As the Emperor Maximilian II. set out from the Royal Castle in Prague
for a drive he met a baron famous in all the land {1575.}. The baron was
John von Zerotin, the richest member of the Brethren's Church. He had
come to Prague on very important business. His home lay at Namiest,
in Moravia. He lived in a stately castle, built on two huge crags, and
surrounded by the houses of his retainers and domestics. His estate was
twenty-five miles square. He had a lovely park of beeches, pines and old
oaks. He held his court in kingly style. He had gentlemen of the chamber
of noble birth. He had pages and secretaries, equerries and masters
of the chase. He had valets, lackeys, grooms, stable-boys, huntsmen,
barbers, watchmen, cooks, tailors, shoemakers, and saddlers. He had sat
at the feet of Blahoslaw, the learned Church historian: he kept a Court
Chaplain, who was, of course, a pastor of the Brethren's Church; and now
he had come to talk things over with the head of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Emperor offered the Baron a seat in his carriage. The Brother and
the Emperor drove on side by side.
"I hear," said the Emperor, "that the Picards are giving up their
religion and going over to the Utraquists."
The Baron was astounded. He had never, he said, heard the slightest
whisper that the Brethren intended to abandon their own Confessions.
"I have heard it," said the Emperor, "as positive fact from Baron
Hassenstein himself."
"It is not true," replied Zerotin.
"What, then," said the Emperor, "do the Utraquists mean when they say
that they are the true Hussites, and wish me to protect them in their
religion?"
"Your gracious Majesty," replied Zerotin, "the Brethren, called Picards,
are the true Hussites: they have kept their faith unsullied, as you may
see yourself from the Confession they presented to you."[44]
The Emperor looked puzzled. He was waxing old and feeble, and his memory
was failing.
"What!" he said, "have the Picards got a Confession?"
He was soon to hear the real truth of the matter. For some months there
had sat in Prague a committee of learned divines, who had met for the
purpose of drawing up a National Protestant Bohemian Confession. The
dream of Augusta seemed to be coming true. The Brethren took their
part in the proceedings. "We are striving," said Slawata, one of their
deputies, "for peace, love and unity. We have no desire to be censors of
dogmas. We leave such matters to theological experts." The Confession[45] was prepared, read out at the Diet, and presented to the Emperor. It
was a compromise between the teaching of Luther and the teaching of
the Brethren. In its doctrine of justification by faith it followed the
teaching of Luther: in its doctrine of the Lord's Supper it inclined to
the broader evangelical view of the Brethren. The Emperor attended the
Diet in person, and made a notable speech.
"I promise," he said, "on my honour as an Emperor, that I will never
oppress or hinder you in the exercise of your religion; and I pledge my
word in my own name and also in the name of my successors."
Let us try to grasp the meaning of this performance. As the Edict of
St. James was still in force, the Brethren, in the eyes of the law, were
still heretics and rebels; they had no legal standing in the country;
and at any moment the King in his fury might order them to quit the
land once more. But the truth is that the King of Bohemia was now a mere
figurehead. The real power lay in the hands of the barons. The barons
were Protestant almost to a man.
As the Emperor lay dying a few months later in the castle of Regensburg,
he was heard to murmur the words, "The happy time is come." For the
Brethren the happy time had come indeed. They knew that the so-called
Utraquist Church was Utraquist only in name; they knew that the Bible
was read in every village; they knew that Lutheran doctrines were
preached in hundreds of Utraquist Churches; they knew that in their own
country they had now more friends than foes; and thus, free from the
terrors of the law they trod the primrose path of peace and power. We
have come to the golden age of the Brethren's Church.
It was the age of material prosperity. As the sun of freedom shone
upon their way, the Brethren drifted further still from the old Puritan
ascetic ideas of Peter and Gregory the Patriarch. They had now all
classes in their ranks. They had seventeen rich and powerful barons, of
the stamp of John Zerotin; they had over a hundred and forty knights;
they had capitalists, flourishing tradesmen, mayors, and even generals
in the Army, and the Lord High Chamberlain now complained that
two-thirds of the people in Bohemia were Brethren.[46] Nor was this all.
For many years the Brethren had been renowned as the most industrious
and prosperous people in the country; and were specially famous for
their manufacture of knives. They were noted for their integrity of
character, and were able to obtain good situations as managers of
estates, houses, wine cellars and mills; and in many of the large
settlements, such as Jungbunzlau and Leitomischl, they conducted
flourishing business concerns for the benefit of the Church at large.
They made their settlements the most prosperous places in the country;
they built hospitals; they had a fund for the poor called the Korbona;
and on many estates they made themselves so useful that the barons, in
their gratitude, set them free from the usual tolls and taxes. To the
Brethren business was now a sacred duty. They had seen the evils of
poverty, and they did their best to end them. They made no hard and fast
distinction between secular and sacred; and the cooks and housemaids in
the Brethren's Houses were appointed by the Church, and called from
one sphere of service to another, just as much as the presbyters and
deacons. The clergy, though still doing manual labour, were now rather
better off: the gardens and fields attached to the manses helped to
swell their income; and, therefore, we are not surprised to hear that
some of them were married.
Again, the Brethren were champions of education. They had seen the evil
of their ways. As the exiles banished by Ferdinand I. came into contact
with Lutherans in Prussia they heard, rather to their disgust, that they
were commonly regarded by the German Protestants as a narrow-minded and
benighted set of men; and, therefore, at the special invitation of the
Lutheran Bishop Speratus, they began the practice of sending some of
their students to foreign universities. It is pathetic to read how
the first two students were sent {1549.}. "We granted them," says the
record, "their means of support. We gave them £7 10s. a-piece, and sent
them off to Basle." We are not informed how long the money was to last.
For some years the new policy was fiercely opposed; and the leader
of the opposition was John Augusta. He regarded this new policy with
horror, condemned it as a falling away from the old simplicity
and piety, and predicted that it would bring about the ruin of the
Brethren's Church. At the head of the progressive party was John
Blahoslaw, the historian. He had been to Wittenberg and Basle himself;
he was a master of Greek and Latin; and now he wrote a brilliant
philippic, pouring scorn on the fears of the conservative party. "For
my part," he said, "I have no fear that learned and pious men will ever
ruin the Church. I am far more afraid of the action of those high-minded
and stupid schemers, who think more highly of themselves than they ought
to think." It is clear to whom these stinging words refer. They are a
plain hit at Augusta. "It is absurd," he continued, "to be afraid of
learning and culture. As long as our leaders are guided by the Spirit
of Christ, all will be well; but when craft and cunning, and worldly
prudence creep in, then woe to the Brethren's Church! Let us rather be
careful whom we admit to the ministry, and then the Lord will preserve
us from destruction." As we read these biting words, we can understand
how it came to pass that Augusta, during his last few years, was held
in such little honour. The old man was behind the times. The progressive
party triumphed. Before long there were forty students at foreign
Universities. The whole attitude of the Brethren changed. As the
Humanist movement spread in Bohemia, the Brethren began to take an
interest in popular education; and now, aided by friendly nobles, they
opened a number of free elementary schools. At Eibenschütz, in Moravia,
they had a school for the sons of the nobility, with Esrom Rüdinger as
headmaster; both Hebrew and Greek were taught; and the school became
so famous that many of the pupils came from Germany. At Holleschau,
Leitomischl, Landskron, Gross-Bitesch, Austerlitz, Fulneck, Meseretoch,
Chropin, Leipnik, Kaunic, Trebitzch, Paskau, Ungarisch-Brod,
Jungbunzlau, and Prerau, they had free schools supported by Protestant
nobles and manned with Brethren's teachers. As there is no direct
evidence to the contrary, we may take it for granted that in these
schools the syllabus was much the same as in the other schools of the
country. In most the Latin language was taught, and in some dialectics,
rhetoric, physics, astronomy and geometry. The education was largely
practical. At most of the Bohemian schools in those days the children
were taught, by means of conversation books, how to look after a horse,
how to reckon with a landlord, how to buy cloth, how to sell a garment,
how to write a letter, how to make terms with a pedlar, how, in a
word, to get on in the world. But the Brethren laid the chief stress
on religion. Instead of separating the secular and the sacred, they
combined the two in a wonderful way, and taught both at the same time.
For this purpose, they published, in the first place, a school edition
of their Catechism in three languages, Bohemian, German, and Latin; and
thus the Catechism became the scholar's chief means of instruction. He
learned to read from his Catechism; he learned Latin from his Catechism;
he learned German from his Catechism; and thus, while mastering foreign
tongues, he was being grounded at the same time in the articles of
the Christian faith. He lived, in a word, from morning to night in a
Christian atmosphere. For the same purpose a Brother named Matthias
Martinus prepared a book containing extracts from the Gospels and
Epistles. It was printed in six parallel columns. In the first were
grammatical notes; in the second the text in Greek; in the third a
translation in Bohemian; in the fourth in German; in the fifth in Latin;
and in the sixth a brief exposition.
Second, the Brethren used another text-book called the "Book of Morals."
It was based, apparently, on Erasmus's "Civilitas Morum." It was a
simple, practical guide to daily conduct. It was written in rhyme, and
the children learned it by heart. It was divided into three parts. In
the first, the child was taught how to behave from morning to night; in
the second, how to treat his elders and masters; in the third, how to be
polite at table.
Third, the Brethren, in all their schools, made regular use of
hymn-books; and the scholar learnt to sing by singing hymns. Sometimes
the hymns were in a separate volume; sometimes a selection was bound up
with the Catechism. But in either case the grand result was the same.
As we follow the later fortunes of the Brethren we shall find ourselves
face to face with a difficult problem. How was it, we ask, that in later
years, when their little Church was crushed to powder, these Brethren
held the faith for a hundred years? How was it that the "Hidden Seed"
had such vitality? How was it that, though forbidden by law, they held
the fort till the times of revival came? For answer we turn to their
Catechism. They had learned it first in their own homes; they had
learned it later at school; they had made it the very marrow of their
life; they taught it in turn to their children; and thus in the darkest
hours of trial they handed on the torch of faith from one generation to
another.
We come now to another secret of their strength. Of all the Protestants
in Europe the Bohemian Brethren were the first to publish a Hymn-book;
and by this time they had published ten editions. The first three were
in Bohemian, and were edited by Luke of Prague, 1501, 1505, 1519; the
fourth in German, edited by Michael Weiss, 1531; the fifth in Bohemian,
edited by John Horn, 1541; the sixth in German, edited by John Horn,
1544; the seventh in Polish, edited by George Israel, 1554; the eighth
in Bohemian, edited by John Blahoslaw, 1561; the ninth in German, 1566;
the tenth in Polish, 1569. As they wished here to appeal to all classes,
they published hymns both ancient and modern, and tunes both grave and
gay. Among the hymn-writers were John Hus, Rockycana, Luke of Prague,
Augusta, and Martin Luther; and among the tunes were Gregorian Chants
and popular rondels of the day. The hymns and tunes were published
in one volume. The chief purpose of the hymns was clear religious
instruction. The Brethren had nothing to conceal. They had no mysterious
secret doctrines; and no mysterious secret practices. They published
their hymn-books, not for themselves only, but for all the people in the
country, and for Evangelical Christians in other lands. "It has been
our chief aim," they said, "to let everyone fully and clearly understand
what our views are with regard to the articles of the Christian faith."
And here the hymns were powerful preachers of the faith. They spread
the Brethren's creed in all directions. They were clear, orderly,
systematic, and Scriptural; and thus they were sung in the family
circle, by bands of young men in the Brethren's Houses, by shepherds
watching their flocks by night, by sturdy peasants as they trudged to
market. And then, on Sunday, in an age when congregational singing was
as yet but little known, the Brethren made the rafters ring with
the sound of united praise. "Your churches," wrote the learned Esrom
Rüdinger, "surpass all others in singing. For where else are songs of
praise, of thanksgiving, of prayer and instruction so often heard? Where
is there better singing? The newest edition of the Bohemian Hymn-book,
with its seven hundred and forty-three hymns, is an evidence of
the multitude of your songs. Three hundred and forty-six have been
translated into German. In your churches the people can all sing and
take part in the worship of God."
But of all the services rendered by the Brethren to the cause of the
evangelical faith in Bohemia the noblest and the most enduring was their
translation of the Bible into the Bohemian tongue. In the archives of
the Brethren's Church at Herrnhut are now to be seen six musty
volumes known as the Kralitz Bible (1579-93). The idea was broached by
Blahoslaw, the Church historian. The expense was born by Baron John
von Zerotin. The actual printing was executed at Zerotin's Castle at
Kralitz. The translation was based, not on the Vulgate, but on the
original Hebrew and Greek. The work of translating the Old Testament
was entrusted to six Hebrew scholars, Aeneas, Cepollo, Streic, Ephraim,
Jessen, and Capito. The New Testament was translated by Blahoslaw
himself (1565). The work was of national interest. For the first time
the Bohemian people possessed the Bible in a translation from the
original tongue, with the chapters subdivided into verses, and the
Apocrypha separated from the Canonical Books. The work appeared at first
in cumbersome form. It was issued in six bulky volumes, with only eight
or nine verses to a page, and a running commentary in the margin. The
paper was strong, the binding dark brown, the page quarto, the type
Latin, the style chaste and idiomatic, and the commentary fairly rich in
broad practical theology. But all this was no use to the poor. For the
benefit, therefore, of the common people the Brethren published a small
thin paper edition in a plain calf binding. It contained an index of
quotations from the Old Testament in the New, an index of proper names
with their meanings, a lectionary for the Christian Year, references
in the margin, and a vignette including the famous Brethren's episcopal
seal, "The Lamb and the Flag." The size of the page was only five inches
by seven and a half; the number of pages was eleven hundred and sixty;
the paper was so remarkably thin that the book was only an inch and a
quarter thick;[47] and thus it was suited in every way to hold the same
place in the affections of the people that the Geneva Bible held in
England in the days of our Puritan fathers. The Kralitz Bible was
a masterpiece. It helped to fix and purify the language, and thus
completed what Stitny and Hus had begun. It became the model of a chaste
and simple style; and its beauty of language was praised by the Jesuits.
It is a relic that can never be forgotten, a treasure that can never
lose its value. It is issued now, word for word, by the British and
Foreign Bible Society; it is read by the people in their own homes,
and is used in the Protestant Churches of the country; and thus, as the
Catholic, Gindely, says, it will probably endure as long as the Bohemian
tongue is spoken.
But even this was not the end of the Brethren's labours. We come to
the most amazing fact in their history. On the one hand they were the
greatest literary force in the country;[48] on the other they took the
smallest part in her theological controversies. For example, take the
case of John Blahoslaw. He was one of the most brilliant scholars of his
day. He was master of a beautiful literary style. He was a member of
the Brethren's Inner Council. He wrote a "History of the Brethren."
He translated the New Testament into Bohemian. He prepared a standard
Bohemian Grammar. He wrote also a treatise on Music, and other works too
many to mention here. And yet, learned Bishop though he was, he wrote
only one theological treatise, "Election through Grace," and even here
he handled his subject from a practical rather than a theological point
of view.
Again, take the case of Jacob Bilek, Augusta's companion in prison. If
ever a man had just cause to hate the Church of Rome it was surely this
humble friend of the great Augusta; and yet he wrote a full account of
their dreary years in prison without saying one bitter word against
his persecutors and tormentors.[49] From this point of view his book is
delightful. It is full of piety, of trust in God, of vivid dramatic
description; it has not a bitter word from cover to cover; and thus it
is a beautiful and precious example of the broad and charitable spirit
of the Brethren.
Again, it is surely instructive to note what subject most attracted the
Brethren's attention. For religious debate they cared but little; for
history they had a consuming passion; and now their leading scholars
produced the greatest historical works in the language. Brother Jaffet
wrote a work on the Brethren's Episcopal Orders, entitled, "The Sword
of Goliath." Wenzel Brezan wrote a history of the "House of Rosenberg,"
containing much interesting information about Bohemian social life.
Baron Charles von Zerotin wrote several volumes of memoirs. The whole
interest of the Brethren now was broad and national in character. The
more learned they grew the less part they took in theological disputes.
They regarded such disputes as waste of time; they had no pet doctrines
to defend; they were now in line with the other Protestants of the
country; and they held that the soul was greater than the mind and good
conduct best of all. No longer did they issue "Confessions of Faith"
of their own; no longer did they lay much stress on their points of
difference with Luther. We come here to a point of great importance. It
has been asserted by some historians that the Brethren never taught the
doctrine of Justification by Faith. For answer we turn to their later
Catechism prepared (1554) by Jirek Gyrck.
"In what way," ran one question, "can a sinful man obtain salvation?"
"By the pure Grace of God alone, through Faith in Jesus Christ our Lord
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption."
What sort of picture does all this bring before us? It is the picture
of a body of men who had made remarkable progress. No longer did they
despise education; they fostered it more than any men in the country. No
longer did they speak with contempt of marriage; they spoke of it as
a symbol of holier things. It was time, thought some, for these
broad-minded men to have their due reward. It was time to amend the
insulting law, and tear the musty Edict of St. James to tatters.