MM m ^^^ ot * «"*« ^,^,^^^^ PRINCETON, N. J. SAe/f. BR 754 .C5 G37 1843 v. 2 Gaspey, Thomas, 1788-1871 The life and times of the good Lord Cobham THE LIFE AND TIMES THE GOOD LORD COBHAM. VOLUME II. Vol. II, « 2 LONDON: PRINTED BY HENRY RICHARDS, BRYDGBS-STREET. THE LIFE AND TIMES THE GOOD LORD COBHAM. By THOMAS GASPEY, AUTHOR OF "THE LOLLARDS," ETC. ETC. " As his body was hangped and burnt in an unusual posture at Tyburne, so his memory hath ;ver since been in a straug-e suspense between malefactor and martyr ; Papists charging- him with treason against Xing' Henry the Fifth, and heewiiug' an army of more than ten thousand men, Ihough it wanted nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-aine thereof, so far as it appears solidly proved."— Fuller's " Worthies of Eng^land." " Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, was a man whose virtues made hini a reformer, whose valour made him a martyr." — Horace Walpole. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL, II. LONDON : CUNNINGHAM AND MORTIMER, ADELAIDE-STREKT, TRAFALGAR-SQUARE, 1843. CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. CHAPTER XV. JOHN HUSS AND THE BOHEMIAN REFORMERS. Proceedings of the new archbishop. — 2. He moves the king to make war on France. — 3. March of church reform in Bohemia. — 4. The Council of Constance. — 5. Preaching of John Huss.— 6. Three of his hearers murdered.— 7. Character of Pope John the Twenty- third. — 8. John Huss summoned to attend the Council of Constance.— 9. Safe-conduct granted to him by the Emperor Sigismund —10. Triumphant progress of Huss through Germany. . . . • • CHAPTER XVI. CHARGES AGAINST JOHN HUSS. 1, Huss challenges all his enemies to meet him at Con- stance.— 2. He is courteously received by the Pope.— 3. Stephen Palletz and Michael de Causis.— 4. Hues appears before the cardinals.— 5. Huss is made pri- VI CONTENTS OF VOL. II. soner. — 6. He is confined in a castle and put in irons. — 7. The Bohemian nobles interfere in his behalf. — 8. Huss prepares for his trial. . • .19 CHAPTER XVII. THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. 1. Huss imitates the apostles in prison. — 2. Dissensions in the Council of Constance. — 3. Greatness of England asserted. — 4. Proceedings of the Council. — 5. The nobles of Bohemia again come forward. — 6. Indecorous and extraordinary scenes — Huss pursued with increased rancour. . . • . . .41 CHAPTER XVIII. ALLEGED OFFENCES OF JOHN HUSS. 1. Continuation of proceedings against Huss. — 2. John Gerson. — 3. Huss vindicates the propriety of appealing from an earthly tribunal to Christ. — 4. Huss a pictorial satirist. — 5, The emperor's safe-conduct no protection. — 6, Cruelty of Sigismund. — 7. Huss defends himself, but is not listened to. — 8. Epitome of his opinions. — 9. Harsh treatment of the reformer. — 10. An imperial disputant. — 11. Bodily sufferings of Huss while in prison. . . . . . .61 CHAPTER XIX. PROCEEDINGS AT CONSTANCE. I , Sittings of the Council continued. — 2. Palletz and De Causis assert the purity of their intentions. — CONTENTS OF VOL. II. Vll 3. Hubs sent back to prison. — 4. The Emperor Sigis- mund. — 5. Noble conduct of the Baron de Chlume. — 6. Gratitude of Hues. — 7. Visions of John Huss in prison. — 8. Brutal conduct of Palletz. — 9. Public en- tertainments at Constance while the Council is sitting. — 10. St. George's heart. — II. Wise and kind advice of the Baron de Chlume. — 12. John Huss on the dangers to be apprehended from women — His will. . 87 CHAPTER XX. CLOSE OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNCIL AGAINST JOHN HUSS. 1. Last appearance of John Huss before the Council. — 2. Preparations to degrade him. — 3. Sermon of blood. — 4. Huss again attempts to obtain a patient hearing, but in vain.— 5. He is sentenced to be degraded. — 6. His prayer to the Almighty treated with derision. . 109 CHAPTER XXI. THE MARTYRDOM OF JOHN HUSS. 1. The sentence of degradation carried into effect. — 2. Outrageous insults offered by the bishops. — 3. Huss is handed over to the civil power. — 4. Preparations for putting him to death.— 5. His books burnt.— 6. Psalms quoted by Huss on his way to the stake. — 7. His cheer- ful and resigned deportment in his last moments. — 8. He is burnt to ashes. — 9. Shame of the Emperor Sigismund. . . .... 129 viii CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAPTER XXII. JEROME OF PRAGUE. I. Early career of Jerome of Prague. — 2. Goes to Con- stance to assist Huss. — 3. Vindicates the principles maintained by his friend, and, preparing to return to Prague, is made prisoner. — 4. His challenge, and the answer to it. — 5. He boldly defends his faith. — 6. Hos- tile and outrageous conduct of the members of the Coun- cil when Jerome appears before them. — 7. He is sent to prison. — 8. An unhoped-for comforter. — 9. Severities experienced during his imprisonment. — 10. His resolu- tion fails beneath their infliction. — 11. Recantation of Jerome. — 12. Remorse of Jerome for having renounced his principles. — 13. Differences among the members of the Council as to Jerome's fate. — 14. New questions put to him which he refuses to answer in private. — 15. He is again brought before the Council. — 16. Addi- tional charges preferred. — 17. He eloquently defends himself. — 18. Description given of his speech and manner by Poggius, the Pope's secretary. — 19. Jerome recalls his recantation. .... 149 CHAPTER XXIII. CONDEMNATION OF JEROME. 1. The Council is indignant at Jerome's unexpected con- duct. — 2. He prepares for death — Refuses again to recant. — 3. The Council pronounce sentence. — 4. He is doomed to the stake. — 5, Jerome meets his fate with joyful courage. — 6. Description of his final sufferings. — 7. Inutility of religious persecution shown by the CONTENTS OF VOL. II. IX immediate consequences of Jerome's death. — 8. Decla- ration in favour of his principles. — 9. Rules laid down by the Council. ..... 193 CHAPTER XXIV. LORD COBHAM's FINAL PEKSECUTIONS AND DEATH. 1. Lord Cobham in exile. — 2. Continues to pursue the Lollards.— 3. "TheLanthorn of Light."— 4. Persecu- tion of Cleydon. — 5. Robert Holbech Chapel, Lord Cobham's chaplain, advocates church reform. — 6. He is pursued by the bishops, and reads his recantation at Paul's Cross. — 7. Lord Cobham's butler compelled to recant. — 8. False reports of Cobham's designs. — 9. Lord Powis seeks to capture Cobham, and succeeds after a desperate struggle. — 10. Lord Cobham brought from Wales to London. — 11. He defends himself before the House of Peers. — 12. Encounters great reproach and contumely. — 13. He is ordered for execution.— 14. Thanks of the House of Peers voted to Lord Powis. — 15. Lord Cobhara, undismayed, prepares to die. — 16. False reports of his behaviour. — 17. He is hjuiged and burnt at Tyburn. . . . 220 CHAPTER XXV. EMINENT WRITERS IN THE TIME OF HENRY THE FIFTH. 1. England famed for literature, arts, and sciences.— 2. Ste- phen Partington.— 3. Purvey.— 4. Various authors. . 206 Appendix ...... 271 'yrrv-r. v-i^vT CHAPTER XV. JOHN HUSS AND THE BOHEMIAN REFORMERS. 1. Proceedings of the new archbishop. — 2. He moves the king to make war on France. — 3, March of church reform in Bohemia. — 4. The Council of Constance. — 5, Preaching of John Huss. — 6. Three of his hearers murdered. — 7. Cha- racter of Pope John the Twenty-third. — 8. John Huss sum- moned to attend the Council of Constance, — 9. Safe-con- duct granted to him by the Emperor Sigismund.— 10. Tri- umphant progress of Huss through Germany. 1. Appointed by the favour of his sovereign, and fortified by the sanction of the pope, Chichely now felt himself secure. His authority established, he came to the resolution of proceeding, in a determined spi- rit, against those objects of incessant persecution — those reputed foes to the church — called *' Lollards.'* Stern and determined as his predecessor, he was more formidable, as he had credit for greater abilities, and had more command of temper. Though he had courted the occupant of the papal chair to get his own power confirmed, one of his first acts was against the jurisdiction of the pope. Vol. II. B 2 CHICHELY ADVOCATES WAR. A council was held in London to disannul the privilege, which had been granted to certain monasteries, of exception from episcopal control. Whether this, M'hich Walsingham calls " a ran- corous proceeding," was moved and carried at that time does not appear ; but another decision was come to shortly afterwards, still more fatal to the authority of John the Twenty-third. The lovers of military renown may contend that England owes a lasting debt of gratitude to Arch- bishop Chichely. If a fearful waste of human life — if a series of brilliant but useless conquests be desirable, it may with no small reason be main- tained, that to him we should ascribe the deathless fame of Henry the Fifth, and all the glories of Agincourt. 2. To engage the king in an enterprise suitable to his bold and aspiring nature, to guard against his being unduly moved by the groans of his sub- jects, and to make the nation forget the tyranny of priests at home, while their triumphant arms spread terror and dismay abroad, the cunning and elo- quence of Chichely were successfully employed. He urged the warlike monarch, in animated lan- guage, to revive the claim of Edward the Third to the crown of France. " Since," said he, " in the House of Lords, I owe all my power to your favour, gratitude, as well as duty, compels me to THE SALIC LAW, B propound what I think may promote the honour of so gracious a sovereign. You," he continued, '* administer justice to your people with a noble equity — you are illustrious in the arts of a peace- ful government; but the glory of a great king consists not so much in a reign of serenity and plenty, as in the enlargement of his dominions, especially where the assertion of his rights calls him out to war, and justice, not ambition, au- thorises conquest. Your majesty ought to wear the crown of France, of right descending to you from your illustrious predecessor Edward the Third. That valiant king openly challenged his right by ambassadors j and when the French en- deavoured to elude it, by a pretended Salic law, he bravely applied himself to gain by arms what he could not obtain by treaty. You have the same right to demand the crown, and the same right to make war on a refusal," He then proceeded to expose the fallacy of the plea, that the Salic law was made by Pharamcnd, the founder of the monarchy, contending that it had no name or being till four centuries after that monarch's death, when, Charlemagne returning from the conquest of the Saxons, part of his army, passing the Sala, seated themselves between that river and the Elbe, and from the name of the former were called the Salic Gauls, That colony, detesting the manners b2 4 WAR DECLARED. of the German women, made a law that none of that sex should inherit lands within the bounds of their little governraeat, " But what," he de- manded, " is that to France ? How will the French persuade us that by virtue of that law the crown must not descend to the daughter of any of their kings, if they do not first prove their country to be situate between those two German rivers?" Pui*suing this course of argument, he went on to say that the French alone violated the statutes of Heaven, in denying that the crown of right de- scended from Isabella, King Henry ^s great grand- mother, to him J and, in conclusion, he added that to recover it the clergy had granted him &uch a sum as bad never been placed at the disposal of his pre- decessors J besides the customary further aid of their prayers for the success of his arms. Though opposed by the Earl of Westmoreland, Chichely's eloquence prevailed. The king and his brothers, eager for glory and impatient to signalize themselves in fight, favoured the views of this "mi- nister of peace," and war was declared. It is not necessary here to follow Henry through the stormy scenes which succeeded. The inva- sion of France, the failure and distress of the English, and their final triumph, are among the historical events most familiarly known to every reader. cobham corrksponds with John huss. 6 3. We turn to other matters, and now a scene, most memorable and sad, opens before us. The opinions of Wickliflfe, which Lord Cobham had so resolutely espoused, had found their way into various countries ; and he had corresponded with the cele- brated Bohemian, John Huss, who defended the faith he avowed, and propagated it with all the courage and constancy of his friend. His influence, joined to that of Cobham, gave circulation to Wickliffe's opinions in Bohemia, France, Spain, and Germany. The anxiety of Huss that truth should prevail was gratified by the English reform- er, who had many copies made of Wickliffe^s works for foreign circulation. We shall see that, powerful as the enemies of Cobham had proved, if possible, a still more fearful phalanx was arrayed against Huss, which, not content with the mighty force they possessed, did not scruple to employ for his destruc- tion the meanest artifice and the most heartless fraud. This was done, not by the malice of a single man, or a single nation, but by eminent dig- nitaries, representing the Christian States, and with the sanction of monarchs, where all that was great and singularly pious in Christendom was supposed to be congregated to regulate the affairs of the Catholic Church, and to declare to the whole world what was most agreeable to God. Such was the tribunal before which the Bohemian b3 6 THE COUNCIL OF GONSTAlS'^ife* was content to appear, and by wliose mbumaB ^e^ creehe v>'as erentually to falL 4. The CouneiJ of Constance presents one of those scenes which painfully remind tlie reflecting reader of tli^e weakness of man. We see in it the illttstriou& by birthj. the exalted in station^ the eminent for learning, and^ above ally the famed for sanctity^ labouring^ through many wearisome dsys^ to exhibit to the world at last a mass of folly hardly equalled in the history of the species ^ — of folly, rendered more hateful by bloodthirsty vvratli^ wliere, had but the shadow of right beevi on their side, pity ought to have prevailed. Added to thaty we behold impotent vengeance^pur&uing in the grave the mouldering remains of the honoured dead. To repeat all that is recorded of the Council of Constance, would be to produce a ponderous vo- lume which would interest few save churchmen ; but not to glance at it slightly, would be to with- hold requisite information, bearing on the great cause in which Cobham bad embarked. It will be attempted to present a general view of what was proposed and done^ avoiding the prolixity of the old histories, but giving copious details of the most curious and affecting incidents. The great object in assembling this celebrated council, was to decide which of three pretenders to the papal chair should be regarded as the true pope. EARLY CAREER OF JOHN HUSS. 7 John the Twen-ty-third, it has been seen, had been recognised by England, on the occasion of Chichely being installed in the see of Canterbuiy. Pedro de Luna, or Benedict the Thirteenth, however, and Angeli Corario, or Gregory the Twelfth, were both living, and both determined on persevering in their claims to supreme authority in the Christian world. 5. The opinions of Wickliffe had made great progress in Bohemia at the beginning of the fifteenth century. The Queen of Richard the Second, returning to her native country after the death of that monarch, with her attendants, young as she was, is believed to have carried with her the religious principles of the English reformer. There they were welcomed by many of the Bohemian nobles, and soon became popular from the eloquence and power with which they were advocatf?d by John Huss. His blameless life and unquestionable piety gave him prodigious influence among his countrymen, and his course through many years was well fitted to render illustrious the career of a saint or a martyr. In 1401 he was appointed President of the faculty of Philosophy, in the University of Prague. The year before, he had been named confessor to Sophia of Bavaria, Queen of Bohemia, His celebrity increased, and, a wealthy citizen having built and endowed a chapel at Prague, which was called ^' Bethlehem," 8 SERMONS APPLAUDED* his preachings there drew together large congre- gations, before whom his growing zeal against the frauds and exactions of the Roman Catholic Church was manifested from time to time. His sermons denouncing crusades, indulg^ences, and excommuni- cations, suited the spirit of the times. They were listened to with breathless reverential attention, and often received with transports of applause, such as have not in later times been permitted to be mani- fested in places of worship* He pursued this course for a considerable period, without encountering any censure or obgtruction. Subinco, the Archbishop of Prague, was negli- gent or indulgent, and reported in 1408 that the kingdom under his superintendence was, in matters of doctrine, wholly free from blemish* A fierce contest arose in the university, and the part which the patriotism of Huss led him to take in it, at once fixed upon him the attention of the pope* The German students had been allowed a greater share in the government of that seminary of learning, than the Bohemians thought ought to be trusted in their hands. Huss joined with the latter, in claiming for them those dignities and emoluments which the Germans had enjoyed* An appeal was made to the king, and he, influenced, as it was be- lieved, by the eloquence and zeal of John Hiiss, decided in favour of the Boliemians* THREE HUSSITES PUT TO DEATH, 9 6. The disturbed state of the Roman Church at that period was extremely perplexing to all who desired to be good Catholics, Nothing could be more fierce than the stiniggles of contending parties for the papal seat, Huss opposed Gregory the Twelfth, and this caused a decree to be issued against the followers of the Bohemian divine. In 1411 John the Twenty-third caused a crusade to be preached against Ladislaus King of Naples, This formidable step was sternly opposed by Huss. From his pulpit he declared that it was profane mockery of a holy symbol, to parade the cross ill a cause so unhallowed. The impression made by discourses of this description was suchy that the enthusiasm of some of his hearers broke out in furious and menacing exclamations. By order of the senate three of the offenders were seized, and privately put to death. But the foul act could not be concealed^ and the exa&perated populace, now spurning all control, rose e7i masse, and^ burst- ing the prison-doors, seized the bodies of their slaughtered fellows, and carried them in mourn- ful triumph to the several churches in the city, chanting a requiem in honour of the departed, on their way. Finally, they buried them in Bethle- hem chapel, the scene of John Huss's ministerial labours. The victims were no longer seen, but their fate was not forgotten, and many disturbances 10 JOHN THE TWENTY-THIRD. occurred of which religion, or differences which arose in its name, were the cause. 7. Balthazar Cossa, under the title of John the Twenty-third, as already mentioned, then filled the papal chair, and exercised the authority of pope. He was recognised by many bishops of different Christian countries; Pedro de Luna and Angeli Corario had severally their adherents, but their numbers and influence were not equal to those who favoured John, However questionable their claim might be, the same horrid catalogue of crimes was not charged against either which were said to dis- qualify him. From the deUberations of the council John the Twenty-third had little to hope, but his power was already so shaken, that he saw it would be impossible to prevent the inquiry he dreaded, and, therefore, deemed it policy to sanction, with apparent good will, what he could not avoid. He, however, evinced some misgivings as to the treatment he might personally receive, which prove that he knew right well the character of those with whom he had to treat. He at first re- solved never to trust himself in any place which was under the control of the Emperor Sigismund, but subsequently gave way, and soon repented that he had done so. The result was, that he consented, on the representations of the emperor, to summon a general council at Constance, Besides the safe- MEETING OF THE COUNCIL. 11 conduct granted to others, he stipulated that the syndics and magistrates of Constance should bind themselves by oath to receive him with all the honours rendered to the popes his predecessors ; to guarantee that he should have the full exercise of his authority, and be permitted to come and go at his pleasure unmolested. The council met in the great church at Con- stance, in November, 1414, and created a most extraordinary sensation throughout Europe. We read with amazement the accounts which have come down to us of the multitudes that were present. Fox thus enumerates them : — '^ Prelates assembled in council — three thousand nine hundred and forty, of which three hundred and forty-six were archbishops and bishops. " Secular men, including princes, dukes, earls, knights, and esquires, — sixteen thousand. " Besides common women belonging to the same council, four hundred and fifty. '^ Six hundred barbers, and three hundred and twenty minstrels, cooks, and jesters." The total number of strangers brought together in that city at one period, was calculated to amount to no fewer than sixty thousand five hundred persons. 8. Though to settle the claims of the candidates for the papal chair, was really, as well as ostensibly, the cause of the council being assembled, those who 12 HUSS SUMMONED TO CONSTANCE. met there were most anxious to avail themselves of its sanction to crush that doctrine which Wickliffe had promulgated, and which Lord Cobham had never ceased to advocate. The fame which John Huss had gained in Bohemia, his native land, caused the spread of " Wickliffe learning " to be rapid, and the impression made by the solemn truths which he preached was most striking and profound. Before the council had opened its sessions, measures were taken for calling upon Huss to appear before it. The Emperor Sigismund sent to him, requiring him to attend at Constance to clear himself of certain errors imputed to him. Huss had no wish to shrink from the defence of those opinions which it was his greatest glory, as he thought it was his most sacred duty, to avow. He was encouraged to believe that in doing so he ran no personal risk, as, before setting out, he re- ceived a safe-conduct from Sigismund, which ap- peared so full and so satisfactory, that he must have been more than ordinarily suspicious, could he have imagined that it covered any latent design against his life and liberty. It ran thus : — 9. " Sigismund, by the grace of God King of the Romans, of Hungary and Denmark, Croatia, &c. " To all princes, ecclesiastical and secular, dukes, marquesses, earls, barons, captains, boroughmasters, THE emperor's SAFE-CONDUCT. 13 judges, and governors, and unto all rulers of the commonality, and generally to all the subjects of our empire to whom these letters shall come, grace and goodness. " We charge and command you all, that you have respect unto John Huss, who is departed out of Bohemia to come to the general council, which shall be celebrated and held in the city of Constance. The said John Huss we have received under our protection and safeguard of the whole empire ; desiring you that you will cheerfully re- ceive him when he shall come toward you, and that you entreat and handle him gently ; showing him favour and good will, and pleasuring him in all things, as touching the forwardness, ease, and as- surance of his journey, as well by land as by water. Moreover, we will that he and all his company, with his carriage and necessaries, shall pass through all places, passages, ports, bridges, lands, govern- ances, lordships, liberties, cities, towns, burgages, castles, and villages, and all other your dominions, without paying any manner of imposition or Dane money, peage tribute, or any other description of toll whatever. " We will, also, that you suffer him to pass, rest, tarry, and to sojourn at liberty, without doing unto him any manner of impeachment, or vexation, or trouble ; and that, if need shall so require, you do Vol. II. c 14 HUSS DEFIES HIS ACCtJSERS. provide a faithful company to conduct him withaT,. for the honour and reverence which you owe unto onr imperial majesty. Given at Spire, the 18th October, in the year of our Lord God, 1414." A document like this, manifesting^ such care for his person, and even kindly anxiety to spare him expensej was well calculated to ini?pire the Bo- hemian with confidence in the benevolent disposi- tion of the emperor. Huss, though malignantly assailed in his own country, had defied the slan- derers to come forward as public accusers, and they had feared to take up the gauntlet which he boldly threw down. This bred in his mind a conviction^ that to brave danger was the readiest way to tri- umph over it; and, strong in the goodness of his cause, as well as in the promised support of many Bohemian nobles and other powerful friends, he looked forward to the result of his appearing before the council, as one that would be honourable to himself, and in a high degree serviceable to that faith in which it was his firm resolution to live and die. He was, in fact, proud of the opportunity about to be afi"orded of vindicating the truths he had taught. Though he frequently expressed himself willing to lay down his life in the cause, he could not rationally apprehend that his constancy was likely to be put to a test so awfully severe, by his ACCUSERS INVITED. 15 journey to Constance. He was anxious to give every publicity to his intentions. Ardent in the cause, and conscious of his powers, he openly in- vited all who had anything to charge against him to come forward there. In various parts of the city of Prague, before setting out, he caused the following notice to be posted : — '•' Master John PIuss, Bachelor of Divinity, will appear before the most reverend father the Lord Conrad, Archbishop of Prague, and Legate of the Apostolic seat, in the next convocation of all the prelates and clergy of the khigdom of Bohemia ; being ready alwaj^s to satisfy all men who shall re- quire him to give a reason for the faith and hope that he holdeth ; and to hear and see all such as will lay to his charge either any stubbornness of error or heresy, that they should write in their names there, as is required both by God's laws and man's. And if they cannot lay»fully j^rove any stubbornness of error or heresy against him, that then they should suffer the lilce punishment which he should have endured, unto whom, alto- gather, he will elsewhere, at the next general council at Constance, before the archbishop and the pre- lates, and accorduig to the decrees and canons of the holy fathers, show forth his innocence in the name of Christ. Dated the Sunday next after the feast of St. Bartholomew." c2 16 HUSS VINDICATES HIMSELF. Huss was the more emboldened to take this course, from the circumstance of his having already so far succeeded in vindicating his conduct before the Bishop of Nazareth, who was appointed to inquire into his alleged heresies, as to obtain from him a declaration, bearing date August 13th, 1414, that he had appeared to meet any one who was prepared to call his opinions in question, which challenge had not been answered. He endeavoured to go farther. The barons of Bohemia assembled in the abbey of St. James. John Huss petitioned that, if the archbishop suspected him of holding any heretical opinions, he should declare the same openly. The archbishop replied that he did not know that Huss was in any respect culpable, and had only to commend to him that he should answer what had been urged against him elsewhere. A meeting of the prelates and clergy was held at the archbishop's court, and thither Huss re- solved upon sending a doctor of decretals and procurer, John Jesenitz, requiring that he might be heard as counsel for him, or that Huss might ap- pear in person. This was peremptorily refused. A protest, duly witnessed on the occasion, was en- tered on his behalf. He attached great importance to providing himself with evidence to show that he had, on eve 7 occasion, invited the most searching inquiry into the faith that he held. HUSS SETS OUT FOR CONSTANCE. 17 10. If such were the hopes by which he was sustained and cheered before the commencement of Ills expedition, they were nothing abated as he pro- ■ceeded on his way. He was hailed by many of his countrymen as one who had exerted superior talents in a righteous cause ; but it was not till he entered Germany that he learned how much greater his fame was in foreign parts. In every city mul- titudes came forth to greet him. His acknowledged learning, his blameless life, and his dauntless courage, were the themes of universal admiration. If this cordial greeting flattered and gratified the man, truly soothing and delightful must it have been to the heart of th^ minister. He had believed himself the chosen instrument of Heaven to open the eyes of his fellow-creatures, and to lead them into the right path. His heart naturally expanded with the purest delight, when he saw, from the vast, aflectionate, and reverential excitement which pre- vailed, how important his labours were likely to prove ; and sincerely must he have felt with the apostle, that ^^ to die in such a cause would to him be gain." Could the Bohemian be suspected of vanity, the veneration and applause which everywhere marked his advance would have gratified the most arrogant eror, king, and cardinal not excepted, — who should disturb the council with any manner of noise, by hand, foot, or voice." HUSS PROMISED A HEARING. 53 The second representation made by the nobles of Bohemia in favour of Huss was not passed over unnoticed. In the name of the council, the Patri- arch of Antioch took upon himself to reply, that injustice should not be done, and that, if the ad- versaries of the Bohemian had brought charges against him which were unfounded, the result would be to cover them with ignominy. But a peremptory refusal answered the request which had been pressed, to liberate liim on security being given for his appearance. To that, he said, the council could not agree, in this man's case, since the prisoner was one on whose faith or credit no reliance could be placed. He however promised that Huss should be brought to Constance and permitted fully to speak his mind before the council. The assurance that he should be heard was deemed an important concession. At one time, the venerable and sacred persons who formed the council entertained the monstrous thought of con- demning John Huss, unseen and unheard, on the mere view of his writings, or on the evidence which I'elentless enemies volunteered against him. And such a course they held to be consistent with religion, and likely to gratify a God of mercy, whose name, by such horrors, they de- clared, with sickening blasphemy, it was their f3 54 APPEAL OF THE BOHEMIAN NOBLES. sole object " to glorify." To glorify ! — as if the purity, before which " all our righteousness ii* but as filthy rags/' could derive new lustre from mortal cruelty, rendered more odious by associa- tion with pretended adoration of everlasting be- nevolence ! On the same day on which the nobles received the answer of the patriarch, they made a suppli- catory representation to the Emperor Sigismund, in which they set forth the appeal they had for- warded to the council, with " one mind, consent, and accord," in favour of Huss. In conclusion, they said, — ■ ''We, therefore, most humbly require and pray \ our princely majesty, that, both for the love of justice, and also the fair renown of the famous land of Bohemia, whereof we acknowledge you the undoubted true lord and heir successor, you, looking to the import of your safe-conduct, will favourably countenance the mo&t reasonable and just supplication made to the council aforesaid, and lend your helping hand that they may effectually liear us. And lest the enemy of the fame and renown of Bohemia should hereafter slander us by saying we have urged an unreasonable prayer, we have desired that they would be pleased to authorise our said supplication, by setting their hand and seal to it; and we most earnestly pray VIOLATION OF GOOD FAITH. 55 your highness, in like manner, that you will vouch- safe to give us your testimony." To this proper and very respectful application the emperor gave no answer. Already his resolu- tion had begun to waver, or he had made up his mind that no faith was to be kept with one accused of heresy, and that the honour of a great mo- narch could not be tarnished by quibbling fraud and cold-hearted treachery. The 5th day of June was named by the Patri- arch of Antioch for bringing John Huss before the council, when he promised those who had in- terested themselves in his behalf, that he should have free liberty to speak his mind, and " be lovingly and gently heard." In the convent of Franciscans on that day, the cardinals, bishops, and priests assembled in great numbers, and in awful form ; and, notwithstanding the promise that had been made, it was proposed that, before John Huss was admitted to their presence, they should decide on the articles which they had gathered from his books, and on the answers which they had already received. This flagrant violation of good faith seemed about to be resolved upon, when a notary, one Peter Mlademewitz, who had much regard for Huss, hastened to make the Baron de Chlume and his friends acquainted with what was intended. They lost no time in communicating it 56 OUTRAGEOUS CONDUCT OF THE COUNCIL. to the emperor, and, in that instance, so effectual were their representations, that Sigismund, Louis the County Palatine of Heidelberg, and the Lord Frederick Burgrave of Nuremberg, declared that nothing should be done against Huss by the coun- cil in his absence, and, in consequence, the pro- ceedings were suspended. The Baron de Chlume and another of his friends humanely endeavoured to improve the time thus gained, by forwarding a digest of the opinions en- tertained by Huss, to the princes who had inter- fered, and to several members of the Council. These epitomes were transmitted to the cardinals and bishops, and on the following day, when their author next appeared before the Council, they were produced against him. Strong in the recti- tude of his intentions, he met the charge without any symptoms of shrinking alarm, and avowed that he had written the matter objected to. 6. Most extraordinary was the scene which fol- lowed. In these times a tumult in a court of justice, though only in approbation of a righteous decision, is uniformly reprehended as a sin against decorum j but in the Council of Constance, the members of which claimed reverence for their sanctity, the disorder which prevailed, after the first article had been read against Huss, was so great, that the prisoner in vain attempted to speak, JOHN HUSS SILENCED. 57 and the defence, on which he had confidently relied, drawn as it was from Scripture, was refused a hearing. He manfully strove against the op- position, formidable and overpowering as it was ; but, if he for a moment succeeded in raising his voice above the clamour, an insulting sneer im- mediately interrupted the unfortunate speaker, and a yell of fiendlike triumph rendered it impossible for him to proceed with any hope of being listened to, by those whom he had weakly imagined were not inaccessible to reason, and not insensible to, or un- mindful of, the claims of justice and religion. Huss often renewed the attempt to make his true senti- ments known, but to no purpose ; and he at length abandoned it in despair, and stood silent before the Council. Great was the general exultation then. ** He is dumb," " He can no longer pretend to defend his damnable errors," were the cries which burst forth in that " sacred assembly," as it was called. These at length subsided, and an air of modera- tion was assumed. In the excited state of the Council, it was resolved to proceed no further at that time. The prisoner was ordered to be re- moved, and to be brought up again the next day. On the 7th of July the fate of this good man and intrepid reformer was to be decided. An al- most total eclipse of the sun occurred, but this celes- tial sign, though viewed with awe, did not induce 58 AN ECLIPSE. the cardinals and bishops to relax in the pursuit of the victim they had enthralled. Far from regard- ing it as an indication of Divine wrath, when the great orb of light regained its wonted lustre, they conceived it but to figure that thus should the church regain all its pristine splendour, when the gloom of reform should be subdued by the destruc- tion of its generous advocate, Huss. At an early hour the council resumed its sitting, and the prisoner, es- corted by a body of armed men, was brought before them. The charges previously exhibited were then repeated; and some of the Bohemian priests spoke to his having publicly maintained those opinions which were denounced as errors. He solemnly de- nied that they were his. Questioned on the subject of the sacrament, he admitted that after consecra- tion the bread used in it became the body of Christ, but still considering that in one sense it remained bread. He was accused of crafty evasion, and taunted with imitating the artful shiftings of Wickliffe. Two of the English prelates pressed him closely on this point. Huss admitted, what many subsequent reformers could never be brought to comprehend, — that the bread used became the identical body of the Saviour, which was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered death on the cross, and rose from the grave to sit on the right hand of God ; but this was not going far enough for his examiners, who held that, FALSE CHARGES. 59 because he did not consider the bread to be wholly annihilated, he meant to maintain the fearful heresy that material bread still remained after the solemn, sanctifying words had been pronounced. One Stokes, an Englishman, supported this charge, and decared to the Council that, being at Prague, he had seen a treatise which was ascribed to Huss, and therein it was positively affirmed that mate- rial bread existed, though consecration had been performed. Huss pointedly declared, but with reverend courtesy to the witness, that he had written no such work. The priests severally made oath that the evidence they had previously given was correct j and one of them, named John Protyway, a parish-priest of Prague, added that Huss had spoken disparagingly of the authority of St. Gregory. Huss strongly denied it, and said he had ever held St. Gregory to be a most holy doctor of the church, and a virtuous man. This had no effect on his judges. His case was truly hopeless. If he stated his thoughts to be in unison with theirs, he was accused of craft and dissimula- tion ; and if he differed from them, he was con- demned for obstinacy and error. The man accused of heresy was not to be endured by such judges. Even where they wrung from weakness the submission demanded, still they re- mained unsatisfied. Offers of pardon were reite- 60 CRUEL JUDGES. rated to the last moment of the sufferer's life ; but the victim had good reason to apprehend, that, if it were accepted, he could hardly escape. The enemies of reform thirsted for blood, and the .un- happy man who attempted to escape from their grasp was still rancorously pursued. His footsteps were unceasingly watched by the instruments of persecution, who were ready to magnify the slight- est offence into an enormous crime. Sometimes those who recanted were detained in prison, and subjected to a series of hardships and indignities, which rendered the life they retained valueless. A knowledge of these facts possibly rendered Huss and others more steadfast than they might else have been found. There can, however, be no doubt that the Bohemian's heart was sincerely engaged in the cause, and his firmness could neither be shaken by temptation or danger. THE CARDINAL OF FLORENCE. 61 CHAPTER XYIII. ALLEGED OFFENCES OF JOHN HUSS. t. Continuation of proceedings against Huss. — 2. John Gei- son. — ^3. Husa vindicates the propriety of appealing from an earthly tribunal to Christ. — 4. Huss a pictorial satirist. — 5. The emperor's safe-conduct no protection. — 6, Cruelty of Sigisinund. — 7. Huss defends himself, but is not listened to. — 8. Epitome of his opinions.— 9. Harsh treatment of the reformer.- — 10. An imperial disputant. — 11. Bodily suffer- ings of Huss while in prison. 1. Few minds could have continued so long die unequal struggle. With every display of power and authority, and every disposition in connexion with the former to exercise the latter with measure- less severity, the council could not intimidate or silence one patient but determined man. He was insultingly mocked as an enemy to truth. The Cardinal of Florence expressed vast surprise that Huss should expect to gain credence, when he im- pugned the testimony of so many good men. *' I take God and my conscience to witness,'^ the prisoner earnestly replied, "that these men have not Vol. II. G 62 THE WITNESSES AGAINST HUSS. feared to allege against me that which they never heard. Were they as many more in number as they are, much more^ and beyond all comparison, should I esteem the witness of my Lord God/' The cardinal answered him by declaring that the council must act, not on his declarations, but on the facts proved by unexceptionable evidence. He was satisfied that the witnesses bore him no malice ; and remarked in particular that Stephen Palletz, who had been charged with misrepresent- ing his opinions by garbling his writings, he (the cardinal) considered, far from doing so, had, in many instances, softened down passages to favour him. A like charge, he said, had been with equfeil injustice preferred against several eminent men, and, amongst others, against Gerson the Chancellor of Paris, ^' than whom," added the cardinal, " there is not a more excellent, pious, and Christian man in the whole world." 2. If infuriated bigotry, if a raging desire to shed the blood of those he deemed in error, consti- tute a claim to piety, John Gerson merited the panegyric of the Cardinal of Florence. He held, that to draw the sword of justice against heretics was an act of mercy, as well as a duty. The in- activity of Wenceslaus King of Bohemia, while the new principles were making rapid conquests of the hearts of his subjects, Gerfon, and those who JOHN OERSOX. G3 thought with him, fiercely condemned as an in- stance of impious negligence. However clearly it was shown that reform was wanted in the church, he could not for a moment, even while constrained 10 admit its necessity, be induced to regard with complacency the labours of Huss, and of his friend and pupil Jerome. The doctrines attributed to the Bohemian were formally condemned by the university of Paris, acting under the influence of Gerson. His signature authorised the public act. In this furious document it was admitted that there was ample room for reform in the church, notwithstanding that by him it was opposed with Buch steadfast resolution. ** Though there ap- pears," says this act, ^* on the part of these heretics, some zeal against the vices of the bishops, whichy in truth, are very great and manifest, still their zeal is defective, as it is not sufficiently enlight- ened. A discreet mind tolerates and deplores the gins which it finds in the house of God, when it cannot altogether remove them. It however is impossible to correct vice by vice, and error by error ; as the devil is not expelled by Beelzebub, but by the spirit of the Almighty, whose will it is that the correction of abuses be undertaken with great prudence and due regard to existing circum- stances." Gjrson was learned and ingenious, and, in the g2 64 estimation of many, intrepid, and eminently pious* But he was of opinion that tlie name of religion could be properly used, by artifice, to form a snare for those who, unsuspectingly, might too readily believe what they were told by their king or their bishop. Of this we have a pregnant instance in the harangue made by him, in the name of the university of Paris, to King Charles the Sixth and all his council, setting forth the principles by which both the king and the kingdom ought to be governed.* Huss was formally arraigned before the council for teaching and defendino; certain erroneous doc- trines, and more especially for favouring the opinions of Wickliffe, even though he knev/ them to be condemned at Rome. He answered with great readiness, denying that he was guilty of what had been urged asrainst him. Tf Wickliffe had sowed errors in Enoland, he considered the Eno;- * " Qui n'a foy a Dieu, son souverain Seigneur, et a sry mesmes, comme la gardera il a autruy. Qui sibi nequam cui bonus? Exemple, notez in historia tripartita, comment Con- stantin esprouva ses bons amis : II fist crier, que tous ceux qu i voudroient renier la loy et foy Crestienne seroient ses bons amis et prochains conseillers; les aulres s'en partirent tantost. Plusieurs renierent la loy: aucun s'en partirent en h, gardant. Constantin mua sa sentence : il retint les loyaux a Dieu, en disant, ' Si vous ne gardez foy a vostre Dieu, quelle esperance doy-ie avoir que loyaut6 vous me faciez ?' " wickliffe's works burnt. 65 lisli ought to look to that ; but, for his own part, those opinions of Wickliffe with which he was ac- quainted were such as he durst not condemn. The undiscriuiinating fury with which the writ- ings of that eminent man had been pursued, he did not fear to expose and reprehend. Many doctors of Prague, he affirmed, held parts of them in great respect; but in consequence of an order from the Pope, that all men should give up Wickliffe's books, he, when it was intended to burn them at Prague, had presented such as he had to the arch- bishop, and requested him, if he found any errors or heresy in them, to mark the same, and he would publish them to the world; but the archbishop, instead of complying with his request, had com- mitted the works of the English reformer to the flames without reading them. The bull, or order, under which this was done, was said to have been pi'ocured, by artful misrepresentations, from Pope Alexander the Fifth ; and a representation was made by many of the members of the university of Prague, to stay the proceedings under it. An appeal to the king on this subject met with a favourable reception, and the archbishop, in obedience to the royal will, consented to let the matter rest till the books had been further examined. How he kept his promise we learn from what Huss thought it pertinent to mention while before the council. a3 66 wickliffe's works supplied by cobham. 3. " After this," said he, " Pope Alexander the Fifth being dead, the archbishop, fearing lest the bull received from him would not continue in force under the new pontiff, called his adherents about hira, and, shutting the gates of his court, being guardetl by soldiers, he burned all Wickliffe's books which had been there collected, and com- manded that, from that time forward, no man should teach in chapels under pain of excommu- nication. Thereupon," he continued, "I desired to appeal to Pope Alexander, but, he being dead, I appealed to his successor. At Rome, for the space of two 3'^ears, ray advocates applied for a hearing in vain. Then did I appeal to the high judge of all, even to Jesus Christ." Huss had been well supplied with the writings of the English reformer. They were prepared and sent for him by Lord Cobham. Not fewer tlian two hundred volumes are recorded to have been for- warded to him for perusal and distribution, — a splendid instance of the generosity, as well as of the zeal, of the English champion of religion, purified from the vices by which impious men had laboured but too successfully to degrade it. A question was raised as to the lawfulness of the appeal he stated himself to have made to the Savi- our of man. The prisoner ably defended it by a reference to what was done in earthly courts; and WICKLIFFe's PHTLOSOPHTCAL WHITINGS. 67 as, there, nothing was more common than, in a case where wrong was done by an inferior judt^e, to appeal to higher authority, he contended that nothing could be more correct than for one suffer- ing, like himself, under an earthly judge, to appeal to Jesus Christ. But this reasoning was treated with scorn, as puerile in the extreme; and it was now alleged that he had, on many occasions, sounded the praises of the English heretic Wickliffe. Among other things, it was said he had declared that once, when he was confronted by his enemies in a church, the door burst open, and they were in great danger of being destroyed by a vivid blast of lightning; and such was his conviction that the detested Wick- liffe was the favourite of Heaven, that he had been heard to wish his soul miglu reach the same place where, he felt assured, the spirit of the English re- former reposed. That he had spoken to this eiiect, he could not deny ; but, in explanation, he told the council that, njany years before any of his writings on divinity found their way into Bohemia, he had seen certain works on philosophy from his pen, which he greatly admired, and, when informed of the goodly life which their author had led, he had then ex- pressed doubt whether such a man could be damned, 68 MIRTH OF THE COUNCIL. and wished his own soul might be admitted to the same place where that of WicklifFe was. Such an admission was a great triumph to his accusers ; and, forgetful of all decorum, they mocked the speaker with a burst of laughter. To suppose WicklifFc's ideas on any subject could be rational and good, they held to be a gross absurd- ity ; and to doubt that a preacher so much out of favour with them, now that he was in his grave, could be other than doomed to everlasting perdi- tion, was an extravagance so outrageous, that it provoked their mirth. One really serious charoe was brought against Huss. It was this, — that he had counselled his hearers, after the example of Moses, that every man should resist with the sword all who might be found to oppose the doctrines he taught ; that bro- ther should not spare brother, nor neighbour neigh- bour. He strongly denied that he had acted such a part, or advised his congregation to assume other armour than that commended by the apostle — the sword and helmet of salvation. Of a material sword he had never spoken. The charge, never- theless, was pressed ; and it was asserted that the clergy of Bohemia had been despoiled, and reduced to great distress, in consequence of his preaching. A doctor, named Naso, who had been in the court HUSS A SATIRIST. 69 of King Wenceslaus, came forward to support this accusation ; and the Cardinal of Cambray, one of the judges, declared he had had the fact several years before from the lips of certain Bohemian pre- lates. Huss repeated his denial, but owned that he had approved of some of the resolutions of the king, which had been condemned at Rome. 4. One offence, which had greatly outraged the Pope and those who were now joining with him to put down heresy, and which had contributed in no slight degree to the gall and rancour which swelled their hearts, was not forgotten on this occasion. It appears, certain pictures had been produced by him, or at his suggestion. One qualification Huss possessed, which it is not very common to find associated with meekness and devotion like his : he had a keen sense of the ridiculous, and was a pow- erful satirist. His enemies writhed under his lash. They were outrageously indignant at the paintings in question, which placed the Pope and his cardi- nals in a situation so exquisitely farcical, that, to all but those whose interests were bound up with theirs, it afforded infinite amusement. It repre- sented the entrance of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, riding on an ass's colt, in juxta-posltion with the entrance of the Pope upon the duties of his high office, surrounded by all the pomp which mean worldly vanity could imagine or create. The for- 70 THE CARDINAL OF C-WIBRAV. mer exhibited the Saviour, sln^ple, august, and glorious, though encompassed with everything tliat might image extreme poverty ; the latter, with all the gorgeous trappings of overgrown pride, made the representative of St. Peter appear most con- temptible. Could an artist desire a richer subject for his pencil? Could a satirist hope to see his shafts more worthily sped ? 5. Again and again the misdeeds above men- tioned were laid to his charge. His answers were met with cold derision, or indignant reproof. Weary at length of the exercise of their tormenting powers, it was resolved to close the proceedings for the day, and to place the prisoner in the custody of the Bishop of Rigen. He was about to be removed, when the Cardinal of Cambray desired him to remain, and addressed him to the following effect : ** John Huss, I have heard that you say, had you not been disposed, of your own accord, to come to Constance, neither the King of Bohemia, nor the emperor himself, could have compelled you to do so." " Most reverend fathers,'* Huss replied, " such language I never used ; but this I did say, — that there was in Bohemia a great number of nobles and gentlemen who favoured and loved me, and who might have concealed me in some secret place, that I could not have been easily constrained to THE BARON DE CHLUME. 71 appear before the council, by the king or the em- peror." At hearing this, though Huss spoke in a sub- dued tone, and with much meekness of deportment, the cardinal is described to have turned pale with rage, and the angry murmurs of the council were stern and loud. Thereupon, the cardinal, finding their sentiments perfectly in unison with his own, exclaimed, — " Behold the shameless effrontery of this man T' Unawed by the rising storm, and anxious only to perform his duty towards the friend he loved, the Baron de Chlume here generously stepped for- ward to offer his testimony on behalf of Huss. ** He has spoken no m' re than the truth," said he; ''for I, who, in comparison with many others, am but an insignificant per>on in the kingdom of Bohemia, I could have defended him safely, for one year, against all the force of tho e great and mighty monarchs, if I would have taken it in hand. How much more effectually, then, might he have been protected by others, who, with infinite kindly feeling for him, possessed castles of infinitely greater strength than any I can ckim !" The cardinal was a little taken by surprise, and somewhat baffled. He cared not to provoke fur- ther the gallant zeal of De Chlume, and therefore, intimating that it mi<;ht be well to change the sub- *7'2 THE EMPEROR^S DECLARATION. ject, he took the tone of a stern but friendly moni* tor, and, reminding Huss that in prison he had promised to submit to the wisdom and authority of the council, assured him that to do so with perfect resignation would tend both to his profit and honour. In this language there was something which would have frightened a timid, half -resolved re- former into trembling submission ; but a still more severe trial remained for the poor beleaguered Bo- hemian. The emperor, deeming it of importance to possess the good will of the cardinals and bishops who took the lead in the council, now distinctly intimated to the destined victim that his imperial mind was made up to forfeit his mortal honour, and to trifle with his future salvation. He took upon himself to support the cardinal's recommenda- tion, and, directing his speech to the prisoner, de- livered himself to the following effect : — 6. " Though some there are who say that it was on the fifteenth day after your imprisonment that you obtained our letters of safe-conduct, it can be proved, by the testimony of many princes and noblemen, that they were obtained for you before vou left Prague. We gave ihem, that, under their protection, none might harm you on your way hither, but that you n.ight have liberty to speak freely before all the council, and to answer touching HUSS THREATENED BY THE EMPEROR. 73 your faith and doctrine ; and, as you see, the lords, and cardinals, and bishops have so dealt with you that we do very well perceive their good will towards you, for which we have great cause to thank them. Now, forasmuch as many have told us that we may not and ought not of right to defend any man who is a heretic, or who is suspected of heresy, we hold it right to give you even the self-same counsel which the Cardinal of Cambray has offered to you already, that you be not obstinate to main- tain any opinion, but submit yourself, as in duty bound, to the council, in all things proved against you by credible witnesses. If you do this, we will give order, that, for the love of us and our brother, the council shall suffer you to depart in peace, with an easy and tolerable penance ; but this not done, the presidents of the council will have sufficient grounds for proceeding against you. For ourselves, be fully assured that we will rather prepare and light the fire with our own hands, to consume you, than endure or suffer any longer that you shall maintain the stubbornness of opinion which till now you have manifested. Therefore our advice is, that you submit yourself wholly to the judgment of the council." To this address Huss answered, ** Most noble emperor, I render your imperial highness immortal thanks for your letters of safe-conduct." Vol. II. H 74 OPINIONS FALSELY IMPUTED. Huss might be sincere in expressing gratitude^ but the shuffling perfidy of the emperor was so obvious, that, to all present, t\ie language of the persecuted Bohemian seemed like bitter irony. The Baron de Chlume doubted if he had not gone too far, and with kindly anxiety besought him to con- sider well the situation in which he stood, and not to suffer any feelings of obstinacy to carry him away. 7. Huss was deeply affected by this appeal, ** Most gentle lord," he replied, ** I take God to witness that I never was minded to maintain any opinion obstinately, and therefore did 1 come hither of my own free will, that, if any man could bring to my knowledge any more holy doctrine than my own, I might change my opinion without further pause." On the following day the council sat again in the convent of the Franciscansj and John Huss, as before, was brought before them. His friend, the Baron de Chlume, was also present. On this occasion the bishops produced against him thirty- nine articles, said to be drawn from his books. Some of the opinions imputed to him he readily admitted and frankly defended, but others he utterly disowned as fabrications, supposed to have been the work of the infamous Palletz. To give these articles at length, and the replies they called SEPARATISTS NOT TO BE CONDEMNED. 1) forth, would be almost the same thhig as omitting them altogether, as they would be found so tedious that few, if any, would read them. A careful digest of the substance of his answers, avoiding repetitions of what has already, more than once or twice, of necessity appeared, will exhibit the most remarkable points in this memorable proceeding. 8. He admitted that the proposition, that there could be but one holy and universal church, was his. St. Paul and St. Peter, he held, had never been members of the devil, but were per- mitted by God to fall into acts of persecution and perjury, that they might the more gloriously arise ; and therefore he inferred that it might be expedi- ent that the elect should offend. Separatists from the church might not be doomed to perdition, as the Saviour says, in the twentieth chapter of St. John, " I have other sheep, which are not of the fold." The predestinate, though not always in a state of grace, according to present justice, never -ceased to be a part of the universal church. No dignity or human election could make a man a member of the church, which could only be effected by predestination, by a preparation of grace for the present, for glory to come. The church he had described as the barn of the Lord^ containing both good and bad, both reprobate and predestinate. Judas Iscai'iot, notwithstanding h2 76 A SINFUL POPE THE VICAR OV JUDAS, Christ's election, and the temporal graces given him for his apostleship, was still no true disciple, but a wolf in sheep's clothing. The congregation of the predestinate formed the universal church, of which he held that Christ, and not Peter, had been the head. The Pope, who was called the vicar of Christ, if he followed the steps of Christ bj leading a holy life, was his true vicar ; but, leading a sinful life, he became the vicar of Judas Iscariot. Priests professing that they knew God, yet indulging in dissolute courses, he regarded, not as true sons of the church, which they defiled, but as unbelieving bastards. The dignity of the Pope was derived from the Emperors of Rome, nor could he be head of the church unless he were ordained by God. The cardinals were not the successors of the disciples, because they lived not after the fashion of the apostles. Heretics, he contended, ought to be given over to the secular power to be put to death, but ought, with all lovingness, to be instructed wherein they were wrong. If, after this, they remained obsti- nately opposed to the truth, he would then admit it might be just to subject them to bodily punish- ment. That he, that had been excommunicated by the Pope, might at once appeal from his decision to the judgment of Jesus Christ, he denied that he had asserted ; but he himself had complained AN- APPEAL TO CHI?IST JUSTIFIABLE. 77 that he had been refused a hearing in the Pope's court. Tuice he had appealed to the Pope, with- out anv o;ood result; and as it was too tedious a course to make a further appeal to human author- ity, as a last resource he had addressed himself to the head of the church — to the Lord Jesus Christ. That he had spoken of excomrauniclations as being rather blessings than evils, he denied ; but he had so delivered himself on unjust excommunications. Interdictments he had objected to, as preventing, on account of one minister, many good men from praising God; and such a course had not been pur- sued by Jesus Christ, or by Paul. The Saviour, when beaten and blasphemed, had not cursed the offenders, but had prayed for them. His opinions he supported by many passages quoted from the scriptures, and by frequent reference to the fathers. When allowed a hearins", he seems to have pro- ceeded as much at his ease, as if he had been de- livering a carefully prepared discourse in his own chapel. 9. The above is a brief summary of the senti- ments winch he avowed, in answer to the charges made against him. While explaining himself, he had to encounter keen unsparing criticism and coarse reproach. The Cardinal of Cambray de- clared he had been too leniently dealt with by the framers of the articles, as many more detestable h3 78 HUSS SILEXCKD. things were contained in his books than were there set forth. In his sermons, too, he said, Huss had aspersed the cardinals. Why was this done, but from hatred of the church ? Better would it have been to have told them of their faults personally, than to have preached against them in their absence- By acting thus, he had disturbed the whole state of the church. When Huss described the circum- stances under which he had appealed to Christ, the same prelate reminded him that St. Paul had ap- pealed to the emperor, and demanded ^' if he (Huss) presumed to set himself up above St. Paul, by carrying his complaint to Christ ?" " If," said the prisoner, " I have done so, am I therefore to be accounted a heretic?" St. Paul, let it be re- membered, did not appeal to the emperor of his own motion, but by the will of Christ, spoken to him by revelation, and exhorting him *' to be firm and constant, for to Rome he must go." He then was about to repeat the appeal which he had made, when the taunts he encountered were so tumultu- ously loud, that he was obliged to desist. Besides the articles already described, others, at great length, were ])repared by Palletz and others. These were more curious than important, and, from their length, would almost justify the belief that the object was to exhaust his physical strength, by overwhelming him with voluminous accusations* SUBMISSION To THE COUNCIL REQUlIlED. 79 His answers being concluded, and the sooner from the little attention accorded to what he uttered, the Cardinal of Cambray addressed him in a menacing tone, as follows :— " Thou hast heard what grievous and horrible crimes are charged against thee ; now is the time to decide what course thou wilt pursue. Two ways are open to thy choice ;-— the one, that thou shaU humbly and meekly submit to the judgment and sentence of the council, and patiently bear and suffer the same. If thou wilt do this, we, on our part, both for the honour of the most gentle em- peror here present, and also for that of his royal brother the King of Bohemia, and for thy own pre* servation, will handle thee with as great humanity, love, and tenderness as we may; but if thou art determined further to maintain and defend any of those articles which have been propounded, we will not deny thee a further hearing. Let this, however, be well understood,— there are men here 80 clear in knowledge, and having to oppose such strong reasons and arguments to thy articles, that I fear it will be to thy detriment, injury, and great peril, if thou shouldst longer seek to defend the same. This do I speak in the way of counsel, and not in the manner of a judge." Again Huss reminded the cardinal and the coun* cil that *^he had come there of his own free will, 80 COXFE«SION OF ERROR DEMANDED. and was sincerely anxious to be convinced of any error or heresy into which he might have fallen. He desired a further hearinc:, and assured them that, if he could not give substantial reasons for that which he professed to believe, he would will- ingly how to their superior information. A member of the council here remarked on the crafty language of the prisoner, who had said, " he would bow to their information, not that he would receive their correction." Eager to vindicate his sincerity, " Call it," said Huss, "even what you will, — information, determination, or correction. I take God to witness that I say nothing with a sinister intent, but speak with ray whole heart and mind." The cardinal then announced to him that it was decreed by more than sixty doctors, and by the whole council, without one dissenting voice — First, that he should humbly and meekly confess himself to have erred in the articles which had been pre- ferred against him, and promise, on oath, that he would not thenceforth teach, hold, or maintain them ; and, secondly, that he should publicly recant them. Huss meekly but resolutely answere^^, " I again declare that I am ready to submit myself to the information of the council; but I humbly require, even for his sake who is God over all, that I may SIGISMUND CALLS FOR ABJURATION. 81 not be compelled to do the thing which is repug- nant to my conscience, and which I cannot do without danger of eternal damnation. I huve read, in *^ The Book of Universalities,"* that to abjure, is to renounce an error which a man hath before holden. Now, as many of the opinions here set forth were never in truth mine, I cannot renounce them by oath, without incurring the guilt of per- jury; but for those which are really mine, if any man will convince me that they are contrary to the truth, I will most willingly perform all that you desire." 10. '* Truly," said the emperor, " I cannot see but you may, with a good conscience, renounce all those opinions which you say have been falsely asserted to be yours, I would not scruple to ab- jure all errors ; nor would it thence follow that I had ever possessed them." ** The word to abjure, most noble emperor," said John Huss, " has, I think, a larger meaning than you have assigned to it." *' But you," interrupted the Cardinal of Flo- rence, " shall have a form of abjuration prepared for you, gentle and tolerable enough ; and, on perusing that, you can make up your mind whether to adopt it or not." • A work written by Gersoa. 82 THE PRISONER THREATENED. The emperor began to be weary of the inquiry, and, consequently, indignant at the obstinacy which prolonged it ; and, as King Henry of Eng- land in a like case had done by Lord Cobham, he now seemed resolved to give up the determined Bohemian to the wrath of his pursmTs. ^^ Thou hast heard," said he, referring to the words of the Bishop of Cambray, " there are two ways open to thee; first, publicly to renounce the errors proved to have been thine, and subscribe to the judgment of the council, whereby thou shalt find their grace and favour ; or thou mayest go on to defend thy opinions. In the latter case, the council will have evidence to judge thee according to its laws and ordinances." The prisoner declared, most submissively, thnt he wished in no respect to oppose himself to the wisdom of the council. ** To this only," said he, '* do I object, — to offend God and my conscience, by owning to errors which were never mine ; and I pray you all, if it be possible, to grant me the liberty of further speech, that I may answer to those things which have been urged against me, and especially that I may explain what I have ad- vanced touching ecclesiastical offences and the state of the ministry." Sigismund then spoke in a still more sternly reproving tone than he had previously used : — UNSUPPORTKD CHARGE. S3 ^* Thou art of years of discretion," the emperor remarked, *' and can understand what I said to thee yesterday. Credit must be given to witnesses so worthy of credit as those who have appeared against thee. The scripture teacheth that, by the mouth of two or three witnesses, all truth is tried. How, then, can a doubt exist of that to which so many worthy men have deposed ? If wise, thou wilt receive thy penance, at the hands of the coun- cil, with all humility, and with a contrite heart. Renounce thy manifest errors j promise on o.tth never more to teach or preach in the like spirit. If thou refusest, there are laws and ordinances which will do justice upon thee." This severity, proceeding from so high a quarter animated several of the council to speak against th prisoner, if possible, more harshly than before. They descanted on the laws applicable to obstinate heretics ; and one bishop insisted that Huss ought not to be permitted to recant, even if he were will- ing to profess his readiness to do so. He went further, and stated him to have written to a friend, that, should he be forced to take an oath tliat he would not preach as heretofore, still his mind would remain unsworn, and, therefore, he ought in no case to be trusted. No evidence was offered in support of this very serious imputation on the prisoner. It, however 84 HUSS IS EXHAUSTED. had its weight with those who were fixed to crush their once dreaded, but now defenceless, assailant. Huss most solemnly affirmed that he had never acted so base a part. Firm to his cruel purpose, Palletz seemed to reprove the too lenient proceedings of the council, and scornfully asked, " to what end did Huss say he would not defend error, nor favour what was objectionable in the writings of Wickliffe, when it was clearly his resolution to do both ?" He ex- hibited certain additional articles from the writings of WicklifFe, against which he (Palletz) said he, at Prague, had felt it his duty to preach, which arti- cles had been obstinately defended by the prisoner, both in speech, and in books which he had written, and which he was prepared to exhibit. Huss mildly replied, that he was well content that what- ever he had written in any of his books should be brought before the council. He however denied that he had written a slanderous article against the Pope which had been published, and of which he was said to be the author. He positively de- clared that he had never seen it till after he had been imprisoned. His physical strength was nearly exhausted. He was faint and weary, from want of sleep, and the long and severe examinations to which he had been subjected. He also suffered from torturing A FABRICATED EPISTLE. 85 pain in his teeth, and sickness, anxiety, and fatigue combined to overpower him; but still his mind retained its original energy and clearness. It was then that he was accused of an offence which had not been dwelt upon before, — that he had asserted many slanderous things at a public funeral, given to the three men who were beheaded at Prague, for speaking contumaciously of the Pope's bull. He was alleged to have preached a sermon, and to have stirred up the people, on that occasion, to oppose the magistrates' authority ; to have con- tended that the three victims had suffered death for the truth ; and thus raised a great commotion in the city, in opposition to his lawful sovereign. It was further represented that a fabricated epi^e, purporting to have been sent from the university of Oxford, favouring the opinions of the men put to death, was publicly read by him from the pulpit. When thus accused, Huss called on the Council not to credit what had been stated. It was untrue that he had gone forth with the remains of the sufferers ; but he at the same time declared that they had not been decapitated by the king's com- mand, and therefore, if he had endeavoured to improve so solemn an occasion by preaching on the subject when the bodies were brought to his own chapel of Bethlehem, that was not to act in Vol. II. I S6 HARD-HEARTED JUDGES. opposition to the will of his sovereign. Than this nothing could be more clear ; but the Bohemian addressed his words to deaf ears, and appealed to hearts of stone. PALLETZ AND NASO. 87 CHAPTER XIX. PROCEEDINGS AT CONSTANCE. 1. Sittings of the Council continued. — 2. Palletz and De Causis assert the purity of their intentions. — 3. Huss sent back to prison. — 4. The Emperor Sigismund.— 5, Noble conduct of the Baron de Chlutne. — 6. Gratitude of Huss. — 7. Visions of John Huss in prison. — 8. Brutal conduct of Palletz. — 9. Public entertainments at Constance while the Council is sitting. — 10. St. George's heart. — 11. Wise and kind advice of the Baron de Chlume. — 12. John Huss on the dangers to be apprehended from women — His will. 1. Palletz and Naso opposed themselves t<> every favourable inference that might be drawn from the circumstances to which he referred, and aggravated, by every means in their power, the part Huss had taken with regard to the fabricated epistle from Oxford in favour of Wickliffe. They argued that the king had ordered that no one should speak contemptuously of the Pope's bull, and this order had been violated by Huss, and the persons who came to Prague from Oxford. Of the men who had been put to death, they charged I 2 88 WICKLIFFE^S TOMBSTONE. him with saying that they had laid down their Uvea in opposing Antichrist, and, notwithstanding their sad fate, many more were ready to strive in the same cause. The facts which he was unable to deny, he ex- plained in such away, as, before moderately impar- tial judges, would fully have justified the hope he originally entertained of vindicating all his proceed- ings to the satisfaction of the Council. That he had read the paper purporting to come from the university of Oxford, he frankly admitted, but he denied all knowledo:e of its beinoj a fabrica- tion. It had been brought to him with the seal of the college appended, and he had not doubted that it was genuine. Two scholars had been the bearers of it, and one of them, he added, was as well known to Palletz, as the other had been to him. That, however, was but little, as he had not learned what the man was, but believed him to be an Englishman, and had heard that he died return- ing to his own country. A remarkable fact, if true, was mentioned by Palletz, in connexion with the person who accom- panied the Englishman reported to have died. — He said he had come from England, but was a Bohemian, and had brought with him a small piece of WicklifFe's tombstone, which was exhibited at Prague as a precious relic, and was, even at ALLEGED ERRORS OF WICKLIFFE. 89 that time, worshipped as a thing most holy. Hence, he contended, from the reverence John Huss had manifested for the English heretic, it was obvious that with him the fraud had originated. To prove, beyond all doubt, that the epistle was a forgery, the English prelates who assisted at the Council now produced a document under the seal of the university of Oxford, denying the former to have emanated from them, and condemning the opinions which it favoured. The senate, it set forth, had experienced much grief at finding the errors of Wickliffe so prevalent. They hoped the pious labours of the great Council then assembled would devise means for remedying the evil ; and twelve doctors, men of singular learning, had been appointed to arrest its course in England. By their labours, not fewer than two hundred articles had been drawn out of WicklifFe's works, which the university judged worthy to be burnt; but, from their great reverence for the Council, they had sent them to Constance, that they might be dealt with there. 2. The proceedings drew near to a close; the victim was nearly hunted down, and the triumph of the oppressors was at hand. Sigismund, at first reluctant to favour the murderous designs of thdse who aimed at nothing less than the destruction of the intrepid votary of truth, had now consented i3 90 PALLETZ AND DE CAUSlS. that the safeguard, under which Huss had been induced to appear at Constance, should be disre- garded, and nothing remained but to pronounce the atrocious sentence. At this moment Palletz addressed the Council, to assert the purity of his motives in acting as he had done. " I take God to witness," said he, with an air of the greatest pos- sible solemnity, " before the emperor's majesty here present, and before the cardinals and bishops here assembled, that, in the accusation which I have preferred against John Huss, I have been moved by no hatred or ill-will, but have only desired to satisfy the oath which I took when I was made a doctor, to be an enemy to all errors which might affect the profit and well-being of the most holy Catholic Church." Michael de Causis also disclaimed being ani- mated by personal hatred to Huss, and declared that " he, from first to last, had had no object in view but the good of the church, and the glory of God." " To the Heavenly Judge of all," said John Huss, with devout animation, '* do I refer the decision of these things. He will duly appreciate the cause of quarrel." The Cardinal of Cambray thought it right not to allow the proceedings to reach their termination, without taking some favourable notice of Palletz, in ACCUSERS VINDICATED. 91 consideration of the really great exertions he had made to destroy a man so obnoxious to a dissolute clergy, as the pure-minded Bohemian ; and he ac- cordingly said aloud — " I cannot a little commend the humanity and gentleness of Stephen Palletz, for the forbearance and tenderness which he has used in drawing out the articles against the prisoner ; for we have heard that there are many things contained in his book, which are much worse and detestable." Had the cardinal really believed this to be the case, he would have thought it unnecessary to eulogise Palletz. That wretched man had earned the applause now vouchsafed, by making the worst of what he found, and by pretending to discover what had no existence but in his own malice. 3. The Bishop of Rygen, to whose custody Huss had previously been committed, directed him to be removed ; and, attended by guards, he was escorted from the convent to his prison. 4. It might have been hoped, that, after the triumph gained over the opinions of Huss, a high- minded Prince would have thought the moment had at length arrived when mercy might wisely interpose to save his person; and the Council, having condemned — and, it might be presumed, by their sacred authority put down — his heresies for ever, have permitted the humbled reformer to close 92 SIGISMUND WITHDRAWS HIS SAFE-CONDUCT. his days in unregarded obscurity — at once a monu- ment of their pjentleness and their power: but the atmosphere which Sigismund had lately breathed had awaked no such feeling in him ; and the Coun- cil were strangers to pity. The emperor had im- bibed much of the hateful intolerance of those around him j and the base cruelty tbey were in- humanly disposed to exercise, in revenge for the attacks made by the Bohemian on their profitable vices, the omperor was weakly prepared to com- mend, in the mean hope of gaining in return their unhallowed prayers and sordid applause. Accord- ingly, when the devoted victim was withdrawn, Sigismund formally addressed the Council, and declared it to be his conviction that manifold crimes had been proved against Huss, each of which merited death. If, then, he did not speedily recant, he hesitated not to declare, that, in his judgment, he ought to be punished with fire. He recom- mended, in any case, that he should be restrained from teaching and preaching, and permitted to re- turn to Bohemia no more ; as, if he could get back thither, he would not be kept from propagating heresies anew, by any engagement into which he might be induced to enter there. He proposed that all publicity should be given to the articles which had been condemned, in order that the roots of the evil might be destroyed, as well as the FRIENDSHIP OF DE CHLUME. 93 branches ; and, finally, he expressed it to be his pleasure, that all who were found at Constance favourable to the opinions of John Huss, and more especially his scholar Jerome, should be speedily pursued, and, if possible, brought to con- dign punishment. A speech like this could not fail to win admira- tion from such an audience. It was pronounced to be a miracle of wisdom and piety; and the Council expressed a conviction that the fate of John Huss would prove a warning to Jerome and others; and there were minds so constructed, as, in this view of the case, to regard the dreadful crime about to be perpetrated as an act of almost God- like charity to mankind at large. With this declaration, the Council adjourned their proceedings. 5. The Baron de Chlume, whom we have already beheld signalising his regard for Huss under circumstances of difficulty, did not abate his kindness as the clouds gathered, in more appalling darkness, over the betrayed Bohemian. Unhappily, the history of the human race presents compara- tively few examples of friendship so noble, so gene- rously warm, yet tempered by such admirable pru- dence. Exalted above Huss by rank and wealth, it was his pride and happiness to have the minis- ter, whose talents he honoured, and whose virtue 94 WISE COUNSEL OF DE CHLUME. he revered, for his constant companion. He was not of that order of patrons who glory in display- ing- a man of genius for a day, as a thing at their command — a captive in their train— and, conse- quently, vastly beneath the possessor of gold. He loved the man, and felt that any advantages he, by his station, could impart, were more than requited by the daily emanations of a heaven-directed mind, rich in human wit and learning. Immediately on the removal of Huss from the presence of the Council, De Chlume followed to his prison, to offer such comfort as a sympathising heart, under circumstances so mournful, could supply. And great, according to the old historian, was tlie benefit derived by the captive from this noble effort. *^ No tongue," says Fox, " can express what a courage and stomach he received by the short talk which he had with him, when, as in so great a broil and grievous hatred, he saw himself, in a manner, forsaken by all men." De Chlume wished to save the life of a sincerely cherished friend ; but life, he felt, might be too dearly pur- chased; and he did not wish Huss to gain a few additional years, at the expense of his honour, his conscience, and his eternal hope. " If," he affec- tionately urged, '* the prisoner was convinced that he had erred, no time ought to be lost in making peace with those who held his fate in their hands ; HUSS COMFORTED. 95 but if, on the contrary, liis sentiments remained the same, he conjured him to let no thought of earthly suffering induce him to fail in his paramount duty.'' This manly and rational language had proper weight with the sufferer. John's heart was not very accessible to common weaknesses, but the " word in season," thus a(^irably timed, fortified all the approaches to it, and made " assurance doubly sure." 6. How deeply Huss was affected by the kind- ness of the Baron, appears in many of his letters. His was the mind that could well appreciate a truly generous friend. In writing to some of his countrymen, he burst into the following exclama- tions, which seem to refer to the scene just men- tioned — to the interview which De Chlume obtained with him, immediately after he was with- drawn from the Council, that they might deliberate on what had been proved against him : — " Oh, how comfortable was the giving of the hand of Lord John de Chlume to me ! He was not ashamed to reach forth his hand to me, a wretch, and such an abject heretic, lying in fetters of iron, and cried out upon by all men !" The baron had his meed. When these words met his sight, how must his heart have rejoiced to know what a flow of comfort he had thrown into the captive's cell ! Doubtless he exulted in the re- 96 CONSOLATION IN PRISON. collection of it, long after the scattered ashes of that friend had floated on the waters of the Rhine ! But other consolations were not wanting to Huss, in the period which intervened between his mock trial and the fulfilment of his destiny. The language of the Saviour, in his painful progress to Calvary, occurred to him in many cases, and may be said to " have rendered darkness light." The words of consolation addressed by Jesus to his dis- ciples, while they personally surrounded him, were Kardly more deeply felt by them, than they were, fourteen centuries afterwards, by his faithful and devoted follower, John Huss. " I love," said he, in the opening of the letter from which a quotation has already been given, " the counsel of the Lord, above gold and precious stones. Wherefore, I trust, in the mercy of Jesus Christ, that he will give me his spirit to stand in his truth." Yet, far from feeling excessive confidence in himself, he adds, '^ Pray to the Lord, for * the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.' " And the gloomy cell of the pious Bohemian was cheered by refreshing visions of the future, in which he saw, and not " darkly as through a glass," but clearly as in the blaze of noon, the ultimate triumph of those principles, for whiclf he had already suffered much, and for which he was pre- pared to lay down his life. His mind was soothed CHEERING VISIONS. 97 by the reflection that unborn thousands might profit from his labours ; that, if severe his present \ isitation, it would not be endured in vain. 7. Of the images which consoled him, we have a lively picture, in a letter addressed to De Chlume. In this he writes — "I pray you inter- pret to me the dream of this night. I thought that I saw in my church of Bethlehem, they came to remove and put out all the images of Christ, and did put them out. The next day after, it seemed to me that I arose and saw many painters, who painted fairer images, and many more of them, than were there before, which images I was very glad and joyful to behold. And the painters, with many others about them, said, ' Let the bishops and priests come now and put out these pictures if they can.' At this, many people in Bethlehem appeared to rejoice, and I with them ; and, there- upon waking, I could not but laugh." His friend the baron was with Huss of opinion, that this vision was to be understood as shadowing forth, that, though the Pope and his cardinals should extin- guish the preaching of the Gospel of Christ in him, yet a time would come when the same doctrine would be revived by others, so powerfully, that all the labours of Rome would not be able to prevail against it. This, he subsequently expressed, was his sincere conviction 5 and he scrupled not to declare, Vol. II. K 98 TRUE DREAM?. in the spirit of prophecy, that "the things which he had preached under the roof of the house, should in other times be heard above the house-top.'' He was deeply impressed with the anticipation that the church of God would eventually be reformed ; and that, despite of all difficulties and temporary impediments, other ministers and priests woujd arise, who, hating the avarice and intolerance of those who were then masters of his person, might successfully labour, by the grace and favouring goodness of God, to introduce and establish a new and a better state of things. But he was not so superior to the ordinary fear of approaching death, as to have no misgivings. While sleeping, some of the scenes presented to him were painful at the moment, and he had the further affliction of learning that they had been speedily realised. Thus, addressing his friends in Bohemia, he tells them — " I have had great con- flicts by dreams, in such sort that I could with difficulty refrain from crying out ; for I dreamed of the Pope's escape before he went ; and after my Lord John had told me thereof, it was made known to me that the Pope should return again. After- wards I dreamed of the apprehending of Master Jerome, though not in full manner as it was done. The imprisonments I have suffered were indicated to me beforehand, though not with all the attend- PALLETZ VISITS HU6S. 99 ant circumstances. Many serpents appeared to me, having heads in their tails, but these could not bite me." 8. There were moments, too, in which his thoughts were interrupted, not by the " unreal mockery" of visions of the night, but by the pre- sence of a perfidious friend, or, rather, of a merci- less enemy, by day. He writes to his friends in the letter mentioned above — *^ Palletz came to me in prison. His saluta- tion, seeing my extreme infirmity before the Ccm- missioners, was this — ^ that there had not risen a more perilous heretic since Christ was born, than was WicklifFe and I.' He also said that all such as came to hear my talk were infected with this heresy, — to think that the substance of bread re- mained in the sacrament of the altar. To him I thus answered: — ' O master ! what a grievous salu- tation have you given me ! and how greatly do you sin ! Behold I shall die ; peradventure to-morrow shall be burnt ; and what reward will await you in Bohemia, as a recompense for your labour V " The cardinals were eager to destroy, but the emperor still wished to subdue the Bohemian. This was the object of the harsh language which he had addressed to Huss in prison. If, in a moment of exasperation, he afterwards seemed animated by the merciless spirit of those who formed the ma- k2 100 HUSS REFUSES TO RETRACT. jority of the Council, he had still a natural shrink- ing from, and a perception of, the obloquy that must attach to his name, if Huss were consigned to the flames. In conformity with his wish, a form of retractation was drawn up, which was carefully worded so as not to give unnecessary offence. But, though fair in language, as it involved a denial of those great truths, in maintaining which he was resolved to live and die, Huss could not be prevailed upon to give it his signature ; and, firm to his purpose, he avowed that he felt it incumbent on him to afford an example, in his own conduct, of that enduring patience which he had so fre- quently preached to others. All solicitations on the subject proved unavailing. His books were burned, by the emperor's command. This, which he might regard as the precursor of his own fate, it was expected would alarm, but it seemed to give him no concern ; and he calmly remarked that " the books of the Prophet Jeremiah had been dealt with in the same way, but their immortal contents still remained to enlighten mankind." 9. While these inhuman experiments were made on the constancy of a pious follower of Jesus, Constance was the scene of revelry and mirth. Tournaments were occasionally given, and, in some of these, blood was shed. The sacrifice of life, however, does not appear to have been ST. George's heart, 101 followed by tlie gloom of mourning. The Earl of Warwick, having received a challenge from a per- son of high rank, killed him in justing. This achievement so delighted the empress of Sigismund, that, in honour of the earl's valour, she took the boar, his impress, from the shoulders of one of his attendants, and wore it herself in public. The in- cident led to another not less remarkable. Flat- tered by the compliment from so high a personage, Warwick had the gallantry to cause the device to be worked in precious stones, which she graciously accepted. 10. The emperor, in acknowledgment of his worth, presented him with the heart of England's champion, " thrice-renowned St. George," which he wished him to carry home. This honour the earl declined, but represented that as the emperor intended visiting England, how much the value of a relic so sacred would be enhanced from presenta- tion to his sovereign by imperial hands ; and, in consequence of the suggestion, when the emperor came to this country it was brought by him in great form to King Henry, who received it with much satisfaction. It was with all due solemnity de- posited in Westminster Abbey, and there regarded, both by the monarch and his people, as an object entitled to profound veneration. A month wore away, and still the intrepid Huss k3 T02 DEPUTATION FROM SIGISMU^•D, languisilied in a noisome prison. To repeated in- vitations to recant, he had opposed a firm refusal. The Council were fully prepared to condemn, but the emperor hesitated. A final effort to get over his obstinacy was at length resolved upon, and, on the 5th of July, a deputation waited on him from Sigismund — for the last time — to require him to abjure those articles to which he had owned, and to swear in other matters to adhere to the established doctrine of the church. The emperor had hopes, that, as he was no longer called upon to recant opinions which he denied to have been his, Huss might now take a course that would satisfy the cardinals and bishops. But that could not be. The prisoner, as he would not renounce ])rinciples which were never his, was not less de- termined never to abandon opinions which he had maintained, and which had not been refuted on the authority of the Bible ; and he humbly, but firmly as before, gave this answer to those who waited on him from Sigismund. 11. The deputation had consisted of four bishops, and to these Wencelate de Dubar and the Baron de Chlume were joined, in order that the exertions of friendship might not be wanting in that im- portant moment. The interview was most memo- rable and most affecting. De Chlume, as in all the previous scenes, acted a glorious part, and DE CHLUME's renewed APPEAL. 103 omitted no effort that conscience would permit him to use, to bend the sturdy resolution of the sufferer. *' I," said he, '* am a man unlearned, and unable to counsel you, a man of learning and understand- ing ; nevertheless, I call on you, if you know your- self guilty of any of the errors imputed by the Council, not to be ashamed to alter your resolution, and bow to their will ; but contrariwise, I will not ask you to do aught against your conscience, but rather to endure any punishment than deny what you have known to be the truth." This affecting appeal was not lost upon Huss, who, bursting into tears, replied — " I now, as I have oftentimes done, take the most high God for my witness, that I am ready, with my whole heart and mind, if the Council can instruct or teach me better by the holy scriptures, to change my opi- nion with all my heart." " And are you," asked one of the bishops, " so arrogant and all-sufficient, that you can prefer your own thought to the solemn decision and judgment of the whole Council ?" " Not so," Huss answered : " let the meanest of the whole body prove me to have been in error, and I will, with all humility, do whatever the Council may enjoin." Such language was characterised by the bishop as another instance of obstinacv and dissimulation , 104 HUSS PREPARES FOR DEATH. and he and his companions withdrew to report to the emperor the continued stubbornness of the prisoner, and the consequent failure of their efforts to save him from his impending fate. De Chlume's voice was still in favour of mercy, but it could not be of avaiL Nothing remained but to proceed to the last awful step. Huss was well aware of his situation ; he knew that from the cardinals he had no mercy to expect, and that their vengeance would not be long delayed. He indeed seems to have felt some surprise that the termination of the drama had not been more speedily pressed ; but for that he piously accounted, and thus expressed himself: — '* God," said he, '' in his wisdom hath reasons for thus long sparing my life ; he wishes to give me time to weep for my sins, and to console myself in tliis protracted trial by the hope of their remission. He hath granted me this interval, that, through medita- tion on the sufferings of Jesus Christ, I may become better qualified to support my own." Pie felt that the sand of his glass was very nearly run, and wished no moment of what remained to him of life to pass unimproved. How unmoved — how collected this brave servant of Heaven remained at that try- ing moment, the following very remarkable letter will show. It was addressed to an old friend and countryman ; and, besides kindly admonishing him CAUTION AGAINST WOMEN. 105 against coveting wealth, and exposing himself to the temptation which worldly pleasures hold out to the most virtuous, he calmly reviews his own past career, the vanities in which he had indulged, and the follies which led his mind astray in early life. Then, looking at his actual situation, he proceeds to bequeath his little property to esteemed friends or faithful servants. While his thoughts, occupied with a great and glorious hope, soared above the world for himself, his affections turned with kindly care to those whom he had loved, and who were to remain behind. He thus pictured what was pass- ing in his mind: — 12. " Master Martin, my dear brother in Christ, I exhort you in the Lord that you fear God, keep his commandments, fly the company of women, and beware of hearing their confessions, lest, by their hypocrisy, Satan deceive you. Trust not their devotions. You know how I have detested the avarice and the inordinate life of the clergy, where- fore, through the grace of God, I now suffer per- secution, which shortly shall be consummated in me. Nor do I fear to have my heart's blood poured out in the name of Jesus Christ. I desire you heartily that you be not greedy in seeking after benefices, but, if you should be called to any cure in the coun- try, let the honour of God, the salvation of souls, and the labour thereof, be your object, and not the liv- 106 CHESS-PLAYING RKPENTED. ing and the advantages. If you should be placed in any such benefice, beware that you have no young woman for your cook or servant, lest you edify and increase more your house than your soul. See that you be a builder of your spiritual house, being gentle to the poor, and humble of mind, and waste not your goods in great fare. I fear, also, if you do not amend your life, ceasing to wear costly and superfluous apparel, you may be grievously chastised, as I, also, wretched man ! must be punished, who, being seduced by the cus- tom of evil men, have done the like. Thus in- dulging in worldly glory, I have sinned against God in the spirit of pride. As you have known both my preaching and outward conversation, even from my youth, I have no occasion to write many things to you, but to desire you, for the love of Jesus Christ, that you do not follow me in any of the levities that you have seen. You know how, before my priesthood, I have delighted ofttime to play at chess, and have neglected more important things, which grieveth me now, and thereby have unhappily provoked both myself and others to anger by that play j wherefore, besides other of my numerous transgressions, I desire you to invoke the mercy of the Lord, that he will deign to pardon me, and so to direct my life, that, having overcome the wickedness of this state of existence, the flesh. LAST BEQUESTS. 107 the world, and the devil, I may find a place in the heavenly country at the day of judgment. Fare you well, in Christ Jesus, with all those who keep his holy law. My grey coat, if you will, keep to yourself for my remembrance. But I think you will be ashamed to wear that grey colour, therefore you may give it to whom you shall think good. My white coat you shall give the minister N, my scholar. To George, or else to Zuzikon, sixty groats, or else my grey coat, for he has faithfully served me.'' This was in fact the will of Huss. He seems to have been reluctant tliat it should be known how little he had to leave ; at least, he was anxious, in the event of his life being spared, that the disposi- tion of his property made in the above letter should be concealed ; for he added to the superscription these words : " T pray you that you do not open this letter before you be sure and certain of my death." Such cares, it may appear to some, were beneath a spirit so exalted. He felt, while for himself his whole mind was fixed on eternity, that those who were dear to him, and had yet to struggle in this world, could not so divorce themselves from the things of time, as to soar above the natural wants of the creature. His benevolence was awake to those wants^ in the case of his friends, from which 108 KINDLY FEELTXa FOR OTHERS. the savage treatment to which he was subjected had relieved him. What stronger evidence could be afforded of his kindly nature, than the lively interest which he took in the well-being of others ? This could hardly have been felt by a selfish man, but the pious Bohemian had never lived for himself alone. GENERAL SESSION OF THE COUNCIL. 109 CHAPTER XX. CLOSE OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE COUNCIL AGAINST JOHN HUSS. 1. Last appearance of John Huss before the Council. — 2. Pre- parations to degrade him. — 3. Sermon of blood. — 4. Huss again attempts to obtain a patient hearing, but in vain.— 5. He is sentenced to be degraded. — 6. His prayer to the Almighty treated with derision. Deeply as all must commiserate the barbarous usage John Huss experienced from his fellow-men, who can read his story without feeling consoled, while he admires that unconquerable spirit, which sustaining faith, and a lively confidence in the pro- mises of God, as recorded in the Bible, supplied, to carry him through the last dreary scenes of his pilgrimage ? 1. The day following that on which the deputies went to him from the emperor, Saturday the 6th of July, was fixed upon for the completion of the tragedy. A general session was appointed of the cardinals, bishops, and other great personages, in the cathedral church of Constance 3 and, to render Vol. II. L 110 THE EMPEROR SIGISMUND. the scene more august, the emperor presided in person. His appearance is described as not a little imposing. He was then in the full vigour of life, in his forty-sixth year. His stature was tall, his countenance handsome, he wore his hair curl- ing and his beard long, and his whole presence was most graceful and majestic. He, we are in- formed on the same authority, had much wit and Tivacity, was master of several languages, and flattery scrupled not to honour him as one of the wisest of the sons of men. He took his seat wear- ing his imperial robes, and surrounded by every circumstance of judicial pomp, that might serve to render the spectacle strikingly magnificent at the moment, and celebrated for ever. 2. In the middle of the church, a square wooden platform had been erected, with a desk, on which the vestments of a priest were laid. The object of placing them there was, that John Huss might assume them preparatory to being ignominiously deo-raded from his rank in the church, before he should be given over to the civil power. The prisoner was brought forward in solemn form. He saw the arrangements which had been made, and, well aware of what was intended, on approaching the platform fell on his knees, and in that posture, as if unconscious that any human eye rested on him, raised his thoughts to the Author of his being, and THE BISHOP OF LODl's SERMON. Ill prayed that he might be strengthened to go through the fearful ordeal which awaited him. Huss was thus engaged, when the Bishop of Lodi ascended the pulpit. He preached a sermon, which was deemed by the cardinals and bishops a most godly and appropriate discourse, but which, for perversion of scripture, for cruelty, and for mean sycophancy, stands eminently distinguished. In these respects, indeed, it perhaps stands second to no similar effort on record. It deserves to be perpetuated, to the author's eternal shame, and we therefore transcribe that sermon of blood. It ran thus : — 3. ** In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, trusting, by humble invocation, upon the Divine help and aid, most noble prince and most Christian emperor, and you, most excellent fathers, and reverend lords, bishops, and prelates ; also, most excellent doctors and masters, most famous and noble dukes, and high counts ; honour- able nobles and barons, and all other men worthy of remembrance, — that the intent and purpose of my mind may the more plainly and evidently appear to this most sacred congregation, I am first of all deter- mined to treat or speak of that which is read in the epistle on the next Sunday, in the sixth chapter of the Romans, that is to say, * Let the body of sin be destroyed.' It appeareth by the authority of Aris- totle, in his book De Ccelo et 3Iimdo, how wicked, l2 11*2 HKRESY TO BE SUPPRESSED. dangerous, and foolish a matter it seemeth to be, not to withstand perverse and wicked beginnings, for he saith that a small error in the beginning is greater in the end. It is very damnable and dan- gerous to have error, but more hard to be corrected or amended ; whereupon that worthy doctor St. Jerome, in his book, by the exposition of the Catholic faith, teacheth us how necessary a thing it is that heretics and heresies should be suppressed, and at the first beginning of them, saying thus :— * The rotten and dead flesh to be cut from the body, lest that the whole body should perish and putrify. For a scabby sheep is to be put out of the fold, lest the whole flock be infected.' A little fire is to be quenched, lest the whole house should be consumed and burnt. Arius was first a spark in Alexandria, who, because he was not at the first quenched, pre- sumed and went about, with his wicked and perverse imaginations and fantastical inventions, to spot and defile the Catholic faith, which is founded and esta- blished by Christ, defended with the victorious triumphs of so many martyrs, and illuminated and set forth with the excellent doctrine and witnesses of so many men. Such, therefore, must be resisted, — such heretics must be suppressed and condemned. " Wherefore, I have truly proposed, as touching the punishment of every such obstinate heretic, that the body of sin is to be destroyed. Where- MISCHIEF OP SCHISM. 113 upon, it is to be considered, according to the holy tradition of the fathers, that some sins are adverse and contrary to others ; others are annexed or com- pounded together; other some are, as it were, branches and members of others. Some are, it may be said, roots and heads of others. Amongst all, those are to be considered the most detestable out of which the most and worst have their original and beginning. Therefore, albeit that all sins and offences are to be abhorred of us, yet those are especially to be eschewed which are the head and root of the rest; for by how much the perverseness of them is of more force and power to hurt, with so much the more speed and circumspection ought they to be rooted out and extinguished, without preservations or remedies. Forasmuch, then, as amongst all sins, none doth more appear to be inve- terate than the mischief of this most execrable schism, therefore have I right well propounded that * the body of sin should be destroyed.' For, by the long continuance of this schism, great and most cruel destruction is sprung up amongst the faithful, and has long continued ; abominable divisions and heresies are grown, threatenings are increased and multiplied, the confusion of the whole clerf^y is growing thereupon, and the opprobriums and slan- ders of the Christian people are abundantly sprung up and increased. And truly it is no marvel, l3 114 SCHISM THE CAUSE OF VIOLENCE. forasmuch as that most execrable and detestable schism is, as it were, a body and heap of dissolu- tion of the true faith of God ; for what can be good or holy in that place where such a pestiferous schism has reigned for so long a time? For, as St. Bernard saith,— ' Like as, in the unity and concord of the faithful, there is the habitation and dwelling of the Lord ; so likewise, in the schism and dissipa- tion of the Christians, there is made the habitation and dwelling of the devil.' Is not schism and division the original of all subversion, the den of heresies, and the nourisher of all offences ? for, the knot of unity and peace being once troubled and broken, there is a free passage for all strife and debate. Covetousness in oaths for lucre's sake, lust and will are set at liberty, and all means furnished that tend to slaughter. All right and equity are banished, the ecclesiastical power is in- jured, and the calamity of this schism brings in all kinds of discord ; the sword and violence prevail, the laity have the dominion, concord and unity are banished, and all prescribed rules of religion set at nought. ** Remember, most gentle lords, during this most pestiferous schism, how many heretics have appeared and escaped unpunished ; how many churches have been spoiled and pulled down ; how many cities have been oppressed and regions brought THE CLERGY DESPOILED. 115 to ruin ; what confusion has been created among the clergy ; how great the destruction among the Christian people ! I pray you, mark how the church of God — the spouse of Christ, and the mother of all the faithful — is contemned and de- spised ; for who now doth reverence the keys of the church? who feareth the censures or laws? who will defend the liberties thereof? or, rather, who is not prepared to offend the same, to invade it, and even to lay violent hands on the heritage of Jesus Christ? The goods of the clergy and the poor, and the relief of pilgrims and strangers, brought together by the precious blood of the Saviour and of many ftiartyrs, are spoiled and taken away. Behold the abomination of the desolation broutrht o upon the church of God, the destruction of the true faith, and the confusion of Christian people, to the ruin of the Lord's flock or fold, and all the whole company of our most holy Redeemer. This last is much more great and grievous than any that could happen to the martyrs of Christ, and this persecution much more cruel than that of any tyrant, for in such cases the body only could suffer ; by this schism, the immortal soul is tormented. Then, the blood of man was only shed ; but in this case, the true faith is overthrown. That persecution was salvation to many, but this schism is destruc- tion to all men. While the tyrants raged, the 116 FATAL DIVISIONS. faith increased ; but by this division, it is utterly destroyed. During their cruelty and madness, the primitive church increased 3 but through this schism, it is confounded and overthrown. Tyrants ignorantly offended ; but here, many willingly and ■wittingly, from obstinacy, offend. Heretics, users of simony, and hypocrites, have been brought in, to the great detriment of the church ; under the former exercise of tyranny, the merits of the just were increased. *' During this schism, mischief and wickedness are augmented 5 for, in this most cursed and execrable division, truth is made an enemy to all Christians, faith is not regarded, love and charity hated, hope lost, and justice overthrown ; no courage or valour but such as sought evil ; modesty and temperance choked, wisdom turned into deceit, humility feigned, equity falsified, patience fled, all intended devotion counted folly, obedience not regarded, and all manner of life led the most reproachful and abo- minable. With how great and grievous sorrowsis the church of God filled and overwhelmed, while tyrants oppress it, heretics invade it, users of si- mony do despoil and rob it, and schismatics go about utterly to subvert it. O ! most miserable and wretched Christian people, who now, for the space of forty years, w^ith such hardened and con- tinued schism, have almost been brought to ruin ! DISTRESS OF THE CHURCH. 117 O ! the little bark and ship of Christ, which hath so long wandered and strayed into the middle of the whirlpools, and by and by will stick fast on the rocks, tossed to and fro with most grievous and tempestuous storms ! O ! miserable and wretched boat of Peter ! if the most holy Father would suf- fer thee to sink or drown, into what dangers and perils have the wicked pirates brought thee ! amongst what rocks have they placed thee ! O ! most godly and loving Christians, what faithful devout man is there, who, beholding the ruin which has fallen on the church, would not be moved even to tears ? What good conscience can refrain from weeping, because that contention and strife are poured upon the ecclesiastical rulers, which have caused them to err, because they have not found, or, rather, would not find, the way of unity and concord, whereupon so much confusion and sorrow has been thrown into the flock of Peter and the fold of our Lord. ** Many princes, kings, and prelates have greatly laboured for the rooting out thereof, but yet could they never bring about that most necessary work ; wherefore, most Christian monarch, this most glo- rious and triumphant victory has tarried only for thee, — the crown and glory thereof shall be thine for ever and ever. It shall be continually cele- brated to thy great honour and praise, that thou 118 SIGISMUND CHOSEN OF GOD. hast restored the church that was so spoiled, — that thou hast removed and put away all inveterate and overgrown schisms and differences. Thou hast trodden down users of simony, and rooted out all heretics. Dost thou not behold and feel how great, perpetual, and famous renown and glory it "will be unto thee? For what can be more just, what more holy, what better, what more to be desired, or, finally, what can be more acceptable to the Eternal, than to root out this wicked and abo- minable schism, to restore the church to her ancient liberty, to extinguish and put away all simony, and to condemn and destroy all errors and heresies among the flock of the faithful ? Nothing, truly, can be better, nothing more holy, nothing more profitable to the whole world, and, finally, nothing more pleasing unto God. For the performance of which most pious work, thou most elect and chosen of God, thou wast first deputed and chosen in heaven, before thou wast elected and chosen upon earth. Thou wast first appointed by the Celestial and Heavenly Prince, before the electors of the empire did elect and choose thee, and specially that, by thy imperial force and power, thou shouldest condemn and destroy those errors and heresies which we have now in hand to be condemned and subverted. To the performance of this most holy work, God hath given unto thee the knowledge THE emperor's GODLY LABOURS. 119 and understanding of his divine truth and verity, power of princely majesty, and the just judgment of equity and righteousness, as the Most Highest himself doth say, * I have given thee understanding and wisdom, to speak and to utter my words, and have set thee to rule over nations and kingdoms,' that thou shouldest help the people, pluck down and destroy iniquity, and, by exercising of justice, I say, thou shouldest destroy all errors and here- sies, and especially this obstinate heretic here pre- sent, through whose wickedness and mischief many places are infected with most pestilent and heretical poison, and by his means almost utterly subverted and destroyed. This most holy and godly labour, O ! most noble prince, was reserved only for thee ; upon thee it doth only lie, unto whom the whole rule and administration of justice is given. By this great act hast thou established thy fame and renown, even by the mouths of infants and sucking babes, for thy praises shall be celebrated for ever- more, that thou hast destroyed and overthrown such and so great enemies of the faith. The which that thou mayest prosperously and happily perform and bring to pass, may our Lord Jesus Christ vouchsafe to grant thee his grace and help, who is blessed for ever and ever. Amen." 4. This outrage on religion concluded, the pro- curer or attorney-general of the Council, Henry de 120 NEW ACCUSATION. Piro, rose, and moved that the process against the prisoner might be continued, and the definitive sentence pronounced. The former proceedings were recited, and, as they were gone over, Huss offered to remark on passages in which he was misrepresented. He was, however, checked; and the Cardinal of Cambray authoritatively ordered him to hold his peace then, but added, he might, when the reading was concluded, speak to the points in which he felt aggrieved. Situated as he was, with no one to assist him in his distress, Huss ventured to represent that such permission could be of no avail, as it would be impossible for him to remember them all. Of this complaint the cardinal made very light, saying the Council had already heard quite enough of him ; and that was deemed a good and sufficient answer to a man who begged to explain himself with regard to falsely imputed doctrines, for holding which it was proposed forth- with to doom him to a dreadful death I Huss persisted in craving a patient hearing, but his representations were not attended to, and, un- able to obtain justice from his fellow-men, as before he earnestly appealed to God, and to the Saviour of man, Jesus Christ. To all that he had been previously accused of, an iirticle was now added, declaring him to have spoken of a fourth divinity. This was stated by HUSS DENIES BEING CONTUMACIOUS. 121 his judges to be alleged on the authority of an emi- nent doctor, whose name Huss instantly demanded, while he earnestly declared that such an opinion he had never promulgated. The name of his accuser in this instance was withheld, as unnecessary to be communicated. The injustice of his judges deeply affected him, and in the agony of his heart he ex- claimed, " Miserable and wretched man that I am ! thus doomed to be slandered, and accused, and by an unseen enemy, of such hornble blasphemy !" On the article being repei^ted, describing him as contumacious, for having formerly appealed from tlie Pope to Christ, he once more raised his voice to the Eternal Governor of all the earth, and called on Him to judge of the integrity of his heart. To the Council he then addressed his speech, denying that he had been in contempt, as his proctor had appeared for him at Rome, but, in two years, was unable to obtain a hearing, and he had now come to Constance, of his own free will, to answer for his conduct, and clear himself of all that had been alleo;ed ao-ainst him. Little attention was paid to his explanation. The great assembly before which he stood, had met on that day, not to listen, but to condemn. They considered that further deliberation or in- quiry would be but a waste of time, and, silence first commanded, — Vol. II. M 122 THE SENTENCE. 5. The followinc^ definitive sentence was read : — • " The most holy and sacred General Council of Constance being congregated together, representing the Catholic Church, for a perpetual memory of that which truth doth witness, as an evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit, thence it cometh that the man of most damnable memory, John WicklifFe, through his pestiferous doctrine, not through Jesus Christ by the gospel, as the holy fathers have in time past begotten faithful children, but, contrary to the wholesome faith of Jesus Christ, as a most venomous root, hath begotten many pestilent and wicked children, whom he hath left behind him, successors and followers of his perverse and wicked doctrine, against whom this sacred synod of Constance is forced to rise up, as against bas- tards and unlawful children, and, with diligent care, with the sharp knife of ecclesiastical author- ity, to cut up their errors out of the Lord's field, as most hurtful brambles and briers, lest they should grow to the hurt and detriment of others. " Forasmuch, then, as in the holy General Council, lately held and celebrated at Rome, it was decreed that the doctrine of John WicklifFe, of most damnable memory, should be condemned, and that his books, which contained the said doc- trine, should be burnt as heretical, and this decree having been approved and confirmed by the sacred IMPUTED ERRORS. 323 authority of the whole Council, nevertheless, one John Huss, here personally present, not the dis- ciple of Jesus Christ, but of John WicklifFe, an arch-heretic, after, and contrary to, the condemna- tion or decree, hath taught, preached, and affirmed the articles of WicklifFe, which were condemned by the church of God, and, in times past, by cer- tain most reverend fathers in Christ, lords arch- bishops and bishops of divers kingdoms and na- tions, masters of divinity of divers universities, especially resisting, in his open sermons, and also with his adherents and accomplices in the schools, the condemnation of the said articles of Wickliffe, oftentimes published in the said university of Prague, and hath declared him, the said Wick- lifFe, for the favour and commendation of his doc- trine before the whole multitude of the clergy and people, to be a Catholic man, and a true evange- lical doctor. He hath also published and affirmed certain and many of his articles, worthily con- demned, to be catholic, the which are notoriously contained in the books of the said John Huss. " Wherefore, after diligent deliberation, on full information first had upon the premises, by the reverend fathers and lords in Christ of the holy church of Rome, cardinals, patriarchs, and arch- bishops, bishops, and other prelates, and doctors of divinity, and of both laws, in great number assem- m2 124 CONDEMNED BOOKS. bled, this most sacred and holy Council of Con- stance declareth and determineth the articles above said, the which, after due conference, have been found in his books written with his own hand, (the which, also, the said John Huss, in open audi- ence before this holy Council, hath confessed to be in his books), not to be Catholic, neither worthy to be taught, but that many of them are erroneous, some of them wicked, others offensive to godly ears, many of them to be temerarious and sedi- tious, and the greater part of them notoriously heretical, and even now of late, by the holy fathers and General Councils, reproved and con- demned. And forasmuch as the said articles are expressly contained in the books of John Huss, therefore, this said sacred Council doth condemn and reprove all those books which he wrote, in what form or phrase soever they may be, or whe- ther they be translated by others ; and doth deter- mine and decree, that they all shall be solemnly and openly burned, in the presence of the clergy and people of the city of Constance, or elsewhere : adding, moreover, that all his doctrine is worthy to be despised and eschewed of all faithful Chris- tians ; and to the intent that this most pernicious and wicked doctrine may be utterly excluded and shut out of the church, this sacred synod doth straightly command that diligent inquisition be PROOFS OF HERESY. 125 made by the ordinaries of the places, for such treatises and works, and that such as are found be consumed and burnt with fire. And, if there be any found that shall contemn or despise this sen- tence and decree, this sacred synod ordaineth and decreeth that the ordinaries of the places shall proceed against every such person as suspected of heresy. " Whereupon, after due inquisition made against the said John Huss, and full information had by the commissioners and doctors of both laws, and also by the sayings of witnesses worthy of credit, and many other things openly read before the said John Huss, and before the fathers and prelates of this sacred Council (by the which allegations of the witnesses it appeareth that the said John Huss hath taught many evil and offensive, seditious and perilous heresies, and for a long time), this most sacred and holy synod, lawfully congregated and gathered together in the Holy Ghost, the name of Christ being invoked and called upon, by this their sentence, which is here set forth in writing, deter- mineth, pronounceth, declareth, and decreeth, that John Huss was and is a true and manifest heretic, and that he hath preached openly errors and here- sies lately condemned by the church of God, and many other seditious, temerarious, and offensive things, to the no small offence of the Divine Ma- m3 126 REASONS FOR CONDEMNATION. jesty and of the universal church, and to the detri- ment of the Catholic faith ; and at the same time the church neglecting, despising the keys of the church and ecclesiastical censure. In these errors he continued, with a mind altogether indurated and hardened, for the space of many years, much offending faithful Christians by his obstinacy and stubbornness, when he made his appeal, as he has here openly declared, to the Lord Jesus Christ, as the most high Judge, omitting and leaving all ecclesiastical means ; in the which appeal he alleged many false, injurious, and offensive matters, in con- tempt of the apostolic see and the ecclesiastical censure and keys» " Whereupon, both for the premises and many other things, the said synod pronounceth John Huss to be a heretic, and judgeth him by these presents to be a heretic, and reproveth the said appeal as in- jurious, offensive, and done in derision of ecclesi- astical jurisdiction ; and judgeth the said John Huss, not only to have seduced the Christian peo- ple by his writings and preachings, and failed to be — especially in the kingdom of Bohemia — a true preacher of the gospel of Christ, but also to have been a seducer of the people, and also an obstinate and stiffnecked person ; yea, and such a one as doth not desire to return to the lap of our most holy mother the church, neither to abjure the HUSS DEGRADED. 127 heresies which he hath openly preached and de- fended ; and, therefore, this most sacred Council decreeth and declareth that the said John Huss shall be famously deposed and degraded from his priestly orders and dignity." While the sentence was being read, Huss re- peatedly protested against parts of it. He denied that he was guilty of stubbornness ; and, far from countenancing error, would willingly, if it depended on him, put it down for ever, at any labour, ex- pense, or peril to himself His books, he main- tained, were unjustly denounced by those who knew Httle of their contents. Had the sentence meant no more than It ex- pressed — had the Council been content with de- priving him of his rank in the church, — though unjust, the proceeding might not have been deemed immeasurably severe ; but it was well understood that this was but a preliminary to a most cruel bodily punishment ; and that the Council, in de- grading, virtually doomed him to suffer at the stake. Huss knew this. When the sentence was pronounced, he felt that his fate was irrevocably sealed. Again he sank on his knees, and addressed himself to that quarter where alone he could hope to be heard with favour and mercy. 6. " Forgive, forgive, Lord Jesus Christ !" he exclaimed, " my bitter enemies, by whom thou 128 HUSS PRAYS FOR HIS JUDGES- knowest I am falsely accused. They have em- ployed corrupt witnesses and slanders agamst me ; but forgive them, I pray, for thy great mercy's sake, which no tongue can express, nor avenge on them my cruel wrongs V This Christian supplication was regarded by the cardinals and bishops with the most profound con- tempt. It provoked something like an expression of mirth, so extravagant did it seem that a con- demned heretic should, for a moment, affect to imagine that a prayer of his could be heard, or attended to, by the Father of all. EXECUTION OF THE SENTENCE. 1^9 CHAPTER XXI. THE MARTYRDOM OF JOHN HUSS. 1. The sentence of degradation carried into effect. — 2, Out- rageous insults oifered by the bishops. — 3. Huss is handed over to the civil power. — 4. Preparations for putting him to death. — 5. His books burnt. — 6. Psalms quoted by Huss oo. his way to the stake. — 7. His cheerful and resigned deport- ment in his last moments. — 8. He is burnt to ashes. — 9. Shame of the Emperor Sigismund. No further pause was allowed. The insulted Majesty of Heaven was forthwith to be signally avenged. The natural feelings of Ihe human heart, which would prompt compassion even for a fallen sinner, were quenched in the flood of infuriated bigotry which there prevailed. Seven reverend prelates were selected to carry into effect the sen- tence which the Council had pronounced, and they now stood forth, nothing loth, to perform the part assigned to them. With a view to degrade Huss from the priesthood, he was ordered to clothe him- self in garments provided for that purpose. He submissively obeyed their bidding. On assuming 130 PARDON OFFERED. the alb, or surplice, he likened it to the white robe which Herod caused Jesus Christ to wear. In all his troubles, he had constantly in mind the suffer- ings of the Redeemer, in comparison with which, he considered his own such as might easily be borne. The name of the Saviour was unceasingly in his mouth ; his merits and love for sinful men were never absent from his thoughts ; and, thus com- forted, his courage, in the most trying moments, rose with the danger, and soared above the raging malice and affected piety of his merciless enemies. Attired in the vestments of a priest, he was again required to abjure his errors, and reminded that safety, profit, and honour, would be the in- stant consequences of compliance. This pretended charity moved him more than the severity which he had previously encountered ; and tears filled his eyes. At the moment, he made no answer; but, ascending the scaffold which had been erected in the church, he thus gave vent to his agonized feelings : — " The lords cardinals and bishops here assem- bled, counsel me to confess, before you all, that I have erred ; could I obey them, and only expose myself to infamy and reproach from man, I might, probably, be soon persuaded to do it. But I can- not, seeing that I now stand in the presence of the Lord my God, without whose great dishonour, and PARDON REFUSED. 131 grudfre of my own conscience, I may not attempt the thing that is required. Well do I know that I never have taught those things which are cruelly ascribed to me, but have always preached, taught, and written the contrary. With what countenance, then, could I look on the heavens above — with what face could I look on those whom I have in- structed, if, through my faltering, it should come to pass that those things which they have hitherto known to be most sure and certain, should, from my being reported to have made recantation, now be made uncertain ? Ought I, by acting such a part, to astonish and trouble so many souls, so many consciences, up to this moment endowed with the most firm and real knowledge of the scriptures, and of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his most pure doctrine, and armed against all the assaults of Satan ? Never will I do it — never will I commit such an offence, that I shall seem to value more this unworthy body, ap- pointed unto death, than their soul's health and eternal salvation." Imagination can picture nothing more nobly ingenuous, more rich in just reasoning, or more faithful to duty, than the spirit which shone forth in the words of the dying martyr. It was not to gratify a vain pride, nor was it to gain the plaudits of a thoughtless multitude,^ that he braved the 132 CRUEL MOCKERY. malice which he knew would consign him to the flames, but because he felt in his heart that, if he took that course which promised to shield him from present danger, he might compromise the eternal safety of many whom he confidently hoped were, through his instrumentality, in the road to everlasting glory. The crowd of spectators to whom he spoke list- ened in sympathising silence, but the Council mani- fested anew the disdain in which they held his opinions. His last declaration they regarded as an instance of hardened obstinacy, which could not be too severely visited, in this world or the next. He was sternly ordered to quit the platform, and receive the execution of his sentence. Still wearing the dress of a priest, he complied with the mandate, and descended to the floor of the church. He had not yet left the steps, when one of the bishops snatched a chalice from his hand, which had been given to him with the garments he had been forced to wear, and at the same time exclaimed, — " Oh ! thou cursed Judas ! why hast thou for- saken the counsel and ways of peace, to consort with the Jews? We take away from thee this chalice of thy salvation.'* " But I trust," said Huss, whose courage was increased as the treatment he met with became more gross and intolerable, " that God the Father BISHOP EXECUTIONERS. 133 Omnipotent, and his son my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for whose sake I do suffer these revilings, will not take away the chalice of his redemption; and T have, even now, a firm and steadfast hope that this day I shall drink thereof in his kino^dom." Such presence of mind astonished all, even those who affected to regard his impenitence with horror. The remaining six bishops, appointed in this stage of his martyrdom to act as executioners, then pro- ceeded, severally, to snatch from his person the vestments he had assumed, preparatory to this scene, and each, as he did so, breathed a curse on the dying man. This rufiianly violence disturbed not the tranquillity of Huss. Their blasphemous outrages he declared he was content to endure for his sake who had died on the cross to accomplisli man's redemption. Some dispute arose among the persecutors as to the manner in which the}^ should deal with his shaven crown, and, upon that, Huss calmly remarked to the emperor, that " it was sin- gular, seeing that they were all of the same cruel mind and stomach, that they could not agree among themselves what peculiar infliction would be fittest." It was at length declared that the tonsure should be removed or defaced with a pair of shears. These were accordingly used to raise the skin of his head ; and, this ceremony completed. Vol. II. N 134 BRUTAL FOLLY. it was announced that the church had taken away- all her ornaments and privileges from him, and nothing remained but that he should be delivered over to the civil power. Their performance closed with a display which was not less mean and puerile, than it was venge- ful. A large paper cap was produced, on which three devils were painted, surmounted by the word " Heresiarcha." This, which it was intended he should wear, he regarded with perfect indifference. " My Lord Jesus Christ," said he, " wore for my sake a crown of thorns, and why should I grieve to wear a light cap for his, however ignominious it may be made to appear : I will do it, and that willingly." It was placed on his head, and, that done, one of the sanctified dignitaries engaged in this important work, marked his zeal in the cause of the holy Catholic Church, if not his charity, by accompany- ing the act with the words '* Hereby we commit thy soul to the devil !" Huss heard the reprobate speech. He probably pitied the heartless sinner who breathed it. " And I," said he, raising his hands and eyes, " commit my spirit into thy hands, O ! Lord Jesus Christ ! Unto thee do I commend that spirit, which thou hast redeemed by thy blood ! " Here again it will be remarked how full his HUSS HANDED OVER TO THE CIVIL POWER. 135 heart was of heavenly contemplation. The sublime example of Jesus was incessantly mingled with his meditations, and the coarse brutal folly, which the cardinals expected would wound, was a subject of exultation; it reminded him of the sufferings which Christ had encountered to work out the salvation of sinners ; and he wished to regard as gentle forbear- ance on the part of his tormentors, or rather as a merciful interposition from above, the feelings which s uggested to their malice, at that moment, merely the ridiculous idea of compelling him to wear a grotesque paper cap. The last insult that hatred could imagine, and folly offer, had been en- dured, and nothing remained but to close the busi- ness of the day with murder. 3. The bishops, who had completed the atrocious task which they thought it an honour to perform, then turned to Sigismund, and announced that John Huss no longer remained a member of the church ; and the most holy synod, having degraded him from his priestly ofBce, had nothing left to do in regard to the wretched heretic, but to hand him over to justice, by placing him in the custody of the civil authorities of the place. This was part of the ceremonial previously ar- rarjged. Ludovico Duke of Bavaria was present, • in his ducal state dress, holding the golden apple -in one hand, and the cross in the other ; and to his N 2 136 EXECUTION COMMANDED. keeping, Huss was delivered. The emperor com- manded Ludovico to receive the prisoner, and de- liver him into safe hands, that, for the heresies of which he stood convicted, he might be forthwith led to execution. Now arrived the dread moment which was to subject the courage of the martyr to the last fearful test. Pardon, safety, and worldly honour, were before him on the one hand ; on the other, reproach, ignominy, and a death of torture. Now was it to be decided whether frail mortality should sink before the accumulated horrors which bloodthirsty persecutors had prepared for the annihilation of liis suffering frame, already bowed by sickness, long imprisonment, and anxious cares ; or whether the spirit of truth should sustain those opinions which a sense of duty had prompted him to promulgate and defend. Huss, as has before been shown, was not a hairbrained enthusiast, who aspired to the glory of martyrdom for itself. He desired to live, and had made every effort in his power to preserve life, short of sinning against his conscience by betray- ing the cause of God. He could not dismiss from his mind the recollection that many who had at- tended his preachings in Bethlehem and elsewhere, and had, by his expositions of the scriptures, been brought into the way of salvation, would be for ever thrown on a sea of doubt, if, under any cir- BOOKS OF HUSS BURNT. 137 cumstances, he forsooTv the opinions he had long professed. It was not, therefore, merely a question of individual degradation that he had to consider, but the high responsibility which devolved upon hira, for the immortal welfare of hundreds and thousands whom he had taught, that rendered it his imperative duty not to abate one jot of all that he had heretofore maintained, however dreadful the immediate consequences of this determination must prove to himself. 4. To common minds, his situation, degraded in public as he had been, and placed in the hands of those who were about to burn him to ashes, must appear most deplorable. But an unseen arm sus- tained him through " the valley of the shadow of death ;" and the " still small voice" of conscience diffused a satisfied joyfulneas over his mind, lifted him above the appalling circumstances which were expected to subdue his fortitude, and, instead of sinkinor like a criminal before the instruments of punishment, his feelings burst forth in exultation at the last moment, as if he regarded the fires which were to surround his devoted form, but as the cha- riot of Elijah, to convey him to eternal bliss. 5. On leaving the church, his attention was directed to a blaze already kindled in the street. The conflagration of some of his books was then in progress. He smiled at the impotent malice which n3 138 HUSS AT THE STAKE. had brought this spectacle before his eyes. In the short progress which he had yet to make, he called to those who came within hearing, not to believe that it was for error or heresy that he was punished. Such, he earnestly assured them, was not the case ; but cruelty and falsehood imputed opinions to him which he had never held, and for these he was to be sacrificed. The spot on which his blood was to be shed, was near the gate of Gottlebian, between the gardens and the gates of the suburbs. As ho approached the stake, he expressed a conviction that the cause of truth and religious freedom would, despite of present appearances, eventually triumph ; and ex- pressions are imputed to him which some of his admirers believed to have burst from his lips in the holy spirit of prophecy. He declared, says CurcetiSj that *' a century after him a swan would arise, which the priests would not be able to deal with as they did with the poor goose (Huss is the Bohe- mian word for goose) then in their hands ; meaning to announce the coming of Luther." 6. He saw the stake at which he was to die, and the wood by which he was to be consumed ; and as he approached the fatal pile, he sank on his knees, and addressed his thoughts to the great Arbiter of all, praying that his courage might not forsake him in this last and most important passage PSALMS QUOTED BY THE MARTYR. 139 of his life. He further strengthened himself by repeating sentences from the second and thirty- seventh Psalms. There are thoughts there ex- pressed — especially in the thirty-seventh Psalm — most appropriate. Truly might he say with the Psalmist — " I have heard the slander of many ; fear was on every side : while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. " But I trusted in thee, O Lord ! I said, thou art my God !" And justly might he add — *^ Let me not be ashamed, O Lord ! for I have called upon thee ; let the wicked be ashamed. " Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak grievous things, proudly and contemptuously, ao;ainst the righteous." Happily he might also exclaim — " Oh ! how great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee ; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men ! " For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes ; nevertheless, thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee." He repeated with affecting emphasis, as a partini; prayer, the solemn declaration — 140 HUSS WISHES FOR A CONFESSOR. " Into thy hand I commit ray spirit : thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth !'^ Notwithstanding the efforts made by the priests to excite the people to unhallowed rao;e, that they might regard the destruction of a good man as a grateful offering to an all-bounteous God, some of the crowd who were near him, affected by his in- trepid though humble bearing, declared, whatever his previous conduct, he manifested the sincere de- votion of a true Christian now, and mourned the cruel fate reserved for him. "Not so the minions of power. Sordid Interest steeled their hearts against the better feelings of humanity, and they were proud to distinguish them- selves in the atrocious scene, bv insultino; the vie- tim with the overflowings of their pretended zeal. The cap which their brutality had placed on his head, from the attitude which he assumed while engaged in prayer, fell off. A soldier officiously stepped forward, picked it up, and replaced it, with the remark that *' it was fittinor Huss should be burnt with the devils, the masters whom he served." There were some who, in a charitable spirit, wished the dying man might be allowed the In- dulgence of a confessor. This solitary favour had previously been conceded. He was confessed in prison by a monk. It had been his wish that his SYMPATHY CONDEMNED. 141 enemy and accuser, Palletz, should attend him for that purpose, that he might know the secrets of his heart, and know how freely he could forgive all who had wronged him ; but this request was not complied with. When some indications of lively sympathy with the sufferings of the prisoner were manifested by the populace, a priest, who had, in honour of the occasion, assumed a dress of more than ordinary splendour, being attired in a green gown, drawn up and ornamented with red silk, approached the pile on horseback, and complained of the excess of kindness extended to Huss, as one convicted of heresy had no just claim to be heard. Such is the hateful character of false zeal in matters of religion. It closes the heart against all the solicitations of brotherly sympathy and gentle charity, and pursues the supposed object of eternal wrath, with a violence of rancour, and a thirst for torture, that can hardly be appeased by the sup- posed transgressor's blood. 7. While this ignominious exhibition of heartless bigotry was in progress, the sufferer remained on his knees. Being ordered to rise, he obeyed, and, in a loud voice, spoke as follows : — *' Lord Jesus Christ ! in this sad moment strengthen and support me, that, with a constant and patient mind, by thy gracious help, I may bear and endure the cruel and ignominious death 142 HUSS MADE TO FACE THE WEST. to which 1 am sentenced, for preaching thy most holy gospel and word." Then addressing the crowd, he again proclaimed the cause of his death, denying the justice of his sentence, and imputing it to the malice of false witnesses. He was thus enj^aoced when the execu- tioner approached. It is more than probable that his superiors were not without apprehension that some violence might be provoked in his behalf, on the part of the multitude, popular as Huss had been, and astonished as they were at the collected dignity, manly presence of mind, and patient resig- nation, which rendered glorious the last hour of the departing martyr. His outer garments were removed by the execu- tioner, who bound the victim's hands behind, and then, with wet ropes, tied him to the stake. A chain was also passed round him. In performing this part of his miserable office, the man had not judged it of importance to consult the points of the compass; and when the murderous preparations were far advanced, it was discovered that the prisoner's face was towards the east, which greatly shocked some of the more learned and orthodox witnesses of the proceedings. That a condemned heretic should be permitted to look eastward in his dying moments, was, in their eyes, a sin against religion, and flying in the face of Heaven. An HUSS AGAIN REFUSES TO RETRACT. 143 order was promptly issued that the error should be corrected. John Huss was placed on the opposite side of the stake, so that he might face the west. A chain was attached to his neck, and made fast to the stake. This present, in the spirit previously- displayed, he declared he contentedly received in the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ, who for him had suffered infinitely more. A fagot was placed under each of his feet, with straw between, and then he was closely built in with wood piled up to his chin. In this melancholy situation, the blazing torch w^hich was to kindle the devouring flame being before his eyes, a last attack was made on the firmness of the man. The Duke of Bavaria, com- ing forward, called to Huss that even yet it wa^ not too late to renounce his errors. The answer given by the sufferer was in substance that which he had returned to many similar invitations, but he now vindicated his intentions in a sterner tone than he had lately used, and declared " his only object had been to bring men to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, through the gospel, and, firm to this purpose, he was now ready, with a cheerful mind and courage unsubdued, to meet his death.'' The duke withdrew, considering that no more could or ought to be done, to prevent or stay the execution. All was ready to complete that " most 144 THE SIGNAL FOR EXECUTION. holy and godly labour," as it had been termed by the Bishop of Lodi, in his sermon, the destruction of an enemy of the church, or, rather, an enemy to the monstrous abuses by which the Pope, and his dissolute and intolerant cardinals and bishops, had disgraced it. 8. The word, or signal, was given to the execu- tioner, that the work of death should forthwith commence. A torch was applied to the bundles of wood which enclosed the person of the far-famed Bohemian, and the crackling flames rose around him. In that terrible moment, the voice of the martyr was heard, loud, cheerful, and sonorous, to rise above the tumultuous murmurings of the crowd, and the roaring violence of the consuming iire. He sang part of a hymn, and his courage, which had never failed, seemed to increase as the con- sciousness came over him that malice could do no more. Yet did he still earnestly pray for conti- nued support from the divine Author of his faith ; and " O Jesus Christ, the only son of the living God, have mercy upon me !" was his dying prayer. This he repeated more than once, when the flames were driven by the wind violently on his face, and his voice was no longer heard. Some motion was afterwards observed, which the spectators thought indicated that consciousness had not left him, and that his supplications to Heaven were, even in that JOHN HUSS REDUCED TO ASHES. 145 fearful moment, continued. He bowed his head as if in imitation of the Redeemer expiring at Cal- vary ; and, this repeated twice, he breathed his last. His remains exhibited a ghastly and shocking spec- tacle. Some miscalculation had been made as to the quantity of fuel necessary to consume a man to ashes; and the fagots were exhausted, while the body of the victim, which had been secured as already described, was seen, scarcely half consumed, hanging over the chain. The lower part of his person had been destroyed, but the head and body remained almost entire. Such materials as could be easily procured were hastily collected, the stake was thrown down, and the scorched and disfigured remnant of Huss was torn to pieces with hooks and forks, that it might the sooner be wasted ; and a new fire being kindled, the head cut into " small gobbets," while the heart was placed on a sharp- pointed stick, and held in the blaze, the grand con- summation was at length obtained, and the last fragments of the brave reformer were totally de- stroyed. His ashes, with a quantity of the earth on which he had stood while suffering the execution of his sentence, were then collected, with absurd anxiety and preposterous care, and thrown into the Rhine. This was done that his friends should obtain no relic which they might value as a memo- rial of their departed preceptor. The object was Vol. II. 146 sigismund's apology. promptly defeated. All the ground on which this dismal scene had been acted could not be removed, and portions of it, consecrated by the veneration the mourners felt for Huss, were eagerly sought, and as carefully cherished as if they had been parts of the reverend form of the sufferer, thus sinfully dismissed from worldly existence. 9. Great was the grief and indignation inspired by the news that Huss had been so inhumanly dealt with. From the pretended love and tender- ness expressed by the cardinals and bishops, few had expected that they would in any case proceed to such extremities. The safe-conduct of the em- peror, too, was relied upon, to save him from the last violence j and though he might be censured and degraded, his life, it was generally supposed, would be spared. Sigismund, the most charitable supposition is, had been artfully drawn on, step by step, to give his sanction to the abominable doings of the Council ; but no sooner was the victim gone beyond recall, than he felt ashamed of the course he had pursued, and made an attempt to justify himself. ** God alone knew," he said, " w^hat sor- row he had felt from the course things had taken at Constance. He had laboured to save Huss, and often had quitted the Council, and even the city, in rage and fury, till the appeals addressed to THE emperor's SOPHISTRY. 147 him by the cardinals and bishops, to allow them to do what was just and necessary, made him feel that he could not interfere more, without dissolv- ing the whole Council, a council assembled for high and important purposes connected with reli- gion, and to which ambassadors had been sent from all the kings and princes in Christendom/' It was in vain that this apology was put forth to cover imperial baseness. The safe-conduct given to Huss could not be forgotten. To pretend that it was only intended to protect him on his way to Constance, is too gross an absurdity to be listened to for a moment. Who would value a safe-con- duct to a prison and the stake ? To Huss, it was unquestionably held out that the safe-conduct would protect his person going and coming (any- thing else must be obviously worthless), however the principles he maintained might be reprobated. The emperor either designed, in the first instance, fraudulently to entrap the unsuspecting Bohemian, or, having meant him fairly then, was subse- quently induced, to ingratiate himself with the cardinals and bishops, to withdraw the conceded boon. In either case, he acted a cruel, perfidious, and despicable part. More than four centuries have passed away, and the sentence pronounced on his conduct by his contemporaries has not been re- versed. He is still regarded as a heartless vio- o2 148 THE emperor's safe-conduct. lator of his solemnly pledged faith, and shame must rest on his memory. Enough has been said of the folly of for a mo- ment supposing that Huss, being of sound mind, could wish for the emperor's protection to place him in the hands of his murderers. The document which has been quoted leaves no doubt on the sub- ject ; the exact words of the original are said to have been these : — *^ Honorabilem magistrum Johannem Huss, S. T., Baccalaureum, etc., de regno BoemiaB, in Concilium Generale. . . . transeuntem . . . vobis omnibus et vestrum cuilibet pleno recom- mandamus affectu, desiderantes, quatenus ipsum, cum ad vos pervenerit, grat^ suscipere . . . om- nique prorsus impedimento remote transire, stare, morari, et redirc liber^ permittatis, sibique et suis." * * Act Public, apud Bzovium, ann. 1414, sect. 17. JEROME OF PRAGUE. 149 CHAPTER XXII. JEROME OF PRAGUE. 1. Early career of Jerome of Prague — 2. Goes to Constance to assist Huss. — 3. Vindicates the principles maintained by his friend, and, preparing to return to Prague, is made prisoner. — 4. His challenge, and the answer to it. — 5. He boldly defends his faith. — 6. Hostile and outrageous conduct of the members of the Council when Jerome appears before them. — 7. He is sent to prison.— 8. An unhoped-for com- forter, — 9. Severities experienced during his imprisonment. — 10. His resolution fails beneath their infliction. — 11. Re- cantation of Jerome. — 12. Remorse of Jerome for having renounced his principles. — 13. Differences among the mem- bers of the Council as to Jerome's fate. — 14. New questions put to him which he refuses to answer in private. — 15. He is again brought before the Council. — 16. Additional charges preferred. — 17. He eloquently defends himself. — 18. Descrip- tion given of his speech and manner by Poggius, the Pope's secretary. — 19. Jerome recalls his recantation. 1. Intimately connected as is the history of Huss with the sacred cause in which Lord Cob- ham strove, not less so is that of his brave and generous disciple Jerome of Prague ; nor is it less interesting in itself than that of John Huss. He o3 150 CHARACTER OF JEROME. was a man of great talents, and had sought for learning in the principal seminaries of that period. He visited the cities of Heidelberg, Cologne, Paris, Oxford, and Prague. The dignity of M.A. he attained at four of the places just enumerated ; and that of D.D. at Oxford, in 1399. While there, he carefully studied the English language, and became intimately acquainted with the works of WicklifFe, which had made a great impression on the public mind. The laxity of discipline, and the abuses which had crept into the church, as described in the pre- ceding pages, had become the theme of general discussion throughout the land ; and the fame of Wickliffe, who had so boldly defended a reform, was constantly on the increase. Jerome shared the general admiration which was felt for his writ- ings. His vigorous attack on those malpractices which had brought discredit on the estabhshed church were favourably applauded by the friend of Huss. The applause which they commanded made him feel anxious to co-operate with that great enemy of papal oppression. He returned to Prague in 1400, and there openly declared for the opinions of Wickliffe, whose works he translated into the Bohemian language, a task for which he was emi- nently qualified. With feelings like his, he was naturally attracted to Huss, through whom " Wick- HE SHARES THE LABOURS OF COBHAM. 151 lifFe learning" was now making great progress in his native city. He became the disciple, or the scholar, of Huss, and an attachment sprang up between them which terminated but with life, if death, instead of terminating a friendship so spiritual and sublime, may not rather be regarded as hav- ing made it more perfect and enduring than any worldly union, under the happiest circumstances, could ever prove. Inferior to Huss in meek sere- nity, combined with unconquerable determination, Jerome was held to be even his superior in learn- ing and general ability. His piety was ardent and sincere; and if, in some moments of his painful career, his courage was subdued by the menacing array of power and infuriate hostility, his failing was bravely redeemed by his subsequent exhibition of undaunted zeal, the most devoted that mortal man could display. He regarded with just indig- nation the unhallowed dissipation which marked the lives of the clergy, and anxiously joined his best efforts to those of Huss and Cobham to reprove the offenders, and laboured, with enthusiasm and dili- gence not to be described, in the sacred cause of church reform. From his great celebrity, he was invited by the King of Poland, in 1410, to regulate the university of Cracow. His labours concluded there, he visited Hungary, and his opinions on religious 152 Devoted zeal of jerome. matters soon began to make him obnoxious to the ruling powers. Wickliffe's doctrines, espoused and defended by Lord Cobham and his friends, being introduced to the continent, as before described, so rapidly acquired dominion over the hearts of those who, daring to think for themselves, could distin- guish between high-sounding professions of sanctity, and a really holy life, that the whole fabric of priest- craft, as it then existed at Rome, was thought, and not without reason, to be in danger. He was ac- cused of heresy, and, being at Vienna, was thrown into prison, but after a time set at liberty, in conse- quence of the representations made in his favour by the university of Prague. 2. The generous feelings which united the two friends, Huss and Jerome, are conspicuously exhi- bited in what occurred when the troubles of the former began. The conduct of each was strongly characteristic ; that of Huss, full of calm resigna- tion, anxious for the safety of his friend, but neg- ligent of himself, — that of Jerome, impetuously generous, but indifferently regulated, and, indeed, perilous to himself, but mischievous to Huss, whom he ardently coveted to serve. On learning that the latter had been imprisoned, Jerome wrote to animate him in the cause of truth, and to exhort him not to let any vain threatenings induce him to abandon their great object — a spiritual reform. If HE GOES TO CONSTANCE. 153 his adversaries were likely to overpower him hy their violence, Jerome declared his readiness to appear at Constance, in order to support his opi- nions. Huss lost no time in desiring him to put away the thought of coming to his assistance, as he justly apprehended that, doing so, without serving him, he might place his own life in jeopardy. Je- rome contemplated a war of words, hi which he hoped reason and eloquence would prevail ; Huss was, by that time, too well aware that a prison, chains, and the stake were the means on which his enemies relied for ultimate triumph. The counsel, wisely and kindly given by Huss, was disregarded by Jerome, who deemed it cowardice not to attempt to offer every aid in his power, and he, in conse- quence, repaired to Constance while the Council was sitting. He arrived in that city on the 4th of April, 1415, and his coming thither at that moment created a considerable sensation. A very short time sufficed to convince him that the apprehensions of Huss were but too well founded. He discovered, unhappily too late, that it was impossible for him to bring comfort to his friend, but, remaining there, he might add to his affliction, as he was informed the Council were prepared to throw him into prison, without even allowing him a hearing. Prudence, under these circumstances, suggested that it was time to withdraw, and he accordingly left Con- 154 JEROME WITHDRAWS FROM CONSTANCE. stance for Iberling, an imperial town, but a mile distant. Thence, considering himself secure, he made application to the emperor for a safe-conduct, which was refused. Sigismund, though he had the baseness to acquiesce in the inhuman sophistry by which the Council justified their cruelty to John Huss, was evidently ill at ease, and wished not to incur a double portion of obloquy. He therefore withheld that which, conceded to the friend of Huss as a protection, might have been converted into a snare. On being denied a safe-conduct, Jerome caused placards to be posted in the most public places at Constance, which contained, in substance, the often-reiterated declaration of Huss. He vindicated the doctrines he had taught, and declared his readiness to justify his conduct in every respect before the Council, in person, if he could, in the first instance, obtain a guarantee from the emperor that he should not be deprived of his liberty by that body. He waited in the neighbour- hood some days, to ascertain the effect of this challenge, but the Council treated it with con- tempt, and did not vouchsafe to notice it. He then obtained, from the Bohemian nobles who were at Constance, a certificate that he had taken every step consistent with his personal safety, to obtain an audience, but to no purpose, and a declaration that it was not till these efforts had HE CONDEMNS THE COUNCIL. 155 failed that he resolved on returning to his native country. 3. After this circumspect course of proceeding, Jerome seems to have been abandoned by the cau- tious anxiety for self-preservation which prompted it, or, which is perhaps equally probable, his in- dignation, moved by the persecution of his friend, and the neglect which he himself had experienced, became too fierce to be restrained within ordinary limits. He had reached a village on the borders of the Black Forest, when he had the misfor- tune to join company with certain priests who were journeying in that direction. They fell into conversation, amicable at first, but, the acts of the Council, then sitting, being discussed, a warm dis- pute arose. Jerome could not disguise his feel- ings, and vented them in language which shocked them as coarsely sacrilegious, for he scrupled not to name what they called " the holy and sacred Council," "the devil's school," and "the synagogue of sin." Such gross contempt for au- thority the priests reported to the magistrates of the place, who held it to be their duty at once to in- terfere, with a view to arrest the march of impiety. Jerome was seized, and delivered to the custody of the Duke of Sultzbach, who, in accordance with the judgment he formed of what was necessary to forward the ends of impartial justice, wrote to that 156 JEROME CARRIED PRISONER TO CONSTANCE. body which was the object of Jerome's attack, for instructions respecting the future disposition of the prisoner. The answer returned was what might be expected from the Council. They de- sired that Jerome should be forthwith transferred to Constance, that his conduct might be fully in- vestigated. The duke lost no time in meeting the wish thus conveyed, and Jerome was immediately sent to Constance in fetters. Great importance was attached to his capture. It was a vast tri- umph for the excited minds then assuming to act in the profaned name of religion, for the glory of God. The elector palatine came to meet the prisoner, attended with a numerous retinue, and he, being on horseback, claimed the honour of leading the unfortunate Jerome into the city by a long chain, which was attached to his person. Animated by a sincere consciousness that he had only done what men and angels might approve, Jerome was nothing awed, but, perhaps, in some degree flattered and elevated by the vain parade his captors made of him, and fully prepared to bear every infliction, every wrong, which ven- geance could perpetrate. 4. The offer which Jerome had volunteered to come forward and defend his opinions, and which he had caused to be placed on the city gates, and on all the churches and monasteries in Constance, Jerome's challenge. 157 had given unpardonable offence. Yetj beyond a strong assertion that he had never wished to of- fend, it contained little that an impartial eye would have regarded as likely to provoke resentment. In substance it ran thus : — " To the most noble prince, the Lord Sigismund, by the grace of God King of the Romans and of Hungary, &c. I, Jerome of Prague, Master of Arts of the General University of Paris, as also of CoUeyn, Heidelberg, and Prague, by these my letters do notify to the king, together with the whole reverend Council, and, as much as depends upon me, wish all men to know, that because of crafty slanderers, backbiters, and false accusers, I am ready, freely and of my own will, to repair to Constance, there to declare, openly before the whole Council, the purity and sincerity of my true faith and my innocence, and not secretly before any private or particular person. Wherefore, if there be any of my slanderers, of whatever nation, or whatever their estate, who will object against me any crime of error or heresy, let them come forth and confront me in the presence of the said Council, and in their own names prove against me; and I will be ready, as I have written, to answer for all that I have done : and if it so fall out, that I be found guilty of error or heresy, then I will not refuse to suffer such punishment as shall Vol. II. p 158 CHALLENGE MADE PUBLIC. be meet and fitting for an erroneous i^erson or an heretic. *^ Wherefore, I most hiimblj beseech my lord the king, and the whole sacred Council, that I may have, to the end and j^urpose aforesaid, safe and sure access j and if it happen that I offer such equity and right as I do, before any fault be proved against me, I shall be arrested, imprisoned, or have any violence done to me, that then it may be manifest unto the whole world, that the General Council doth not proceed according to equity and justice, if they would, by any means, put me back from this plain and straightforward course, being come hither, freely, and of my own mind and ac- cord, which thing I suppose to be far from the thoughts of so sacred and holy a council of wise men." This paper, written in the Latin and German languages, he took every means then commonly in use to make public. As already mentioned, it did not immediately call forth any reply, but, when it was known that he was in custody at Saltzberg, notice was taken of it, and, at the instance of Pal- letz and De Causis, he was cited to appear. A paper to the following effect was accordingly ex- hibited, as an answer to his challenge, on the city gates and on the church doors. "The sacred and holy General Synod and Council REPLY TO Jerome's challenge. 1o9 of Constance, congregated and gathered together in the name of the Holy Ghost, representing the uni- versal church militant, unto Jerome of Prague, who writes himself a master of arts of so many univer- sities, and affecting those things only which pertain to modesty and sobriety, and confessing that he knoweth no more than he ought to know. " Know, then, that a certain writing hath come to our understanding and knowledge, set up, as it were, by thyself, on the doors of the churches, and on the gates of the city of Constance, on the Sunday when there was singing in the church ' Quasi modo genitij wherein thou dost affirm that thou wilt openly answer all thy accusers and slanderers which object any crime, error, or heresy, against thee, whereof thou art marvellously defamed and accused before us, and especially touching the doctrine of Wickliffe, and other doctrines contrary to the Catholic faith, so thou mightest have a safe- conduct to come. But, forasmuch as it behoves us mainly to look after tliose crafty spirits which go about to destroy the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, therefore we do cite and call forth, by the tenor of these presents, thy person, manifoldly de- famed and suspected for the temerarious affirming and teaching of many fearful errors, so that, within fifteen days from the date of these presents, where- of five are appointed for the first term, five for the p2 160 JEROME DISTRUSTS THE COUNCIL, second, and other five for the third, we do ordain and appoint, by canonical admonition and warning, that thou dost appear in the public session of the Council, if there be any holden, on the same day, or else the first day immediately following when any session shall be, according to the tenor of thy said writing, that thou mayest answer to those things which any person or persons shall object against thee, or lay to thy charge, touching thy faith, and to receive and have justice so much as in lis lieth, and as the Catholic faith shall require, we offer and assign to thee here, by the tenor of our safe-conduct from all violence, (justice being always saved,) certifying thee, that, whether thou dost appear or not at the said term or time appointed, notwithstanding process shall go forward against thee by the said sacred Council, or by their com- missioners for the time aforesaid, not observed and kept, thy contumacy or stubbornness in anything notwithstanding. Given in the sixth session of the General Council, the 17th day of April, under the seals of the Presidents of the four nations. — Grum- pert Faker, Notary of the Germans." The promise of security against all violence — ''justice always saved" — could not inspire Jerome with confidence, when it was seen, in the case of Huss, how easy it was for the emperor and the Council to sanction outrageous severity, and then A TRAP LAID FOR HIM. IGl call it justice. He was, therefore, fully warranted in attempting, as he had done, to return to Prague, since he found that to accomplish the generous object of his coming was impossible. It may be charged against him as inconsistent, that, having concluded upon this step, he should have allowed any heat of temper, or violence of language, to place him in the power of his enemies. Some, however, have thought that he only fell into a trap which had been artfully prepared for him, and, if such be the case, it is not too much lo sup- pose, that, had the fraud failed, open violence would have been used, and his retreat effectually cut off. It may also be suspected that what fell from him was considerably exaggerated. That it was the fixed purpose of the Council to pursue him to the utmost, we are compelled to infer, from the transports of furious exultation which burst forth when they saw him standing a prisoner and in chains before them. What would be thought, if, in a modern court of justice, in place of a determination to put down any tumultuary expression of feeling, we should see, on a person being placed at the bar, before any inquiry into his guilt or innocence had been entered upon, a vast assembly of the gravest persons in the land rise and shout " Take him away and hang him" ? Yet this would only be to imitate the frantic and barbarous p3 162 HOSTILITY OF THE COUNCIL. cruelty of those who had to decide on the fate of Jerome of Prague. 5. The moment he appeared in presence of that body by whom John Huss was doomed to the stake, he was greeted with a yell of disapprobation, and *' Away with the heretic !" " Burn him, burn him !" were the cries which arose from all parts of the hall. Jerome braved the tumult with great courage, though, remembering what their first pro- ceedings against his friend had been, it was suffi- ciently portentous to fill with alarm one who had not ceased to value life. A letter was sent with the prisoner by the Duke of Bavaria, stating that chance had thrown him into his hands, and that, hearing an evil report of his heresies, it had been thought right to send him to the Council, that he might clear himself of the errors imputed. It was theirs to determine whether he was free from the detestable doctrines of Wick- liffe, and to deal with him accordingly. The letter contained flattering compliments to the wisdom and sanctity of the Council, which were listened to with satisfaction ; but these afforded infinitely less gratification to that stern and merciless assemblage, than the welcome announcement that the ill-fated Jerome was their prisoner. The Council proceeded to interrogate him on his general conduct, and it was demanded " why, GERSON TAUNTS JEROME. 163 having come to Constance, he had thought lit to withdraw j and why, when cited before them, he had failed to appear V His reply was, that he had judged it right to do so, when he found that he could obtain no safe-conduct from them, nor from his sovereign j and that his decision was con- sidered by many what it ought to be, he showed, by referring to letters in approbation of the step resolved upon, which he had received from the nobles of Bohemia. He said *' he had decided not of his own will; but, notwithstanding all mis- givings, had he known of the citation, even though he should already have returned to Bohemia, he would certainly have obeyed it." 6. Little credit was given to this assertion. The Council throuojhout affected to reo-ard him with the most profound disdain. It was their impression that he made a virtue of necessity, and professed a disposition to obey, only because it was impossible to escape. Gerson, on this, as on other occasions, made himself conspicuous by the fierce and un- measured wrath with which he exerted himself in the cause of persecution ; and, not content with callhig on the prisoner to account for his recent conduct, taunted him with his arrogance in former times, declaring that, " when he was in Paris, he had thought himself an angel on account of his elo- quence, and had disturbed the whole university by 164 THE TRINITY PAINTED AS WATER, SNOW, & ICE. propagating erroneous doctrines." The prisoner replied, that the matter he had advanced when at Paris was offered in the character of a philosopher and a master of universities; and if he could be proved to have really favoured what was false, he was now perfectly open to conviction, and, on being proved to be wrong, would gladly retract. The accusation made by Gerson was urged by others in various shapes, and answers to the same effect were returned. By the master of the uni- versity at Heidelberg, Jerome was stated to have painted, on one occasion, a shield or scutcheon, in which the three persons of the Trinity were repre- sented as water, snow, and ice. Jerome declared that, whatever he had preached or painted else- where, he was ready then to preach or paint, and to defend what he had done to the best of his ability, but always holding himself prepared to abandon any opinion shown to be at variance with scripture. His answers were so little satisfactory, that the cry of " Burn the heretic !" was again raised. In the midst of the rancour and fury which encom- passed him, he stood perfectly serene. Content to meet the cruel fate to which it was proposed to doom him, he humbly, but courageously, desired, " if his death could give them satisfaction, that they should not spare him, but proceed, in God's name, to do their will." A COMFORTER. 165 The Bishop of Salisbury made a taunting speech, in which he eulogised that mercy which he had little disposition to extend to a helpless fellow-crea- ture. ^^ It was far," he said, " from his wish, and that of the Council, to doom him to death. Very different was their object, as, in pious imitation of their Divine Master, what they desired was, ^ not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live.' " No pity, however, had found its way to his heart, or to those of his companions. They thought it dignified and becom- ing to mock the destined sufferer, by speaking of compassion which they could not feel. 7. Jerome saw it was in vain to attempt to soften men so sternly resolved to pursue and to condemn, and he in no respect departed from what he had previously advanced. By order of the Council, he was forthwith committed to prison. He was first placed in a cell adjoining the hall in which the Council held their sittings, and there, while thoughtfully revolving in his mind the vio- lence already used towards him, and the further se- verity which he had to expect, he was surprised to hear himself addressed in a friendly strain. — ^' Fear not, Jerome," exclaimed a voice ; — " fear not to die in the cause of that truth, which, through life, thou hast laboured to advance." " Whoever thou art," the prisoner gratefully re- 166 PETER MLADEMEWITZ. plied, " take the sincere thanks of an abject op- pressed man for thy soothing counsel. True it is, I have lived to strive in the cause of truth. Already I have suffered for it ; the hardest task remains to be fuliilled, but humbly I trust in God that he will support my spirit against the weakness of flesh and blood, that I may endure with constancy." 8. The person by whom he had been so unex- pectedly greeted was a notary, named Peter Mlademewitz, w^ho, when the Council were about to proceed to the condemnation of the writings of Huss, without hearing him in defence of the parts objected to, had hastened to transmit this determi- nation to De Chlume and his friends. Through making them acquainted with what was proposed, the humane and timely effort caused an appeal to the emperor to be forwarded, which proved success- ful. This notary — such was his calling — now soothingly condoled with the unfortunate Jerome on the manifold dangers by which he was encom- passed, but strongly exhorted him not to suffer the cruelty of his enemies to prevail so far as to lead him for a moment to abandon his principles. Jerome declared that, though he had not wilfully courted danger, he had no weak fear of death, and manifested a firm resolution to act on the advice he had received. Their conference was short. It was from a win- MLADEMEWITZ PUNISHED. 167 dow in the cloister which looked on the apartment to which Jerome had been temporarily committed, that Peter had found the means of thus communi- cating with him. The guard, in whose custody he was, overheard their conversation, and, resent- ful of any word of sympathy being uttered to his charge, ordered Peter away, and even used blows to force him to withdraw. A second person came to the same place, ani- mated by the compassionate disposition of the notary. He was seized, and detained to give an account of himself. He, unfortunately, could not prove that he was other than guilty of pity. This drew upon him a severe reprimand, and he was not released till he had promised, upon oath, to communicate no more with the reprobate heretic, whom the holy Council had devoted to vengeance. 9. In his case, cruel men seemed unusually impatient to commence the work of torture. That evening he was bound with chains at- tached to his hands and his neck, and he was car- ried to a tower in St. Paul's Churchyard, in the city of Constance, where he was made fast to a great block, while his feet were secured in the stocks. This was dealing with him harshly, but it was little to what, even in that early stage of his persecution, the ill-fated scholar was compelled to endure. Bv a refinement in crueltv he was 168 CRUELTY IN PRISON. compelled to sit in such a position that every mo- ment he was subjected to the most intolerable pain. The block to which his hands were chained was so high that he could not sit on it without having his head thrown painfully forward in such a manner that it hung down. Thus barbarously restrained, his life was endangered, and to rest was impossible. While such monstrous inflictions were con- tinued, the friends of Jerome were kept ignorant of the exact place of his confinement. Two days and two nights he remained in this miserable situa- tion, being allowed no better sustenance than bread and water. One of his keepers at length relented, and made the friendly notary acquainted with the treatment to which the prisoner was subjected, as well as with the place of his incarceration. Peter obtained permission from the keeper to supply Jerome with meat, and humanely hastened to avail himself of the licence. But the uneasy posture forced upon the sufferer, and from which there was no disposition to relieve him, rendered the benevolence of the notary of little or no avail. He lost his appetite, and, after eleven days, his health was so seriously impaired, that there was every reason to expect his misery would terminate in death. Jerome believed that the moment had nearlv arrived when he must stand before th< MENACES AGAINST JEROME. 169 great Judge of all the earth ; and to fit him for the awful transition, he desired to be indulged with the assistance of a confessor. But that was too mighty a favour to be easily granted. Those who pretended that they only punished the body in order to purify, and eventually save the soul, would not allow the fainting captive the spiritual consolation which he might derive from the atten- tions of a minister named by themselves, measured and imperfect, as at best they must be, till after much importunity had been used. When, at length, his prayer was granted, as might be expected, the confessor sent to him used every argument to induce him to renounce the opi- nions he had preached, and was resolved, while he had life, to defend. All was to no purpose ; Jerome remained immoveable, and his obstinacy was more fiercely condemned than ever. The atrocious mur- der of Huss was used as an instrument to subdue his determination. When that cruelly betrayed man had been carried to the stake, his torments were exultingly brought under the consideration of his friend and scholar. Jerome still resisted, but his enemies were not to be worn out. Day after day passed away, and all the rigours of his confine- ment remained unabated; while the fiercest threats were unceasingly launched, that he should perish in the flames, as Huss had done. He was repeat- VOL. II. Q 170 JEROME SUBDUED. edly brought before the Council. Three times he was exposed to all the hateful taunts and fear- ful menaces which fanatical virulence, armed with unbounded power, could urge against one lonely, friendless captive. Shall we blame the unhappy Jerome, if he did not go through this tremendous ordeal with all the unshaken firmness of his prede- cessor ? Shall we wonder, if, under such appalling circumstances, his courage failed him for a season ? Irksome confinement, miserable privation, sick- ness, and terrifying threats, on the one hand, — liberty, affluence, health, and flattering promises, on the other, — can we feel amazed, that, thus tortured and tempted, poor human nature sank for a time vanquished and exhausted in the lamentable strife? It should rather create surprise that the friendless victim held out so long as Jerome resisted, than that he yielded at last. 10. At last, certainly, he did yield. However painful the admission, the fact cannot be denied, that the intrepidity with which Jerome entered on the contest, and the firmness with which he sustained the first savage attacks of his adversaries, sank under long captivity, and all the frightful conco- mitants which have been described. He no longer demanded proofs from scripture that he had erred, but admitted that his judgment might have been deceived. The Council were rejoiced to find that FORM OF RECANTATION. 171 they liad happily succeeded in shaking the proud spirit which they had begun to regard as uncon- querable. No step was omitted which might im- prove, for their purpose, this Ijjappy state of things. All the artillery of Rome, previously used against his strength, continued to play upon his weakness. He consented, at length, publicly to retract what he had so long maintained, and a form of recantation was prepared for his signature. Care was taken t-o render it as strong and as bitter to the subdued reformer as possible. Not only was it made to breathe the fullest approbation of all that he had questioned or condemned, and to reprobate what he had supported, but he was also made to sub- scribe to the sentence promulgated against the writings of Huss, and, worse than that, to testify approbation of the murder of his departed friend. Finally, it bound him never to recant what was then extorted, on the pain of the heaviest punish- ment that could fall on him here, and eternal per- dition in the world to come. It ran nearly as follows : — 11. " I, Jerome of Prague, Master of Arts, acknowledge the Catholic Church and the apos- tolic faith, do accurse and renounce all heresies, and, especially, that with which I have hereto- fore been charged, and which, in time past, John Wickliffe and John Huss held and taught in their q2 172 OPINIONS OF WICKLIFFE CONDEMNED. works, treatises, and sermons, made to the clergy, for the which cause, the said Wickliffe and Huss, together with their said doctrines and errors, are condemned by this holy Synod of Constance, and all the said doctrines, sentence by sentence, con- demned, and, especially, in certain articles set forth in the judgments given against them by this sacred Council. "Also, I accord and agree to and with the holy Church of Rome, the apostolic seat in this sacred Council, and with my mouth and heart do profess in all things, and touching all things, and especially as touching the keys, sacraments, orders and offices, and ecclesiastical censures, pardons, relics of saints, ecclesiastical liberty, also ceremonies, and all other things pertaining unto the Christian religion, as the Church of Rome, the apostolic see, and this sacred Council do profess, and especially that many of the said articles are notoriously heretical and lately reproved by the holy fathers, some of them blasphemous, others erroneous, some offen- sive to godly ears, and many of them daring and seditious. Such also were counted the articles lately condemned by this sacred Council, and it was inhibited and forbidden, to all and singular Catholic men, hereafter to preach, teach, or pre- sume to hold or maintain any of the said articles, under pain of being accursed. THE SHIELD OF FAITH. 173 " And I, the said Jerome, forasmuch as I have laboured, by scholastic arts, to persuade to the opinion de universalibus realibus, and that one substance of the same kind should signify many things, subject under the same and every one, as St. Ambrose, Jerome, Augustin, and likewise others do affirm, for the teaching hereof by a plain example, I described, as it were, a certain triangle, form, or figure, the which I called ' the shield of faith,' therefore, utterly to exclude and take away the erroneous and wicked understanding thereof, the which, peradventure, some men may gather thereby, I do say, affirm, and declare, that I never made the same figure, neither named it ^ the shield of faith,' to that intent or purpose that I would extol or prefer the opinion of universalities above or before the contrary opinion, in such sort, as, though that were ' the shield of faith,' and that, without the affirmation thereof, the Catholic faith could not be defended or maintained, when as I myself would not obstinately adhere thereunto. But this I said, because I had put example in the description of the triangular form, that one divine essence consisted of three subjects or persons, in themselves distinct — that is to say, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; the article of which Trinity is the chief shield of faith and foundation of the catholic truth. q3 174 JEROME CONDEMNS HUSS. " Furthermore, that it maybe evident unto all men what the causes were for that which I was reputed and thought to maintain, and favour some time John Huss, I signify to all men, by these presents, that when I had heard him often, both in his ser- mons and also in the schools, I believed that he was a very good man, and that he neither did in any point gainsay the traditions of our holy mo- ther the church nor holy doctors, insomuch as, when I was lately in the city, and the articles which I affirmed were shown to me, which were also condemned by the sacred Council, at the first sight of them I did not believe they were his, at least, not in that form. But when as I had understood, by certain famous doctors and masters of divinity, that they were his articles, I required, for my further information and satisfaction, to have the books of his own handwriting shown to me, wherein it was said those articles were contained, the which books, when they were produced to me, written in his own hand, which I did know as well as my own, I found that all and every one of the articles were therein written in like form as they are condemned. Wherefore, I do worthily judge and think him and his doctrine, with his adherents, to be condemned and reproved, by this sacred Council, as heretical and without reason. All which, the premises, with a pure mind and con- PERFECT SUBMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, 175 science, I do here pronounce and speak, being now fully and sufficiently informed of the aforesaid sen- tences given by this sacred Council against the said late John Wickliffe and John Huss, and against their own persons, unto the which judgment, as a devout Catholic in all things, I do most humbly consent and agree. " Also, I, the aforesaid Jerome, who, before the reverend fathers the lords cardinals, and reverend lords, prelates, and doctors, and other worshipful persons of this sacred Council, in this same place, did freely and willingly declare and expound my intent and purpose; amongst other things, speaking of the church, did divide the same into three parts ; and, as I did perceive after- wards, it was understood by some that I would af- firm that in the triumphant church there was faith, whereas I do firmly believe that there is the blessed sight and beholding of God, excluding all dark ap- prehension and knowledge. And now also I do say, affirm, and declare, that it was never my intent and purpose to prove that there should be faith, speaking of faith as faith is commonly defined, but knowledge, far exceeding faith ; and, generally, whatsoever I have said, either then or at any time before, I do refer and most humbly submit myself to the determination of this sacred Council of Con- stance. 176 JEROME SUSPECTED. " Moreover, I do swear by the most Holy Tri- nity, and also by the most Holy Gospel, that I will for evermore remain and persevere, without all doubt, in the truth of the Catholic Church -, and all such as, by their doctrine and teaching, shall im- pugn this faith, I judge them worthy, together with their doctrines, of eternal curse. And if I myself, at any time (which God forbid I should), do presume to preach or teach contrary thereto, I will submit myself to the severity of the canons, and be bound to endure eternal pain and punish- ment. Whereupon, I do deliver by this my con- fession and tenor of my profession, willingly before this sacred General Council, and have subscribed and written all these things with my own hand." This confession, signed by Jerome, was made public with great exultation by the Council ; but in no respect did they keep good faith with the prisoner. Though they had so far prevailed over his justly excited apprehensions, as to induce him to degrade himself by signing and adopting a recantation which they had drawn up, they were well assured that his reason was unconvinced. Sickness, and pain, and fear, had abated his reso- lution, but his heart was not in the act, and they expected that, when beyond their reach, he would again appear the champion of Wickliffe and Wick- liffe's opinions. This was the spectre which un- JEROME STILL KEPT IN PRISON. 177 ceasingly haunted these spiritual tyrants ; and their fears rendered them more wildly ferocious than ever. They had promised him freedom as the price of his recantation ; and he expected that, having submitted to their will, the door of his prison would be immediately thrown open. That justice he claimed in vain. To the same tower in which he had pined so long, he was again sent, and guarded by armed men as closely as ever. His chains were indeed removed, and in other respects he was treated with less severity than he had previously experienced ; but the privilege which the poor cap- tive naturally looked for, of going abroad and of flying far away from his unrelenting enemies, as welt as from the friends who were scandalised by his weakness, was one which he was destined never to enjoy. 12. Great as the loss of liberty must appear to every one, it is only those who have been subjected to a tedious incarceration that can duly appreciate the blessing of breathing the fresh air fvee from restraint. To the enfeebled Jerome, however, a prolongation of imprisonment was painful in the extreme. But the bodily distress it inflicted was as nothing compared with the misery which filled his mind, when he recalled what he had done. That he, who had fondly believed himself a chosen instrument in the hands of the Almighty to wake 178 REMORSE OF JEROME. sinners to repentance, — that he, who, from convic- tion, had been the animated advocate of truth, and had often proclaimed his readiness to die in its cause, should have meanly yielded to the threats or promises of guilty men, so far as to deny the faith he had professed, and to sanction the murder of his revered departed friend, he felt to be an accumulation of shame and sin, which, on earth, must connect undying infamy with his name, and, more than that, must annihilate every well-founded hope of happiness in a future world. Severe as the pains had been under which his spirit gave way, he found that they could be infinitely surpassed by those tortures which followed the recreant act to which he had been brought — the impious aban- donment of duty. He felt that, like Peter, he had denied his master ; and, like Peter, he wept bitterly, for that he had failed in the most important mo- ment of his earthly pilgrimage. Returning health he loathed as the fearful wages of sin. With real sorrow he deplored the awful transgression into which, by his own weakness and the artful cruelty of others, he had most unexpectedly been betrayed. Jerome felt that, to save life, he had sacrificed all that rendered life valuable j and, with unavailing tears, incessantly lamented the ignominious step he had, in evil hour, been induced to commit himself. DISCUSSIONS RESPECTING JEROME. 179 13. In this deplorable state, his grief soon at- tracted the notice of his enemies, nor was his speech so guarded as to leave them long in doubt of what was passing in his heart. Palletz and De Causis, anxious for the eclat of another burning, were on the alert to prefer new charges ; and some Carmelite friars from Prague, who were greatly disappointed at his not being punished by fire, combined with them to represent that his recanta- tion was insincere, and that his only object had been to escape the fate of John Huss. New arti- cles were exhibited against the miserable Jerome, and submitted to the Council, the framers of which demanded that he should be compelled to answer. On this subject some difference of opinion arose. The Cardinal of Cambray, and others, who had been most virulent against Huss, were reluctant to proceed further in the case of Jerome. They per- haps saw that the horror inspired by the shedding of guiltless blood, was working in a way not at all to be desired by the church which they laboured to sustain, and felt that, in this case, forbearance would be true policy. Whether such considera- tions, or whether, for a moment, pity touched their hearts, cannot now be known j but, certain it is, they favoured the milder course, and proposed that the prisoner, after having subscribed to his recanta- tion and degradation, should be permitted to return to Bohemia. 180 A PRIVATE EXAMINATION PROPOSED. Gerson and Naso were most hostile to his libera- tion. They expressed great horror for that weak- ness or wickedness, which would let such a despe- rate enemy of the faith loose again when once secured, to make war on the peace, well-being, and everlasting salvation of mankind. After all the clergy in Bohemia had suffered from his preachings against them, now to suffer him to escape would be cruelty to them, and most fatal in its conse- quences. Such a course the learned persons just named fiercely opposed ; and a hint was thrown out by Naso, that it might be feared those who advised it were bribed to do so, either by heretics, the friends of the prisoner, or by the King of Bohemia, with whom he understood Jerome to be a favourite. Upon this, the cardinal, and others that acted with him, declined further interference ; and the Patri- arch of Antioch, who had pronounced the sentence of condemnation against Huss, and a German doctor, were named judges in the case, and it was resolved that they should examine Jerome in pri- son, and obtain his answers to the new questions which had been preferred. 14. Pursuant to this determination, they waited on him for the purpose above stated. They found him, though in deep affliction, anything but tract- able. A prey to miserable reflection, from the hour in which his offending hand was persuaded to sign THE COUNCIL REASSEMBLES. 181 the form of recantation, he had now no fear of any cruelty which his enemies might exercise, as all their ingenuity could supply no torment equal to the horrors of self-condemnation under which he groaned. After what had occurred, after what he had done, he felt that they had no right to interro- gate him further, and refused to submit to a private trial, or to answer any questions put to him in pri- son. If he were called upon to give further expla- nations as to the state of his mind, he claimed to have an opportunity of doing it in open court. On this he steadfastly insisted, and his persecutors, in the end, gave way. He had an object, to gain which he held to be of the greatest importance ; but what that object was, their penetration, much as they suspected or more than suspected him, did not enable them to guess. After full consideration, they agreed that he should have the benefit of a public audience, at which they calculated his recant- ation would be renewed, though some explanation might be offered, with which it would be for them to deal. This concession — the permission to speak — greatly relieved his mind, which soon recovered all its former firmness and tone, and enabled him to act a bold, uncompromising, and, indeed, a splendid part, through the rest of his mortal career. 15. The Council met in great numbers, on Vol. II. B 182 NEW CHARGES AGAINST JEROME. Saturday, the 25th of May, 1416, in the cathedral church of Constance. Jerome, still sorely op- pressed with the recollection of what he had done when last there, once more appeared before them. He felt that he had sinned against those who had heretofore sought religious instruction from him, and against his great Creator. Deep remorse op- pressed him, and he sighed but to atone for, and to undo, as far as might be, the wrong he had done. Though his enemies desired again to extort a re- cantation, they had laid a snare for his life. Ope- rating on his former terrors, they calculated on heaping new obloquy on the broken- spirited pri- soner ; and many in the Council, despite of his submission, still hoped to find an excuse for shed- ing his blood. 16. One hundred and seven new articles were brought forward against him, and it was expected that, overwhelmed by the force of these accusations, he would sink before his judges almost an unresist- ing victim. Danger, however, gave him strength, and he so ably defended himself, that those who hated were compelled to admire. Forty of the articles he successfully answered, and proved that the witnesses had employed falsehood to blacken his character. His defence conthmed till the ap- proach of noon, when, as it was considered the business could not be finally disposed of that day, Jerome's reply. 183 an adjournment was resolved upon. The Court named the following Tuesday for renewing the proceedings. At an early hour in the morning of the day appointed, he resumed his address. Hig courage amazed, and his eloquence startled, his most relentless enemies. They questioned him, as they had done Huss, as to his belief in the existence of material bread in the sacrament, after the words of consecration had been pro- nounced, and he replied in the same terms which his revered preceptor had used. He was opposed by violence instead of argument, and told that he treated the Council with contempt. Indignant at his answers, one monk exclaimed aloud — " I swear that to be true which thou deniest.*' Jerome calmly replied to him, in Latin, that thus to swear was the readiest way to deceive. To all the harsh language addressed to him he gave the most fearless answers; and in the end he claimed, after the wit- nesses against him had been examined, to be heard for a while without interruption. Curiosity rather than benevolence granted his request. 17. He commenced by remarking on the fa- vourable hearing which had been accorded to all •who were opposed to him, and urged that in fair- ness he ought to be Hstened to with like attention. Hoping that this indulgence was now to be granted, he humbly implored the Eternal Being, whose glory r2 184 INJUSTICE PROTESTED AGAINST. he desired, to bestow courage, ability, and voice, to give utterance to those solemn truths which might best tend to the salvation of his own soul and that of others. He then reminded the Council of the flagrant injustice which they had committed, and commented on it in terms of just indignation, by opposing themselves to the full and public audience he had claimed. ^* What monstrous injustice," he exclaimed, " is this ! For three hundred and forty days I have been confined in various prisons, subjected to the greatest severities, and to miseries and privations of all kinds, and denied the means of defending myself, while your ears have been open to all my wicked adversaries could urge to accomplish my destruction. Even now, you think it much to attend to me for a single hour, though all the black calumnies invented and fabricated to injure me have met with a cordial welcome, and I on these base misrepresentations have been deemed a heretic, an enemy to the Catholic faith, and a persecutor of priests. None cared to listen to apology or expla- nation from me, to learn what I really have been. Remember, whatever your present authority, you are still but men, and may be deceived by false ap- pearances. True it is, the lights of the world and the wisest among men are reputed to be of this Council. It is therefore the more important that THE pope's secretary. 185 yon should have a care not to act with rashness or injustice. Not for myself alone do I plead ; my cause is the common cause of all Christians. The unjust condemnation of me to-day may be more pernicious to posterity, from the mischievous ex- ample it will furnish, than it can possibly be to me.'' As might be expected from such an assembly, he could gain no calm and impartial hearing. With supercilious indifference, they turned a deaf ear to the admonitions he had breathed, and some of his auditors indecently called on him to be silent. 18. The Pope's secretary, Poggius, in his letter Ad Aretinum, praises, in the warmest terms, the manner in which the prisoner spoke, and declares that, if he were sincere, he had committed no offence for which he ought to be questioned. The secretary, as may be easily conceived, was any- thing but favourable to the opinions entertained by Jerome, but, writing to a friend, he did not suf- fer his religious principles to warp his judgment or affect his regard to truth. The picture which he furnishes of the scene presented on this remarkable occasion, is so vividly drawn, that we cannot refrain from transcribing his interesting epistle. It is the more valuable as falling from the pen of one who was necessarily in the ranks of the martyr's ene- mies, but who, in the frankness and freedom of r3 186 DESCRIPTION OF JEROME. private correspondence, could not refrain from ex- pressing admiration of the man, though his prin- ciples he had never favoured, and was not then pre- pared to defend. " PoGQius OF Florence to Leonard Aretin. " In the course of a short excursion into the country, I wrote to our common friend, from whom, I doubt not, you have had some account of me. " Since my return to Constance, my attention has been wholly engaged by Jerome the Bohemian heretic, as he is called. The ability and learning which this person has employed in his own defence are so extraordinary, that I cannot forbear giving you a short account of him. "To confess the truth, I never knew the art of speaking carried so nearly up to the model of an- cient eloquence. It was indeed amazing to hear with what force of expression, with what fluency of language, and with what excellent reasoning he answered his adversaries; nor was I less struck with the gracefulness of his manner, the dignity of his action, and the firmness and constancy of his whole behaviour. It grieved me to think so great a man was labouring under a dreadful accusation. Whether it be a just one, God knows; for myself, I inquire not nito the merits of it, resting satisfied with the decision of my superiors. But I will just give you a summary of his triaL ELOQUENT REMONSTRANCE. 187 "After many articles had been proved against him, leave was at length given to him to answer each in its order. But Jerome long refused, strenu- ously insisting that he had many things to say previously in his defence, and that he ought first to be heard in general, before he descended to particu- lars. When this was overruled, ' Here,' said he, standing in the midst of the assembly — ' here is justice ! here is equity ! Beset by my enemies^ I am already pronounced a heretic ; I am con- demned berore I am examined. Were you gods omniscient, instead of an assembly of fallible men, you could not act with more sufficiency. Error is the lot of mortals, and you, exalted as you are, are not exempted from it. But consider, the higher you are exalted, the more dangerous are your errors. As for me, I know I am a wretch, below your notice ; but at least consider, that an unjust action, in such an assembly, will be of dangerous example.' ** This, and much more, he spoke, with great ele- gance of language, in a very unruly and indecent assembly ; and thus far, at least, he prevailed, that the Comicil, having ordered that he should first answer objections, consented that he should after- wards have liberty to speak on the whole question. Accordingly, all the articles urged against him were publicly read, and then proved, after which he was 188 HARDSHIP OF JEROME's CASE. asked whether he had aught to object to them ? It is incredible with what acuteness he answered, and ■with what amazing dexterity he warded off every stroke of his adversaries. Nothing escaped him, and his whole behaviour was truly great and pious. If he were indeed the man his defence spake hira, so far was he from meriting death, that, in my judgment, he was not in any degree culpable. He endeavoured to prove that the greater portion of the charges were purely the invention of his accusers. Among other things, being accused of hating and defaming the holy see, the Pope, the cardinals, the prelates, and the whole estate of the clergy, he stretched out his hands, and said, in a most moving accent, * On which side, reverend fathers, shall I turn me for redress? whom shall I implore? whose assistance can I expect ? which of you has not this malicious charge entirely alienated from me ? which of you has it not changed from a judge into an inveterate enemy ? It was artfully alleged, in- deed ; though other parts of their charge were of less moment, my accusers might well iniagine, that, if this were fastened on me, it could not fail of draw- ing upon me the united indignation of my judges.' " On the third day of this memorable trial, the former proceedings were recapitulated; when Je- rome, having obtained leave, though with some difficulty, to speak, began by a prayer to God, DISPLAY OF READING. 189 whose divine assistance he pathetically implored. He then observed that many excellent men in the annals of history had been oppressed by false wit- nesses, and condemned by unjust judges. Begin- ning with profane history, he instanced the death of Socrates, the captivity of Plato, the banishment of Anaxagoras, and the unmerited sufferings of many others. He then referred to the worthies of the Old Testament, in the same circumstances, — Moses, Joshua, Daniel, and almost all the prophets ; and, lastly, those of the New Testament, — John the Baptist, St. Stephen, and others, who were condemned as seditious, profane, or immoral men. An unjust judgment, he said, proceeding from a layman, was evil ; from a priest, worse ; but from a General Council, superlatively bad. These things he delivered with a force and emphasis which kept every one's attention awake. " On one point he dwelt largely. As the merits of the cause rested entirely on the credit of witnesses, he took great pains to show that very little was due to those produced against him. He had many objections to them, particularly their avowed hatred to him, the sources of which he so palpably laid open, that he made a strong impression upon the minds of his hearers, and not a little shook the character of the parties. The whole Council was moved, and greatly inclined to pity, if not to favour 190 WITNESSES PERJURED. him. He told them that he came uncompelled to Constance, and that neither his life nor doctrine had been such as to give him the least reason to dread an appearance before them. Varieties of opinion in matters of faith had ever arisen among learned men, and was always esteemed productive of truth rather than error, where bigotry- was laid aside. Such, he said, was the difference between Austin and Jerome; and though their opinions were not only dissimilar, but contra- dictory, yet the imputation of heresy was never fixed on either. 19. " Every one expected that he would now retract his errors, or at least apologise for them ; but nothing of the kind was heard from him : he declared plainly that he had nothing to retract. He launched out into a high encomium on John Huss, calling him a holy man, and lamenting his cruel and unjust death. He had armed himself, he added, with a full resolution to follow the steps of that blessed martyr, and to suffer with constancy whatever the malice of his enemies might inflict. ' The perjured witnesses/ said he, * who have ap- peared against me, have won their cause ; but let them remember that they have their evidence to give once more, before a tribunal where falsehood can be no disguise.' "It was impossible to hear this pathetic speaker READINESS OF JEROME. 191 without emotion. Every ear was captivated, and every heart touched. But wishes in his favour were vain : he threw himself beyond a possibility of mercy. Braving death, he even provoked the vengeance which was hanging over him. ' If that holy martyr,' said he, speaking of Huss, ' used the clergy with disrespect, his censures were not levelled at them as priests, but as wicked men. He saw with indignation those revenues, which had been designed for charitable purposes, expended in pa- geantry, dissipation, and riot/ " Through the whole oration he showed a most amazing strength of memory. He had been con- fined almost a year in a dungeon, the severity of which he complained of, but, in the language of a great and good man, * In this horrid place he was denied books and paper, but, notwithstanding that, and the constant anxiety which must have hung over him, he was at no more loss for proper author- ities and quotations, than if he had spent the time at leisure in his study.' " His voice was sweet, distinct, and full ; his action every way the most proper, either to express indignation or to raise pity, though he made no affected appeal to the passions of his audience. Firm and intrepid he stood before the Council, col- lected in himself, and not merely contemning, but seeming to desire death. I speak not of his errors, 192 IMPARTIALITY OF POGGIUS. — ^let these rest with him. What I admired was his learning, his eloquence, and his acuteness. God knows whether these things were not the groundwork of his ruin !" It is impossible to impeach this testimony, com- ing as it does from one who was opposed to the sufferer, and who acquiesced in the sentence pro- nounced against the heretic, though he pitied and admired the man. IMPRESSION MADE BY JEROMe's DEFENCE. 193 CHAPTER XXIII. CONDEMNATION OF JEROME. 1. The Council is indignant at Jerome's unexpected conduct. — 2. He prepares for death — Refusps again to recant. — 3. The Council pronounce sentence. — 4. He is doomed to the stake. — 5. Jerome meets his fate with joyful courage. — 6. Description of his final sufferings. — 7. Inutility of religious persecution shown by the immediate consequences of Jerome's death. — 8. Declaration in favour of his principles. — 9. Rules laid down by the Council. Had Jerome been content to do what Poggius states all present expected from him, — that is, had he repeated his former confession, — so great was the impression made by his oration, that his fiercer pur- suers would probably have been baffled, and his life spared ; that life, however, could only have been prolonged, in his case, under all the irksomeness of public scorn and intolerable self-reproach. 1. On such terms the repentant Jerome dis- dained to survive. He had signed a document expressing his concurrence in the dreadful mur- der of his friend and master, John Huss, and he Vol. II. s 194 JEROME REVOKES HIS RECANTATIOxN. DOW hastened to cleanse his bosom from the pol- luting stain. That honoured name he vindicated from the calumniating reproaches with which it had been attempted to sully it, and which he had been brought to authenticate. Huss, he de- clared, was ever a good, just, and holy man, and most unworthy of the death to which he had been doomed. He had proved himself an able and a faithful expounder of the gospel ; and all he had written against the abuses, pomp, and dissolute lives of the prelates and clergy, he would maintain and uphold to the death. In the same spirit he defended the doctrines of WicklifFe. In conclu- sion, lie sorrowfully declared, that, of all the sins lie had ever committed in the course of his pilgrimage through life, none did so gnaw and trouble his con- Bcience,as the one committed in that most pestiferous act, his recantation, when he had unjustly spoken against an upright and virtuous man and his doc- trine, and especially in consenting to his wicked con- demnation. The sinful deed, he now wished it to be known, he in the fullest manner desired utterly to revoke, as he had only made it, he said, " in that accursed place, from the weakness of his own faith- less heart and the fear of a cruel death. Whatever he had spoken against that blessed martyr, John Huss, he loudly proclaimed to be altogether false, and he repented it with his whole heart.'' THE COUNCIL AMAZED. 195 For this intrepid declaration, the Council had been little prepared. He was interrupted by excla- mations of surprise and displeasure, but they had not the effect of awing him into silence. On the contrary, he enlarged on the cruel injustice of the sentence executed on Huss, who had never main- tained any doctrine against the state of the church, but had only offended their pride and avarice by exposing the excesses of the bishops, and fighting the battles of the poor. He contended that the church income, which they wasted in unprofitable luxuries, had been originally given, first, to relieve the distress of the needy; next, to enable the recipients of it to show proper and becoming hospitality; and, thirdly, to cover the expense of keeping churches and religious edifices in repair : and it was justly matter of grief to that good man, to behold the funds provided for such holy purposes squandered and thrown away on wicked courtezans, horses and dogs, great feasting, and gorgeous ap- parel. On these subjects, says Fox, *' he showed himself marvellously eloquent — yea, never more." To all who interrupted him in the way of com- ment, he gave ready answers : some of them were stinging in a more than ordinary degree. When it was attempted to drown his voice by clamour and tumult, he ceased to speak; and, waiting till those who offered such opposition had wearied s2 196 JEROME AGAIN PUT IN FETTERS. themselves, he called upon them still to give their attention to one whom they would, after that day, hear on earth no more. He, by such appeals, got new opportunities for resuming his speech, which he continued in the same clear and fearless strain, till he had expressed all he wished to say in answer to his accusers, and all that, as a penitent who had greatly sinned, he could utter to abate the load of remorse which his fatal recantation had heaped, in a moment of weakness, on a faithful, pious, but sinking heart. Jerome was removed from the Council, and again returned to his prison, where all the torturing severities to which he had been formerly subjected were immediately renewed. The chains, which had been thrown aside, were again deemed neces- sary to secure the body of the relapsed heretic, and fetters were imposed on his hands and feet. 2. The persecutors could depress his body and control his actions, but they could not again over- come the constant heart of Jerome. A despised and persecuted captive, it was his to taste and exult in " That bliss which only centres in the mind." He knew that his enemies could destroy his mortal frame, and to that violence he was content to sub- mit. He had disburthened his conscience ; he had, to the best of his ability, retraced his steps, and HE REFUSES AGAIN TO RE€ANT. 197 undone tlie evil the stern monitor within re- proached him for having worked in the church of God. He had vindicated, in the face of day, the injured fame of his beloved, lamented, and honoured friend ; and thus — so he humbly hoped — rendered himself not wholly unworthy to follow him to that state of blessed repose which he confidently believed the subject of his affectionate veneration had gained. Consoled by these soothing persuasions, the gloom of his prison no longer appalled, his fetters seemed light, and he looked forward to the closing scene, not only without terror, but with a pious ambition to die in the cause of truth* The consummation was not long delayed. On the following Saturday he was brought up for judgment. At an early hour in the morning he was escorted by a guard of soldiers to the cathedral church, and again admonished on the sinfulness of the heresies of which he had been proved guilty, and exhorted to recall what he had lately done, to renounce his grievous errors, and, in that case, he might yet hope for mercy. He was especially required to forsake the new doctrines, and concur in the condemnation which had been pronounced against the accursed WicklifFe, and his devoted follower Huss. He was pressed on this subject to no purpose. " I take God to witness," said he, " that I believe and hold all the articles of the faith s3 19S MERCY BORNE DOWN BY AUTHORITY. of the holy Catholic Church as the church itself doth hold and believe them; but never, never will I consent to the condemnation of those blessed minis- ters who have been named." He added, "They have been most sinfully doomed by you, because they virtuously opposed the pomp, and vanity, and wicked abominations which had dishonoured the church/' Cold and impenetrable as is the heart of man, when steeled against his fellow by the virulence of superstition, the animated language of Jerome was not lost even on the Council. Among its mem- bers, there were some who felt disposed to stop short of the last severity. They honoured the learning of Jerome, and admired his astonishing powers ; but the feeling thus excited in his favour was soon stifled by the voice of authority, which saw its own special interests exposed to the most imminent danger, if a reformer so highly gifted were suffered to live, to make war on the vices of that corrupted system which the chief members of the Council, in the plenitude of their pretended devotion to the glory of the living God, were eager to uphold. 3. It was soon resolved to follow, in every respect, the precedent established by the case of John Huss. Again did the Bishop of Lodi de- secrate the pulpit, by ascending it to call for the JEROME CITES HIS JUDGES. 199 death of a helpless prisoner : again did he press on his congregation that " the body of sin must be destroyed ;" and that, to gain the special favour of a merciful Deity, another victim must be barba- rously immolated, — for this was the result which he knew would follow the condemnation he main- tained it had become the duty of that assembly to pronounce. Jerome does not appear to have entertained the slightest hope of being spared. When the bishop concluded, he again addressed the Council, and declared that, if they proceeded to condemnation, they would, in the eye of the Almighty, be guilty of passing an unjust sentence. He called upon them to reflect on the step they were about to take, and warned them that, when he should be no more, his unmerited fate would assuredly subject his judges to all the horrors of remorse, and prove a nail in their hearts. He impressively added — *' I cite you all that you shall answer to me in the presence of the Most High Judge, ere a century shall have passed away.'' The form of invitinjj recantation was ag-ain resorted to, but without effect. The prisoner had too deeply mourned his former error to repeat it, though instant death, with all its horrors, was pre- sented to his view. The attempt to move his reso- lution was at length abandoned, and the Council 200 SENTENCE OF THE COUNCIL. proceeded to deliver their sentence in the follow- ing terms : — " In the name of God, Amen. Christ, our God and our Saviour, being the true vine, whose Father is the husbandman, taught his disciples and all the faithful men, saying, ' If any man dwell not in me, let him be cast out as a bough or branch, and let him wither and dry ;' the doctrine of which most excellent doctor and master, this most sacred Synod of Constance, executing and following in the cause of inquisition against heretics, being moved through report, public fame, and open in- formation, proceedeth against Master Jerome, of Prague, layman. By the acts and processes of the cause, it appeareth that the said Master Jerome hath liolden, maintained, and taught divers erro- neous and heretical articles, lately reproved and condemned by the holy fathers ; some being very blasphemous, others offending godly ears, and many wicked and seditious doctrines having been affirmed, maintained, preached, and taught, by those men of most damnable memory, John Wick- liife and John Huss, the which are written in divers of their works and books ; which articles of doc- trine, and books, of the said John WicklifFe and John Huss, together with their memory, and the person of the said John Huss, were, by the said sacred synod, condemned for heresy, which sen- SENTENCE OF THE COUNCIL. 201 tence of condemnation the said Jerome, afterward, during the time of inquisition, acknowledged in the said sacred synod, and approved the true Catholic and Apostolic faith, thereto consenting, accursing all heresy, and especially that whereof he was accused, and confessed himself to be ac- cused, and which, in times past, John Wickliffe and John Huss had maintained and taught in their works, sermons, and books, and for the which the said John Wickliffe and John Huss, together with their doctrines and errors, were, by the said sacred Council, condemned as heretical, and the condem- nation of which the said Jerome did openly pro- fess to allow, and did swear that he would perse- vere and continue in the verity of that faith, and, if that he should presume at any time to hold opinions or preach contrary thereto, that he would submit himself to the trial and truth of the canons, and be bound to perpetual punishment. And this his profession, written with his own hand, he de- livered up to the holy Council. Many days after his said profession and abjuration, as a dog returns to his vomit, to the intent that he might vomit up the most pestilent poison which had long lurked and slept hidden in his breast, he required and de- sired that he might again be heard before the Council; the which being granted to him, he affirmed, said, and professed, before the whole 202 SENTENCE OF THE COUNCIL. synod publicly gathered together, that he had wickedly consented and agreed to the sentence and judgment of the condemnation of the said Jolm WicklifFe and John Huss, and that he had most shamefully lied in allowing and approving of the said sentence, neither was he ashamed to confess that he had lied : yea, he did also revoke and recant his confession, approbation, and protestation, which he had made upon their condemnation, affirming that he never at any time had read any heresies in the treatises or books of the said John Wickliffe and Jolm Huss, albeit he had before confessed it; and it is evidently proved that he did diligently study, read, and preach their books, wherein it is manifest that there are contained many errors and heresies. Further, the said Jerome did profess, as touching the sacrament of the altar, and the transubstantiation of the bread into the body of Christ, that he doth hold and believe as the church doth hold and believe ; say- ing, also, that he doth give more credit to St. Augustin, and the other doctors of the church, than to WicklifFe and Huss. It appearetli, moreover, by the premises, that the said Jerome is an ad- herent and maintainer of the said Wickliffe and Huss, and their errors, and both is and hath been a favourer of them ; whereforo, the said sacred synod determineth the said Jerome, of Prague, as a rotten HYPOCKITICAL SHOW OF CHARITY. 203 and withered branch, not growing on the vine, shall be cut off and cast out. The said synod also pro- nounceth, declareth, and condemneth him as a here- tic ; and as one drowned in all kinds of heresies, he is to be excommunicated and accursed, leaving him to the arbitrement and judgment of the secular judge, to receive, from the same, just and due punishment, according to the quality of so great an offence. The said sacred Council, notwith- standing, entreat that the said judge will so mode- rate his sentence, that the said Jerome may be dealt with without peril of his life.'* 4. The affected display of compassion, at the close of their award, was in fine keeping with the hypocritical assumption of superior piety which had marked all the former proceedings of the Council. To pretend it was their wish that the life of Jerome should be spared, after so long pur- suing him with rancorous fury, was a farce, which, but for its atrocious perfidy, would be exquisitely entertaining. Right well did they know the effect of their decision. By excommunicating and ac- cursing, they did all that was necessary to remove an enemy so formidable, from his virtues, as well as his eloquence. They knew it was the signal for death, and that his fate was sealed. Those members of the Council who did not wish that Jerome should perish at the stake, apart from 204 BRUTAL MOCKERY. any touch of humanity which might influence, felt it was of great importance to the church itself not to proceed to the last severity. After yielding as he had done, after the ample confession he had made, to detain Jerome in prison a moment was a viola- tion of the agreement into which the parties had entered. To proceed to the monstrous length of depriving him of life, was, in their judgment, to assail the church itself; for who could hope it would, from that date, command obedience, if after this fashion submission were to be requited ? But these reflections, though they had great weight with the reflecting few, were urged in vain to the exasperated many. Their enemy was in their hands; they thirsted for vengeance, and were determined that he should expiate his past offences against them with his life. Even while the sentence was being passed, and, indeed, it would appear, during some days before, active preparations were making for his martyrdom. Nor was it enough that the hated victim was to perish in horrible torture, — coarse buffoonery was to be connected with the bloody deed, and hideous burlesque made the accompani- ment of brutal murder. A coarse, uncouth, and ridiculous likeness of John Huss, was carved, and fixed in the ground as a stake, to which Jerome, when brought out to suffer, was to be chained. This could not have been devised and executed on JEROME LED OUT TO SUFFER. 205 the spur of the moment. Cruelty must have deli- berated very gravely on the subject, before such a union of the dreadful and the grotesque could have been contrived and advanced to completion. 5. Jerome was led from the church to the spot on which he was to suffer, on the 23rd of May, 1416. He had endured too much, and had too lively a view of the celestial felicity which by faith he hoped was about to become his portion for ever, to feel grieved at the termination of his earthly pilgrimage. Far from seeming in the least dejected, he became more cheerful than he had previously been, and, with an unclouded counte- nance, and a clear strong voice, wlien he saw the preparations for his death, he commenced singing Credo in unum Deum. Such joyous serenity, on the threshold of the grave, or on the verge of the fire which was to consume the form to which malice denied a grave, inspired general surprise, and offered another sublime proof of the possibility of a guileless spirit, even before it has thrown off the enfeebling trammels of mortality, rising superior to death. The awful procession moved on. No attention was paid to the recommendation of the Council to spare the life of the prisoner. It was known that those from whom that suggestion came could in no case be satisfied with anything less than his death. Vol. II. T 206 JOYFUL ADVANCE TO THE STAKE. While the wooden caricature of the murdered Huss was being carved, a cap was prepared, similar to the one which had been placed on the head of that victim, exhibiting representations of the devil, accordino; to the ideas formed of him in that aue. This cap, or " mitre," as the martyrologist calls it, he was compelled to wear. A vain effort to wound ! for a mind like his derived comfort rather than grief from the affront. Taking it from the hands of the executioner, he contentedly put it on, ex- claiming, as John Huss had done before him, " The Lord Jesus, my Saviour, when he was about to suffer on the cross for wretched sinners like me, wore a crown of thorns ; and I will not repine that in his cause I am required to wear this cap." 6. The strain of exalted devotion which he commenced on his way to execution, he calmly continued, singing hymns appropriate to the cir- cumstances in which he found himself. Passing the gate of the city, towards Gottlehem, he began ^^Felix namque'j' and, while yet singing, he drew near the awful pile. He saw the fearful arrange- ments, now at the point of completion, but saw them without emotion: he beheld tlie figure of the holy man whom he was about to follow, and, imitating his conduct in the last stage of his suffering, de- voutly fell on his knees, and humbly implored that the God he had coveted to serve would sfrant him JEROME ADDRESSES THE SPECTATORS. 207 fortitude during the awful trial which remained for him, that, unyielding to sinful temptation, and undismayed by all that hatred, hypocrisy, and fanatical intolerance could marshal against him, he might peaceably pass to his eternal home above the skies, through " the valley of the shadow of death." He had scarcely finished his prayer when the executioners drew near, and proceeded to com- mence their dreadful duty, by removing his upper garments. He assisted the operation with his own hands, and that cheerfully, and with as much com- posure as if he had only been undressing for bed. A linen cloth was thrown round him, and, besides being chained, he was bound with wet cords to the stake. Great logs of wood, with straw thrust through them, were then piled up to his breast. He tranquilly gazed on what was doing; but, absorbed in spiritual exercises, the fatal prepam- tions inspired no terror. Aware that but a few instants remained to him, he again sang the hymn Credo in unum Deum. Immediately after this, looking anxiously around, and addressing himself to the crowd, he said — " Dearly beloved brethren, even as I Iiave now sung do I believe, and no otherwise, and this creed is my whole faith. I die because I will not agree with the Council, and afnrm that my master, John Huss, was by them justly andliolily condemned. t2 208 THE FIRE KINDLED. That could I never do with a safe conscience, for assuredly I do know that he was a true preacher of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." The fagots were then piled up till they were even with the crown of his head, and his clothes were thrown on them. He was still able to see what was doing ; and when the executioner, having the light in his hand, went behind, that the victim might not look on him while he kindled the con- suming flame, " Come hither," said Jerome, " and apply the light before my eyes, for, had I feared such a sight, I should never have come here, having had sufficient opportunities to escape." The mur- derous torch was then used, and in a few mo- ments the ascending fire encompassed the deter- mined martyr, who, still intrepid, seemed to glory in his fate, and again raised his voice, to sing, in a joyous but solemn strain. In manus tuas Domine, commendo spiritum meum ; and as the fury of the devouring element increased, he was heard to offer this parting prayer : — '* O Lord God, Father Almighty ! have mercy upon me, and pardon my past offences, for thou knowest how sincerely I have loved thy truth !" His lips continued to move, and the departing spirit seemed still to be engaged in humble suppli- cation to the Eternal ; but the increased fury of the fire, and his failing strength, made it impossible to COURAGE IN DEATH. 209 hear more. His bodily sufferings were painfully protracted. When the torch was first applied, the blaze rose rapidly, and in a few moments he was surrounded by a sheet of fire. The wind caused it to part, and then was seen his head and his hair burning, and his body, attacked by the unsparing element, exhibited a multitude of bladders, some of the size of an egg; yet, it is added, *' he strongly and stoutly moved his head and mouth by the space almost of one quarter of an hour, whiles one might easily have gone from St. Clement's over the bridge unto Our Lady church, he was of such a stout and strong nature." During this fearfully long period of endurance, it was thought he retained his senses, but no cry of agony or manifestation of despond- ency was noted. This statement is not made on the partial representations of his friends, who might be suspected of a disposition to suppress any indica- tion of weakness that appeared to them to sully the brightness of his exit. Poggius reports to that effect. He was among the spectators of the burn- ing, and thus sums up what he observed of the sufferer's deportment. " So died this prodigious man. The epithet is not extravagant. I was myself an eyewitness of his whole behaviour. Whatever his life may have been, his death, without doubt, furnishes a noble lesson of philosophy. I w^as an eyewitness to that t3 210 Jerome's ashes collected. catastrophe, and beheld every act. I know not whether it was obstinacy or incredulity that moved him, but his death was like that of one of the phi- losophers of antiquity. Mutius Scaevola placed his hand in the flame, and Socrates drank the poison, with less firmness and spontaneous good will, than Jerome seemed to exhibit while presenting his body to the torturing fire.*' 7. When life was extinct, the straw bed on which he had been permitted to repose, during that period when his imprisonment was least se- vere, and the miserable coverlid belonging to it, were brought with his hood and boots, and thrown into the fire, that they might be consumed with the remains of his corpse, and saved from being converted into honoured relics. Indifferent spec- tators, who lingered near the fire, seemed affected when his wretched couch was produced. The evidence it afforded of the vengeful and inhu- man harshness, with which he had been visited before conviction, might well have waked in every countenance "the blushes of ingenuous shame," where maddening bigotry had not succeeded in annihilating all the finer feelings, all the best emo- tions of human nature. The ashes of Jerome were collected, as those of his master had been, and thrown into the Rhine, whose waters will cease to flow, ere the cruel and criminal superstitions SPIRITUAL TYRANNY DEFEATED. 211 which he opposed shall again be established in all the pride of tyranny, which, up to his time, had been successfully maintained, and which pride and avarice now vainly strove to uphold by the shed- ding of innocent blood. In all ages spiritual tyranny has been taught this lesson, — that, where argument is of no effect, cruelty cannot prevail. God has ordained that the human mind shall not be permanently con- trolled by outrage. The opinions of Huss, and his friend and fellow-martyr, had gained a hold on the understandings of their countrymen, which was not to be done away by their untimely removal from the scene of their generous exertions. 8. The word had gone forth, and the impres- sion created by it was one which could not be destroyed by violence, or defaced by time. It warmed and animated all classes. The opinions of Wickliffe and Huss were not only favoured by the illiterate vulgar, but the noble and the learned moved in their cause. Besides the Baron de Chlume, fifty-four nobles vindicated the fame of John Huss, and attempted, ere it was too late, to save the life of the persecuted Jerome. Their letter, addressed to the Council, contains a manly condemnation of the cruelty in which that arro- gant body had indulged. The opening paragraphs of it will not be out of their place here. It was 212 THE NOBLES OF MORAVIA. entitled "The letter of the fifty-four nobles of Moravia." " Forasmuch as every man, both by the law of nature and also by God's law, is commanded to do that unto another man which he would have done unto himself, and is forbidden to do that thing unto another which he would not have done unto himself, as our Saviour saith, 'AH things whatsoever ye will that men should do unto you, the same do you unto them, for this is the law and the prophets.' Yea, the law is fulfilled in this one point, ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' We, therefore, God being our author, having respect, as much as in us lieth, unto the said law of God, and the love of our neighbour, did send before our letters unto Constance, in behalf of our dearly beloved friend of good memory, Master John Huss, Bachelor of Divinity, and preacher of the gospel, whom of late, in the Coun- *sieil of Constance, we know not by what spirit being led, you h^e condemned as an obstinate heretic, neither being lawfully convicted, as were expedi- ent if he had been guilty, and having no errors or heresies laid against him, but at the sinister, false, and importunate accusations, suggestions, and instigations of his mortal enemies, and the traitors of our kingdom and marquisate of Moravia. Being thus unjustly condemned, you have slain him with EULOGY ON JOHN HUSS. 213 a most shameful and cruel death ; to the perpetual shame and infamy of our most Christian kingdom of Bohemia, and the famous marquisate of Mora- via, as we have written to Constance, to the most noble Prince and Lord the Lord Sigismund, King of the Romans and of Hungary, the heir and suc- cessor of our kingdom, the which was also read and published in your congregations, which we will here also have enrolled ; and have burnt him, as it is reported, in reproach and in contempt of us. '^Wherefore, we have thought good even to direct our letters patent to your reverences now present, in the behalf of Master John Huss, openly professing and protesting, both with heart and mouth, that he, the said John Huss, was a just, good, and catholic man, and for a long season wor- thily commended and allowed, in our kingdom, for his life and conversation. He also taught us and our subjects the law of the gospel and of the holy prophets, and the books of the Old and New Testament, according to the exposition of the holy doctors approved by the church, and left many monuments in writing, most constantly detesting and abhorring all errors and heresies, continually admonishing both us and all faithful Christians to do the like, diligently exhorting all men, as much as in him lay, by his word, writings, and labours, unto quietness and concord : so that, using 214 PRAISE OF JEROME. all the diligence that we might, we never heard, or could understand, that Master John Huss had preached, taught, or by any means affirmed, any error or heresy in his sermons, or that by any means he had offended us or our subjects, either by word or deed, but that he always led a quiet and a godly life in Christ, exhorting all men dill-** gently, both by his words and works, as much as he might, to observe and keep the law of the gospel, and the institutions of the holy fathers, after the preaching of our holy mother the church, and to the edifying of men's souls. Neither did these premises, which you had so perpetrated, to the reproach both of us and our kingdom^ and marquisate, suffice and content you, but that, also, without any mercy and pity, you have apprehended, imprisoned, and condemned, and, even now, perad venture, like as you did Master John Huss, you have most cruelly murdered, the worshipful man. Master Jerome, of Prague, a man abounding in eloquence, master of the liberal arts, and a famous philosopher, not being seen, heard, examined, neither convicted, but only on the sinister and false accusation of his and our accusers and betrayers. '^ The letter proceeded to vindicate the writers and the marquisate of Moravia from certain charges which had been preferred. For this the nobles were cited by the Council, and reproved by the emperor. ORDERS OP THE COUNCIL. 215 He, liowever, did not disdain to attempt a defence of his own conduct, by statinp^, in reply to the letter, that the course taken against John Huss had not been taken with his approbation. 9. Among the lower classes a very strong feeling, unfavourable to the Council, had sprung up. Songs, in derision of its proceedings, were composed, and became popular ; and tliese must have been either very numerous or remarkably effective, as the Council did not think it beneath its dignity to notice them in certain laws and articles which it put forth shortly after the death of Jerome. Among the orders, or resolutions, so promulgated, we find it declared — " That all masters, doctors, and priests, shall be sworn to abjure the doctrine of WickliiTe and Huss. " That all they, who, being cited, would not ap- pear, should also be sworn to abjure ; and those who did not appear, contemning the censure of the keys, should have process against them, and be punished. " That all such laymen as had defended John WickliflPe and John Huss should swear to defend them no more, and to approve the doings of the Council, and the condemnation of John Huss. *^ That such as had been promoters, in the Coun- cil, against John Huss, should be permitted safely to return to Bohemia, and to enjoy their benefices. 216 SATIRE PROHIBITED. " That the treatises of John WicklifFe, translated into the Bohemian tongue by John Huss and Jacobellus, should be brought to the ordinary. "That the treatises of John Huss, condemned in the Council, should also be brought to the ordinary, " That all songs and ballads made to the preju- dice of the Council, and of the Catholic persons of both states, should be forbidden to be sung in cities, towns, and villages, under great and extreme punishment. " That all and singular, either spiritual or secu- lar, that shall preach, teach, hold, or maintain the opinions and articles of John Wickliffe, John Huss, and Jerome, in this Council condemned and convicted of the same, shall be holden for heretics, and, falling in relapse after recantation, shall be burned." These, with many other strict rules, were put forth by the authority of the Council. It is to be regretted that none of the songs and ballads which were honoured with such a special mark of condemnation at Constance, have descended to us. They probably contained some pungent satire, which was the more felt and resented, as it was richly deserved. Of the manner in which the selfishness, pomp, and avarice of the church were ordinarily satirised, a specimen is given in the first volume. BLOOD SHED IN VAIN. 217 The truth is, the domineering, grasping, and in- tolerant spirit of the church of Rome of that day, had outraged all who did not participate in the large supplies exacted from credulity and fear. The bishops, seeing their power had long survived, notwithstanding the disgust it had inspired, began to flatter themselves that it rested on a rock, and would endure for ever. A few terrible examples, they confidently believed, were all that were wanted to arrest the march of innovation and reform; and when they were undeceived in this respect, when they found that blood had flowed in vain, instead of suspecting that that spirit which they fiercely strove to subdue was invincible, they persuaded them- selves that the fault was in the quality of the suf- ferers, and that nobler and more distinguished men must be sacrificed, to uphold what they called "the sacred fabric of the holy Catholic Church." The experiment was tried, but with little eflect, or, rather, with any effect but that which they desired to produce. Persecution, unhappily, is slow to learn, even from experience ; and the increase and spread of that impatience of the sway of a tyran- nical priesthood, and of those abuses which John Huss and his beloved scholar had lived to oppose,— in a word, the growing spirit of reform in Bohe- mia, failed to teach the unbending prelates of Eng- land moderation, or to cause them less eagerly Vol. II. u 218 A NEW SACRIFICE WANTED. than before to seek the destruction of Lord Cob- ham. They were perhaps more anxious for such a sa- crifice in consequence of what had occurred at Constance. Pride does not content itself with merely striving for that which it is difficult to gain or desirable to possess ; it sometimes covets what must leave behind an indelible stain. In this case, the bishops of England felt, that, as two dis- tinguished reformers had been put to death at Con- stance, it was especially desirable that their country should boast of one such sacrifice, to maintain that position which she claimed to hold in Christendom. The ecclesiastical principle established at Con- stance they were anxious to sustain by an equally energetic demonstration in London. The zeal of the persecutors was not abated by the modest deportment of the persecuted. Like the Huguenots at a later period, the reformers of this date, far from uniformly confessing defeat, in many cases took a triumphant, and even a menacing tone. While they poured bitter condemnation on the malice, they failed not to visit the follies of their adversaries with stinging ridicule. Their numbers were felt to be on the increase, and the plaudits of so vast a body as had now been formed were worth risking something for ; and it is not improbable that the enterprises undertaken in the BOLD CONDUCT OF THE REFORMERS. £19 cause of heavenly things were often productive of earthly profit. Bold satires were launched, in re- probation of the corrupt manners of the priests, more frequently than ever. They were occasion- ally written in verse, and during the night many copies of them were affixed on the doors and win- dows of the clergy, and on the city gates. These became the subject of angry complaint, and Wal- singham speaks of them as treasonable. At that period, whatever gave serious alarm to the church was regarded, by those most immediately interested in repressing the evil, as clearly indicating disaffec- tion to the king and his government. v2 220 COURSE PURSUED BY THE ENGLISH CLERGY. CHAPTER XXIV. LORD COBHAm's FINAL PERSECUTIONS AND DEATH. 1. Lord Cobham in exile. — 2. Continues to pursue the Lol- lards. — 3. "The Lanthorn of Light." — 4. Persecution of Cleydon. — 5. Robert Holbech Chapel, Lord Cobham's chaplain, advocates church reform. — 6. He is pursued bj the bishops, and reads his recantation at Paul's Cross. — 7. Lord Cobham's butler compelled to recant. — 8. False reports of Cobham's designs. — 9. Lord Powis seeks to cap- ture Cobham, and succeeds after a desperate struggle. — 10. Lord Cobham brought from Wales to London. — 11. He defends himself before the House of Peers. — 12. Encounters great reproach and contumely. — 13. He is ordered for exe- cution. — 14. Thanks of the House of Peers voted to Lord Powis. — 15. Lord Cobhaii), undismayed, prepares to die. — 16. False reports of his behaviour. — 17. He is hanged and burnt at Tyburn. In order to give, without interruption, the history of the persecution endured by John Huss and Jerome of Prague, some points have been suffered to escape, which, chronologically, ought sooner to have been noted. The narrative now turns more particularly to describe the course pursued in Eng- land by the defenders of the church. wickliffe's ashes scattered. 221 The condemnation at the Council of Constance of the opinions of Wickiiffe of course gave great content to the most ardent opponents of LoUardv, but not to the nation generally. The memorable decree, that 'Uhe body and bones of WickliiFe were to be taken from the ground, and thrown far away from the burial of any church,'' was not very promptly obeyed. Eventually, the remains of the reformer were disinterred and burnt, and the ashes cast into the adjoining brook. '* The brook," Fuller observes, '* did convey his ashes into Avon ; Avon into Severn ; Severn into the narrow seas; they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wiclif are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over." At all events, that piece of vengeful folly did not arrest the pro- gress of it in England. 1. While those mournful scenes just described, and which are interesting from their connexion with the triumph of Wickliffe's opinions, were being acted, Lord Cobham remained in exile. In this melancholy situation, he could have conversed with few of his old companions, but he had many friends. Of his family nothing is recorded. Lady Cobham is never found near him in his troubles ; and it does not appear that he had any children, to tremble for the dangers to which their parent was exposed. Though, at the distance of four hundred u3 222 DISTRESS OF LORD COBHAM. years, much may be supposed to have existed of which no record can be found, it is but reasonable to conclude, that, if he had had any surviving offspring at the time of his misfortunes, that fact, which might have assuaged or proved an important ingredient in the bitter draught prepared for him, by the circumstances of the period, would have been duly recorded. One daughter, named Joane, was born to him, but she died in her infancy. If Cobham were spared the affliction of seeing the prospects of a rising family blighted and marred, by the course which his conscience forced him to take, his situation was still sufficiently dis- tressing. He knew that a vast reward was offered for his apprehension, and, however confident he might be of the good faith of his followers gene- rally, he could never feel perfectly secure that one Judas would not be found among them, or that one spy from the enemy's camp might not impose upon their penetration, and obtain possession of the all-important secret of the place of his conceal- ment. Besides the loss of those personal comforts, which, in happier times, he might have justly valued, he had the mortification to know that in him the march of that sacred cause which he had always laboured to advance, was arrested. Denied the solace of being useful, he saw the iron hand of power busily at work, driving back from the truth those who had shared his hopes. MOURNFUL TIDINGS. 223 Though Intelligence of what was doing in foreign parts did not travel then " on the wings of the wind," or by means of an agency surpassing in swiftness the wind itself, he was not long in gain- ing tidings of the cruel acts of the Council of Con- stance. In John Huss, and Jerome of Prague, he had to deplore the loss of two pious friends j and the fierce violence beneath which those virtuous men had fallen, he knew to have been stimulated and inflamed by what he himself had done, with a view to a very different result. The knowledge of facts so melancholy sat heavy on his heart, •while he reflected that no time could repair the wrong ; and he was not only impotent to avenge their fate, had such been his desire, but wholly incapable of defending himself. Yet, firm to the principles he had avowed, it never occurred to him to consider, whether he might not avert the impending danger, by yielding in some respects to his enemies. He knew that the opinions of Wickliffe had been condemned in the fifteenth session of the Council of Constance, and the bones of the reformer ordered to be torn from the sepulchre in which for many years they had rested, in order to be burnt. While this told him that the opponents of reformation had now greater strength than ever, it failed to satisfy his mind that the decision come to, any more than 224 " THE LANTHORN OF LIGHT." the sentences pronounced, against the two sufferers, deserved respect. He was convinced that cruelty, injustice, and impiety, were mingled with all their proceedings, and that their fierce decrees had not for their real object to vindicate the true worship of God, but to sustain those abuses which degraded it, and which were to them an unfailing source of profit. 2. Chichely was most firmly bent on putting down the new opinions. Of the severities which he countenanced, too many proofs remain. The re- markable case of one unfortunate person is not very generally known, on account of the humble circum- stances of the sufferer. It will be found curious, from the view which it affords of the then condi- tion of English literature. 3. In the year 1415 a book found great favour among the disciples of Wickliffe, called "The Lanthorn of Light." It was widely circulated, almost as widely as possible, bearing in mind the limited means which then existed for making a work of merit known. Printing, though there are reasons for believing the art then existed, had cer- tainly not been brought into common use. Copies of" The Lanthorn of Light," however, fairly writ- ten, were multiplied and handed about among the reformers, and were so valued that even godly per- sons, who could not read, desired to obtain the trea- CLEYDON ARRESTED. 225 sure. A citizen of little note, named Cleydon, had possessed himself of this much-admired work, and several other manuscripts. 4. By some treachery the fact was made known to the authorities, and, in consequence, he was arrested by the Lord Mayor of London, and on the 17th of August, 1415, brought before Chichely for examination. Cleydon had long been suspected of heresy. He frankly owned that for twenty years he had laboured under the imputation ; and, while Braybrook was Bishop of London, he had suffered five years' imprisonment — two in the pri- son of Conwey, and three in the Fleet j and had only been released on abjuring his error, which he did before Lord Chancellor Scarle, in the time of King Henry the Fourth. The abjuration he had repeated before Bishop Arundel, the immediate predecessor of Chichely. He declared that he had sincerely renounced the errors with which he had been charged, and avoided the society of those who were known to entertain them. He was then asked " what books he had in his house, written in the English language?" Cleydon could not deny the fact that he had many, which were seized when he was taken into custody. " The Lanthorn of Light" was produced as one of them, and he admitted that he was well acquainted with the work. At considerable expense he had procured 226 "the lanthorn of light'' condemned. the copy then exhibited. The author was a person named John Grime. Cleydon, severely as he had previously suffered, had recourse to no subterfuge to elude punishment. He might with some plau- sibility have pleaded ignorance of the contents of the most obnoxious of the works discovered on his premises, as, whatever his sentiments on matters of religion, he was not likely to offend by perusing the Bible, or any other prohibited book, as it was in his power to prove that he had never learned to read. Unable to penetrate its meaning himself, parts of it Cleydon had heard, and approved of them, as tending to his eternal welfare. Upon this, Robert Gilbert, D.D., and William Linwood, D.L.L., were ordered to examine " The Lanthorn of Light," with the other books found in the house of the accused. They proceeded in their work with such diligence, that, on the Monday following, they, and the reverend coadjutors appointed to assist in the inquiry, made their report — a report most un- favourable to Cleydon, as in substance it set forth that the works submitted to them contained many heretical articles ; and their piety had been shocked at finding it represented in them " that the parable of the tares was interpreted to signify those corrupt decrees which the Pope had sown among the laws of Christ 3 — that the archbishoprics and bishoprics ALLEGED IMPIETIES. 227 were tlie seats of the beast Antichrist ; — that the bishop's licence to preach the word of God was the true character of Antichrist, and any faithful priest might preach without it ; — that the court of Rome was the head ; the bishops the body ; the monks, friars, and canons, no other than the venom- ous tail ; — that no reprobate was a member of the church, but only such as were elected and pre- destinate to salvation ; — that the frequent singing in church was not founded on scripture, and that therefore the priests should not employ themselves in it, but in preaching the word ; — that there ought not to be splendid and pompous ornaments in churches; — that Judas did receive the body of Christ in bread, and his blood in wine ; and there- fore, after consecration, the same bread and wine which was before did remain on the altar; — that ecclesiastical suffrages did profit all virtuous and godly persons indifferently; — that the Pope's and bishops' indulgences were vain and insignifi- cant ; — that the laity were not obliged to obey the prelates in all their demands ; — that adoration of images, or paying any reverence to them, was un- lawful ; and that no pilgrimages ought to be made to them." This report sealed the doom of the unfortunate Cleydon. His guilt, in being the proprietor of such books, — which, be it remembered, though 228 CLEYDON BURNED IN SMITHFIELD. •written in the English language, he could not read, — was held to be unpardonable. The arch- bishop pronounced the awful definitive sentence, that he had relapsed into his abjured heresy, and his books and himself were ordered to be burned. The holy zeal of Chichely could not accord mercy to the unhappy man, and he was delivered over to the secular power. His sentence was executed in Smithfield, where, says Fox, " he was made a burnte oflTeryng unto the Lord.'' 5. But such a sacrifice, however grateful in itself to those who ordered it, was not sufiiciently strik- ing to vindicate the faith which was thus to be upheld. Lest others " should be infected with his scab," as set forth in his judgment, it was necessary to make an example of some eminent reformer, whose name and station might proclaim that none were so exalted as to be above the reach of the dignitaries of the church. The bishops and clergy of England were mor- tified beyond description at finding all attempts to make Cobhara their prisoner from time to time defeated. To prove that they were not inactive, they consoled themselves, as well as they might, by attacking all who were known to have actively favoured his views, or to have been in any way per- sonally connected with him. One of these was Robert Holbech Chapel. This gentleman was in LORD COBHAm's CHAPLAIN. 229 holy orders, and had been chaplain to Lord Cob- ham when he was in the enjoyment of wealth, power, and high cosideration. After the cry was raised against the Lollards, and the opinions of Cobham were denounced, a sentence of excommu- nication was pronounced against Chapel. He saw the contempt with which the minions of Arundel were treated by his patron, and, believing himself safe under so powerful a protector, did not pay more respect to the steps taken against himself. While under sentence, he continued to preach and to say mass, and made no overture for a recon- ciliation. He preached before Lord Cobham, at Cowling, after the citation had been exhibited on the gates of Rochester cathedral, and at other places, as if no exception had been taken to his actions. 6. Now that the friend whose countenance had emboldened, and whose means had sustained him, was in disgrace and exile, and a price set on his head, it was judged advisable to visit Chapel with the vengeance of the bishops. He was denounced as refractory, at St. Paul's Cross, and, some time afterwards, he was apprehended and brought before a convocation of the clergy, which, in the sum- mer of 1416, Chichely had thought it desirable to assemble in London. The object of this convoca- tion is very distinctly stated in a document called YoL. II. X 230 STRICT SEARCH FOR HERETICS. " A Constitution," issued in the course of its session, which set forth that — " Lately, in our last convocation in St. Paul's Church, London, being kept by you and other our brethren" (this paper was addressed by the primate to the Bishop of London) " and clergy of our province, we do remember to have made the order under-written by your consentes, when, as among many other our cares, this ought to be the chief, that, by some means, we take those heretics, which, lyke foxes, lurk and hide themselves in the Lordes vineyard ; and that the dust of negligence may be utterly shaken from our feet, and from the feet of our fellovz-brethren. In this, the said convocation of the prelates and clergy, we have ordeyned that all our fellow-brethren, our suffra- gans and archdeacons of our province of Canter- bury, by themselves, their officials, or commis- sioners, in all their jurisdictions and every of their charges in the country — twice every year at the least — do diligently inquire of such persons as are suspect of heresy.' ' Nor was this all. Not only was inquiry to be made after all offenders, once in every six months, but, in every archdeaconry, in every parish, where heretics were reported to be found, the authorities were to cause three or more of " the honestest men, and best reported of, to take their oath, upon the SEVERE PUNISHMENTS. 231 holy Evangelists, that, if they should know or under- stand any frequenting, either in privy conven- ticles, or otherwise differing in life and manners from the common conversation of other Catholic men, or they held any heresies or errors, or pos- sessed any suspected books in the English lan- guage, or that they received any persons suspected of heresies or errors, certificates were to be for- warded of the same, in order that lawful process might be issued against the guilty or suspected parties." And, further, it was directed, that the presumed transgressors should be committed to " perpetual or temporal prisons," as the case might require, till the next convocation of the prelates and clergy of the province, during which time inquisition was to be made into their past life ; and how they had be- haved under the process was to be reported : those who were so evil disposed as to have an opinion of their own, and to think that they had a right to act on that opinion, by possessing themselves of a sacred book, written in a language which they could read, or easily get read to them, and, so feeling, proved refractory at being accused of crime, and imprisoned, of course, were to be severely dealt with; but the humble minded, who were prepared to '* kiss the rod," and affect penitence, might hope for gentler treatment. The reader of the nineteenth, x2 232 LIBERTY PROTECTED BY THE CHURCH. will not envy the liberty enjoyed by his forefathers who lived in the fifteenth century, under the in- dulgent sway of such a spiritual teacher as Arch- bishop Chichely ! It must not be supposed that the perpetrators of these outrages pretended to be other than friendly to liberty. While oppression was most rife, and judicial violence ever ready to crush the consci- entious worshipper who had embraced the reformed faith, the established church was reverentially pointed to, as the best and noblest bulwark of freedom. Of what avail, it was asked, would the generous labours of the brave ancestors of those who lived at this period have proved, had they not been supported by the awful thunders of the church? It was these, according to the monks and their patrons, that had preserved the land from slavery. They especially referred to the sentence of curse pronounced by the bishops against the breakers of the Great Charter, forty years after it was obtained from John. This took place in West- minster Hall, May 3rd, 1254, and in presence of King Henry the Third and many of the nobility. It was then declared, that, " By the authority of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and of the glorious mother of God, and perpetual Virgin, Mary; of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and of all apostles, and of all MAGNA CHARTA DEFENDED BY A CURSE. 233 martyrs ; of blessed King Edward King of Eng- land, and of all the saints of Heaven f — in these awful and revered names, all those were declared "excommunicated, accursed, and cut off from the benefits of Mother Church, while all were seques- tered who might thereafter deprive the church of lier right, and all those that, by any craft or wiii- ness, might violate, break, diminisli, or change the church's liberties and free customs, contained in the charters of the common liberties, and of the forest, granted by the king to the arc]d)ishops, bishops, and other prelates of England, and, likewise, to the earls, barons, knights, and other freeholders of the realm, and all that, secretly or openly, by deed, word, or counsel, do make statutes, or observe them being made, and that bring in customs, or that keep them being brought in, against the said liber- ties, or any of them, the writers, lawmakers, coun- sellors, and executors of them, and all those that shall presume to judge against them/' This com- prehensive curse, directed not only against those ■who might frame laws not in accordance with the principles of liberty, but against those who should obey them, the judges who should administer them, and the executioners who should carry their sen- tences into effect, — this, was proudly quoted as the main prop of British freedom — as that which had alone upheld, and would continue to uphold, the x3 234 CHAPEL COMPELLED TO SUBMIT. mighty advantages bestowed on tlie country by Magna Charia. Before the convocation from which the consti- tution which has been mentioned emanated, Chapel was brought. It was charged against him, that he, being the chaplain of Lord Cobham, and under sen- tence of excommunication, had, for several years, *' in contempt of the keys," continued to preach and say mass, never caring to seek a reconciliation with the church. He denied that he was at all aware that sentence of excommunication had passed against him. A copy of the sentence, which had been prepared by Bishop RofF, and afterwards pronounced from Paul's Cross, was then produced and read. This proceeding took place in the month of May, and it was thought right to allow Chapel some weeks to answer the charge, or it was incon- venient for the convocation to continue its sittings. An adjournment, at all events, took place to the 12th day of July. At that date, the prisoner was again brought up, when he was called upon to answer the charge before preferred ; and it was demanded, how, under the circumstances, he could presume to preach without the bisliop's licence ? Chapel's spirit was broken by the imprisonment he had endured, or he was intimidated by the fearful scenes acted else- where, and considered it prudent to give way to RECANTATION AT PAUl's CROSS. 235 power, to confess error and to solicit pardon. Some scruple was made about granting it, but, in the end, milder counsels prevailed, and he was re- quired to abjure all the opinions he had formerly held as heretical and schismatical, and to swear never to hold the same again. All these conditions being complied with, Chapel was absolved by the archbishop, but with one or two exceptions. Of these, the first declared, that he should not take upon himself to say mass again, till he received a dispensation from the Pope. It was further im- posed upon him, as a penance, that he should stand at Paul's, and there publish the following pa^ er: — " Imprimis, I confess that bishops, priestes, and other ecclesiastical persones, having no other profes- sion to the contrary, may lawfully have, receyve, and reteyne landes and possessions temporall, to dispense and dispose the same, and the rentes there- of, to the behoof of themselves or of theyr church where they dwell, according as seemeth good to them. " 2 Item. I confesse that it were very unlawful, yea, unjust, that temporall men, upon any occasion, whatsoever it be, should take away temporall landes and possessions from the church, either universal or particular, to whom they are given ; the considera- tion of the abuse of mortall prelates, priests, or 236 RECAiN TATION. other ministers in the church conversant (which are mixed together, good with bad), abusing the same to ye contrary, notwithstanding. *' 3 Item. I confesse that peregrinations to the reliques of holy saintes, and to holy places, are not prohibited, nor to be contemned of any Catholike, but are avaylable to remission of sinnes, and ap- proved of by holy fathers, and worthy to be com- mended. " 4 Item. I confesse that to worship the images of Christ, or of any other saintes, beyng set up in the church, or in any other place, is not forbidden j neither is any cause inductive of idolatry, beyng so used as the holy fathers do will tliem to be worshipped: but rather, such images do profit much to the health of Christians, because they do put us in remembrance of the merites of those saintes whom they represent, and the sight of them doth moove and stirre up the people to prayers and devotion. "5 Item. I confesse that auricular confession used in the church is necessarye for a sinner to the salvation of hys soul, and necessary to be done of such a priest as is ordeyned by the church, to heare the confession of the sinner, and to enjoyne him penance for the same; without which confession (if it may be had) there is no remission of sinnes to him that is in sinne mortall. RECANTATION. 237 ** 6 Item. I confesse and fermely do hold, that, although the priest be in m or tall sinne, yet may he make the bodye of Christ, and minister other sacramentes and sacramentals, which, nevertheless, are profitable to all the fay th full whosever receiveth them in fayth and in devotion of the church. " 7 Item. I confesse that bishops, in their own dioces, may forbid, decree, and ordayne, upon reasonable causes, yt priestes should not preach, without their speciall license, the word of God, and that those that do agaynst the same should suffer the ecclesiastical censures. *' 8 Item. I confesse that private religions, as well of monks, canons, and others, as also of the begging friers, beyng allowed by the Church of Home, are profitable to the universal church, and in no means contrary to God's law ; but, rather, founded and authorised thereon. " 9 Item. I promise and sweare, upon these holy Evangelists, which I hold here in my handes, that I will henceforth never hold, affirm, nor by any means teach anything contrary unto the premises, either openly or privately." The promulgation of this confession, obtained by intimidating his chaplain, though a sweet morceau of vengeance for the enemies of Lord Cobham, w^as, however, far from satisfying their highly excited appetite. He had made war on their 238 LORD cobham's butler. hypocrisy and on their enjoyments too rudely ever to be forgiven ; and, besides, a feeling existed that, while two distinguished men who shared his prin- ciples had been publicly burned at Constance, England, the country in which those hated opinions for which they suffered had originated, had not yet redeemed its fame for piety by sending one man above "the common sort" to the stake. 7. But, in the absence of the nobler game, they were content to pursue, in the spirit of " The Con- stitution" of Chichely, the smaller deer with indus- trious unsparing zeal. It was 'not enough for the honour of the sacred Catholic faith that a recanta- tion had been extorted from a minister formerly chaplain to Cobham, — his household were next to be attacked. Edmund Frith, his butler, fell into their hands, and was threatened with great severity. The poor man, who, perhaps, had but a very im- perfect knowledjjje of what his master's religious opinions were, was soon vanquished, and made his recantation in due form. That he subscribed to a certain prepared declaration for their purpose, was, in his case, all-sufficient : whether he was sincere in making it was a question on which they did not think it necessary to enter. They did not confine their hostilities to those who were known to be immediately under the eye of Lord Cobham. Parties who were onlv sus- FALSE REPORTS OF COBHAM. 239 pected of favouring Ins views, — and this was very generally the case of the humbler classes who lived in his neighbourhood, — were called to an account for their opinions. His wealth and generosity, as well as his fame for courage, had rendered him popu- lar ', and, in consequence, searching inquisitions were made in Tenterden, Romney, Woodchurch, and other places in Kent, and many unfortunate persons, alarmed at the proceedings instituted, fled from their houses, and wandered about the country in great distress, but in the hope of avoid- ing, by such expedients, more intolerable hardships. 8. The vast revv^ard offered to those who should bring in Lord Cobham, dead or alive, which was from time to time recalled to the memory of the nation by new announcements, presented, to avari- cious minds, a great and almost overpowering temptation. Such an accession of wealth few could contemplate with indifference, while others looked to the countenance they would receive from the highest authorities of the church, for giving to its righteous vengeance a condemned heretic. It had been absurdly reported, even when the king was in England, that Cobham had thought of preferring a claim to the crown. While Henry was in France, his brother, the Duke of Bedford, who acted as regent, was frequently disturbed by sinister rumours of what Cobham was actually doing, or 240 THE LOLLARDS UNJUSTLY ACCUSED. intended to do. At one period, a new rising in London was spoken of, and he was believed to be on the spot, ready to lead the insurgents ; at ano- ther, it was understood that his influence had pre- vailed upon the King of Scotland to resolve upon invading England. No danger could threaten the state from any quarter, but the malice of his enemies, or the imprudence of his friends, was on the alert to magnify his importance, by causing it to be regarded as proceeding from the labours and influence of Lord Cobham. This, as already stated, had for several years been the course pursued by the enemies of the Lollards. " Many," says a writer of the seventeenth century, " had their eyes opened to see with indignation how deplorably the purity of the Catholic religion had been corrupted by the pride, avarice, and ambition of priests ; and, by freely protesting against these corruptions, they had made the clergy their impla- cable enemies, who therefore endeavoured their ruin by all ways of violence, torture, fire, and death, and were very industrious to make them odious to the people. If a conspiracy was formed against the state, the Lollards were presently accused as the chief contrivers. Thus, when that execrable plot of the Earl of Cambridg was upon the point of being executed, and infamous libels were found posted on the doors of the churches in London, the WALSINQHAM CORRECTED. 241 Lollards are arraigned by Walslngham as the authors of era. And now, the same historian, on occasion of the Scots invading England, takes the opportunity to blacken these poor people as guilty of inviting their ancient enemies to bring fire and sword into the bowels of their country ; but let the reader judge whether there be not reason to suspect that he, who was a Benedictine monk of St. Alban's, might be influenced to partiality in his relation of things of this nation ; for King Henry gives a different account of the matter ; and, by his letter to the Duke of Exeter, we understand that it was the solicitation of the French which brought the Scots into England. The king had exact in- formation of the design before put in execution, and received intelligence, from a person of quality and great credit, that it was concerted between the Duke of Orleans, prisoner in England, and the Duke of Albany. The king, therefore, ordered the Duke of Exeter to communicate this business to the Duke of Bedford, and the Chancellor, and to the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, that all preparations might be made for defence of the nation. He also commanded that the Duke of Orleans should no more have the liberty of going at large, but be kept close prisoner in Pom fret Castle.''* * History of the Reign of King Henry the Fifth. Vol. II. Y 242 LORD POWIS SURPRISES COBHAM. 9. Under these circumstances, piety, patriotism, or cupidity, moved the Lord Powis to aspire to the glory of arresting the fugitive. Residing in Wales, he had gained information that the noble object of priestly vengeance had sought conceal- ment in his neighbourhood, and he determined, if possible, to secure him, and thus gain fame, as well as a considerable acquisition of fortune. The friends of the bishops corresponded with him from time to time, and are described as " feeding him with lordly gifts and promises, to accomplish their desire,'^ which, in the end, he did. Having gained a knowledge of the unfortunate Lollard's hiding-place, he proceeded, accompanied by a num- ber of armed men, determined to take him, dead or alive. The appearance of a force which he had no prospect of opposing with success, did not awe Cob- ham into submission. He had always borne the cha- racter of a brave man, and the desperate situation in which he stood made him resolute to sell life as dearly as possible. A cruel death, in the midst of exulting enemies, was all he could expect from a sur- render; and feeling this, and preferring to die like a soldier in conflict, rather than as a malefactor at a place of execution, he was prepared to struggle to the last. But this consolation was denied to the veteran. In a fierce encounter, he had the misfortune to be grievously wounded. The accounts which have LORD COBHAM DISABLED. 243 reached us are confused and somewhat at variance. ** It cost/' says Fuller, " some blows and blood to apprehend him, till a woman, at last, with a stool, broke the Lord Cobham's legs, whereby he became lame." What female was likely to be there, and to act a part so unfeminine, savage, and determined, we are at a loss to guess. It is not to be supposed that the force despatched against him by Lord Powis would have included a female; and it is most improbable that any woman in the neigh- bourhood, or elsewhere, volunteered to take a share, and such a share, in the scene. To say nothing of the danger inseparable from mingling in a fight like that which preceded Lord Cobham's capture, the good name which he enjoyed was such that a tumultuary rising against him could hardly have taken place, and there was nothing in his life to make him the object of woman's vengeance. Sir Edward Charlton is the name mentioned by some writers, as that of the individual who made Cobham prisoner. It is stated in a writ published by Hearne, but no reason can be assigned why this should be relied upon rather than the rolls of parlia- ment. If Sir Edward Charlton were an actor in the tragedy, he was certainly acting under the directions of Earl Powis. That Cobham was seized by the peer's own hand, was never asserted ; but it has not been doubted that to him belonged the merit, such y2 244 COBHAM BROUGHT TO LONDON. as it might be, of making the heretic prisoner. The struggle was desperate, and Cobhara became un- happily disabled. A wound in the leg rendered it impossible for him to defend himself, and in that crippled state he was secured by the assailants. 10. This was early in December, 1417. A parlia- ment had been called to sit on the 16th of November, which had met and been warmly congratulated on the successful progress of the king's arms in France. The joy inspired by victory did not make the enemies of Lord Cobham less thirsty for his blood than they had previously shown them- selves. The moment it was known that he was wounded and a prisoner, his noble captor received instructions to send him, sick as he was from the injuries he had received, to London without delay. A horse-litter was procured for him, in which he proceeded, by what would now be called slow jour- neys, though they were as expeditious as could be made in those days, with the means of travelling then at command, through roads nearly impassable at that season of the year. His health rallied, not- withstanding the hardships he had endured, and the dismal prospect before him; and on the 18th of December the captive reformer was brought before the House of Peers. The Duke of Bedford and many lords of parliament, and members of the Lower House, were present; and, the prisoner being APPEAL TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS. 245 placed at the bar and identified, the sentence pro- nounced on the charges preferred against him, in the year 1413, was read, and he was asked if he had anything to say why judgment should not pass against him. 11. Lord Cobham called the attention of their lordships to the opinions which he had formerly avowed, and to the object which he had uniformly had in view, and which was simply a reform of crying abuses. He denied that he had been guilty of the offences imputed, and reminded them, as all men were by nature sinners and dependent on God's mercy, that it was for them, sitting robed in au- thority as his judges, to prefer mercy to judgment. Vengeance belonged to the Lord of Hosts alone, and his true and faithful servants oujjht not to interfere with his prerogative, to effect, in cold blood, the destruction of their fellow-creatures. 12. Such language was pronounced to be wholly irrelevant. The chief justice appealed to the Duke of Bedford, as reg^ent, to interfere, and to order the prisoner to cease wasting thus the time of the nobles of England, and to command that he should answer directly, if he had aught to say to the par- ticular charges brought against him. He again spoke, but resumed his former argu- ment, denying that any one had proved, from the scripture, that he had countenanced error. He y3 246 THE PRISONER UNDISMAYED. appealed to the Searcher of all hearts for the purity of his motives, and declared, that, assured of a righteous judgment before the last dread tribunal, he stood little in awe of any sentence which their lordships, who were men like himself, might award. This conduct was reproved as highly indecorous, and the chief justice again interrupted him to de- mand if he had any objection to make to the legality of the proceedings ? Lord Cobham replied that he had had no impartial judge. Falsehoods reported of him were allowed to have the force of truth, and his enemies were encouraged in all their doings. 13. His fate was soon decided. One so impeni- tent was not to be spared. His former escape, the outbreak which immediately followed, and the sub- sequent discontents, while the king was in France, were all brought against him. The truth was hideously exaggerated, and injurious falsehood was invented. Though Wickliffe's opinions had made great progress, and though many had been taught by Lord Cobham to deride the vaunted sanctity of the church, and to condemn its luxury, avarice, and tyranny, this was not the source of the discon- tent which generally prevailed. Much of the dis- affection at different periods manifested, grew on the heavv burthens thrown on the nation by the war. FINAL CONDEMNATIOiV. 247 The people of England, at that date, as at subse- quent periods of history, though really fond of glory, great as their triumphs were, found it so costly, that it was no easy matter to pay its price. Of course, this was not borne in mind, and every symptom of disaffection was made an aggravation of the prisoner's guilt by the parliament. They condemned Cobham to death, — to be hanged as a traitor and burned as a heretic ; and tlie warrant for his execution was instantly signed. Nothing dismayed, the prisoner calmly surveyed the regent, the bishops, and the rest of his judges, while they were engaged in this harsh proceeding. He expressed himself perfectly resigned to quit a world in which he had suffered so much ; and solemnly thanked the Almighty, for having, in his infinite wisdom, ordained that he should lay down his life in so good a cause. The sentence pronounced set forth, that, having before been outlawed for treason, in the Court of King's Bench, and excommunicated by the Arch- bishop of Canterbury for heresy, he was, upon that record and process, now to suffer. It was there- fore directed that he should be taken, first, to the Tower of London, and thence dragged, on a hurdle, to the new gallows beyond Temple-bar, in St. Giles's Fields. The gallows then, and for more than three centuries afterwards, was not periodically erected 248 A VOTE OF THANKS. when criminals were to die, but permanently fixed at the place of execution, which, at that date, was near the spot where Oxford-street now leads from Tottenham-court-road. 14. One other proceeding appears to have im- mediately followed the condemnation of Lord Cob- ham. A vote of thanks was moved to the Lord Powis, for the signal service he had rendered to the state, in bringing to justice the traitor and heretic, as he was called, who, for four years, had success- fully eluded all the efforts that were made to appre- hend him. The motion was unanimously agreed to. Lord Cobham was condemned to death by a body who deemed themselves most upright and august, and to a most painful, and, so far as they could make it, ignominious death, not for any act of atrocity which men, in what is called an un- civilised state, would have judged it necessary to punish with such severity, but because he differed from them on certain points of faith, which they judged essential to salvation, and which, if they were so, involved consequences sufficiently awful to him, it might be presumed, to satisfy enmity the most rancorous. Such irrational severity must be viewed with horror ; but it may justly be regarded as the offspring of weakness, not less than of hatred. Among the assembly who concurred in dooming the