4. The pope's infallibility.

5. That masses said for the dead will release souls from purgatory.

6. That praying to saints will procure the remission of sins.

M. Rambaut told the priests, that neither his religion, his

understanding, nor his conscience, would suffer him to subscribe to any

of the articles, for the following reasons:

1. That to believe the real presence in the host, is a shocking union of

both blasphemy and idolatry.

2. That to fancy the words of consecration perform what the papists call

transubstantiation, by converting the wafer and wine into the real and

identical body and blood of Christ, which was crucified, and which

afterward ascended into heaven, is too gross an absurdity for even a

child to believe, who was come to the least glimmering of reason; and

that nothing but the most blind superstition could make the Roman

catholics put a confidence in any thing so completely ridiculous.

3. That the doctrine of purgatory was more inconsistent and absurd than

a fairy tale.

4. That the pope's being infallible was an impossibility, and the pope

arrogantly laid claim to what could belong to God only, as a perfect

being.

5. That saying masses for the dead was ridiculous, and only meant to

keep up a belief in the fable of purgatory, as the fate of all is

finally decided, on the departure of the soul from the body.

6. That praying to saints for the remission of sins, is misplacing

adoration; as the saints themselves have occasion for an intercessor in

Christ. Therefore, as God only can pardon our errors, we ought to sue to

him alone for pardon.

The priests were so highly offended at M. Rambaut's answers to the

articles to which they would have had him subscribe, that they

determined to shake his resolution by the most cruel method imaginable:

they ordered one joint of his finger to be cut off every day, till all

his fingers were gone; they then proceeded in the same manner with his

toes; afterward they alternately cut off, daily, a hand and a foot; but

finding that he bore his sufferings with the most admirable patience,

increased both in fortitude and resignation, and maintained his faith

with steadfast resolution, and unshaken constancy, they stabbed him to

the heart, and then gave his body to be devoured by the dogs.

Peter Gabriola, a protestant gentleman of considerable eminence, being

seized by a troop of soldiers, and refusing to renounce his religion,

they hung a great number of little bags of gunpowder about his body, and

then setting fire to them, blew him up.

Anthony, the son of Samuel Catieris, a poor dumb lad who was extremely

inoffensive, was cut to pieces by a party of the troops; and soon after

the same ruffians entered the house of Peter Moniriat, and cut off the

legs of the whole family, leaving them to bleed to death, as they were

unable to assist themselves, or to help each other.

Daniel Benech being apprehended, had his nose slit, his ears cut off,

and was then divided into quarters, each quarter being hung upon a

tree, and Mary Monino, had her jaw bones broke and was then left to

languish till she was famished.

Mary Pelanchion, a handsome widow, belonging to the town of Villaro, was

seized by a party of the Irish brigades, who having beat her cruelly,

and ravished her, dragged her to a high bridge which crossed the river,

and stripped her naked in a most indecent manner, hung her by the legs

to the bridge, with her head downwards towards the water, and then going

into boats, they fired at her till she expired.

Mary Nigrino, and her daughter who was an idiot, were cut to pieces in

the woods, and their bodies left to be devoured by wild beasts: Susanna

Bales, a widow of Villaro, was immured till she perished through hunger;

and Susanna Calvio running away from some soldiers and hiding herself in

a barn, they set fire to the straw and burnt her.

Paul Armand was hacked to pieces; a child named Daniel Bertino was

burnt; Daniel Michialino had his tongue plucked out, and was left to

perish in that condition; and Andreo Bertino, a very old man, who was

lame, was mangled in a most shocking manner, and at length had his belly

ripped open, and his bowels carried about on the point of a halbert.

Constantia Bellione, a protestant lady, being apprehended on account of

her faith, was asked by a priest if she would renounce the devil and go

to mass; to which she replied, "I was brought up in a religion, by which

I was always taught to renounce the devil; but should I comply with your

desire, and go to mass, I should be sure to meet him there in a variety

of shapes." The priest was highly incensed at what she said, and told

her to recant, or she should suffer cruelly. The lady, however, boldly

answered, that she valued not any sufferings he could inflict, and in

spite of all the torments he could invent, she would keep her conscience

pure and her faith inviolate. The priest then ordered slices of her

flesh to be cut off from several parts of her body, which cruelty she

bore with the most singular patience, only saying to the priest, what

horrid and lasting torments will you suffer in hell, for the trifling

and temporary pains which I now endure. Exasperated at this expression,

and willing to stop her tongue, the priest ordered a file of musqueteers

to draw up and fire upon her, by which she was soon despatched, and

sealed her martyrdom with her blood.

A young woman named Judith Mandon, for refusing to change her religion,

and embrace popery, was fastened to a stake, and sticks thrown at her

from a distance, in the very same manner as that barbarous custom which

was formerly practised on Shrove-Tuesday, of shying at rocks, as it was

termed. By this inhuman proceeding, the poor creature's limbs were beat

and mangled in a terrible manner, and her brains were at last dashed out

by one of the bludgeons.

David Paglia and Paul Genre, attempting to escape to the Alps, with each

his son, were pursued and overtaken by the soldiers in a large plain.

Here they hunted them for their diversion, goading them with their

swords, and making them run about till they dropped down with fatigue.

When they found that their spirits were quite exhausted, and that they

could not afford them any more barbarous sport by running, the soldiers

hacked them to pieces, and left their mangled bodies on the spot.

A young man of Bobbio, named Michael Greve, was apprehended to the town

of La Torre, and being led to the bridge, was thrown over into the

river. As he could swim very well, he swam down the stream, thinking to

escape, but the soldiers and mob followed on both sides the river, and

kept stoning him, till receiving a blow on one of his temples, he was

stunned, and consequently sunk and was drowned.

David Armand was ordered to lay his head down on a block, when a

soldier, with a large hammer, beat out his brains. David Baridona being

apprehended at Villaro, was carried to La Torre, where, refusing to

renounce his religion, he was tormented by means of brimstone matches

being tied between his fingers and toes, and set fire to; and afterward,

by having his flesh plucked off with red-hot pincers, till he expired;

and Giovanni Barolina, with his wife, were thrown into a pool of

stagnant water, and compelled, by means of pitchforks and stones, to

duck down their heads till they were suffocated.

A number of soldiers went to the house of Joseph Garniero, and before

they entered, fired in at the window, to give notice of their approach.

A musket ball entered one of Mrs. Garniero's breasts, as she was

suckling an infant with the other. On finding their intentions, she

begged hard that they would spare the life of the infant, which they

promised to do, and sent it immediately to a Roman catholic nurse. They

then took the husband and hanged him at his own door, and having shot

the wife through the head, they left her body weltering in its blood,

and her husband hanging on the gallows.

Isaiah Mondon, an elderly man, and a pious protestant, fled from the

merciless persecutors to a cleft in a rock, where he suffered the most

dreadful hardships; for, in the midst of the winter he was forced to lay

on the bare stone, without any covering; his food was the roots he could

scratch up near his miserable habitation; and the only way by which he

could procure drink, was to put snow in his mouth till it melted. Here,

however, some of the inhuman soldiers found him, and after having beaten

him unmercifully, they drove him towards Lucerne, goading him with the

points of their swords.--Being exceedingly weakened by his manner of

living, and his spirits exhausted by the blows he had received, he fell

down in the road. They again beat him to make him proceed: when on his

knees, he implored them to put him out of his misery, by despatching

him. This they at last agreed to do; and one of them stepping up to him

shot him through the head with a pistol, saying, there, heretic, take

thy request.

Mary Revol, a worthy protestant, received a shot in her back, as she was

walking along the street. She dropped down with the wound, but

recovering sufficient strength, she raised herself upon her knees, and

lifting her hands towards heaven, prayed in a most fervent manner to the

Almighty, when a number of soldiers, who were near at hand, fired a

whole volley of shot at her, many of which took effect, and put an end

to her miseries in an instant.

Several men, women, and children secreted themselves in a large cave,

where they continued for some weeks in safety. It was the custom for two

of the men to go when it was necessary, and by stealth procure

provisions. These were, however, one day watched, by which the cave was

discovered, and soon after, a troop of Roman catholics appeared before

it. The papists that assembled upon this occasion were neighbours and

intimate acquaintances of the protestants in the cave; and some of them

were even related to each other. The protestants, therefore, came out,

and implored them, by the ties of hospitality, by the ties of blood, and

as old acquaintances and neighbours, not to murder them. But

superstition overcomes every sensation of nature and humanity; so that

the papists, blinded by bigotry, told them they could not show any mercy

to heretics, and, therefore, bade them prepare to die. Hearing this, and

knowing the fatal obstinacy of the Roman catholics, the protestants all

fell prostrate, lifted their hands and hearts to heaven, prayed with

great sincerity and fervency, and then bowing down, put their faces

close to the ground, and patiently waited their fate, which was soon

decided, for the papists fell upon them with unremitting fury, and

having cut them to pieces, left the mangled bodies and limbs in the

cave.

Giovanni Salvagiot, passing by a Roman catholic church, and not taking

off his hat, was followed by some of the congregation, who fell upon and

murdered him; and Jacob Barrel and his wife, having been taken prisoners

by the earl of St. Secondo, one of the duke of Savoy's officers, he

delivered them up to the soldiery, who cut off the woman's breasts, and

the man's nose, and then shot them both through the head.

Anthony Guigo, a protestant, of a wavering disposition, went to Periero,

with an intent to renounce his religion and embrace popery. This design

he communicated to some priests, who highly commended it, and a day was

fixed upon for his public recantation. In the mean time, Anthony grew

fully sensible of his perfidy, and his conscience tormented him so much

night and day, that he determined not to recant, but to make his escape.

This he effected, but being soon missed and pursued, he was taken. The

troops on the way did all they could to bring him back to his design of

recantation; but finding their endeavours ineffectual, they beat him

violently on the road, when coming near a precipice, he took an

opportunity of leaping down it, and was dashed to pieces.

A protestant gentleman, of considerable fortune, at Bobbio, being

nightly provoked by the insolence of a priest, retorted with great

severity; and among other things, said, that the pope was Antichrist,

mass idolatry, purgatory a farce, and absolution a cheat. To be

revenged, the priest hired five desperate ruffians, who, the same

evening, broke into the gentleman's house, and seized upon him in a

violent manner. The gentleman was terribly frightened, fell on his

knees, and implored mercy; but the desperate ruffians despatched him

without the least hesitation.

_A Narrative of the Piedmontese War._

The massacres and murders already mentioned to have been committed in

the valleys of Piedmont, nearly depopulated most of the towns and

villages. One place only had not been assaulted, and that was owing to

the difficulty of approaching it; this was the little commonalty of

Roras, which was situated upon a rock.

As the work of blood grew slack in other places, the earl of Christople,

one of the duke of Savoy's officers, determined, if possible, to make

himself master of it; and, with that view, detached three hundred men to

surprise it secretly.

The inhabitants of Roras, however, had intelligence of the approach of

these troops, when captain Joshua Gianavel, a brave protestant officer,

put himself at the head of a small body of the citizens, and waited in

ambush to attack the enemy in a small defile.

When the troops appeared, and had entered the defile, which was the only

place by which the town could be approached, the protestants kept up a

smart and well-directed fire against them, and still kept themselves

concealed behind bushes from the sight of the enemy. A great number of

the soldiers were killed, and the remainder receiving a continued fire,

and not seeing any to whom they might return it, thought proper to

retreat.

The members of this little community then sent a memorial to the marquis

of Pianessa, one of the duke's general officers, setting forth, "That

they were sorry, upon any occasion, to be under the necessity of taking

up arms; but that the secret approach of a body of troops, without any

reason assigned, or any previous notice sent of the purpose of their

coming, had greatly alarmed them; that as it was their custom never to

suffer any of the military to enter their little community, they had

repelled force by force, and should do so again; but in all other

respects, they professed themselves dutiful, obedient, and loyal

subjects to their sovereign, the duke of Savoy."

The marquis of Pianessa, that he might have the better opportunity of

deluding and surprising the protestants of Roras, sent them word in

answer, "That he was perfectly satisfied with their behaviour, for they

had done right, and even rendered a service to their country, as the men

who had attempted to pass the defile were not his troops, or sent by

him, but a band of desperate robbers, who had, for some time, infested

those parts, and been a terror to the neighbouring country." To give a

greater colour to his treachery, he then published an ambiguous

proclamation seemingly favourable to the inhabitants.

Yet, the very day after this plausible proclamation, and specious

conduct, the marquis sent 500 men to possess themselves of Roras, while

the people, as he thought, were lulled into perfect security by his

specious behaviour.

Captain Gianavel, however, was not to be deceived so easily: he,

therefore, laid an ambuscade for this body of troops, as he had for the

former, and compelled him to retire with very considerable loss.

Though foiled in these, two attempts, the marquis Pianessa determined on

a third, which should be still more formidable; but first he imprudently

published another proclamation, disowning any knowledge of the second

attempt.

Soon after, 700 chosen men were sent upon the expedition, who, in spite

of the fire from the protestants, forced the defile, entered Roras, and

began to murder every person they met with, without distinction of age

or sex. The protestant captain Gianavel, at the head of a small body,

though he had lost the defile, determined to dispute their passage

through a fortified pass that led to the richest and best part of the

town. Here he was successful, by keeping up a continual fire, and by

means of his men being all complete marksmen. The Roman catholic

commander was greatly staggered at this opposition, as he imagined that

he had surmounted all difficulties. He, however, did his endeavours to

force the pass, but being able to bring up only twelve men in front at a

time, and the protestants being secured by a breastwork, he found he

should be baffled by the handful of men who opposed him.

Enraged at the loss of so many of his troops, and fearful of disgrace if

he persisted in attempting what appeared so impracticable, he thought it

the wisest thing to retreat. Unwilling, however, to withdraw his men by

the defile at which he had entered, on account of the difficulty and

danger of the enterprise, he determined to retreat towards Villaro, by

another pass called Piampra, which, though hard of access, was easy of

descent. But in this he met with a disappointment, for captain Gianavel

having posted his little band here, greatly annoyed the troops as they

passed, and even pursued their rear till they entered the open country.

The marquis of Pianessa, finding that all his attempts were frustrated,

and that every artifice he used was only an alarm-signal to the

inhabitants of Roras, determined to act openly, and therefore

proclaimed, that ample rewards should be given to any one who would bear

arms against the obstinate heretics of Roras, as he called them; and

that any officer who would exterminate them should be rewarded in a

princely manner.

This engaged captain Mario, a bigoted Roman catholic, and a desperate

ruffian, to undertake the enterprise. He, therefore, obtained leave to

raise a regiment in the following six towns: Lucerne, Borges, Famolas,

Bobbio, Begnal, and Cavos.

Having completed his regiment, which consisted of 1000 men, he laid his

plan not to go by the defiles or the passes, but to attempt gaining the

summit of a rock, from whence he imagined he could pour his troops into

the town without much difficulty or opposition.

The protestants suffered the Roman catholic troops to gain almost the

summit of the rock, without giving them any opposition, or ever

appearing in their sight: but when they had almost reached the top they

made a most furious attack upon them; one party keeping up a

well-directed and constant fire, and another party rolling down huge

stones.

This stopped the career of the papist troops: many were killed by the

musketry, and more by the stones, which beat them down the precipices.

Several fell sacrifices to their hurry, for by attempting a precipitate

retreat, they fell down, and were dashed to pieces; and captain Mario

himself narrowly escaped with his life, for he fell from a craggy place

into a river which washed the foot of the rock. He was taken up

senseless, but afterwards recovered, though he was ill of the bruises

for a long time; and, at length, he fell into a decline at Lucerne,

where he died.

Another body of troops was ordered from the camp at Villaro, to make an

attempt upon Roras; but these were likewise defeated, by means of the

protestants' ambush-fighting, and compelled to retreat again to the camp

at Villaro.

After each of these signal victories, captain Gianavel made a suitable

discourse to his men, causing them to kneel down, and return thanks to

the Almighty for his providential protection; and usually concluded with

the eleventh psalm, where the subject is placing confidence in God.

The marquis of Pianessa was greatly enraged at being so much baffled by

the few inhabitants of Roras: he, therefore, determined to attempt their

expulsion in such a manner as could hardly fail of success.

With this view he ordered all the Roman catholic militia of Piedmont to

be raised and disciplined. When these orders were completed, he joined

to the militia eight thousand regular troops, and dividing the whole

into three distinct bodies, he designed that three formidable attacks

should be made at the same time, unless the people of Roras, to whom he

sent an account of his great preparations, would comply with the

following conditions:

1. To ask pardon for taking up arms. 2. To pay the expenses of all the

expeditions sent against them. 3. To acknowledge the infallibility of

the pope. 4. To go to mass. 5. To pray to the saints. 6. To wear beards.

7. To deliver up their ministers. 8. To deliver up their schoolmasters.

9. To go to confession. 10. To pay loans for the delivery of souls from

purgatory. 11. To give up captain Gianavel at discretion. 12. To give up

the elders of their church at discretion.

The inhabitants of Roras, on being acquainted with these conditions,

were filled with an honest indignation, and, in answer, sent word to the

marquis, that sooner than comply with them they would suffer three

things, which, of all others, were the most obnoxious to mankind, viz.

1. Their estates to be seized. 2. Their houses to be burnt. 3.

Themselves to be murdered.

Exasperated at this message, the marquis sent them this laconic epistle.

_To the obstinate Heretics inhabiting Roras._

You shall have your request, for the troops sent

against you have strict injunctions to plunder,

burn, and kill.

PIANESSA.

The three armies were then put in motion, and the attacks ordered to be

made thus: the first by the rocks of Villaro; the second by the pass of

Bagnol; and the third by the defile of Lucerne.

The troops forced their way by the superiority of numbers, and having

gained the rocks, pass, and defile, began to make the most horrid

depredations, and exercise the greatest cruelties. Men they hanged,

burnt, racked to death, or cut to pieces; women they ripped open,

crucified, drowned, or threw from the precipices; and children they

tossed upon spears, minced, cut their throats, or dashed out their

brains. One hundred and twenty-six suffered in this manner, on the first

day of their gaining the town.

Agreeable to the marquis of Pianessa's orders, they likewise plundered

the estates, and burnt the houses of the people. Several protestants,

however, made their escape, under the conduct of Captain Gianavel, whose

wife and children were unfortunately made prisoners, and sent under a

strong guard to Turin.

The marquis of Pianessa wrote a letter to captain Gianavel, and released

a protestant prisoner that he might carry it him. The contents were,

that if the captain would embrace the Roman catholic religion, he should

be indemnified for all his losses since the commencement of the war; his

wife and children should be immediately released, and himself honourably

promoted in the duke of Savoy's army; but if he refused to accede to the

proposals made him, his wife and children should be to put to death; and

so large a reward should be given to take him, dead or alive, that even

some of his own confidential friends should be tempted to betray him,

from the greatness of the sum.

To this epistle, the brave Gianavel sent the following answer.

My Lord Marquis,

There is no torment so great or death so cruel, but

what I would prefer to the abjuration of my

religion: so that promises lose their effects, and

menaces only strengthen me in my faith.

With respect to my wife and children, my lord,

nothing can be more afflicting to me than the

thoughts of their confinement, or more dreadful to

my imagination, than their suffering a violent and

cruel death. I keenly feel all the tender

sensations of husband and parent; my heart is

replete with every sentiment of humanity; I would

suffer any torment to rescue them from danger; I

would die to preserve them.

But having said thus much, my lord, I assure you

that the purchase of their lives must not be the

price of my salvation. You have them in your power

it is true; but my consolation is, that your power

is only a temporary authority over their bodies:

you may destroy the mortal part, but their immortal

souls are out of your reach, and will live

hereafter to bear testimony against you for your

cruelties. I therefore recommend them and myself to

God, and pray for a reformation in your heart.

JOSHUA GIANAVEL.

This brave protestant officer, after writing the above letter, retired

to the Alps, with his followers; and being joined by a great number of

other fugitive protestants, he harassed the enemy by continual

skirmishes.

Meeting one day with a body of papist troops near Bibiana, he, though

inferior in numbers, attacked them with great fury, and put them to the

rout without the loss of a man, though himself was shot through the leg

in the engagement, by a soldier who had hid himself behind a tree; but

Gianavel perceiving from whence the shot came, pointed his gun to the

place, and despatched the person who had wounded him.

Captain Gianavel hearing that a captain Jahier had collected together a

considerable body of protestants, wrote him a letter, proposing a

junction of their forces. Captain Jahier immediately agreed to the

proposal, and marched directly to meet Gianavel.

The junction being formed, it was proposed to attack a town, (inhabited

by Roman catholics) called Garcigliana. The assault was given with great

spirit, but a reinforcement of horse and foot having lately entered the

town, which the protestants knew nothing of, they were repulsed; yet

made a masterly retreat, and only lost one man in the action.

The next attempt of the protestant forces was upon St. Secondo, which

they attacked with great vigour, but met with a strong resistance from

the Roman catholic troops, who had fortified the streets, and planted

themselves in the houses, from whence they poured musket balls in

prodigious numbers. The protestants, however, advanced, under cover of a

great number of planks, which some held over their heads, to secure them

from the shots of the enemy from the houses, while others kept up a well

directed fire; so that the houses and entrenchments were soon forced,

and the town taken.

In the town they found a prodigious quantity of plunder, which had been

taken from protestants at various times, and different places, and which

were stored up in the warehouses, churches, dwelling houses, &c. This

they removed to a place of safety, to be distributed, with as much

justice as possible, among the sufferers.

This successful attack was made with such skill and spirit, that it cost

very little to the conquering party, the protestants having only 17

killed, and 26 wounded; while the papists suffered a loss of no less

than 450 killed and 511 wounded.

Five protestant officers, viz. Gianavel, Jahier, Laurentio, Genolet, and

Benet, laid a plan to surprise Biqueras. To this end they marched in

five respective bodies, and by agreement were to make the attack at the

same time. The captains Jahier and Laurentio passed through two defiles

in the woods, and came to the place in safety, under covert; but the

other three bodies made their approaches through an open country, and,

consequently, were more exposed to an attack.

The Roman catholics taking the alarm, a great number of troops were sent

to relieve Biqueras from Cavors, Bibiana, Fenile, Campiglione, and some

other neighbouring places. When these were united, they determined to

attack the three protestant parties, that were marching through the open

country.

The protestant officers perceiving the intent of the enemy, and not

being at a great distance from each other, joined their forces with the

utmost expedition, and formed themselves in order of battle.

In the mean time, the captains Jahier and Laurentio had assaulted the

town of Biqueras, and burnt all the out houses, to make their approaches

with the greater ease; but not being supported as they expected by the

other three protestant captains, they sent a messenger, on a swift

horse, towards the open country, to inquire the reason.

The messenger soon returned and informed them that it was not in the

power of the three protestant captains to support their proceedings, as

they were themselves attacked by a very superior force in the plain, and

could scarce sustain the unequal conflict.

The captains Jahier and Laurentio, on receiving this intelligence,

determined to discontinue the assault on Biqueras, and to proceed, with

all possible expedition, to the relief of their friends on the plain.

This design proved to be of the most essential service, for just as they

arrived at the spot where the two armies were engaged, the papist troops

began to prevail, and were on the point of flanking the left wing,

commanded by captain Gianavel. The arrival of these troops turned the

scale in favour of the protestants; and the papist forces, though they

fought with the most obstinate intrepidity, were totally defeated. A

great number were killed and wounded on both sides, and the baggage,

military stores, &c. taken by the protestants were very considerable.

Captain Gianavel, having information that three hundred of the enemy

were to convoy a great quantity of stores, provisions, &c. from La Torre

to the castle of Mirabac, determined to attack them on the way. He,

accordingly, began the assault at Malbec, though with a very inadequate

force. The contest was long and bloody, but the protestants, at length,

were obliged to yield to the superiority of numbers, and compelled to

make a retreat, which they did with great regularity, and but little

loss.

Captain Gianavel advanced to an advantageous post, situated near the

town of Villaro, and then sent the following information and commands to

the inhabitants.

1. That he should attack the town in twenty-four hours.

2. That with respect to the Roman catholics who had borne arms, whether

they belonged to the army or not, he should act by the law of

retaliation, and put them to death, for the numerous depredations, and

many cruel murders, they had committed.

3. That all women and children, whatever their religion might be, should

be safe.

4. That he commanded all male protestants to leave the town and join

him.

5. That all apostates, who had, through weakness, abjured their

religion, should be deemed enemies, unless they renounced their

abjuration.

6. That all who returned to their duty to God, and themselves, should be

received as friends.

The protestants, in general, immediately left the town, and joined

captain Gianavel with great satisfaction, and the few, who through

weakness or fear, had abjured their faith, recanted their abjuration,

and were received into the bosom of the church. As the marquis of

Pianessa had removed the army, and encamped in quite a different part of

the country, the Roman catholics of Villaro thought it would be folly to

attempt to defend the place with the small force they had. They,

therefore, fled with the utmost precipitation, leaving the town and most

of their property, to the discretion of the protestants.

The protestant commanders having called a council of war, resolved to

make an attempt upon the town of La Torre.

The papists being apprized of the design, detached some troops to defend

a defile, through which the protestants must make their approach; but

these were defeated, compelled to abandon the pass, and forced to

retreat to La Torre.

The protestants proceeded on their march, and the troops of La Torre, on

their approach, made a furious sally, were repulsed with great loss, and

compelled to seek shelter in the town. The governor now only thought of

defending the place, which the protestants began to attack in form; but

after many brave attempts, and furious assaults, the commanders

determined to abandon the enterprise for several reasons, particularly,

because they found the place itself too strong, their own number too

weak, and their cannon not adequate to the task of battering down the

walls.

This resolution taken, the protestant commanders began a masterly

retreat, and conducted it with such regularity, that the enemy did not

choose to pursue them, or molest their rear, which they might have done,

as they passed the defiles.

The next day they mustered, reviewed the army, and found the whole to

amount to four hundred and ninety-five men. They then held a council of

war, and planned an easier enterprise: this was to make an attack on the

commonalty of Crusol, a place, inhabited by a number of the most bigoted

Roman catholics, and who had exercised, during the persecutions, the

most unheard-of cruelties on the protestants.

The people of Crusol, hearing of the design against them, fled to a

neighbouring fortress, situated on a rock, where the protestants could

not come to them, for a very few men could render it inaccessible to a

numerous army. Thus they secured their persons, but were in too much

hurry to secure their property, the principal part of which, indeed, had

been plundered from the protestants, and now luckily fell again to the

possession of the right owners. It consisted of many rich and valuable

articles, and what, at that time, was of much more consequence, viz. a

great quantity of military stores.

The day after the protestants were gone with their booty, eight hundred

troops arrived to the assistance of the people of Crusol, having been

despatched from Lucerne, Biqueras, Cavors, &c. But finding themselves

too late, and that pursuit would be vain, not to return empty handed,

they began to plunder the neighbouring villages, though what they took

was from their friends. After collecting a tolerable booty, they began

to divide it, but disagreeing about the different shares, they fell from

words to blows, did a great deal of mischief, and then plundered each

other.

On the very same day in which the protestants were so successful at

Crusol, some papists marched with a design to plunder and burn the

little protestant village of Rocappiatta, but by the way they met with

the protestant forces belonging to the captains Jahier and Laurentio,

who were posted on the hill of Angrognia. A trivial engagement ensued,

for the Roman catholics, on the very first attack, retreated in great

confusion, and were pursued with much slaughter. After the pursuit was

over, some straggling papist troops meeting with a poor peasant, who was

a protestant, tied a cord round his head, and strained it till his skull

was quite crushed.

Captain Gianavel and captain Jahier concerted a design together to make

an attack upon Lucerne; but captain Jahier not bringing up his forces at

the time appointed, captain Gianavel determined to attempt the

enterprise himself.

He, therefore, by a forced march, proceeded towards that place during

the whole night, and was close to it by break of day. His first care was

to cut the pipes that conveyed water into the town, and then to break

down the bridge, by which alone provisions from the country could enter.

He then assaulted the places and speedily possessed himself of two of

the out posts; but finding he could not make himself master of the

place, he prudently retreated with very little loss, blaming, however

captain Jahier, for the failure of the enterprise.

The papists being informed that captain Gianavel was at Angrognia with

only his own company, determined if possible to surprise him. With this

view, a great number of troops were detached from La Torre and other

places: one party of these got on top of a mountain, beneath which he

was posted; and the other party intended to possess themselves of the

gate of St. Bartholomew.

The papists thought themselves sure of taking captain Gianavel and every

one of his men, as they consisted but of three hundred, and their own

force was two thousand five hundred. Their design, however, was

providentially frustrated, for one of the popish soldiers imprudently

blowing a trumpet before the signal for attack was given, captain

Gianavel took the alarm, and posted his little company so advantageously

at the gate of St. Bartholomew, and at the defile by which the enemy

must descend from the mountains, that the Roman catholic troops failed

in both attacks, and were repulsed with very considerable loss.

Soon after, captain Jahier came to Angrognia, and joined his forces to

those of captain Gianavel, giving sufficient reasons to excuse his

before-mentioned failure. Captain Jahier now made several secret

excursions with great success, always selecting the most active troops,

belonging both to Gianavel and himself. One day he had put himself at

the head of forty-four men, to proceed upon an expedition, when entering

a plain near Ossac, he was suddenly surrounded by a large body of horse.

Captain Jahier and his men fought desperately, though oppressed by odds,

and killed the commander-in-chief, three captains, and fifty-seven

private men, of the enemy. But captain Jahier himself being killed, with

thirty-five of his men, the rest surrendered. One of the soldiers cut

off captain Jahier's head, and carrying it to Turin, presented it to the

duke of Savoy, who rewarded him with six hundred ducatoons.

The death of this gentleman was a signal loss to the protestants, as he

was a real friend to, and companion of, the reformed church. He

possessed a most undaunted spirit, so that no difficulties could deter

him from undertaking an enterprise, or dangers terrify him in its

execution. He was pious without affectation, and humane without

weakness; bold in a field, meek in a domestic life, of a penetrating

genius, active in spirit, and resolute in all his undertakings.

To add to the affliction of the protestants, captain Gianavel was, soon

after, wounded in such a manner that he was obliged to keep his bed.

They, however, took new courage from misfortunes, and determining not to

let their spirits droop, attacked a body of popish troops with great

intrepidity; the protestants were much inferior in numbers, but fought

with more resolution than the papists, and at length routed them with

considerable slaughter. During the action, a sergeant named Michael

Bertino was killed; when his son, who was close behind him, leaped into

his place, and said, I have lost my father; but courage, fellow

soldiers, God is a father to us all.

Several skirmishes likewise happened between the troops of La Torre and

Tagliaretto, and the protestant forces, which in general terminated in

favour of the latter.

A Protestant gentleman, named Andrion, raised a regiment of horse, and

took the command of it himself. The sieur John Leger persuaded a great

number of protestants to form themselves into volunteer companies; and

an excellent officer, named Michelin, instituted several bands of light

troops. These being all joined to the remains of the veteran protestant

troops, (for great numbers had been lost in the various battles,

skirmishes, sieges, &c.) composed a respectable army, which the officers

thought proper to encamp near St. Giovanni.

The Roman catholic commanders, alarmed at the formidable appearance, and

increased strength of the protestant forces, determined, if possible, to

dislodge them from their encampment. With this view, they collected

together a large force, consisting of the principal part of the

garrisons of the Roman catholic towns, the draft from the Irish

brigades, a great number of regulars sent by the marquis of Pianessa,

the auxiliary troops, and the independent companies.

These, having formed a junction, encamped near the protestants, and

spent several days in calling councils of war, and disputing on the most

proper mode of proceeding. Some were for plundering the country, in

order to draw the protestants from their camp; others were for patiently

waiting till they were attacked; and a third party were for assaulting

the protestant camp, and trying to make themselves masters of every

thing in it.

The last of them prevailed, and the morning after the resolution had

been taken was appointed to put it into execution. The Roman catholic

troops were accordingly separated into four divisions, three of which

were to make an attack in different places; and the fourth to remain as

a body of reserve to act as occasion might require.

One of the Roman catholic officers, previous to the attack, thus

harangued his men:

"Fellow-soldiers, you are now going to enter upon a great action, which

will bring you fame and riches. The motives of your acting with spirit

are likewise of the most important nature; namely, the honour of showing

your loyalty to your sovereign, the pleasure of spilling heretic blood,

and the prospect of plundering the protestant camp. So, my brave

fellows, fall on, give no quarter, kill all you meet, and take all you

come near."

After this inhuman speech the engagement began, and the protestant camp

was attacked in three places with inconceivable fury. The fight was

maintained with great obstinacy and perseverance on both sides,

continuing without intermission for the space of four hours; for the

several companies on both sides relieved each other alternately, and by

that means kept up a continual fire during the whole action.

During the engagement of the main armies, a detachment was sent from the

body of reserve to attack the post of Castelas, which, if the papists

had carried, it would have given them the command of the valleys of

Perosa, St. Martino, and Lucerne; but they were repulsed with great

loss, and compelled to return to the body of reserve, from whence they

had been detached.

Soon after the return of this detachment, the Roman catholic troops,

being hard pressed in the main battle, sent for the body of reserve to

come to their support. These immediately marched to their assistance,

and for some time longer held the event doubtful, but at length the

valour of the protestants prevailed, and the papists were totally

defeated, with the loss of upwards of three hundred men killed, and many

more wounded.

When the cyndic of Lucerne, who was indeed a papist, but not a bigoted

one, saw the great number of wounded men brought into that city, he

exclaimed, ah! I thought the wolves used to devour the heretics, but now

I see the heretics eat the wolves. This expression being reported to M.

Marolles, the Roman catholic commander in chief at Lucerne, he sent a

very severe and threatening letter to the cyndic, who was so terrified,

that the fright threw him into a fever, and he died in a few days.

This great battle was fought just before the harvest was got in, when

the papists, exasperated at their disgrace, and resolved on any kind of

revenge, spread themselves by night in detached parties over the finest

corn-fields of the protestants, and set them on fire in sundry places.

Some of these straggling parties, however, suffered for their conduct;

for the protestants, being alarmed in the night by the blazing of the

fire among the corn, pursued the fugitives early in the morning, and

overtaking many, put them to death. The protestant captain Bellin,

likewise, by way of retaliation, went with a body of light troops, and

burnt the suburbs of La Torre, making his retreat afterward with very

little loss.

A few days after, captain Bellin, with a much stronger body of troops,

attacked the town of La Torre itself, and making a breach in the wall of

the convent, his men entered, driving the garrison into the citadel, and

burning both town and convent. After having effected this, they made a

regular retreat, as they could not reduce the citadel for want of

cannon.

_An Account of the Persecutions of Michael de Molinos, a Native of

Spain._

Michael de Molinos, a Spaniard of a rich and honourable family, entered,

when young, into priest's orders, but would not accept of any preferment

in the church. He possessed great natural abilities, which he dedicated

to the service of his fellow-creatures, without any view of emolument to

himself. His course of life was pious and uniform; nor did he exercise

those austerities which are common among the religious orders of the

church of Rome.

Being of a contemplative turn of mind, he pursued the track of the

mystical divines, and having acquired great reputation in Spain, and

being desirous of propagating his sublime mode of devotion, he left his

own country, and settled at Rome. Here he soon connected himself with

some of the most distinguished among the literati, who so approved of

his religious maxims, that they concurred in assisting him to propagate

them; and, in a short time, he obtained a great number of followers,

who, from the sublime mode of their religion, were distinguished by the

name of Quietists.

In 1675, Molinos published a book entitled "Il Guida Spirituale," to

which were subjoined recommendatory letters from several great

personages. One of these was by the archbishop of Reggio; a second by

the general of the Franciscans; and a third by father Martin de Esparsa,

a Jesuit, who had been divinity-professor both at Salamanca and Rome.

No sooner was the book published, than it was greatly read, and highly

esteemed, both in Italy and Spain; and this so raised the reputation of

the author, that his acquaintance was coveted by the most respectable

characters. Letters were written to him from numbers of people, so that

a correspondence was settled between him, and those who approved of his

method, in different parts of Europe. Some secular priests, both at Rome

and Naples, declared themselves openly for it, and consulted him, as a

sort of oracle, on many occasions. But those who attached themselves to

him with the greatest sincerity, were some of the fathers of the

Oratory; in particular three of the most eminent, namely, Caloredi,

Ciceri, and Petrucci. Many of the cardinals also courted his

acquaintance, and thought themselves happy in being reckoned among the

number of his friends. The most distinguished of them was the cardinal

d'Estrees, a man of very great learning, who so highly approved of

Molinos' maxims, that he entered into a close connexion with him. They

conversed together daily, and notwithstanding the distrust a Spaniard

has naturally of a Frenchman, yet Molinos, who was sincere in his

principles, opened his mind without reserve to the cardinal; and by this

means a correspondence was settled between Molinos and some

distinguished characters in France.

Whilst Molinos was thus labouring to propagate his religious mode,

father Petrucci wrote several treatises relative to a contemplative

life; but he mixed in them so many rules for the devotions of the Romish

church, as mitigated that censure he might have otherwise incurred. They

were written chiefly for the use of the nuns, and therefore the sense

was expressed in the most easy and familiar style.

Molinos had now acquired such reputation, that the Jesuits and

Dominicans began to be greatly alarmed, and determined to put a stop to

the progress of this method. To do this, it was necessary to decry the

author of it; and as heresy is an imputation that makes the strongest

impression at Rome, Molinos and his followers were given out to be

heretics. Books were also written by some of the Jesuits against Molinos

and his method; but they were all answered with spirit by Molinos.

These disputes occasioned such disturbance in Rome, that the whole

affair was taken notice of by the inquisition. Molinos and his book, and

father Petrucci, with his treatises and letters, were brought under a

severe examination; and the Jesuits were considered as the accusers. One

of the society had, indeed, approved of Molinos' book but the rest took

care he should not be again seen at Rome. In the course of the

examination both Molinos and Petrucci acquitted themselves so well, that

their books were again approved, and the answers which the Jesuits had

written were censured as scandalous.

Petrucci's conduct on this occasion was so highly approved, that it not

only raised the credit of the cause, but his own emolument; for he was

soon after made bishop of Jesis, which was a new declaration made by the

pope in their favour. Their books were now esteemed more than ever,

their method was more followed, and the novelty of it, with the new

approbation given after so vigorous an accusation by the Jesuits, all

contributed to raise the credit, and increase the number of the party.

The behaviour of father Petrucci in his new dignity greatly contributed

to increase his reputation, so that his enemies were unwilling to give

him any further disturbance; and, indeed, there was less occasion given

for censure by his writings than those of Molinos. Some passages in the

latter were not so cautiously expressed, but there was room to make

exceptions to them; while, on the other hand, Petrucci so fully

explained himself, as easily to remove the objections made to some parts

of his letter.

The great reputation acquired by Molinos and Petrucci, occasioned a

daily increase of the Quietists. All who were thought sincerely devout,

or at least affected the reputation of it, were reckoned among the

number. If these persons were observed to become more strict in their

lives and mental devotions, yet there appeared less zeal in their whole

deportment as to the exterior parts of the church ceremonies. They were

not so assiduous at mass, nor so earnest to procure masses to be said

for their friends; nor were they so frequently either at confession, or

in processions.

Though the new approbation given to Molinos' book by the inquisition had

checked the proceedings of his enemies; yet they were still inveterate

against him in their hearts, and determined if possible to ruin him.

They insinuated that he had ill designs, and was, in his heart, an enemy

to the Christian religion: that under pretence of raising men to a

sublime strain of devotion, he intended to erase from their minds a

sense of the mysteries of christianity. And because he was a Spaniard,

they gave out that he was descended from a Jewish or Mahometan race, and

that he might carry in his blood, or in his first education, some seeds

of those religions which he had since cultivated with no less art than

zeal. This last calumny gained but little credit at Rome, though it was

said an order was sent to examine the registers of the place where

Molinos was baptised.

Molinos finding himself attacked with great vigour, and the most

unrelenting malice, took every necessary precaution to prevent these

imputations being credited. He wrote a treatise, entitled Frequent and

Daily Communion, which was likewise approved by some of the most learned

of the Romish clergy. This was printed with his Spiritual Guide, in the

year 1675; and in the preface to it he declared, that he had not written

it with any design to engage himself in matters of controversy, but that

it was drawn from him by the earnest solicitations of many pious people.

The Jesuits, failing, in their attempts of crushing Molinos' power in

Rome, applied to the court of France, when, in a short time, they so far

succeeded, that an order was sent to cardinal d'Estrees, commanding him

to prosecute Molinos with all possible rigour. The cardinal, though so

strongly attached to Molinos, resolved to sacrifice all that is sacred

in friendship to the will of his master. Finding, however, there was not

sufficient matter for an accusation against him, he determined to supply

that defect himself. He, therefore, went to the inquisitors, and

informed them of several particulars, not only relative to Molinos, but

also Petrucci, both of whom, together with several of their friends,

were put into the inquisition.

When they were brought before the inquisitors, (which was the beginning

of the year 1684) Petrucci answered the respective questions put to him

with so much judgment and temper, that he was soon dismissed; and though

Molinos' examination was much longer, it was generally expected he would

have been likewise discharged: but this was not the case. Though the

inquisitors had not any just accusation against him, yet they strained

every nerve to find him guilty of heresy. They first objected to his

holding a correspondence in different parts of Europe; but of this he

was acquitted, as the matter of that correspondence could not be made

criminal. They then directed their attention to some suspicious papers

found in his chamber; but Molinos so clearly explained their meaning,

that nothing could be made of them to his prejudice. At length, cardinal

d'Estrees, after producing the order sent him by the king of France for

prosecuting Molinos, said, he could prove against him more than was

necessary to convince them he was guilty of heresy. To do this he

perverted the meaning of some passages in Molinos' books and papers, and

related many false and aggravating circumstances relative to the

prisoner. He acknowledged he had lived with him under the appearance of

friendship, but that it was only to discover his principles and

intentions: that he had found them to be of a bad nature, and that

dangerous consequences were likely to ensue; but in order to make a full

discovery, he had assented to several things, which, in his heart, he

detested; and that, by these means, he saw into the secrets of Molinos,

but determined not to take any notice, till a proper opportunity should

offer of crushing him and his followers.

In consequence of d'Estrees' evidence, Molinos was closely confined by

the inquisition, where he continued for some time, during which period

all was quiet, and his followers prosecuted their mode without

interruption. But on a sudden the Jesuits determined to extirpate them,

and the storm broke out with the most inveterate vehemence.

The count Vespiniani and his lady, Don Paulo Rocchi, confessor to the

prince Borghese, and some of his family, with several others, (in all

seventy persons) were put into the inquisition, among whom many were

highly esteemed both for their learning and piety. The accusation laid

against the clergy was, their neglecting to say the breviary; and the

rest were accused of going to the communion without first attending

confession. In a word, it was said, they neglected all the exterior

parts of religion, and gave themselves up wholly to solitude and inward

prayer.

The countess Vespiniani exerted herself in a very particular manner on

her examination before the inquisitors. She said, she had never revealed

her method of devotion to any mortal but her confessor, and that it was

impossible they should know it without his discovering the secret; that,

therefore it was time to give over going to confession, if priests made

this use of it, to discover the most secret thoughts intrusted to them;

and that, for the future, she would only make her confession to God.

From this spirited speech, and the great noise made in consequence of

the countess's situation, the inquisitors thought it most prudent to

dismiss both her and her husband, lest the people might be incensed, and

what she said might lessen the credit of confession. They were,

therefore, both discharged, but bound to appear whenever they should be

called upon.

Besides those already mentioned, such was the inveteracy of the Jesuits

against the Quietists, that within the space of a month upwards of two

hundred persons were put into the inquisition; and that method of

devotion which had passed in Italy as the most elevated to which mortals

could aspire, was deemed heretical, and the chief promoters of it

confined in a wretched dungeon.

In order, if possible, to extirpate Quietism, the inquisitors sent a

circular letter to cardinal Cibo, as the chief minister, to disperse it

through Italy. It was addressed to all prelates, informing them, that

whereas many schools and fraternities were established in several parts

of Italy, in which some persons, under a pretence of leading people into

the ways of the Spirit, and to the prayer of quietness, instilled into

them many abominable heresies, therefore a strict charge was given to

dissolve all those societies, and to oblige the spiritual guide to tread

in the known paths; and, in particular, to take care none of that sort

should be suffered to have the direction of the nunneries. Orders were

likewise given to proceed, in the way of justice, against those who

should be found guilty of these abominable errors.

After this a strict inquiry was made into all the nunneries in Rome;

when most of their directors and confessors were discovered to be

engaged in this new method. It was found that the Carmelites, the nuns

of the Conception, and those of several other convents, were wholly

given up to prayer and contemplation, and that, instead of their beads,

and the other devotions to saints, or images, they were much alone, and

often in the exercise of mental prayer; that when they were asked why

they had laid aside the use of their beads, and their ancient forms,

their answer was, their directors had advised them so to do. Information

of this being given to the inquisition, they sent orders that all books

written in the same strain with those of Molinos and Petrucci, should be

taken from them, and that they should be compelled to return to their

original form of devotion.

The circular letter sent to cardinal Cibo, produced but little effect,

for most of the Italian bishops were inclined to Molinos' method. It was

intended that this, as well as all other orders from the inquisitors,

should be kept secret; but notwithstanding all their care, copies of it

were printed, and dispersed in most of the principal towns in Italy.

This gave great uneasiness to the inquisitors, who use every method they

can to conceal their proceedings from the knowledge of the world. They

blamed the cardinal, and accused him of being the cause of it; but he

retorted on them, and his secretary laid the fault on both.

During these transactions, Molinos suffered great indignities from the

officers of the inquisition; and the only comfort he received was, from

being sometimes visited by father Petrucci.

Though he had lived in the highest reputation in Rome for some years, he

was now as much despised, as he had been admired, being generally

considered as one of the worst of heretics.

The greater part of Molinos' followers, who had been placed in the

inquisition, having abjured his mode, were dismissed; but a harder fate

awaited Molinos, their leader.

After lying a considerable time in prison, he was at length brought

again before the inquisitors to answer to a number of articles exhibited

against him from his writings. As soon as he appeared in court, a chain

was put round his body, and a wax-light in his hand, when two friars

read aloud the articles of accusation. Molinos answered each with great

steadiness and resolution; and notwithstanding his arguments totally

defeated the force of all, yet he was found guilty of heresy, and

condemned to imprisonment for life.

When he left the court he was attended by a priest, who had borne him

the greatest respect. On his arrival at the prison he entered the cell

allotted for his confinement with great tranquility; and on taking leave

of the priest, thus addressed him: Adieu, father, we shall meet again at

the day of judgment, and then it will appear on which side the truth is,

whether on my side, or on yours.

During his confinement, he was several times tortured in the most cruel

manner, till, at length, the severity of the punishments overpowered his

strength, and finished his existence.

The death of Molinos struck such an impression on his followers, that

the greater part of them soon abjured his mode; and by the assiduity of

the Jesuits, Quietism was totally extirpated throughout the country.

CHAPTER VII.

_An Account of the Persecutions in Bohemia under the Papacy._

The Roman pontiffs having usurped a power over several churches were

particularly severe on the Bohemians, which occasioned them to send two

ministers and four lay-brothers to Rome, in the year 977, to obtain

redress of the pope. After some delay, their request was granted, and

their grievances redressed. Two things in particular they were permitted

to do, viz. to have divine service performed in their own language, and

to give the cup to the laity in the sacrament.

The disputes, however, soon broke out again, the succeeding popes

exerting their whole power to impose on the minds of the Bohemians; and

the latter, with great spirit, aiming to preserve their religious

liberties.

A. D. 1375, some zealous friends of the gospel applied to Charles, king

of Bohemia, to call an economical council, for an inquiry into the

abuses that had crept into the church, and to make a full and thorough

reformation. The king, not knowing how to proceed, sent to the pope for

directions how to act; but the pontiff was so incensed at this affair,

that his only reply was, severely punish those rash and profane

heretics. The monarch, accordingly banished every one who had been

concerned in the application, and, to oblige the pope, laid a great

number of additional restraints upon the religious liberties of the

people.

The victims of persecution, however, were not so numerous in Bohemia,

until after the burning of John Huss and Jerom of Prague. These two

eminent reformers were condemned and executed at the instigation of the

pope and his emissaries, as the reader will perceive by the following

short sketch of their lives.

_John Huss._

John Huss was born at Hussenitz, a village in Bohemia, about the year

1380. His parents gave him the best education their circumstances would

admit; and having acquired a tolerable knowledge of the classics at a

private school, he was removed to the university of Prague, where he

soon gave strong proofs of his mental powers, and was remarkable for his

diligence and application to study.

In 1398, Huss commenced bachelor of divinity, and was after successively

chosen pastor of the church of Bethlehem, in Prague, and dean and rector

of the university. In these stations he discharged his duties with great

fidelity; and became, at length, so conspicuous for his preaching, which

was in conformity with the doctrines of Wickliffe, that it was not

likely he could long escape the notice of the pope and his adherents,

against whom he inveighed with no small degree of asperity.

The English reformist Wickliffe, had so kindled the light of

reformation, that it began to illumine the darkest corners of popery and

ignorance. His doctrines spread into Bohemia, and were well received by

great numbers of people, but by none so particularly as John Huss, and

his zealous friend and fellow-martyr, Jerom of Prague.

The archbishop of Prague, finding the reformists daily increasing,

issued a decree to suppress the farther spreading of Wickliffe's

writings: but this had an effect quite different to what he expected,

for it stimulated the friends of those doctrines to greater zeal, and

almost the whole university united to propagate them.

Being strongly attached to the doctrines of Wickliffe, Huss opposed the

decree of the archbishop, who, however, at length, obtained a bull from

the pope, giving him commission to prevent the publishing of Wickliffe's

doctrines in his province. By virtue of this bull, the archbishop

condemned the writings of Wickliffe: he also proceeded against four

doctors, who had not delivered up the copies of that divine, and

prohibited them, notwithstanding their privileges, to preach to any

congregation. Dr. Huss, with some other members of the university,

protested against these proceedings, and entered an appeal from the

sentence of the archbishop.

The affair being made known to the pope, he granted a commission to

cardinal Colonna, to cite John Huss to appear personally at the court of

Rome, to answer the accusations laid against him, of preaching both

errors and heresies. Dr. Huss desired to be excused from a personal

appearance, and was so greatly favoured in Bohemia, that king

Winceslaus, the queen, the nobility, and the university, desired the

pope to dispense with such an appearance; as also that he would not

suffer the kingdom of Bohemia to lie under the accusation of heresy, but

permit them to preach the gospel with freedom in their places of

worship.

Three proctors appeared for Dr. Huss before cardinal Colonna. They

endeavoured to excuse his absence, and said, they were ready to answer

in his behalf. But, the cardinal declared Huss contumacious, and

excommunicated him accordingly. The proctors appealed to the pope, and

appointed four cardinals to examine the process: these commissioners

confirmed the former sentence, and extended the excommunication not only

to Huss but to all his friends and followers.

From this unjust sentence Huss appealed to a future council, but without

success; and, notwithstanding so severe a decree, and an expulsion in

consequence from his church in Prague, he retired to Hussenitz, his

native place, where he continued to promulgate his new doctrine, both

from the pulpit and with the pen.

The letters which he wrote at this time were very numerous; and he

compiled a treatise in which he maintained, that reading the book of

protestants could not be absolutely forbidden. He wrote in defence of

Wickliffe's book on the Trinity; and boldly declared against the vices

of the pope, the cardinals, and clergy, of those corrupt times. He wrote

also many other books, all of which were penned with a strength of

argument that greatly facilitated the spreading of his doctrines.

In the month of November, 1414, a general council was assembled at

Constance, in Germany, in order, as was pretended, for the sole purpose

of determining a dispute then pending between three persons who

contended for the papacy; but the real motive was, to crush the progress

of the reformation.

John Huss was summoned to appear at this council; and, to encourage him,

the emperor sent him a safe-conduct: the civilities, and even reverence,

which Huss met with on his journey, were beyond imagination. The

streets, and, sometimes the very roads, were lined with people, whom

respect, rather than curiosity, had brought together.

He was ushered into the town with great acclamations and it may be said,

that he passed through Germany in a kind of triumph. He could not help

expressing his surprise at the treatment he received: "I thought (said

he) I had been an outcast. I now see my worst friends are in Bohemia."

As soon as Huss arrived at Constance, he immediately took lodgings in a

remote part of the city. A short time after his arrival, came one

Stephen Paletz, who was employed by the clergy at Prague to manage the

intended prosecution against him. Paletz was afterward joined by Michael

de Cassis, on the part of the court of Rome. These two declared

themselves his accusers, and drew up a set of articles against him,

which they presented to the pope and the prelates of the council.

When it was known that he was in the city, he was immediately arrested,

and committed prisoner to a chamber in the palace. This violation of

common law and justice, was particularly noticed by one of Huss'

friends, who urged the imperial safe-conduct; but the pope replied, he

never granted any safe-conduct, nor was he bound by that of the emperor.

While Huss was in confinement, the council acted the part of

inquisitors. They condemned the doctrines of Wickliffe, and even ordered

his remains to be dug up and burnt to ashes; which orders were strictly

complied with. In the mean time, the nobility of Bohemia and Poland

strongly interceded for Huss; and so far prevailed as to prevent his

being condemned unheard, which had been resolved on by the commissioners

appointed to try him.

When he was brought before the council, the articles exhibited against

him were read: they were upwards of forty in number, and chiefly

extracted from his writings.

After his examination, he was taken from the court, and a resolution was

formed by the council to burn him as a heretic if he would not retract.

He was then committed to a filthy prison, where, in the daytime, he was

so laden with fetters on his legs, that he could hardly move, and every

night he was fastened by his hand to a ring against the walls of the

prison.

After continuing some days in this situation, many noblemen of Bohemia

interceded in his behalf. They drew up a petition for his release, which

was presented to the council by several of the most distinguished nobles

of Bohemia; a few days after the petition was presented, four bishops

and two lords were sent by the emperor to the prison, in order to

prevail on Huss to make a recantation. But he called God to witness,

with tears in his eyes, that he was not conscious of having preached or

written, against the truth of God, or the faith of his orthodox church.

On the 4th of July, Dr. Huss was brought for the last time before the

council. After a long examination he was desired to abjure, which he

refused without the least hesitation. The bishop of Lodi then preached a

sanguinary sermon, concerning the destruction of heretics, the prologue

to his intended punishment. After the close of the sermon, his fate was

determined, his vindication was disregarded, and judgment pronounced.

Huss heard this sentence without the least emotion. At the close of it

he knelt down, with his eyes lifted towards heaven, and with all the

magnanimity of a primitive martyr, thus exclaimed: "May thy infinite

mercy, O my God! pardon this injustice of mine enemies. Thou knowest the

injustice of my accusations; how deformed with crimes I have been

represented; how I have been oppressed with worthless witnesses, and a

false condemnation; yet, O my God! let that mercy of thine, which no

tongue can express, prevail with thee not to avenge my wrongs."

These excellent sentences were esteemed as so many expressions of

treason, and tended to inflame his adversaries. Accordingly, the bishops

appointed by the council stripped him of his priestly garments, degraded

him, put a paper mitre on his head, on which was painted devils, with

this inscription, "A ringleader of heretics." Our heroic martyr received

this mock mitre with an air of unconcern, which seemed to give him

dignity rather than disgrace. A serenity, nay, even a joy appeared in

his looks, which indicated that his soul had cut off many stages of a

tedious journey in her way to the realms of everlasting peace.

After the ceremony of degradation was over, the bishops delivered Dr.

Huss to the emperor, who put him into the hands of the duke of Bavaria.

His books were burnt at the gates of the church; and on the 6th of July,

he was led to the suburbs of Constance, to be burnt alive. On his

arrival at the place of execution, he fell on his knees, sung several

portions of the Psalms, looked steadfastly towards heaven, and repeated

these words: "Into thy hands, O Lord! do I commit my spirit: thou hast

redeemed me, O most good and merciful God!"

When the chain was put about him at the stake, he said, with a smiling

countenance, "My Lord Jesus Christ was bound with a harder chain than

this for my sake, and why then should I be ashamed of this rusty one?"

When the fagots were piled up to his very neck, the duke of Bavaria was

so officious as to desire him to abjure. "No, (said Huss;) I never

preached any doctrine of an evil tendency; and what I taught with my

lips I now seal with my blood." He then said to the executioner, "You

are now going to burn a goose, (Huss signifying goose in the Bohemian

language;) but in a century you will have a swan whom you can neither

roast nor boil." If he were prophetic, he must have meant Martin Luther,

who shone about a hundred years after, and who had a swan for his arms.

The flames were now applied to the fagots, when our martyr sung a hymn

with so loud and cheerful a voice, that he was heard through all the

cracklings of the combustibles, and the noise of the multitude. At

length his voice was interrupted by the severity of the flames, which

soon closed his existence.

_Jerom of Prague._

This reformer, who was the companion of Dr. Huss, and may be said to be

a co-martyr with him, was born at Prague, and educated in that

university, where he particularly distinguished himself for his great

abilities and learning. He likewise visited several other learned

seminaries in Europe, particularly the universities of Paris,

Heidelburg, Cologn, and Oxford. At the latter place he became acquainted

with the works of Wickliffe, and being a person of uncommon application,

he translated many of them into his native language, having with great

pains, made himself master of the English tongue.

On his return to Prague, he professed himself an open favourer of

Wickliffe, and finding that his doctrines had made considerable progress

in Bohemia, and that Huss was the principal promoter of them, he became

an assistant to him in the great work of reformation.

On the 4th of April, 1415, Jerom arrived at Constance, about three

months before the death of Huss. He entered the town privately, and

consulting with some of the leaders of his party, whom he found there,

was easily convinced he could not be of any service to his friends.

Finding that his arrival in Constance was publicly known, and that the

council intended to seize him, he thought it most prudent to retire.

Accordingly, the next day he went to Iberling, an imperial town, about a

mile from Constance. From this place he wrote to the emperor, and

proposed his readiness to appear before the council, if he would give

him a safe-conduct; but this was refused. He then applied to the

council, but met with an answer no less unfavourable than that from the

emperor.

After this, he set out on his return to Bohemia. He had the precaution

to take with him a certificate, signed by several of the Bohemian

nobility, then at Constance, testifying that he had used all prudent

means in his power to procure a hearing.

Jerom, however, did not thus escape. He was seized at Hirsaw, by an

officer belonging to the duke of Sultsbach, who, though unauthorized so

to act, made little doubt of obtaining thanks from the council for so

acceptable a service.

The duke of Sultsbach, having Jerom now in his power, wrote to the

council for directions how to proceed. The council, after expressing

their obligations to the duke, desired him to send the prisoner

immediately to Constance. The elector palatine met him on the way, and

conducted him into the city, himself riding on horseback, with a

numerous retinue, who led Jerom in fetters by a long chain; and

immediately on his arrival he was committed to a loathsome dungeon.

Jerom was treated nearly in the same manner as Huss had been, only that

he was much longer confined, and shifted from one prison to another. At

length, being brought before the council, he desired that he might plead

his own cause, and exculpate himself: which being refused him, he broke

out into the following elegant exclamation:

"What barbarity is this! For three hundred and forty days have I been

confined in a variety of prisons. There is not a misery, there is not a

want, that I have not experienced. To my enemies you have allowed the

fullest scope of accusation: to me, you deny, the least opportunity of

defence. Not an hour will you now indulge me in preparing for my trial.

You have swallowed the blackest calumnies against me. You have

represented me as a heretic, without knowing my doctrine; as an enemy to

the faith, before you knew what faith I professed; as a persecutor of

priests before you could have an opportunity of understanding my

sentiments on that head. You are a general council: in you centre all

this world can communicate of gravity, wisdom, and sanctity: but still

you are men, and men are seducible by appearances. The higher your

character is for wisdom, the greater ought your care to be not to

deviate into folly. The cause I now plead is not my own cause: it is the

cause of men, it is the cause of christians; it is a cause which is to

affect the rights of posterity, however the experiment is to be made in

my person."

This speech had not the least effect; Jerom was obliged to hear the

charge read, which was reduced under the following heads:--1. That he

was a derider of the papal dignity;--2. An opposer of the pope;--3. An

enemy to the cardinals;--4. A persecutor of the prelates;--and 5. A

hater of the christian religion.

The trial of Jerom was brought on the third day after his accusation and

witnesses were examined in support of the charge. The prisoner was

prepared for his defence, which appears almost incredible, when we

consider he had been three hundred and forty days shut up in loathsome

prisons, deprived of daylight, and almost starved for want of common

necessaries. But his spirit soared above these disadvantages, under

which a man less animated would have sunk; nor was he more at a loss for

quotations from the fathers and ancient authors than if he had been

furnished with the finest library.

The most bigoted of the assembly were unwilling he should be heard,

knowing what effect eloquence is apt to have on the minds of the most

prejudiced. At length, however, it was carried by the majority, that he

should have liberty to proceed in his defence, which he began to such an

exalted strain of moving elocution, that the heart of obdurate zeal was

seen to melt, and the mind of superstition seemed to admit a ray of

conviction. He made an admirable distinction between evidence as resting

upon facts, and as supported by malice and calumny. He laid before the

assembly the whole tenor of his life and conduct. He observed that the

greatest and most holy men had been known to differ in points of

speculation, with a view to distinguish truth, not to keep it concealed.

He expressed a noble contempt of all his enemies, who would have induced

him to retract the cause of virtue and truth. He entered upon a high

encomium of Huss; and declared he was ready to follow him in the

glorious track of martyrdom. He then touched upon the most defensible

doctrines of Wickliffe; and concluded with observing that it was far

from his intention to advance any thing against the state of the church

of God; that it was only against the abuse of the clergy he complained;

and that he could not help saying, it was certainly impious that the

patrimony of the church, which was originally intended for the purpose

of charity and universal benevolence, should be prostituted to the pride

of the eye, in feasts, foppish vestments, and other reproaches to the

name and profession of christianity.

The trial being over, Jerom received the same sentence that had been

passed upon his martyred countryman. In consequence of this he was, in

the usual style of popish affectation, delivered over to the civil

power: but as he was a layman, he had not to undergo the ceremony of

degradation. They had prepared a cap of paper painted with red devils,

which being put upon his head, he said, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he

suffered death for me a most miserable sinner, did wear a crown of

thorns upon his head, and for His sake will I wear this cap."

Two days were allowed him in hopes that he would recant; in which time

the cardinal of Florence used his utmost endeavours to bring him over.

But they all proved ineffectual. Jerom was resolved to seal the doctrine

with his blood; and he suffered death with the most distinguished

magnanimity.

In going to the place of execution he sung several hymns, and when he

came to the spot, which was the same where Huss had been burnt, he knelt

down, and prayed fervently. He embraced the stake with great

cheerfulness, and when they went behind him to set fire to the fagots,

he said, "Come here, and kindle it before my eyes; for if I had been

afraid of it, I had not come to this place." The fire being kindled, he

sung a hymn, but was soon interrupted by the flames; and the last words

he was heard to say these:--"This soul in flames I offer."

The elegant Pogge, a learned gentleman of Florence, secretary to two

popes, and a zealous but liberal catholic, in a letter to Leonard

Arotin, bore ample testimony of the extraordinary powers and virtues of

Jerom whom he emphatically styles, A prodigious man!

_Zisca._

The real name of this zealous servant of Christ was John de Trocznow,

that of Zisca is a Bohemian word, signifying one-eyed, as he had lost an

eye. He was a native of Bohemia, of a good family and left the court of

Winceslaus, to enter into the service of the king of Poland against the

Teutonic knights. Having obtained a badge of honour and a purse of

ducats for his gallantry, at the close of the war he returned to the

court of Winceslaus, to whom he boldly avowed the deep interest he took

in the bloody affront offered to his majesty's subjects at Constance in

the affair of Huss. Winceslaus lamented it was not in his power to

revenge it; and from this moment Zisca is said to have formed the idea

of asserting the religious liberties of his country. In the year 1418,

the council was dissolved, having done more mischief than good, and in

the summer of that year a general meeting was held of the friends of

religious reformation, at the castle of Wilgrade, who, conducted by

Zisca, repaired to the emperor with arms in their hands, and offered to

defend him against his enemies. The king bid them use their arms

properly, and this stroke of policy first insured to Zisca the

confidence of his party.

Winceslaus was succeeded by Sigismond, his brother, who rendered himself

odious to the Reformers; and removed all such as were obnoxious to his

government. Zisca and his friends, upon this, immediately flew to arms,

declared war against the emperor and the pope, and laid siege to Pilsen

with 40,000 men. They soon became masters of the fortress, and in a

short time all the south-west part of Bohemia submitted, which greatly

increased the army of the reformers. The latter having taken the pass of

Muldaw, after a severe conflict of five days and nights, the emperor

became alarmed, and withdrew his troops from the confines of Turkey, to

march them into Bohemia. At Berne in Moravia, he halted, and sent

despatches to treat of peace, as a preliminary to which, Zisca gave up

Pilsen and all the fortresses he had taken. Sigismond proceeding in a

manner that clearly manifested he acted on the Roman doctrine, that no

faith was to be kept with heretics, and treating some of the authors of

the late disturbances with severity, the alarm-bell of revolt was

sounded from one end of Bohemia to the other. Zisca took the castle of

Prague by the power of money, and on the 19th of August, 1420, defeated

the small army the emperor had hastily got together to oppose him. He

next took Ausea by assault, and destroyed the town with a barbarity that

disgraced the cause in which he fought.

Winter approaching, Zisca fortified his camp on a strong hill about

forty miles from Prague, which he called Mount Tabor, from whence he

surprised a body of horse at midnight, and made a thousand men

prisoners. Shortly after, the emperor obtained possession of the strong

fortress of Prague, by the same means that Zisca had before done: it was

soon blockaded by the latter, and want began to threaten the emperor,

who saw the necessity of a retreat.

Determined to make a desperate effort, Sigismond attacked the fortified

camp of Zisca on Mount Tabor, and carried it with great slaughter. Many

other fortresses also fell, and Zisca withdrew to a craggy hill, which

he strongly fortified, and whence he so annoyed the emperor in his

approaches against the town of Prague, that he found he must either

abandon the siege or defeat his enemy. The marquis of Misnia was deputed

to effect this with a large body of troops, but the event was fatal to

the imperialists; they were defeated, and the emperor having lost nearly

one third of his army, retreated from the siege of Prague, harassed in

his rear by the enemy.

In the spring of 1421, Zisca commenced the campaign, as before, by

destroying all the monasteries in his way. He laid siege to the castle

of Wisgrade, and the emperor coming to relieve it, fell into a snare,

was defeated with dreadful slaughter, and this important fortress was

taken. Our general had now leisure to attend to the work of reformation,

but he was much disgusted with the gross ignorance and superstition of

the Bohemian clergy, who rendered themselves contemptible in the eyes of

the whole army. When he saw any symptoms of uneasiness in his camp, he

would spread alarm in order to divert them, and draw his men into

action. In one of these expeditions, he encamped before the town of

Rubi, and while pointing out the place for an assault, an arrow shot

from the wall struck him in the eye. At Prague it was extracted, but,

being barbed, it tore the eye out with it. A fever succeeded, and his

life was with difficulty preserved. He was now totally blind, but still

desirous of attending the army. The emperor having summoned the states

of the empire to assist him, it was resolved, with their assistance, to

attack Zisca in the winter, when many of his troops departed till the

return of spring.

The confederate princes undertook the siege of Soisin, but at the

approach merely of the Bohemian general, they retreated. Sigismond

nevertheless advanced with his formidable army, consisting of 15,000

Hungarian horse and 25,000 infantry, well equipped for a winter

campaign. This army spread terror through all the east of Bohemia.

Wherever Sigismond marched, the magistrates laid their keys at his feet,

and were treated with severity or favour, according to their merits in

his cause. Zisca, however, with speedy marches, approached, and the

emperor resolved to try his fortune once more with that invincible

chief. On the 13th of January, 1422, the two armies met on a spacious

plain near Kamnitz. Zisca appeared in the centre of his front line,

guarded, or rather conducted, by a horseman on each side, armed with a

pole-axe. His troops having sung a hymn with a determined coolness drew

their swords, and waited for a signal. When his officers had informed

him that the ranks were all well closed, he waved his sabre round his

head, which was the sign of battle.

This battle is described as a most awful sight. The extent of the plain

was one continued scene of disorder. The imperial army fled towards the

confines of Moravia, the Taborites, without intermission, galling their

rear. The river Igla, then frozen, opposed their flight. The enemy

pressing furiously, many of the infantry, and in a manner the whole body

of the cavalry attempted the river. The ice gave way and not fewer than

2000 were swalled up in the water. Zisca now returned to Tabor, laden

with all the spoils and trophies which the most complete victory could

give.

Zisca now began again to pay attention to the reformation; he forbid all

the prayers for the dead, images, sacerdotal vestments, fasts, and

festivals. Priests were to be preferred according to their merits, and

no one to be persecuted for religious opinions. In every thing Zisca

consulted the liberal minded, and did nothing without general

concurrence. An alarming disagreement now arose at Prague between the

magistrates who were Calixtans, or receivers of the sacraments in both

kinds, and the Taborites, nine of the chiefs of whom were privately

arraigned, and put to death. The populace, enraged, sacrificed the

magistrates, and the affair terminated without any particular

consequence. The Calixtans having sunk into contempt, Zisca was

solicited to assume the crown of Bohemia; but this he nobly refused, and

prepared for the next campaign, in which Sigismond resolved to make his

last effort. While the marquis of Misnia penetrated into Upper Saxony,

the emperor proposed to enter Moravia, on the side of Hungary. Before

the marquis had taken the field, Zisca sat down before the strong town

of Ausig, situate on the Elbe. The marquis flew to its relief with a

superior army, and, after an obstinate engagement, was totally defeated

and Ausig capitulated. Zisca then went to the assistance of Procop, a

young general whom he had appointed to keep Sigismond in check, and whom

he compelled to abandon the siege of Pernitz, after laying eight weeks

before it.

Zisca, willing to give his troops some respite from fatigue, now entered

Prague, hoping his presence would quell any uneasiness that might remain

after the late disturbance: but he was suddenly attacked by the people;

and he and his troop having beaten off the citizens effected a retreat

to his army, whom he acquainted with the treacherous conduct of the

Calixtans. Every effort of address was necessary to appease their

vengeful animosity, and at night, in a private interview between

Roquesan, an ecclesiastic of great eminence in Prague, and Zisca, the

latter became reconciled, and the intended hostilities were done away.

Mutually tired of the war, Sigismond sent to Zisca, requesting him to

sheath his sword, and name his conditions. A place of congress being

appointed, Zisca, with his chief officers, set out to meet the emperor.

Compelled to pass through a part of the country where the plague raged,

he was seized with it at the castle of Briscaw and departed this life,

October 6, 1424. Like Moses, he died in view of the completion of his

labours, and was buried in the great church of Czaslow, in Bohemia,

where a monument is erected to his memory, with this inscription on

it--"Here lies John Zisca, who, having defended his country against the

encroachments of papal tyranny, rests in this hallowed place in despite

of the pope."

After the death of Zisca, Procop was defeated, and fell with the

liberties of his country.

After the death of Huss and Jerom, the pope, in conjunction with the

council of Constance, ordered the Roman clergy every where, to

excommunicate such as adopted their opinions, or commisserated their

fate.

These orders occasioned great contentions between the papists and

reformed Bohemians, which was the cause of a violent persecution against

the latter. At Prague, the persecution was extremely severe, till, at

length, the reformed being driven to desperation, armed themselves,

attacked the senate-house, and threw twelve senators, with the speaker,

out of the senate-house windows, whose bodies fell upon spears, which

were held up by others of the reformed in the street, to receive them.

Being informed of these proceedings, the pope came to Florence, and

publicly excommunicated the reformed Bohemians, exciting the emperor of

Germany, and all kings, princes, dukes, &c. to take up arms, in order to

extirpate the whole race; and promising, by way of encouragement, full

remission of all sins whatever, to the most wicked person, if he did but

kill one Bohemian protestant.

This occasioned a bloody war; for several popish princes undertook the

extirpation, or at least expulsion, of the proscribed people; and the

Bohemians, arming themselves, prepared to repel force by force, in the

most vigorous and effectual manner. The popish army prevailing against

the protestant forces at the battle of Cuttenburgh, the prisoners of the

reformed were taken to three deep mines near that town and several

hundreds were cruelly thrown into each, where they miserably perished.

A merchant of Prague, going to Breslaw, in Silesia, happened to lodge in

the same inn with several priests. Entering into conversation upon the

subject of religious controversy, he passed many encomiums upon the

martyred John Huss, and his doctrines. The priests taking umbrage at

this, laid an information against him the next morning, and he was

committed to prison as a heretic. Many endeavours were used to persuade

him to embrace the Roman catholic faith, but he remained steadfast to

the pure doctrines of the reformed church. Soon after his imprisonment,

a student of the university was committed to the same jail; when, being

permitted to converse with the merchant, they mutually comforted each

other. On the day appointed for execution, when the jailer began to

fasten ropes to their feet, by which they were to be dragged through the

streets, the student appeared quite terrified, and offered to abjure his

faith, and turn Roman catholic if he might be saved. The offer was

accepted, his abjuration was taken by a priest, and he was set at

liberty. A priest applying to the merchant to follow the example of the

student, he nobly said, "Lose no time in hopes of my recantation, your

expectations will be vain; I sincerely pity that poor wretch, who has

miserably sacrificed his soul for a few more uncertain years of a

troublesome life; and, so far from having the least idea of following

his example, I glory in the very thoughts of dying for the sake of

Christ." On hearing these words, the priest ordered the executioner to

proceed, and the merchant being drawn through the city was brought to

the place of execution, and there burnt.

Pichel, a bigoted popish magistrate, apprehended 24 protestants, among

whom was his daughter's husband. As they all owned they were of the

reformed religion, he indiscriminately condemned them to be drowned in

the river Abbis. On the day appointed for the execution, a great

concourse of people attended, among whom was Pichel's daughter. This

worthy wife threw herself at her father's feet, bedewed them with tears,

and in the most pathetic manner, implored him to commisserate her

sorrow, and pardon her husband. The obdurate magistrate sternly replied,

"Intercede not for him, child, he is a heretic, a vile heretic." To

which she nobly answered, "Whatever his faults may be, or however his

opinions may differ from yours, he is still my husband, a name which, at

a time like this, should alone employ my whole consideration." Pichel

flew into a violent passion and said, "You are mad! cannot you, after

the death of this, have a much worthier husband?" "No, sir, (replied

she) my affections are fixed upon this, and death itself shall not

dissolve my marriage vow." Pichel, however, continued inflexible, and

ordered the prisoners to be tied with their hands and feet behind them,

and in that manner be thrown into the river. As soon as this was put

into execution, the young lady watched her opportunity, leaped into the

waves, and embracing the body of her husband, both sunk together into

one watery grave. An uncommon instance of conjugal love in a wife, and

of an inviolable attachment to, and personal affection for, her husband.

The emperor Ferdinand, whose hatred to the Bohemian protestants was

without bounds, not thinking he had sufficiently oppressed them,

instituted a high court of reformers, upon the plan of the inquisition,

with this difference, that the reformers were to remove from place to

place, and always to be attended by a body of troops.

These reformers consisted chiefly of Jesuits, and from their decision,

there was no appeal, by which it may be easily conjectured, that it was

a dreadful tribunal indeed.

This bloody court, attended by a body of troops, made the tour of

Bohemia, to which they seldom examined or saw a prisoner, suffering the

soldiers to murder the protestants as they pleased, and then to make a

report of the matter to them afterward.

The first victim of their cruelty was an aged minister whom they killed

as he lay sick in his bed, the next day they robbed, and murdered

another, and soon after shot a third, as he was preaching in his pulpit.

A nobleman and clergyman, who resided in a protestant village, hearing

of the approach of the high court of reformers and the troops, fled from

the place, and secreted themselves. The soldiers, however, on their

arrival, seized upon a schoolmaster, asked him where the lord of that

place and the minister were concealed, and where they had hid their

treasures. The schoolmaster replied, he could not answer either of the

questions. They then stripped him naked, bound him with cords, and beat

him most unmercifully with cudgels. This cruelty not extorting any

confession from him, they scorched him in various parts of his body;

when, to gain a respite from his torments, he promised to show them

where the treasures were hid. The soldiers gave ear to this with

pleasure, and the schoolmaster led them to a ditch full of stones,

saying, Beneath these stones are the treasures ye seek for. Eager after

money, they went to work, and soon removed those stones, but not finding

what they sought after, beat the schoolmaster to death, buried him in

the ditch, and covered him with the very stones he had made them remove.

Some of the soldiers ravished the daughters of a worthy protestant

before his face, and then tortured him to death. A minister and his wife

they tied back to back and burnt. Another minister they hung upon a

cross beam, and making a fire under him, broiled him to death. A

gentleman they hacked into small pieces, and they filled a young man's

mouth with gunpowder, and setting fire to it, blew his head to pieces.

As their principal rage was directed against the clergy, they took a

pious protestant minister, and tormented him daily for a month together,

in the following manner, making their cruelty regular, systematic, and

progressive.

They placed him amidst them, and made him the subject of their derision

and mockery, during a whole day's entertainment, trying to exhaust his

patience, but in vain, for he bore the whole with true christian

fortitude. They spit in his face, pulled his nose, and pinched him in

most parts of his body. He was hunted like a wild beast, till ready to

expire with fatigue. They made him run the gauntlet between two ranks of

them, each striking him with a twig. He was beat with their fists. He

was beat with ropes. They scourged him with wires. He was beat with

cudgels. They tied him up by the heels with his head downwards, till the

blood started out of his nose, mouth, &c. They hung him by the right arm

till it was dislocated, and then had it set again. The same was repeated

with his left arm. Burning papers dipped in oil, were placed between his

fingers and toes. His flesh was torn with red-hot pincers. He was put to

the rack. They pulled off the nails of his right hand. The same repeated

with his left hand. He was bastinadoed on his feet. A slit was made in

his right ear. The same repeated on his left ear. His nose was slit.

They whipped him through the town upon an ass. They made several

incisions in his flesh. They pulled off the toe nails of his right foot.

The same repeated with his left foot. He was tied up by the loins, and

suspended for a considerable time. The teeth of his upper jaw were

pulled out. The same was repeated with his lower jaw. Boiling lead was

poured upon his fingers. The same repeated with his toes. A knotted cord

was twisted about his forehead in such a manner as to force out his

eyes.

During the whole of these horrid cruelties, particular care was taken

that his wounds should not mortify, and not to injure him mortally till

the last day, when the forcing out of his eyes proved his death.

Innumerable were the other murders and depredations committed by those

unfeeling brutes, and shocking to humanity were the cruelties which they

inflicted on the poor Bohemian protestants. The winter being far

advanced, however, the high court of reformers, with their infernal band

of military ruffians, thought proper to return to Prague; but on their

way, meeting with a protestant pastor, they could not resist the

temptation of feasting their barbarous eyes with a new kind of cruelty,

which had just suggested itself to the diabolical imagination of one of

the soldiers. This was to strip the minister naked, and alternately to

cover him with ice and burning coals. This novel mode of tormenting a

fellow-creature was immediately put into practice, and the unhappy

victim expired beneath the torments, which seemed to delight his inhuman

persecutors.

A secret order was soon after issued by the emperor, for apprehending

all noblemen and gentlemen, who had been principally concerned in

supporting the protestant cause, and in nominating Frederic elector

Palatine of the Rhine, to be king of Bohemia. These, to the number of

fifty, were apprehended in one night, and at one hour, and brought from

the places where they were taken, to the castle of Prague, and the

estates of those who were absent from the kingdom were confiscated,

themselves were made outlaws, and their names fixed upon a gallows, as

marks of public ignominy.

The high court of reformers then proceeded to try the fifty, who had

been apprehended, and two apostate protestants were appointed to examine

them. These examinants asked a great number of unnecessary and

impertinent questions, which so exasperated one of the noblemen, who was

naturally of a warm temper, that he exclaimed opening his breast at the

same time, "Cut here, search my heart, you shall find nothing but the

love of religion and liberty; those were the motives for which I drew my

sword, and for those I am willing to suffer death."

As none of the prisoners would change their religion, or acknowledge

they had been in error, they were all pronounced guilty; but the

sentence was referred to the emperor. When that monarch had read their

names, and an account of the respective accusations against them, he

passed judgment on all, but in a different manner, as his sentences

were of four kinds, viz. death, banishment, imprisonment for life, and

imprisonment during pleasure.

Twenty being ordered for execution, were informed they might send for

Jesuits, monks, or friars, to prepare for the awful change they were to

undergo; but that no protestants should be permitted to come near them.

This proposal they rejected, and strove all they could to comfort and

cheer each other upon the solemn occasion.

On the morning of the day appointed for the execution, a cannon was

fired as a signal to bring the prisoners from the castle to the

principal market-place, in which scaffolds were erected, and a body of

troops were drawn up to attend the tragic scene.

The prisoners left the castle with as much cheerfulness as if they had

been going to an agreeable entertainment, instead of a violent death.

Exclusive of soldiers, Jesuits, priests, executioners, attendants, &c. a

prodigious concourse of people attended, to see the exit of these

devoted martyrs, who were executed in the following order.

Lord Schilik was about fifty years of age, and was possessed of great

natural and acquired abilities. When he was told he was to be quartered,

and his parts scattered in different places, he smiled with great

serenity, saying, The loss of a sepulchre is but a trifling

consideration. A gentleman who stood by, crying, courage, my lord; he

replied, I have God's favour, which is sufficient to inspire any one

with courage: the fear of death does not trouble me; formerly I have

faced him in fields of battle to oppose Antichrist; and now dare face

him on a scaffold, for the sake of Christ. Having said a short prayer,

he told the executioner he was ready, who cut off his right hand and his

head, and then quartered him. His hand and head were placed upon the

high tower of Prague, and his quarters distributed in different parts of

the city.

Lord Viscount Winceslaus, who had attained the age of seventy years, was

equally respectable for learning, piety, and hospitality. His temper was

so remarkably patient, that when his house was broke open, his property

seized, and his estates confiscated, he only said, with great composure,

The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken away. Being asked why he

could engage in so dangerous a cause as that of attempting to support

the elector Palatine Frederic against the power of the emperor, he

replied, I acted strictly according to the dictates of my conscience,

and, to this day, deem him my king. I am now full of years, and wish to

lay down life, that I may not be a witness of the farther evils which

are to attend my country. You have long thirsted for my blood, take it,

for God will be my avenger. Then approaching the block, he stroked his

long grey beard, and said, Venerable hairs, the greater honour now

attends ye, a crown of martyrdom is your portion. Then laying down his

head, it was severed from his body at one stroke, and placed upon a pole

in a conspicuous part of the city.

Lord Harant was a man of good sense, great piety, and much experience

gained by travel, as he had visited the principal places in Europe,

Asia, and Africa. Hence he was free from national prejudices and had

collected much knowledge.

The accusations against this nobleman, were, his being a protestant and

having taken an oath of allegiance to Frederic, elector Palatine of the

Rhine, as king of Bohemia. When he came upon the scaffold he said, "I

have travelled through many countries, and traversed various barbarous

nations, yet never found so much cruelty as at home. I have escaped

innumerable perils both by sea and land, and surmounted inconceivable

difficulties, to suffer innocently in my native place. My blood is

likewise sought by those for whom I, and my forefathers, have hazarded

our estates; but, Almighty God! forgive them, for they know not what

they do." He then went to the block, kneeled down, and exclaimed with

great energy, into thy hands, O Lord! I commend my spirit; in thee have

I always trusted; receive me, therefore, my blessed Redeemer. The fatal

stroke was then given, and a period put to the temporary pains of this

life.

Lord Frederic de Bile suffered as a protestant, and a promoter of the

late war; he met his fate with serenity, and only said, he wished well

to the friends whom he left behind, forgave the enemies who caused his

death, denied the authority of the emperor in that country, acknowledged

Frederic to be the only true king of Bohemia, and hoped for salvation in

the merits of his blessed Redeemer.

Lord Henry Otto, when he first came upon the scaffold, seemed greatly

confounded, and said, with some asperity, as if addressing himself to

the emperor, "Thou tyrant Ferdinand, your throne is established in

blood; but if you kill my body, and disperse my members, they shall

still rise up in judgment against you." He then was silent, and having

walked about for some time, seemed to recover his fortitude, and growing

calm, said to a gentleman who stood near, I was, a few minutes since,

greatly discomposed, but now I feel my spirits revive; God be praised

for affording me such comfort; death no longer appears as the king of

terrors, but seems to invite me to participate of some unknown joys.

Kneeling before the block, he said, Almighty God! to thee I commend my

soul, receive it for the sake of Christ, and admit it to the glory of

thy presence. The executioner put this nobleman to considerable pain, by

making several strokes before he severed the head from the body.

The earl of Rugenia was distinguished for his superior abilities, and

unaffected piety. On the scaffold he said, "We who drew our swords,

fought only to preserve the liberties of the people, and to keep our

consciences sacred: as we were overcome, I am better pleased at the

sentence of death, than if the emperor had given me life; for I find

that it pleases God to have his truth defended, not by our swords, but

by our blood." He then went boldly to the block, saying, I shall now be

speedily with Christ, and received the crown of martyrdom with great

courage.

Sir Gaspar Kaplitz was 86 years of age. When he came to the place of

execution, he addressed the principal officer thus: "Behold a miserable

ancient man, who hath often entreated God to take him out of this wicked

world, but could not until now obtain his desire, for God reserved me

till these years to be a spectacle to the world and a sacrifice to

himself; therefore God's will be done." One of the officers told him, in

consideration of his great age, that if he would only ask pardon, he

would immediately receive it. "Ask pardon, (exclaimed he) I will ask

pardon of God, whom I have frequently offended; but not of the emperor,

to whom I never gave any offence should I sue for pardon, it might be

justly suspected I had committed some crime for which I deserved this

condemnation. No, no, as I die innocent, and with a clear conscience, I

would not be separated from this noble company of martyrs:" so saying,

he cheerfully resigned his neck to the block.

Procopius Dorzecki on the scaffold said, "We are now under the emperor's

judgment; but in time he shall be judged, and we shall appear as

witnesses against him." Then taking a gold medal from his neck, which

was struck when the elector Frederic was crowned king of Bohemia, he

presented it to one of the officers, at the same time uttering these

words, "As a dying man, I request, if ever king Frederic is restored to

the throne of Bohemia, that you will give him this medal. Tell him, for

his sake, I wore it till death, and that now I willingly lay down my

life for God and my king." He then cheerfully laid down his head and

submitted to the fatal blow.

Dionysius Servius was brought up a Roman catholic, but had embraced the

reformed religion for some years. When upon the scaffold the Jesuits

used their utmost endeavours to make him recant, and return to his

former faith, but he paid not the least attention to their exhortations.

Kneeling down he said, they may destroy my body, but cannot injure my

soul, that I commend to my Redeemer; and then patiently submitted to

martyrdom, being at that time fifty-six years of age.

Valentine Cockan, was a person of considerable fortune and eminence,

perfectly pious and honest, but of trifling abilities; yet his

imagination seemed to grow bright, and his faculties to improve on

death's approach, as if the impending danger refined the understanding.

Just before he was beheaded, he expressed himself with such eloquence,

energy, and precision, as greatly amazed those who knew his former

deficiency in point of capacity.

Tobias Steffick was remarkable for his affability and serenity of

temper. He was perfectly resigned to his fate, and a few minutes before

his death spoke in this singular manner, "I have received, during the

whole course of my life, many favours from God; ought I not therefore

cheerfully to take one bitter cup, when he thinks proper to present it?

Or rather, ought I not to rejoice, that it is his will I should give up

a corrupted life for that of immortality!"

Dr. Jessenius, an able student of physic, was accused of having spoken

disrespectful words of the emperor, of treason in swearing allegiance to

the elector Frederic, and of heresy in being a protestant: for the first

accusation he had his tongue cut out; for the second he was beheaded;

and for the third, and last, he was quartered, and the respective parts

exposed on poles.

Christopher Chober, as soon as he stepped upon the scaffold said, 'I

come in the name of God, to die for his glory; I have fought the good

fight, and finished my course; so, executioner, do your office.' The

executioner obeyed, and he instantly received the crown of martyrdom.

No person ever lived more respected, or died more lamented, than John

Shultis. The only words he spoke, before receiving the fatal stroke,

were, "The righteous seem to die in the eyes of fools, but they only go

to rest. Lord Jesus! thou hast promised that those who come to thee

shall not be cast off. Behold, I am come; look on me, pity me, pardon my

sins, and receive my soul."

Maximilian Hostialick was famed for his learning, piety, and humanity.

When he first came on the scaffold, he seemed exceedingly terrified at

the approach of death. The officer taking notice of his agitation, he

said, "Ah! sir, now the sins of my youth crowd upon my mind; but I hope

God will enlighten me, lest I sleep the sleep of death, and lest mine

enemies say, we have prevailed." Soon after he said, "I hope my

repentance is sincere, and will be accepted, in which case the blood of

Christ will wash me from my crimes." He then told the officer he should

repeat the song of Simeon; at the conclusion of which the executioner

might do his duty. He, accordingly, said, Lord! now lettest thou thy

servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen

thy salvation; at which words his head was struck off at one blow.

When John Kutnaur came to the place of execution, a Jesuit said to him,

"Embrace the Roman catholic faith, which alone can save and arm you

against the terrors of death." To which he replied, "Your superstitious

faith I abhor, it leads to perdition, and I wish for no other arms

against the terrors of death, than a good conscience." The Jesuit turned

away, saying, sarcastically, The protestants are impenetrable rocks. You

are mistaken, said Kutnaur, it is Christ that is the rock, and we are

firmly fixed upon him.

This person not being born independent, but having acquired a fortune by

a mechanical employment, was ordered to be hanged.--Just before he was

turned off, he said, "I die, not for having committed any crime, but for

following the dictates of my own conscience, and defending my country

and religion."

Simeon Sussickey was father-in-law to Kutnaur, and like him, was ordered

to be executed on a gallows. He went cheerfully to death and appeared

impatient to be executed, saying, "Every moment delays me from entering

into the kingdom of Christ."

Nathaniel Wodnianskey was hanged for having supported the protestant

cause, and the election of Frederic to the crown of Bohemia. At the

gallows, the Jesuits did all in their power to induce him to renounce

his faith. Finding their endeavours ineffectual, one of them said, If

you will not abjure your heresy, at least repent of your rebellion! To

which Wodnianskey replied, "You take away our lives under a pretended

charge of rebellion; and, not content with that, seek to destroy our

souls; glut yourselves with blood, and be satisfied; but tamper not with

our consciences."

Wodnianskey's own son then approached the gallows, and said to his

father, "Sir, if life should be offered to you on condition of apostacy,

I entreat you to remember Christ, and reject such pernicious overtures."

To this the father replied, "It is very acceptable, my son, to be

exhorted to constancy by you; but suspect me not; rather endeavour to

confirm in their faith your brothers, sisters, and children, and teach

them to imitate that constancy of which I shall leave them an example."

He had no sooner concluded these words than he was turned off, receiving

the crown of martyrdom with great fortitude.