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.