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.