, nor in the children of men; for the children of men are false +and full of lies. To-day they live, and to-morrow they are no more: God +alone is eternal. He has servants, not for his own wants, but for the +advantage even of his servants, on whom he bestows the riches he has +promised them; for he has said--“Where I am, there also shall be my +servant.” The Lord renders his servants masters of all he possesses, +giving himself up to them, and giving all with himself, in order that +they may, without weariness, and without anxiety, possess all things +and rejoice with all the saints in eternal happiness. _Blessed is the +servant who watches when his Lord cometh._ Fortunate is the servant +who shall joyfully repose on the bosom of the King of Glory! Serve, +then, this King with fear, you who love him with all your heart. He +will conduct you in safety to Bohemia in his grace, and afterwards, +I trust, into eternal glory. Adieu; for I believe this letter may be +the last that I shall write to you; to-morrow I shall be cleansed from +my sins by a cruel death, in the hope of Christ. I cannot write what +has occurred to me this night. Sigismund has done all with trick and +cunning; may God forgive him!... You have heard the sentence which he +delivered. Do not, I conjure you, suspect in the slightest degree the +faithful Vitus. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[136] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxi. + +[137] Hortor vos per viscera Jesu Christi. + + + + + LETTER LVI., AND THE LAST.[138] + + TO HIS FAITHFUL FRIEND LEDERTZ. + + +Seignior Ledertz, my faithful friend, you, Dame Margaret, and all of +you who love me, may God bestow on you all his riches, for the great +trouble you have taken, and for the many favours that I have received +at your hands! Dear and faithful Master Christian, may God be with +you! Master Martin, my disciple, forget not the faithful manner in +which I taught you the word of God! Master Nicholas, Peter, the priest +of the Lord, the King, the masters and heads of the University, +preserve faithfully God’s word! May Gallus preach it, and all of you, +my beloved, listen attentively to it, and guard it in your hearts! + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[138] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Epist. xxv. + + + END OF JOHN HUSS’S LETTERS. + + + + + REMARKS ON THE WORKS OF JOHN HUSS. + + +The writings of +John Huss+, which have been handed down to us, may +be classed under four principal heads:--His letters; his works and +commentaries on the Scriptures; his sermons; and, lastly, his moral and +theological treatises. His letters have been given in this volume. His +particular works on the Scriptures are,-- + +_1st_, A History of the Life of Jesus Christ, according to the Four +Gospels. + +_2dly_, The History of our Lord’s Passion, as collected from the +Four Gospels, and augmented by notes and commentaries from the most +celebrated Doctors of the Church. + +_3dly_, The Explanation of the First Seven Chapters of the First +Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians. + +_4thly_, Commentaries on the Seven Canonical Epistles of the Apostles +St James, St Peter, St John, and St Jude. + +_5thly_, Explanations and Developments of the Psalms cix., cx., cxi., +cxii., cxiii., cxiv., cxv., cxvi., cxvii., and cxviii. + +All these writings reveal in their author a profound knowledge of the +sacred books, and of the works of the Fathers, as well as a great +zeal to diffuse the light of the Scriptures, and to draw from them +salutary instruction. They indicate, besides, an independence of +views which must have given umbrage to the clergy. It is thus that +Huss, in arranging the Epistles of the Apostles, names first that +of St James, who, he says, presided at the Council of Jerusalem. He +assigns the first place to this Epistle, on account of the superior +dignity which the Apostle bears in the eyes of Christians by reason of +three different claims:--“First, In addressing himself particularly +to converted Jews, who were superior to the pagans; afterwards, in +consideration of his personal merit; for although Peter was the first +of the apostles, nevertheless the first evangelical preaching is traced +to St James;--and lastly, in consideration of the dignity of the place +where he held his See, which was Jerusalem, where the first preaching +of God’s word took place.”[139] + +These works of John Huss on the Scriptures, so different in their +nature, and so considerable in their extent, are, however, like most of +the theological writings of the epoch, prolix and diffuse. The author +subdivides his matter without end, fatigues with his repetitions, and, +in his commentaries, presents, in general, subtile explanations and +interpretations, sometimes trifling, and often forced, in order to +discover in each word of the sacred books of the Old Testament, the +type of our Saviour’s words in the New one. + +The sermons and discourses of John Huss, collected in his works, +amount to about forty, amongst which several were pronounced before +his rupture with his ecclesiastical superiors, and his interdiction. +In them might be already recognised that pure and ardent zeal for +morality, and that horror for the vices of the clergy, which animated +his bosom in every circumstance of his life--a manifestation at once +noble and rash in an age when the clergy were as powerful as they were +corrupt, and which accumulated on the head of John Huss such implacable +resentment. + +In some sermons, delivered at a later period, and when he was already +exposed to the attacks of his enemies, he expresses himself openly +against the abuses springing from the doctrines of the Roman Church. +He energetically censures the pomp and ostentation displayed in the +festivals in honour of the saints. He reproves the lying flatteries of +funeral eulogiums, and the profit derived from them by the priest. He +alludes to this verse-- + + De morbo medicus gaudet, de morte sacerdos;[140] + +and adds: “What is the use of multiplying vigils in the house of a +rich defunct, unless, indeed, for empty praise? Neither he who pays, +nor he who is paid, care much about the psalms that are sung. What +utility is there in this pompous cortege of the rich at the burial of +a corpse? Why are so many priests sitting luxuriously on cushions +round a coffin, whilst thou, O Christ! stoodst weeping over the tomb +of Lazarus, and humbly invokedst thy Father? We do not weep, but make +merry; we utter not pious groans, but vain clamours.”[141] + +John Huss believed in purgatory, although he placed but little +confidence in the efficacy of praying for the dead; and in the +sermon already mentioned, he supports his opinion on this point by +the silence of the Scriptures. “We find no mention made of it,” he +remarks, “except in the Book of Maccabees, which is not placed by the +Jews in the canon of the Old Testament; neither the prophets, nor +Jesus Christ, nor the Apostles, nor the saints who have followed their +footsteps, have explicitly taught that the dead should be prayed for; +but they have publicly declared, that whoever lived without crime +should be deemed holy. For my part, I think that the introduction of +this custom originated in the avarice of the priests, who, though but +little desirous of teaching men to live well after the examples of the +prophets, of Christ and the Apostles, carefully exhort them to make +rich offerings, in the hope of procuring celestial happiness, and a +speedy deliverance from purgatory.”[142] + +The first nine sermons collected in the works of John Huss[143] were +preached by him in Prague at different periods, and are followed by +twenty-eight discourses relative to _Antichrist_, in which he openly +designates the Pope, and where he repeats most of the arguments of the +treatise, _On the Anatomy of the Members of Antichrist_. + +The last two sermons of John Huss are those which he composed on +arriving at Constance; the one on _Faith_, the other on _Peace_. They +breathe the desire of a reconciliation, which his enemies repulsed, and +he was not permitted to deliver them. + +The moral and theological treatises form the fourth part of John Huss’s +works, and the most important of the whole, for they especially shew +his doctrines, and were those which furnished his enemies and judges +with arguments and arms against him.[144] + +The principal of the treatises are:--_The Treatise on the Church_, +publicly read in the city of Prague; _The Refutation of the Bull of +John XXIII., concerning Indulgences for the First Crusade_;[145] +_Answer to Stephen Paletz_; _Answer to Stanislas Znöima_; _Refutation +of the Writing of Eight Doctors of Prague_; _The Book of Antichrist_; +and the _Treatise on the Abominations of Priests and Monks_. + +All the doctrines and peculiar opinions of John Huss are to be met +with in his celebrated _Treatise on the Church_, and in his _Answers +to Paletz_, _to Stanislas de Znöima_, and _The Eight Doctors_. It may +be discovered, on perusing them, that on a great number of points, +which, a century later, separated the Reformers from the Roman +Catholic Church, Huss shared the opinion of the latter, or at least +did not believe that it was allowable to oppose it; he attacked it, +consequently, much more for its abuses than for its errors. + +The horror which he felt at the sight of evil, and especially when it +was committed by men who ought to set an example of every virtue to +others, often carried him too far. Anger mingled its violence with his +indignation, and, in some treatises, amongst others _The Antichrist_, +and _The Abominations of Priests and Monks_, he forgets himself so far +as to indulge in abuse, and employ insulting and offensive expressions. +Nevertheless, it would be unjust to see, on that account, an excuse for +those who condemned him; for these treatises were not known to them, +and were only made public after his death. Besides, the expressions to +be blamed in them belong less to John Huss than to the age in which he +lived. They are to be met with in the writings of the most celebrated +Doctors and orthodox priests; and it seems that, in hazarding a +language which astonishes our more sensitive ears, John Huss had +adopted for his authority the Prophet Ezekiel, from whom he often drew +his inspirations. + +Among the doctrines signalized as heretical in the works of Huss are +those on _Predestination_ and _Election_. A heresy was seen in the +definition which Huss gives of the Catholic and the universal Church, +“_This Church_,” says he, “_is the assembly of all the elect, present, +past, and future, including also the angels_.”[146] And lower down +he adds:--“_No particular tie, no human election, renders a person +member of the universal Church, but divine predestination alone; this +predestination is, according to St Augustin, election by the grace of +the Divine will, or preparation to grace in the present life, and to +glory in the future one_.”[147] + +To these different passages has been opposed the necessity of the +sacraments for obtaining salvation; and it has thence been concluded, +that, whoever admitted predestination, gratuitous safety of election +and grace, or communion with the universal Church--could attribute +no efficacy to the sacraments--to the communion of the external and +visible Church.[148] Nevertheless, Huss nowhere disputes the virtue of +the sacraments, but, on the contrary, recommends their frequent use. +This doctrine of _predestination_ and _election_ has often divided the +Catholic Church. It has been supported in every age by some of its most +illustrious members, and has had for interpreters St Augustin and +Gerson.[149] The boldest opinions of John Huss have almost all of them +found partizans among men whom Rome venerates as saints and learned +doctors. But he separated from them upon two principal points: in his +eyes, as in those of Wycliffe, the authority of the Church could only +direct the faith and conduct, as long as the decisions of the Church +agreed with the Scriptures; and the priest, whatever his external +dignity might be, was not, in the sight of God, priest, bishop, or +pope, and representative of Jesus Christ, but as far as he took for +model and guide in his private life the example of our Saviour. These +two capital points, on which repose all the doctrine of Wycliffe, +are the real basis of all Christian dissent. Huss, as we stated in a +previous work, acknowledged them without calculating their importance, +without clearly understanding the abyss they opened between him and +the Church of which he believed himself a member. His opinion on this +subject strongly manifests itself in all the above-mentioned treatises. +Even his adversaries are forced to admit that he derived it from the +unshaken conviction that morality and religion are inseparable, and +that they who have the mission of representing Jesus on earth could +not desire or order otherwise than what God himself had willed and +commanded. + +On these two points, he goes beyond the limits of the Roman Church, +and openly subjects himself to the reproach addressed to him by one +of the Catholic writers, who judged him most impartially. “It is +greatly to be lamented,” says the writer alluded to, “that such a man +should have so frightful a destiny, and so bitter a death,--he, who +glowed with so ardent a love for Christ and his doctrine,--who shone, +by the integrity of his life, the sincerity of his heart, the ardour +of his mind, his eloquence, and other precious gifts, to so high a +degree, that he might have become an illustrious Reformer, if, after +the example of some very eminent men, such as Gerson, d’Ailly, or +Clémangis, he had devoted his talents to the work of reform in the +Church itself, and not out of its bosom.”[150] + +This reproach is best refuted by referring to John Huss’s life, and the +history of his time. Both form the subject of the work, which this one +completes, and to which the reader has been often referred.[151] It +will be there seen that the reform of abuses could not be accomplished +by those whose interests it was to perpetuate them, and that the +corruption of the external and visible Church was then so profound, +that to introduce a reform in it, it was necessary first to leave it +altogether. + + * * * * * + +Of all John Huss’s treatises, that on _The Church_ is the most complete +and celebrated. We must insert here an analysis of it, which will +terminate this work. + + + ANALYSIS OF THE TREATISE ON THE CHURCH. + +John Huss defines the universal Church to be the assembly of all the +predestined, past, present, and to come, including the angels. “The +Church,” writes he, “is the most excellent thing created by God. We +ought not therefore to believe in the Church, because it is not God; +but we should believe that there is a holy universal Church, of which +Jesus Christ is the sole Chief. The entire Church and all its parts +ought to honour God; but it ought not to wish that divine worship +should be rendered her.”[152] + +“Reprobates,” says Huss, “are not members of the Church. It may occur +that one is in the Church, without being of the Church. Such may be +the case with the popes, bishops, priests, and clergy, although they +style themselves the Church in particular, because it is possible that +they are reprobate: we may also belong to the Church, without being +exteriorly in the Church, like those who commence to be converted to +the faith.” + +Huss next examines the celebrated passage of St Matthew: _Thou art +Peter, and on this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell +shall not prevail against it; and I will give thee the keys of the +kingdom of heaven, &c._ (Matthew xvi., 18, 19). He considers in it four +things: _The Church_, its _faith_, its _foundation_, and its _power_. +He examines, first of all, whether the Roman Church is the universal +one, as is affirmed by the canon law, where the Pope is called the +chief, and the cardinals, the body of the Church. He denies this to +be the case, for the reason that the Pope and the cardinals do not +compose the whole assembly of the elect. _Thou art Peter, and on this +rock will I build my Church_, signifies, according to Huss, “Thou art +the confessor of the true Rock, which is Christ; and it is on this rock +that I will raise my Church by faith and by grace; but this Church does +not consist in men, constituted in power and dignities, whether secular +or ecclesiastical, because several popes have fallen into error and +crime.” + +Huss does not, however, contest great privileges to the Roman Church, +because St Peter founded it; and he does not oppose the Pope and the +cardinals holding the principal rank in the Church, provided they +follow the example of Jesus Christ, and that, stripping themselves of +pomp and ambition, they serve with humility the common mother of all +believers. + +Yet the Roman Church can hardly be termed a universal one, because, +in reality, it is a particular Church; the first and most ancient +being that of Jerusalem, and the second that of Antioch, of which the +faithful were the first called Christians.[153] + +As to faith, Huss distinguishes several kinds. “The true faith,” says +he, “is faith formed by charity.[154] This, when persevered in, is the +foundation of all the other Christian virtues; it ought necessarily +to be founded on _truth_, which enlightens the understanding, and on +_authority_, which strengthens the soul. This authority can be only +that of God speaking by his word. If the Christian is convinced that +a truth has been dictated by the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures, he +ought, without hesitation, to declare his opinion, and expose his life +for it. The obligation is not the same with regard to the words of +the saints, and popes’ bulls: one is not held to believe them, but +only so far as they agree with the Holy Scriptures. We may, besides, +believe in them as in opinions, because the Pope and his court might +err, through ignorance of the truth. It is, then, one thing to believe +in God, because he cannot err or be deceived, and another to believe +in the Pope, who is liable to error; it is one thing to believe the +Holy Scriptures, and another to believe in a bull, because the latter +is of human invention. It can never be permitted not to follow the +Scriptures, or to oppose them; but it is sometimes allowable not to +believe in a bull, and even to oppose it, as, for instance, when it +has originated in avarice, when it raises to dignity unworthy persons, +or oppresses the innocent; in a word, when it is contrary to the +instructions and commandments of God.[155] As regards the foundation +of the Church, there is but one, which is Jesus Christ. If the +Apostles, therefore, are called the foundations of the Church, it is +in a figurative manner, as being subjected to Jesus Christ, because +it is he who has built the Church, and St Peter is only its basis and +foundation; in the same manner is the Apostles his colleagues. It +must be admitted, that Jesus Christ, who is the corner-stone of the +Church, established Peter in humility, poverty, and faith, and that +it was by these virtues he elevated the Church which he governed. But +to pretend, from these words, _On this rock will I raise my Church_, +that Jesus Christ intended to found the entire Church in the person +of _Peter_, is to believe what is contrary to faith and reason. St +Peter never boasted of being the head of the whole Church, because he +never governed the whole of it; yet there may be allowed to him, with +some of the Fathers, a priority of order over the other Apostles, on +account of the excellence of his virtues; and, _in this sense_, the +words of the blessed St Denis are true: St Peter was the Chief of the +Apostles,[156] which does not mean the Chief of the Universal Church. +The Bishop of Rome may be looked upon as the vicar of St Peter, and the +first in the church which he governs, if he imitate the virtues of this +Apostle; but if he follow an opposite path, he is only the forerunner +of Antichrist.” Huss supports his opinion by citing several of the +Fathers, and amongst others, St Bernard, St Jerome, St Gregory, and St +Chrysostom. “It is not the post which he holds that makes the priest,” +says the last named saint, “but the priest which makes the post; it is +not the place which sanctifies man, but man that sanctifies the place.” + +“_Lastly_, As relates to the power of priests, it is purely spiritual; +it consists in instructing, in condemning the culpable by spiritual +punishment, in absolving the penitent, and announcing to them the +remission of their sins; it dwells actually in Jesus Christ, and has +been given, in the person of Peter, to all the Church militant. + +“Priests are only the ministers of the Church, and are not able to bind +or loose, remit or retain sins, if God has not previously done so; and +the people greatly err, if they believe that the priests first bind or +unbind, and that God only does so after them; as if God executed the +sentence of priests, whereas, priests ought to execute the judgment of +God, only in accord with Jesus Christ.[157] + +“There are two kinds of power: one legitimate, and which should be +obeyed; the other pretended and usurped, which ought to be resisted. +Such is the power of Simoniacs, who, through interest, take advantage +of the keys in order to condemn the innocent and absolve the guilty; +who buy and sell holy orders, bishopricks, canonries, and livings; +who make a traffic of the sacraments; who live in avarice and +voluptuousness, and sully the authority of the priesthood.” Huss +maintains that the power of binding or loosing was equally given to all +the Apostles, and contests the right of the popes to bear the title of +_universal bishop_ and _most holy_. “They have no right,” he says, “to +decorate themselves with it;” and he cites, as proofs, the example of +the Apostles, the canons, the councils, as well as the scandalous lives +of several popes, in whom there was no holiness. “As to the cardinals, +of whom it is said that they form the body of the Church, it would +be necessary, in order to acknowledge it, to know by revelation that +they are predestined to salvation, and that they live as becomes the +successors and vicars of the Apostles; but do they shew themselves as +such? Those men who accumulate livings, gain favours by presents after +the example of Giezi; who go early in the morning, dressed in splendid +clothing, to visit the Pope, mounted on horses richly caparisoned, not +on account of the distance or difficulty of the roads, but to display +their magnificence to the eyes of the world, in opposition to the +example of Christ and his Apostles, who visited on foot, and in humble +clothing, the towns and villages, preaching the Gospel, and announcing +the kingdom of God.[158] + +“The Church,” says John Huss, “may be governed without the Pope +and cardinals, as was the case during three hundred years. It was +Constantine who established, in the third century, the universal +domination of the Roman Pontiff. Before the donation, the Bishop of +Rome was like the other bishops;[159] and for that reason, the Roman +pontiffs who succeeded Sylvester, fearing to lose this pre-eminence, +besought the Emperors to confirm it.” John Huss afterwards quotes +Gratian’s decree, confirmed by Lewis-le-Debonnaire, and adds--“St +Peter never required that Lewis-le-Debonnaire should bestow on him +the temporal domain of Rome; he was in possession of the kingdom of +heaven, and consequently greater than Lewis. Would to God that Peter +had replied to him, I accept not your concession. When I was Bishop of +Rome, I did not envy Nero the domination of Rome, and I had no need of +it. I believe it to have been injurious to my successors; it turned +them from the preaching of the Gospel, from prayer, and observing the +commandments of God, and filled them with pride.” + +“It is the law of God, and not the arbitrary will of the Pope and +cardinals, that ought to regulate ecclesiastical judgment.” The +adversaries of Huss considered this proposition of his as a crime. He +defends it against them, and makes it a point of honour to acknowledge +only the Scriptures as authority, although he respects the holy +doctors, when their decisions are in harmony with the Divine word. +He rejects the application to Christians of certain passages of +Deuteronomy, in which God orders the Israelites to have their disputes +judged in the place he had chosen, and sentences with death whoever +should not submit himself to the Pontiff and to the judge.[160] “It +is here a question,” says John Huss, “of civil affairs rather than of +religious ones, and the spirit of the Gospel, which, only employing +persuasion, differs greatly from the ancient law, which was one of +rigour. If these distinctions were not established, it would follow +that Jesus was justly condemned, because the high priests Annas and +Caiaphas presided in the places designed by God himself.” + +Huss likewise rejects the accusation of wishing to excite the people, +and induce them to disobedience towards their superiors, viz., the +pope, bishops, priests, and all the clergy. He distinguishes three +kinds of obedience: _1st_, Spiritual obedience, which is that which all +Christians, without exception, are expected at all times to render to +the law of Jesus Christ. _2dly_, Secular obedience, which is that which +is due to civil laws, admitting them to be conformable to the law of +God. _3dly_, Ecclesiastical obedience, which is that paid to the laws +invented by the priests of the Church without any express authority +of the Scriptures. “This latter,” he says, “is only obligatory as far +as the things prescribed or forbidden are in conformity with what is +ordered or prohibited by the Word of God;” and he draws this inference, +“_that he who knows of a certainty that the commandments of the Pope +are contrary to what is counselled and commanded by Jesus Christ, or +tends to the ruin of the Church, ought boldly to resist them, for fear +of sanctioning a crime by his consent_.” He invokes, in support of +this opinion the authority of the canon law, as well as the Fathers, +from whom he quotes many passages, extracted especially from Nicholas +Lyra and Saint Augustin.[161] In the last chapters, Huss inveighs +energetically against the abuse of _excommunication_, _suspensions_, +and _interdicts_. + +“One ought not to be excommunicated,” continues Huss, “but on account +of a mortal sin which separates from the grace of God. The _major +excommunication_ is pronounced against a public sinner, and it is +that which was pronounced against myself; but blessed be God, who has +not given to this excommunication the power of taking away justice +and virtue from a just man, and of making him become a sinner.... I +am more afraid of the greatest of all excommunications, viz. that +by which the Sovereign Pontiff, in presence of angels and men, +will eternally excommunicate the wicked from all participation in +eternal beatitude.... It is on that One, that he who judges should +reflect, through fear of excommunicating unjustly; for whoever shall +excommunicate a man from temporal interest or pride, or in order +to revenge himself of some injury, and against his conscience, +excommunicates himself.[162] + +“As to suspension, it is God who pronounces it against every bad priest +who lives scandalously and criminally. It follows from hence, that +there are but few preachers whom God does not at present suspend from +the ministry of his Word, because there are few who do not reject +the knowledge of the Scriptures, and contradict, by their lives, the +duties which they teach unto others.” Huss concludes from this, that +he was forced to preach against the vices of the clergy. “Wo unto me,” +he exclaims, “if I had remained silent; for, according to the canon +law,[163] not to oppose an error is to approve of it; and to neglect +denouncing the perverse when it is in our power to do so, is to shew +ourselves their accomplices.[164]” + +Afterwards passing to the subject of interdicts, a punishment which +ecclesiastical dignitaries may inflict on a country or town, simply +for the fault of one individual, and forbidding divine service to be +celebrated in the place, without distinguishing the innocent from +the guilty, John Huss adds: “One of the manifest proofs that these +censures, which are called _fulminations_, are derived from Antichrist, +is, that they are cast against those who preach the Gospel, and expose +the corruption of the clergy. Interdicts began after the year one +thousand, and by the rage of Satan, when the clergy had become fat on +the misfortunes of the world, and had grown in voluptuousness, pride, +and impatience of submitting to any restraint.” + +Huss calls to mind the worldly motives which led the pontiffs, Adrian +IV., Alexander III., Innocent III., Boniface VIII., Innocent IV., and +Clement IV., to interdict towns and countries, in the thirteenth and +fourteenth centuries, and concludes by quoting, against this custom, +an admirable letter of St Augustin to a young bishop, who, on account +of the ill-conduct of a holy father, had excommunicated his whole +family. This is the letter:--“Instruct me, I pray you, by strict reason +or Scripture, in what case, should you know of any, the child should +be excommunicated for the sin of the father, the wife for that of the +husband, the servant for the master, and even the children that may be +born in the house thus excommunicated, since, as long as it remains so, +it is impossible to procure for the children, even when in danger of +death, the grace of regeneration produced by Baptism. The chastisement +which God inflicted on several of the impious who had despised his +law, and in which he included all belonging to them, was an external +punishment, which fell only on the body, in order to fill the living +with dread; but the excommunication resulting from the power given us +by these words: ‘_That which you shall have bound on earth, shall be +bound in heaven_,’ falls even upon the soul; and it is said of souls: +‘The soul of the father belongs to me, as likewise the soul of the son; +and that which has sinned shall die.’ Perhaps you have heard of some +bishops of great repute, who anathemised sinners with the whole of +their families; but if they were asked to explain their conduct, it is +likely they would be embarrassed to assign a good reason for it; and +as I should not myself have known how to answer a similar inquiry, I +have never, on that account, dared to act in this manner, however great +might have been the crimes committed against the Church. Nevertheless, +if God has revealed to you that this may be done with justice, I shall +not despise your youth, and your little experience of the weight of +episcopacy. Behold me, then, an old man, and for many years a bishop, +ready to learn from a young man, my colleague a year since only, how I +should justify myself before God and men, if I inflicted a spiritual +punishment on innocent souls for the sins of others.”[165] + +John Huss, after supporting his argument by the imposing authority of +St Augustin, energetically addresses the doctors, his adversaries, +and asks them if they believe in their conscience that it is an +unimportant thing, keeping the middle path between good and evil, to +deprive the innocent of the sacraments, and of sepulture--to prohibit +divine service, and give rise, in consequence, to so much scandal, +calumny, and hatred. “O doctors!” he exclaims, “to what church belongs +this language? Is it that of an apostolical church? Say whether it be +the language of an apostle, or of a saint. Assuredly it is not that +of Jesus Christ, of the Chief of the Holy Church, in whose word is +contained every truth useful to the Church.”[166] + +Huss terminates his celebrated treatise by alluding to the condemnation +of the forty-five articles of Wycliffe, by the doctors, without their +being able to demonstrate that any of these articles were heretical, +erroneous, or scandalous. He expresses his astonishment at his +adversaries abstaining from opposing too openly, at Prague, Wycliffe’s +proposition, which authorizes lay lords to strip of their wealth +ecclesiastics of depraved morals. “They are silent,” says he, “like +the priests and Pharisees, and fear prevents them from condemning +this article; but what they dreaded has occurred, and will again come +to pass. _They shall lose their temporal wealth; God grant they may +preserve their souls!_” + + + FINIS. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[139] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, t. ii., p. 176. + +[140] The physician delights in disease, the priest in death. + +[141] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, Sermo habitus Pragæ in Synodo ad +Clerum, t. ii., p. 77. + +[142] Ubi supra, p. 82. + +[143] _Hist. et Monum. Johann. Huss_, t. ii. + +[144] For the complete list of John Huss’s treatises, see Note B. + +[145] For this celebrated writing, consult _Reformers before the +Reformation_, vol. i., b. i. + +[146] _De Eccles._ + +[147] Ibid. + +[148] Retrum Hussi doctrina fuerit hæresiea. _Dissert. Hist. Dogmat. +Cappenberg._ + +[149] Gers. Oper. _De Conosolat. Theolog._, t. i. p. 137. + +[150] Maxime quidem dolendum esse ingenue confitemur quod tristissimam +sortem necemque acerbissimam vir ille perpessus est, qui magno exarsit +Christi reique christianæ amore, vitæ integritate voluntate sincera, +maximo animi ardore, præstantissima concionandi facultate aliisque +virtutibus mire excelluit, ita ut reformator extitisset egregius si cum +æqualibus viris præclarissimis, Gersonio, Petro ab Alliaco, Nicolao +Clémangis ea qua potuit ac debuit ratione intra, non extra Ecclesiæ +fines, reformandæ Ecclesiæ operam novasset. _Dissert. hist. dogmat._ +Cappenberg. + +[151] _The Reformers before the Reformation._ + +[152] Tota ecclesia et quælibet ejus pars debet Deum colere et nec +ipsa nec ejus pars vult coli pro deo.--_De Eccles. J. Huss, Hist. et +Monum._, t. i., p. 244. + +[153] _De Eccles._, p. 258. Compare this opinion with that of Gerson on +the same subject. _Gers. Opera_, v. 11.--_De modis uniendi ac reform. +Eccles. en Concil._ See also the _Reformers before the Reformation_, +Introduction, sect. v. + +[154] Unde quicumque habuerit fidem charitate firmatam in communis +sufficit cum virtute perseverantiæ, ad salutem. + +[155] The doctrine of the Gallic Church is still more restrictive. It +only acknowledges bulls when they are not contrary to the laws of the +kingdom. + +[156] Et dictum beati Dionysii est verum, quod Petrus fuit capitaneus +inter apostolos. _De Eccles._, cap. ix. + +[157] _De Eccles._, cap. x. Compare this opinion of John Huss with +that of Wycliffe and Gerson on the same matter, _Reformers before the +Reformation_. + +[158] _De Eccles._, cap. xv. + +[159] This illegality of the donation of Constantine was not then +discovered. + +[160] Deut. xvii. + +[161] Consult on this subject, and compare with this passage, Letter V. +of the First Series, pages 24-29. + +[162] _De Eccles._, cap. xxii. + +[163] Distinct. 83. + +[164] Error cui non resistitur approbatur. + +[165] _De Eccles._, cap. xxiii. + +[166] O doctores, cujus ecclesiæ est ille stylus? Numquam apostolicæ? +Dicite cujus apostoli est stylus ille, vel cujus sancti post apostolos? +Numquam est Christi stylus, illius capitis Ecclesiæ sanctæ, in cujus +stylo omnis veritas utilis Ecclesiæ est contenta. Cap. xxiii. + + + + + NOTES. + + + +Note A.+, p. 2. + + PREFACE OF MARTIN LUTHER TO THE FOUR LETTERS OF JOHN HUSS, WHICH HE + CAUSED TO BE TRANSLATED INTO LATIN, AND WHICH HE PUBLISHED + SEPARATELY AT WIRTEMBERG, IN THE YEAR 1536. + +Of these four Letters, written by John Huss in the Bohemian tongue, I +have procured a Latin translation, with the view of publishing them +forthwith, in the same year fixed for a General Council, at the earnest +request of our illustrious Emperor Charles. I have not taken this +trouble with the view of calling down indignation and contempt upon +the Council of Constance. This, on account of its culpable acts, I +have done elsewhere, and will always be ready to do, in defence of the +interests of the whole Church. My motive in publishing these Letters, +is, if God permits the said Council to assemble, to warn the members +to take care not to follow the example of the Council of Constance, in +which the Truth was exposed to such lengthened and violent attacks; +and yet, nevertheless, now triumphs, and, raising its victorious head, +shews this unworthy assembly in its naked aspect, and stripped of its +tyrannical authority. In this Council, indeed, the cardinals and most +distinguished men aimed principally at extinguishing schism; they +abandoned the cause of religion as below their notice, and left it to +the perverse race of monks and sophists; from whence has sprung, as +formerly from Babylon, all the evil which has produced, in Germany and +in Bohemia, so many calamities, wars, massacres, and inextinguishable +hatreds. The Papacy, freed from schism, did not afterwards behave less +cruelly towards the world, filling the churches with false doctrines, +indulgences, mercenary masses, and all sorts of inventions of priests +and monks. Such are the fruits of this sacred Council; it would, +therefore, be dangerous to trust again, at this time, the interests of +religion to the rage of these perverse men; but it is of consequence +that kings, princes, and bishops, combine all their energies, in order +that similar calamities, and more frightful ones, be not the result of +the new Council now summoned. + +Certainly God has sufficiently shewn, in the Council of Constance, how +he resists the proud, how he confounds the lofty in their own designs, +without regard to the external dignity of any one. + +I publish, therefore, these Letters with the design of giving salutary +warning. He who, having been thus warned, will not listen to advice, +will perish dreadfully, but not through my fault. May Jesus Christ give +us the spirit of prayer, and grant to those who are called to direct +this Council, to seek first the things which are of God, and to neglect +and undervalue those which concern themselves. + + + +Note B.+, p. 197. + + TREATISES OF JOHN HUSS, ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF THEIR DATES. + + 1^o. Treatise on the Glorified Blood of Jesus Christ.[167] + + 2^o. Treatise on the Books of Heretics which should be read and not + burned. + + 3^o. Answer to the Englishman John Stokes, the Calmuniator of + Wycliffe. + + 4^o. Vindication of some of the Articles of Wycliffe. + + 5^o. On the Withdrawal of Temporal Goods from the Clergy. + + 6^o. On Tithes. + + 7^o. On the Crusade published by Pope John XXIII. against Ladislaus. + + 8^o. Refutation of the Bull of John XXIII. touching the Indulgences + for that Crusade. + + 9^o. Answer to an Unknown Adversary. + + 10^o. Answer to the Preacher in Plzna. + + 11^o. Of the Five Duties of a Priest. + + 12^o. On the question of knowing whether it be allowable publicly to + denounce the Views of the Clergy. + + 13^o. Researches upon Three Doubts, namely, Whether we must believe + in the Pope? Whether it be possible to be saved without Confession to + a Priest? and whether any learned Doctor has said that any of those + overtaken with Pharaoh, or destroyed with Sodom, can be saved? + + 14^o. On what we must Believe? + + 15^o. Treatise on the Six Errors received in the Church. + + 16^o. Answer to Stephen Paletz. + + 17^o. Answer to Stanislaus by Znöima. + + 18^o. Refutation of the Writings of Eight Doctors of Theology. + + 19^o. Treatise of the Church. + + 20^o. The Book of Antichrist.--Anatomy of its Members. + + 21^o. Of the Reign, the Life, and the Manners of Antichrist. + + 22^o. Of the Abomination of Priests and Monks in the Church of Jesus + Christ. + + + TREATISES WRITTEN BY JOHN HUSS IN HIS PRISON, FOR THE EDIFICATION OF + HIS KEEPERS. + + 1^o. Explanation of the Apostles’ Creed, of the Decalogue, and of the + Lord’s Prayer. + + 2^o. Of Mortal Sins. + + 3^o. Of Marriage. + + 4^o. Of the Knowledge and Love of God. + + 5^o. Of the Three Enemies of Man. + + 6^o. Of the Seven Mortal Sins. + + 7^o. Of Penitence. + + 8^o. Of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. + + + TREATISES OMITTED IN THE FIRST EDITION OF THE WORKS OF JOHN HUSS, THE + DATES OF WHICH ARE UNKNOWN. + + 1^o. Against the Opinion that the Body of Christ is Created in the + Sacrament of the Altar. + + 2^o. Against the Worshipping of Images. + + 3^o. Of the Abolition of Sects and Human Traditions. + + 4^o. Of Schism and the Unity of the Church. + + 5^o. Of Evangelical Perfection. + + 6^o. A Fragment on the Mystery of Iniquity. + + 7^o. A Fragment on the Revelation of Christ and Antichrist. + + 8^o. Fragments on Diverse Subjects. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[167] This Treatise, approved of by the Archbishop Sbinks, is as early +as the year 1404 or 1405. It was written before John Huss had been +denounced or persecuted by the clergy. + + + PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH. + + + + + WORKS PUBLISHED BY W. WHYTE & CO. + + + New Edition, greatly enlarged, in three vols., foolscap 8vo, Price One + Guinea, + + EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. + + By ROBERT HALDANE, Esq. + + “In ingenuity, it is equal to Turrestne; in theological accuracy, + superior. Equally sound with Brown of Wamphray, it has none of its + wearisomeness. It is, at least, as judicious as Scott, and more + terse, pointed, and discursive. The only Commentary on Romans that we + have read which it does not excel, is that of Calvin.... 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Characterised by profound thought, luminous + arrangement, and philosophical precision, they are fitted to instruct + the most intelligent, whilst they possess the rare but invaluable + charm of perfect simplicity in arrangement and style.”--_Glasgow + Courier._ + + + TREATISES ON THE LORD’S SUPPER. + + In 12mo, price 2s. cloth, + THE COMMUNICANT’S COMPANION; + Or, Instruction for the Right Receiving of the Lord’s Supper. + + By the +Rev.+ MATTHEW HENRY. + + With an Introductory Essay, + By the +Rev.+ JOHN BROWN, D.D., Edinburgh. + + + In 12mo, price 3s. cloth, + SACRAMENTAL MEDITATIONS AND ADVICES. + + By the +Rev.+ JOHN WILLISON, + Late Minister of the Gospel at Dundee. + + + New Edition, in 12mo, price 3s. cloth, + A CATECHISM ON THE NATURE AND USES OF THE + LORD’S SUPPER. + + By the +Rev.+ JOHN WILLISON, + Late Minister of the Gospel at Dundee. + + + In 18mo, Fourth Edition, price 1s. 6d. cloth, + FOUR ADDRESSES ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH + THE LORD’S SUPPER. + + By CHARLES WATSON, D.D. + Late Minister of Burntisland. + + + In 18mo, Fifteenth Edition, price 1s. 6d. cloth, + SACRAMENTAL EXERCISES. + By JABEZ EARLE, D.D. + + With an Introductory Essay, + By ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., + Late Minister of St George’s Church, Edinburgh. + + + In 18mo, price 3d. stitched, + A CATECHISM FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF COMMUNICANTS + IN THE NATURE AND USES OF + THE LORD’S SUPPER. + And in the Doctrines and Duties connected with that Ordinance. + + By ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., + Late Minister of St George’s Church, Edinburgh. + + + + + Transcriber’s Note + + +Errors in punctuation have been fixed. + +Spelling has been retained as printed in the original publication, +except as follows: + +Page 5: "porens" changed to "porcus" + +Page 22: "Chris" changed to "Christ" + +Page 75: "latin" changed to "Latin" + +Page 201: "Clemangis" changed to "Clémangis" + +Page 202: "pars sult" changed to "pars vult" + +Enclosed italics font in _underscores_ + +Enclosed smallcaps font in +plus signs+ + +The caret (^) serves as a superscript indicator + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77359 *** |