 11. To the same. John Huss justifies himself by the example of Christ for having quitted Bethlehem. Dearly beloved, the birthday of the Son of God is near at hand. Purify therefore your dwelling, and let it be clean of all sin. Listen attentively and piously according to your opportunity to the Word of God, and pay no attention to the evil doers who forbid you to meet at Bethlehem. They have endeavored to lead you astray on account of me, and now they no longer have that motive. As for those who declare that I took to flight, I can reply that I acted of my own free will, in order to obey the Divine Word, and follow the example of Him who has said, And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet as a testimony against it, and if ye are persecuted in one city, flee to another. And when the Jews sought to put him to death before his hour was come, he often withdrew himself from their hands. St. John, in fact, is written, Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews, but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, unto a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. But the Jews sought for him, and often asked among themselves, Why comes he not on a feast day? For the priests and the Pharisees had ordered whoever should discover his retreat, to inform them of it, in order that he might be followed. It is not therefore surprising that, in compliance with such an example, I should have withdrawn, and that the priests should ask where I am. Learn then, dearly beloved, that it is through the example and recommendation of Christ that I remove to a distance from you, through fear of being to the wicked and occasion of eternal condemnation, and to the good a cause of sadness and mourning. I fled in order that impious priests might not prohibit the preaching of the Word of God, and that you might not be deprived on my account of the divine truth, for which, by the grace of God, I am ready to die. Know also, dearly beloved, that it was necessary that Christ should suffer within the period prescribed by his father. Be assured that whatever God may have determined in relation to me, his will shall be done. And should he deem me worthy to die for his name, he will summon me to martyrdom. But, if, on the contrary, my life is to be prolonged for the preaching of his Word, in like manner, that is also in his will. Undoubtedly some of your priests desire my return to Prague, and would willingly see me there again in order to their chanting the offices and the mass being dispensed with. It is they whom the holy preaching of the Gospel offends, on account of their avarice, their pride, and their adulteries. But you, who love God's Word, and who make every effort to unite yourselves to him, would be well pleased to see me, and would gladly have me amongst you in a spirit of charity, like one of your dear friends. For my part, I long to behold you again in order to be able to announce to you God's Word. For the principal care of the ministers of the church ought to be to announce in all sincerity and with fruit the Gospel of Christ, in order that the people may be acquainted with the will of God, may avoid many evils, and be led into the right path for living irreproachably. Woe then to such priests as neglect the Word of God. Woe to them also when they cannot announce it. Live, nevertheless, in effeminacy and idleness. Woe to them who prevent the Word of God from being preached and listened to. Happy, on the other hand, are they who attend to it, who guard it in their hearts, and who preserve it in themselves by good works. Christ has blessed them, saying, Happy are they who hear the Word of God and keep it. May Christ bless it for evermore, augment for us all this great happiness. Amen. End of letter 11. Letter 12. To the same. He celebrates the joys and blessings of our Lord's birthday. My very dear brethren, although I am separated from you in body, not being perhaps worthy to preach to you any longer the Word of God, nevertheless the love with which I yearn towards you constrains me to approach and address you in a few words. This is the day, dearly beloved, at which the angel of the Lord said to the shepherds, Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. And immediately a multitude of heavenly hosts were heard to cry out, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace goodwill toward men. Knowing that, dearly beloved, rejoice. For this day a child is born of inestimable price, a man God, in order that glory may be to God in the highest, and on earth peace goodwill toward men. Rejoice, for this day is born for us a mediator. That man may be reconciled with God, and that his peace may be spread over the earth. Rejoice, for to us is born a physician to make sinners pure from sin, to deliver them from the power of Satan, to redeem them from eternal damnation, to impart to all a heavenly joy. That glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace goodwill toward men. Rejoice, for to us is born a king to fill us with joy, a high priest to pour on believers the divine blessing, a father to adopt us as his children for all eternity. To us is born a well beloved brother, a master in every kind of knowledge, a veritable chief, a judge of most perfect equity. That glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace goodwill toward men. Rejoice, sinners, for he who is born is the son of God, the high priest who absolves all that repent in order that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace goodwill toward men. Rejoice, for this day the holy bread, that is to say, God has made himself food for men in order to justify with his body all that hunger. Rejoice, for this day is born a redeemer of the world, the savior of sinners. Rejoice, for this day an immortal God is born in order that mortal man may live forever. Rejoice, for the Lord of the universe lay in a stable in order that our poverty may be changed to riches. Rejoice, dearly beloved, that the predictions of the prophets and of the saints have been fulfilled. Rejoice, for the omnipotent father and the son abounding in wisdom and grace are given to us that glory may be to God on high, and on earth peace goodwill toward men. Rejoice, then dearly beloved, for the angel said, Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. And what was that joy? That a Savior was born who would deliver us from all our miseries and free us from sin. The Son of God is given to us that great joy may be with us and glory to God on high and on earth peace goodwill toward men. Let us endeavor to ensure that this infant which is born to us may accord us that goodwill, that peace and that joy which lasts forever and ever. Amen. End of letter 12. Letter 13. He impresses on the believers of Prague the necessity of zeal and of a desire to hear God's word and recommends them not to renounce these things on account of the scandals arising from wicked preachers. I desire ardently, dearly beloved, that you may be delivered by Jesus Christ from all your sins and that, despising all the vanities of the world, you may overcome the world, the flesh and the devil. I am anxious that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you may suffer all things with patience, with a view to salvation, and that you may persevere even unto the end in your trials and afflictions. That is what I demand for you, dearly beloved, in my prayers. For God is my witness that I labored for upwards of 12 years in the vineyard of the Lord and that my greatest consolation in my ministry was to perceive your zeal in listening to the divine word and the serious repentance of a great number. Wherefore, dearly beloved, I conjure you by the passion of Jesus Christ to hold firmly to his gospel and so to conduct yourselves that may bring forth fruit in all your actions. Do not be shaken in your faith, and regard not those who, having placed only an uncertain foot in the path, have turned aside elsewhere and have become the most violent enemies of God and of his disciples. You know, dearly beloved, that Christ's disciples who held converse with him withdrew and refused to follow him farther. Yet Christ came to separate men from one another, for he has said, I have come to separate the son from the father and the daughter from her mother, and also you shall be delivered up to men and persecuted for my name's sake. And in order that we may not be shaken by this abandonment of his disciples or frightened by persecutions or death, our Savior added, A hair of your heads shall not fall without the will of God. If then a single hair cannot perish, how can believers themselves perish? Wherefore, dearly beloved, preserve a real faith and a sure hope. Remain steadfast in the love of God's word. Listen with the most ardent affection to those whom the preacher has sent you in order that they may preach his gospel with constancy and resist the devouring wolves and false prophets of whom Christ has spoken when he said, false prophets will come and will lead astray. Christ teaches believers to beware of them and to recognize them by their works, which are avarice, simony, contempt of God's word, persecution of believers, calamity, zeal for human traditions, etc. These men in fact wear sheep's clothing. They assume the externals of the Christian. And as they are within devouring wolves, they rend and devour Christ's flock. It is of such that Christ has said to his disciples, Behold, I send you a sheep in the midst of wolves. Be then prudent as serpents, simple as doves. Let them be prudent, said he, that they may avoid like serpents to allow themselves to be crushed and to permit the head of the Church of Christ to perish in them. Let them be simple as doves in order to suffer with patience, the cruelty of the wolves. And we, dearly beloved, already behold these wolves clearly before us. But let us not suffer them to lead us astray and turn from the path by which we are striving to arrive at heavenly joys. Preserve firmly faith, hope, charity, humility, mildness, justice, modesty, temperance, sobriety, patience, and the other virtues, adorning yourselves with good morals and good works. Rejoice that you suffer persecution, for Christ has said, Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. Who then is there that possesses faith, hope, and charity, who will not support with patience contempt and ignominy for the love of his Savior when he is well assured of receiving a hundredfold advantage in everlasting life? In the expectation of these things remember this saying of Christ, that an affliction shall come such as never had been seen from the beginning of the world. And why? The apostle tells us, that a time shall come when men will not receive the sound doctrines, but will listen to false teachers with greedy ears. They will leave the truth and cling to fables. Thus is now accomplished the prophecy of Saint Paul, who declares that all who desire to live purely in Christ will suffer persecution, and the impious will triumph in their ruin. Receive therefore, dearly beloved, the exhortation of Saint Peter. Beware of allowing yourselves to be led astray with others by the error of the wicked. Do not permit your mode of life to be disturbed, but increase in the grace of God, in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and pray that God may graciously accord happy success to my preaching, wherever a want of it may be felt, in the towns, in villages, fields, and forests, in every place where I may be useful, in order that the word of God may not be stifled in my mouth. Uphold and console each other under the protection of God the Father, of His well-beloved Son, and of the Holy Spirit, who can preserve you from all evil and procure for you eternal joy. Do Him be praise and glory for ever and ever. Amen. End of Letter 13. Letter 14 to the inhabitants of the town of Luna. John Hus recommends union and teaches them to endure insults, rather than to avenge them. Master John Hus, an unworthy servant of God to the believers residing in the town of Luna. Peace and the protection of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My very dear brethren, although I cannot see you externally with my eyes, but only with my mental vision, I am nevertheless acquainted with your charity and your constant faith in God and in His Gospel. I know that the Savior has united you in faith, peace, charity, and attention to His Word, so that I find amongst you more than in any other town of Bohemia, that concord which so deeply rejoices my heart. I conjure you, therefore, dearly beloved. I, whose features are unknown to you, but whom am attached to you sincerely in God, I conjure you in the interest of your salvation to love one another, to remain united, and to let no man come between you and divide you. For this precious unity, which subsists between you by the true faith, will save you in the presence of God. And God, through His mercy, will, in return, give you strength to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. Meditate on these things, dearly beloved, and allow no schisms or treachery or jealousy or violence to spring up among you. Should any obstinate disseminator of disturbance and discord arise among you, warn him, like a brother, but do not enter into any disputes before the judges or courts of law, for that would cause the destruction alike of your fortune, body, and soul. Study to avenge the insults offered to God, rather than your own. Alas, it is in this point that the whole world is mistaken, for all men are more ready to avenge their own injuries than those of God. And that is the broad path opened by Antichrist and, above all, dangerous to us who are priests and who desire to see the ordinances of men more rigorously observed than the commandments of God. Such, or such a priest, monk, or prelate, is a fornicator or adulterer with impunity, and yet he insists on having his own ordinances observed under pain of excommunication. In like manner they do not inflict punishment on the laity who sin against God, but should one of them presume to say, my brethren, you have unjustly condemned me. They at once strike with a sword, because any one has raised his voice against the injustice of his clerical judge. I have full confidence that the Lord will keep you free from these evils, so that you may observe his word rather than the ordinances of men. As long as you observe his word, no one can do you harm. Wherefore, dearly beloved, meditate deeply on these two things which are eternal and imperishable, condemnation and everlasting life. The former will draw you into fire that lasts forever, dreadful torments, and a devouring and endless sojourn with devils. But in eternal life all will be perfect joy, absence of affliction and suffering, and a residence with God himself and his angels. For, as St. Paul says, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. We shall therefore be indeed blessed when we enjoy this beatitude of which the delights will be perfect and without drawback, and we shall then behold who shall be condemned. There all sins hidden in the hearts of men shall be laid bare. There we shall reap a joy and a consolation of which we shall never be deprived. There, in fiend, we shall be happy if we suffer anything here for Jesus Christ. For, as gold is tried by fire, so also shall we be proved by the cross and by affliction under the hand of him that has produced the world from nothingness. We shall therefore be happy if we persevere to the end in well-doing. Let us bear in mind, dearly beloved, that the world is wasting away. The death is at hand, and that we are here only on a pilgrimage. Live, therefore, first of all piously, renouncing your sins. Next, aspire to heavenly joys. And lastly, love God with all your heart, and have confidence in him that he may deck you out with his glory through the merits of Jesus Christ and may make you shares in his reign. Amen. End of letter 14. Letter 15. The priest Vichovice to John Huss and his friends. To you, dearly beloved in the Lord, be salvation and all that is most precious in the bosom of Jesus Christ. To you whom I love in the truth, and not I alone, but all those who have knowledge of the truth that dwells in you, and will always remain here through the grace of God. I felt the most lively joy when our brethren came in bore testimony to your true doctrine informing us of the manner in which you walk in the light. I have learned, dear brethren, with what rigor antichrist is proving you by inflicting on believers various and most grievous tribulations. And I feel no astonishment if, amongst you, as already almost everywhere in the world, the law of Christ has such violent assaults to sustain from his enemies. Let us then strengthen ourselves in the Lord, our God, and in his infinite goodness, and let us be confident that he will not permit his faithful followers to wander aside from their object, provided we love him as we ought to with all our heart. There would be no suffering born to you if iniquity did not abound. Be not therefore shaken by any tribulation or any trial supported for the sake of Christ, for we know with certitude that they whom the Lord judges worthy to be his children are proved by him in affliction. Our merciful Father sends us persecutions in this miserable world in order to receive us afterwards in his grace. The great workman proves and purifies the gold before he receives it into his incorruptible treasury. The period of our life here below is brief and transitory. The life which we hope for here after is full of delight and eternal. Let us therefore labor wilfully can to secure our being admitted into this happy rest. What do we behold in this perishable life if not grief and mourning, and what ought above all to afflict the faithful? A too great abandonment and contempt of the law of God. Let us then strive to attain as much as is necessary to durable and eternal things, detaching our souls from those which pass away and perish. Consider the ancient fathers, the saints of the old and new alliance. Have they not all traversed the same ocean of tribulations and persecution? We're not some sawed in two. Others stoned. Others put to death with the sword. All have passed by a difficult road, and so followed the footsteps of Christ who said, Let him who serves me follow my steps. Wherefore placing before you the example of so many saints who have preceded us, and being pressed on all sides by sin, let us patiently await the combat which has offered us. Our eyes fixed on the foundation of our faith, on that Jesus who suffered the trial of the cross. Let us implore him who suffered every indignity from the hands of sinners to support our souls. Let us combat firmly against his enemies loving his law and not being false workmen. But let us act faithfully and labor for the Lord in the hope of an eternal reward. Thou, my dear Huss, my beloved brother in Christ, although my eyes have never been healthy, thy features are well known to me by faith and affection. For this world cannot disjoin those whom the love of Christ strongly binds together. Rejoice in the grace that has been accorded thee. Exert thyself like a valiant soldier of Christ. Preach and exhort by thy word and thy example. Recall all that thou canst into the way of truth, for the truth of the gospel ought not to be held back on account of some vain censures and anti-christian excommunications. Impart then strength to the members of Christ that are enfeebled by Satan and even should Antichrist be raised to the very topmost point of power, his reign will soon finish. I rejoice above all that in your kingdom and elsewhere God animates hearts that support with joy, captivity, exile, and even death for Christ's word. What more shall I say to you, dearly beloved? I know not. But I confess that my heart would dissolve with delight if I could thus strengthen and console myself under the law of the Lord. I salute from the bottom of my soul all the believers and faithful disciples of the truth, and in particular, Yacobel, thy co-agitor, in the preaching of the gospel, requesting him to pray in his church to the Lord for me. May the God of peace, who raised from the dead the shepherd of the sheep Jesus Christ, our sovereign Lord, render you capable of all well-doing in order that by his acting with you, as he may deem fit, you execute his will. All your friends, who have heard your constancy spoken of, salute you. I desire most ardently to receive a letter from you, for be assured that it affords me no trifling consolation. Written at London, on the day of the Nativity of the Virgin, in the year of our Lord, 1410. End of LETTER XV End of LETTER XV End of LETTERS 11-15 of the Letters of John Huss by Emile de Bonuchos, translated by Campbell McKenzie. Letters 1-5 of series 2 of the Letters of John Huss by Emile de Bonuchos, translated by Campbell McKenzie. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Second series. Letters written by John Huss and other persons at the period of the Council of Constance. The Letters of the Second Series were all written in the nine months which elapsed between the departure of John Huss for the Council in October 1414 and the last day of June 1415 which immediately preceded his execution. They form one of the most curious monuments of this celebrated period and present an irrefrogable testimony in favor of John Huss against his judges. We perceive in the early ones by the eagerness of the populations to flock to him on his passage how great was already the authority of his name and doctrine in Germany. In reading those which come after, we are present at the grand scenes of the Council, and had we not concluding ones before us, we should never perhaps know to what a degree this man, so intrepid and so firm in his faith before God and men, was to the end filled with gratitude toward his benefactors, torn with solicitude for his flock, full of love toward his friends, and actuated by feelings of mercy toward his persecutors. The Letters in this series were collected without order of date by Peter Modonevitz, and were so published by Luther. We have classified them with great care, some from the indications given by Huss himself, and the rest in the order of the events which they narrate. Some Letters of Huss's friends have been included in this collection and add to the interest of this correspondence at once so dramatic and so truly Christian. Letter 1 To Master Martin John Huss wrote this letter, previous to his departure from Bohemia, and left it sealed up in the hands of the person to whom it was addressed, requesting it not be open until after his death. Master Martin, my much-beloved brother in Christ, I exhort thee to fear God, to keep his commandments and to watch over thyself when in female company. Be provident in listening to their confessions, that Satan may not deceive thee by honeyed words, for St. Augustine has said, Trust not thyself to devotion, for corruption is sometimes the greater in proportion as the devotion is apparent, and disordered passions may conceal themselves under a mask of piety. Beware, then, of incurring an irreparable loss, and I trust you will remain pure from all your commerce with women, for I have taught thee from thy youth upwards to serve Jesus Christ. No, therefore, it is for having condemned the avarice and disorderly life of priests that, by the grace of God, I suffer persecution, which will soon be extinguished by my death. I do not fear to be confounded for the name of Jesus Christ. I conjure thee not to seek after benefices. Nevertheless, if thou art called to a cure, let the glory of God, the salvation of souls, and labor alone occupy you, and not the possession of riches. If thou shouldst obtain a church, take not a young woman for servant, and avoid ornamenting thy house with more than thy soul. Above all, bestow thy cares on the spiritual edifice. Be pious and humble with the poor, and consume not thy estate with feasting. If thou dost not amend thy life and abstain from the sumptuous clothing and superfluities, I fear that thou mayst be chastened, as I myself am. I who have used such stings, seduced by the custom and approbation of the wicked, and troubled by a spirit of pride, which is in opposition to God. From thy youth thou hast known my preaching and private exhortations. It is, therefore, useless to write thee more. But I conjure thee, by the mercy of our God, not to follow me in any of the vanities into which thou hast seen me fall. No, alas, that before receiving the priesthood, I lost much time in playing a chess, and through this game often suffered myself to be provoked, as well as provoked others to anger. I recommend myself to thy prayers before God, for this sin, and for my other innumerable transgressions. I invoke his mercy for me, that he may deign to direct my life, and that after the victory over the perverse powers of this age, over the flesh of the world, and Satan, he may open to me at that day of judgment the celestial country. Adju then, in Jesus Christ, with all those who keep his laws, receive my gray gown as a mark of my remembrance of thee. Nevertheless, if thou art ashamed of the gray color, dispose of it for the best, and, as thou think, is proper. Thou wilt give my white gown to the curate, my disciple. Thou wilt also give to George, or to Zuzekon, sixty silver grushing, or my gray gown, because he hath faithfully served me. Outside the letter, Huss wrote, I conjure thee not to open this letter before thou hast ascertained the certainty of my death. End of letter one. Letter two. John Huss to the Bohemians, previously to his setting out for the council. I, John Huss, in hope, priest and minister of Jesus Christ, to all our well beloved and faithful brethren and sisters who have heard from my mouth the divine word, and who have received the mercy and peace of God and of the Holy Spirit. I pray they may continue to walk without blame in the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. You know, dear brethren, that for a long time I have instructed you in the faith, teaching you the word of the Lord, and not things foreign to the truth. For I have always sought, seek now, and shall seek unto the end your salvation. I had intended, before I set out for Constance, to refute the false testimonies and confound the false witnesses who wished to bring me to the scaffold. But time has not permitted me, and I will do it at a later period. You then, who know these things, think not, suppose not, that I encounter unworthy treatment for any false doctrines. Dwell in the truth, and confide yourself to the mercy of God, who has given you the truth through me, his faithful preacher, to know and defend the truth, and beware of false teachers. As to me, I am setting out to travel with a safe conduct from the Emperor, to meet and confound my numerous and mortal enemies, as will appear clearer than the day when they stand before me and produce against me their false testimonies. Mine enemies in the Council, more numerous than were Christ's, are found among the bishops and doctors and amongst the princes of this age and the Pharisees. But I confide myself entirely to Almighty God and my Savior. I hope, therefore, he will grant my ardent prayer, and put prudence and wisdom in my mouth that I may be able to resist them, that he may bestow on me his Holy Spirit to fortify me in the truth, so that the gates of hell shall not be able to lead me from it, and that I may face, with an intrepid heart, temptation, imprisonment, and the sufferings of a cruel death. Christ has suffered for his well-beloved. Should we then be astonished at his leaving us, his example, in order that we may patiently suffer all things for our own salvation? He is God, and we are His creatures. He is the Lord, and we are His servants. He is the master of the world, and we are but frail mortals. He is not in want of anything, and we utterly destitute. He has suffered, and should not we suffer also, especially when suffering is unto a purification? Truly, he who confides in Christ and dwells in his truth cannot perish. Therefore, my beloved brethren, pray to him incessantly to bestow his spirit upon me that I may dwell in the truth and be delivered from all evil, and if my death should contribute to his glory, pray that it may come quickly, and that he may give me strength to support my afflictions with constancy. But if it be better in the interest of my salvation that I should return amongst you, we will ask of God that I leave the council without a blemish, that is to say that I may keep back nothing of the truth of the Gospel of Christ in order that we may distinguish its light more purely, and leave to our brethren a fine example. Probably you may never again see my continents at Prague. But if the will of Almighty God should deign to restore me to you, let us advance then with a better heart in the knowledge and love of his law. The Lord is merciful and just and gives peace to his children in this world and after death. Let him watch over you who has purified us by the sprinkling of his precious blood, of that blood which is the eternal pledge of our salvation. May he permit you to accomplish his will, and when you shall have accomplished it, may he bestow on you peace and eternal glory through Jesus Christ with all those who have dwelt in the truth. End of letter two. Letter three. Letter written from Nuremberg to his congregation at Prague. Salvation be to you through Jesus Christ. Learn that from the day I left Bohemia I have traveled on horseback and without concealment my face being uncovered. As I arrived at Pernau I found the curé and his vickers waiting my arrival. When I entered the town he drank a large cup of wine to my health and with his vickers listened in a spirit of charity to my doctrine and said that he had always been my friend. All the Germans saw me afterwards with pleasure in the new town. We went from Vence to Veden where we beheld a great crowd as if in admiration, and when we had come to Salzbach I said to the councils and the ancients of the city, I am that John Huss of whom without doubt you have heard so much ill spoken. Behold me assure yourselves of the truth by interrogating me yourselves. After much questioning they received perfectly well all I said to them. We afterwards traversed to Innsbruck and passed the night in the town of Lauf where the curé a celebrated purist came accompanied by his vickers. I had a long conference with him and he also received my words with great attention. We arrived next at Nuremberg where some traders who preceded us had announced my arrival which caused the people to assemble in the thoroughfares demanding which was John Huss. The curé, John Hellavel, wrote to me before dinner stating his wish to have a long conversation with me. I invited him to come and he did so. The citizens and masters afterwards assembled together in the desire of seeing and conferring with me. As soon as they came I rose from the table and went to meet them. And as the masters desired to argue with me, I told them that I spoke in public and that all who wished to listen should hear me. And from that moment until nighttime we discussed religious matters in the presence of the councils and citizens. There was present a doctor whose words were deceitful and I perceived that Albert curé of Saint Sable saw with pain the approbation given to my doctrines. Nevertheless all the citizens and masters remained satisfied. Master, said they, truly all that we have just heard is Catholic. We have ourselves taught these things for many years. We have held them to be true and still consider them such. Truly you will return from this council with honor. We separated in the best terms with each other. Know that I have not yet met with an enemy, and in all the hotels where I stop I am well received. No hatred is stronger against me than that of some men from Bohemia. What more can I say to you? The nobles, Wenceslas and John Deschlam, act piously and nobly towards me. They are all like heralds and advocates of the truth. God assisting all goes on well. The Emperor is in his kingdom, Wenceslas Lesma follows him, and we shall arrive in the night at Constance, where Pope John is shortly expected. We understand he follows the Emperor at a distance of 60 miles. Written at Nuremberg on the Sunday before the Festival of the 11,000 Virgins. End of Letter 3 Letter 4 John Curie of Janovets to the Faithful Believers of Prague Fragments of a letter attributed to John Curie of Janovets and inserted in the Latin collection of John Huss's letters. Very dear friends, I desire you to be informed that an auditor of the Sacred Apostolic Palace came to our lodging with the Bishop and the Ecclesiastical Judge of Constance. They conversed with the Master, and there has been a long debate between the Pope and the Cardinals on the subject of his interdiction. They have decided a messenger should go from them to the Master and inform him that the Pope of his full power suspends the interdiction and sentence excommunicating him, and praise him in order to prevent scandal and public rumor not to present himself in places where the Pope and the Cardinals solemnly officiate, granting him otherwise full liberty to visit the town, the churches, and all other places he pleases. We have understood that they all fear the next sermon which Master John intends delivering to the clergy, and in fact, someone yesterday we know not whether a friend or an enemy spread the report that John Huss will preach to the clergy next Sunday in the Cathedral of Constance and will give a docket to all who are present. We are present entirely at liberty in the town. The Master officiates every day and acts everywhere freely. He does not keep at a distance from the King's Council that in the cause of truth which is also his own, nothing may be undertaken against him before the arrival of the King of Hungary. The Council has not yet taken the affair into consideration. Up to this time there has not arrived any ambassador from the King or Prince, neither from Gregory nor Benedict, and we do not think the Council will open its sittings before several weeks. Let all those who are personally cited be careful of themselves and know well that their names are publicly affixed to church doors. Michael Kausus chants his high deeds. The Seniors John Lipka and Wenceslas of Lesma are the intrepid and zealous defenders of the truth. Written at Constance on the Sunday before Saint Martin's Day. End of Letter 4. Letter 5. John Huss to the people of Bohemia and his friends. Salutation through Jesus Christ. We entered Constance after the Festival of All Saints Day without having suffered entry in the towns we passed through and where we delivered public discourses in Latin and German. We lodged Constance in the great square near the Pope's Hotel, and we have arrived without a safe conduct. The next day Michael Kausus stuck up a notice on the church containing an accusation against me. He affixed his signature to it with a long commentary which indicated, amongst other things, that this accusation was directed against the obstinate John Huss, excommunicated and suspected of heresy. I endeavor with God's aid not to pay attention to it, knowing that God has created him my enemy on account of my sins in order to judge whether I am willing or able to suffer something for his name's sake. Lutzembach and John of Lepka have visited the Pope and spoken to him about me. He answered that he did not wish to resort to violent measures. It is rumored, though vaguely, that Pope Benedict is coming from Spain to be present at the Council. We have learned today that the dukes of Brabant and Burgundy have withdrawn from the camp. The Pope and the Council must wait for the Emperor, who is to be crowned at Ai. And that this town is 70 miles distance from Constance, I do not think the Emperor can be here before Christmas. The Council will be then near its close, unless it is broken up about Easter. The living here is exceedingly expensive, a bed costing half a florin a week. Horses are at a high price, and seven florins are paid for a horse that might be bought in Bohemia for six drachems. The Senor John and myself have sent ours to the town of Ravensburg, four miles from here, and I think I shall not be long before I shall want common necessaries. Mention my uneasiness to our friends, whom it would take too long to name severally. The Senor Lutsenbach has gone today to rejoin the Emperor, and has prohibited me from undertaking anything before the arrival of Sigismund. I hope I shall answer before a public audience. Many Italians and Parisians are here, but few bishops and archbishops. The Cardinals also are numerous. When I traversed Constance on horseback, I was surrounded by a large crowd of horsemen, and the multitude pressed around me. Our Bohemians have spent all their money on the road, and are already in want. I pity greatly their distress, but I cannot give to all. I have only kept my horse, Robstein, the swiftest horse here, and which I guard in case I should wish to leave the city and rejoin the Emperor. Salute to our friends, without accepting anyone. This letter is the fourth I write from a foreign country, and I date it Sunday night after All Saints' Day. Not one of our Bohemian knights is at Constance, with the exception of the Senor John Lepka, who has protected and conducted me like a true knight. He preaches more than I do, and proclaims everywhere my innocence. Pray to God to sustain my courage. John Hus, Servant of God in Hope End of Letter 5 End of Letters 1-5 of Series 2 of the Letters of John Hus by Emil de Bona Showes, translated by Campbell Mackenzie. Letters 6-10 of Series 2 of the Letters of John Hus by Emil de Bona Showes, translated by Campbell Mackenzie. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Letters 6-10 Letter 6 Know, my well-beloved friends, that I am well in every respect. I have arrived at Constance without any safe conduct from the Pope. Pray then to God that he may grant me firmness, for many and redoubtable adversaries rise up here against me, excited especially by their Seller of Indulgences, the Deacon of Padua, and Michael Cossus, who are unceasingly plotting against me. Nevertheless, I fear them not, being in hope that, after a great combat, will come a great victory, and after the victory my reward, and the confusion of my persecutors. The Pope will not put an end to the affair. What can I do, says he. It is you who are to act. Two bishops, however, and a doctor, have conversed with John Lepka that we might agree without noise. I conceive they are afraid that I should answer in public, but I hope I shall be permitted to do so when the Emperor is present. We have been well received and honorably treated in all the towns we have passed through, and we have published declarations in Latin and German. In the imperial towns we held discussions with the masters. The Bishop of Lubeck, who preceded us, and was a knight in advance of us, reported everywhere on the road that I was conducted in chains, in a cart, and told the people he kept aloof from me because I seduced the minds of men. In consequence, whenever we approached the town, the crowd ran to meet us as if to a show. But this falsehood has turned to the confusion of my enemies, and the people rejoiced on learning the truth. Truly Jesus Christ is with me, like a valiant warrior, and I defy all the power of my enemies. Live purely and pray fervently that the God of mercy may assist me, and defend through me his word. Written on St. Leonard's Eve I think, should the council be prolonged, I shall want for common necessaries. Ask therefore for some assistance for me, but only under the condition agreed on from those whom you discovered to be really my friends. Salute our brethren and sisters, and invite them to pray to God for me, since I am in need of it. Letter 7 To the people of Bohemia May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, so that, being delivered from sin, you may walk in grace, increase in modesty and virtue, and enjoy, after this, life eternal. My well-beloved, I conjure you all who live according to God's law to stay not to occupy yourselves with the salvation of souls. Be careful when listening to the word of God, that you are not deceived by false apostles who do not condemn sins, but who excuse them. They flatter the priests. They do not show to the people their transgressions. They glorify themselves, extol their works, and exalt their own virtue. But they deign not to imitate Jesus Christ in his humility, in his poverty, in his cross, in his sufferings. It is of them our merciful Savior has said, False Christs and False Prophets shall rise and deceive many. And to warn his elect against them, he has said to them, Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves, ye shall know them by their fruits. And truly the followers of Christ have the greatest need to be prudent and careful, for the Savior has said, In so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Watch, therefore, my beloved, through fear of falling into the snares of Satan. It is necessary you should be the more circumspect in proportion as the Antichrist places in your way greater obstacles. The last judgment is nigh. Death will swallow up many, but the kingdom of God is waiting for his elect, since for them he delivered up his body. Fear not death, love one another, and endeavor without ceasing to understand the will of God. Let the terrible and formidable day of judgment be present ever before your eyes, for fear that you may sin. Think also of the joys of eternal life, to which all your efforts should be directed. Think also of the passion of our Savior, that you may bear with humility all things with him and for him. For if you bear in mind his sufferings and his cross, nothing will appear too rigorous for you. You will accept without murmurings, tribulations, calamities, outrageous chains, and should it be required, you will not hesitate to lay down your life for the holy truth. No, dearly beloved, that Antichrist has recourse in his rage against you to diverse persecutions, but he has been powerless against a great number. He has not been able, even to remove a single hair from their heads. Learn to know him by my example, although he is violently irritated against me. Wherefore, I conjure you all to intercede for me in your prayers at the throne of God, that he may grant me wisdom, mildness, patience, as well as strength to keep always in the heavenly truth. It is that which has already conducted me to constants, and during the whole journey I have publicly and openly declared my name as became a servant of God. Nowhere did I conceal myself, but in no place have I found more dangerous or declared enemies than in this city. And I should not have had them for adversaries if some bohemian imposters for the money which they had received and seduced by avarice had not persuaded them that I misled the people from the good way. But I have good hope, by the mercy of our Savior and your prayers, that I shall persevere until death in the immutable truth of our Heavenly Father. Know lastly that everyone here has his duty assigned to him. I alone am neglected. It is the Pope who has regulated everything here. I recommend myself to our sweet Lord Jesus Christ, to the true God, to the Son of the Virgin Mary, who ransomed us by a bitter death, and not through our merits from eternal punishment from the power of the devil and sin. On St. Fabian's Eve, January 19th, written at Constance 1415, Letter 8, To the Inhabitants of Prague. Hus conjures them to remember his doctrines and to cling to the Word of God. May God be with you. I conjure you, dearly beloved, to attach yourselves to the cause of the Lord, for several endeavor to stifle the Word and take away from you the Gospel of Christ, which I have preached unto you in order to turn men from their salvation. Reflect in the second place on the slights and outrages which your nation inflicts on you, which hypocrites wickedly cite against you. Think of the infamies and insults heaped upon you in a word, support all things with joy and patience. If Satan insults you, if antichrist holds you in derision, he cannot harm you more than a dog tied up, as long as you love the Word of God and defend it with all your power. Look at me. Satan has persecuted me for some years past, but he has not been able to do me any harm because I trust in God. I will even say more. God strengthens in me every day joy and contentment. Remember also that to deny a thing is to abjure what one believes, be it the true faith or a heresy. If a man is a Christian and if, through fear of death or persecution and seduced by the wiles of the demon, he joins the sect of Jews and pagans and declares an oath that he does not wish to be a Christian, he denies the true faith. But if another has adopted a heresy, if for example he does not believe Jesus Christ to be God, if in the end he abjures this opinion, it cannot be said of him that he persists in his error. Acknowledging therefore how much he sins, who denies the truth when he has once come to the knowledge of it, or adheres to error or heresy and esteeming more than all the Word of God, let us celebrate his glory above all things and live in charity with all men. Wrestle courageously against the imposture of Antichrist, having with you your Savior who strengthens you and whom no one can vanquish. He will not forsake you if you do not forsake him, but will bestow on all the faithful who believe in him an eternal reward. I wrote these things not being able to come to you in person. 1415 Letter 9 John Huss to a priest whom he reminds of his duties. My dear brother, be zealous in preaching the scriptures, fill the office of a good preacher of the gospel, remember thy vocation, and work like a favored soldier of Christ. Live first of all piously and purely. Afterwards, teach faithfully and sincerely. Be unto others an example in every good work. Leave nothing to be desired in thy discourses. Recommend virtue and bring back those who live wickedly to the remembrance of eternal punishment. Point out the joys of heaven to those who live in faith and piety. Preach assiduously, but briefly. Explain lastly the holy scriptures prudently and with profit. Take heed of affirming anything uncertain and doubtful for fear of being taken up by adversaries who delight to find their neighbor in fault, and bring contempt in God's ministers. Exort to confession and to the communion of the body and the blood of Jesus Christ under both forms that those who sincerely repent of their sins may often communicate. I exhort thee, dear brother, not to frequent taverns or strangers in order not to live like the common run of men. For the more the priest keeps aloof from the public places and dissipation, the more he is acceptable to God. Nevertheless, refuse not thine assistance to others according to thy means. Preach with all thy might against fulluptuousness. It is a wild beast that devours men for whom the humanity of Christ has suffered. Wherefore, my dear friend, I conjure you to avoid all impurity. For even when thou shalt most endeavor to be useful, temptation will conceal itself in order to lay hold of thee. Shun entirely the company of young women and trust not to their devotion. Saint Augustine has said, quo religiosior e o ad luxurium proclivior, et su pretextu religiones latis dolus outvenenum fornicationes. No, my dear friend, that their society has seduced many, whom the life of the age has not destroyed. Introduce not, under any pretext, women into thy dwelling, and do not hold too frequent intercourse with them. Lastly, whatever thou doest, fear God, and keep his commandments. For so thou shalt be in the right path. Thou shalt not perish, but shalt curb thy flesh. Master the world, vanquish the demon, put on a divine spirit, find life, strengthen others, and place on thy own head a crown of glory, which shall be given thee by the equitable and sovereign dispenser of all justice. Letter 10 To Peter Muldonevitz John Huss wrote the following letters in the prison where he was first detained at the monastery of the minor brothers near the lake of Constance outside the city walls. I have written nothing at present on my captivity except a letter, if indeed thou has sent it, in which I be sought to be prayed for. Thou understandest, without doubt, that I allude to the letter I addressed to Master Yacobel, and in which I wrote, my enemies have said that I shall not obtain an audience, unless I, first of all, pay two thousand ducats to the ministers of Antichrist for their expenses. Michael has brought me a copy of this letter, and the answer of Master Yacobel, which I have reason to believe is severe for me. He came with the patriarch, accompanied by scribes and witnesses, amongst whom was Master Nicholas. Stages stood up right in front of me, one of the commissioners handing me the copy to read over, asked me to declare on oath if it was mine. I answered yes, and I do not believe, since the cruel salutations of Master Pellets, that anything troubled me more than these letters. I shudder at the wickedness of Michael, and of his accomplices, as to Master Yacobel, who preaches that we should beware of hypocrites. He is deceived by them more than anyone, and delivers himself up to them. I have not read his letter, but I believe it to be severe. There are two copies in the same paper, and I thought at first it was not an answer to mine, but a copy of the letter of the Curie of Yanovitz. End of Letter 10 End of Letters 5-10 of Series 2 of the Letters of John Huss by Emile de Bonuchos, translated by Campbell McKenzie. Letters 11-15 of Series 2 of the Letters of John Huss by Emile de Bonuchos, translated by Campbell McKenzie. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Letters 11-15 Letter 11 to the Believers in Prague A letter written from Constance by John Huss to the community of Prague during the early part of his imprisonment. May God be with you, so that, in wrestling against Satan and the world, you may persevere to the end. I conjure you, well beloved, from the prison which I inhabit to pray to God for me, who do not blush to bear affliction for him. Pray that he may assist me, for all my life lies in him, and your prayers. Beseach him, therefore, to grant his spirit unto me, that I may confess his name even unto death. I cling to his mercy and truth, and if, at this time, he deign to receive me, let his holy will be done. But if it be his will that I should live and be restored to you, let his holy will again be blessed. I shall be in need of his divine assistance, although I am assured that he will not permit me to be tried beyond my strength, and exposed to a peril that will not ensure my salvation and yours. For the end of temptation, should we hold fast in truth, is to affect our salvation. No, dearly beloved, that the letters I have left you have been translated by my adversaries, who have added to them many falsehoods. They write so many articles and lies against me that I have enough to do to answer them for my prison. Their malice equals their fury. Jesus Christ, our merciful Lord, has said to them whom he loved, I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gain say, no resist. Remember, beloved, that I have never had anything more at heart from the beginning than your salvation. It is in his name that I have taught you the word of God, and I shall never cease doing so, even from the bottom of my prison. I do not doubt, but that you will make some mention of me. Written on the eve before St. Fabin's Day, letter 12 to John of Schlum, he exhorts him not to depart as likewise his friends before the end of the trial. Excellent Lord, I rejoice greatly at your good health, your presence here, and the firm perseverance of your good and faithful heart and the trouble which you take for me in my misfortunes. God has given you that constancy to a higher degree than to any other person. He bestows you on me for my support, and I hope it will be for your welfare in this life and in the next. I beseech you then by the mercy of God to wait for the termination of the affair, like a soldier of Jesus Christ. If the senior John of Yanovitz, who lived with us, is in good health, I ask you to keep him also near you. I think often with pleasure of the noble senior Venceslas, Duba. I pray you to transmit to him, saluting him from me what I say of him in my prison, and thank him for his undeviating fidelity. Salute also all the other faithful Bohemians. I accuse myself that on the unexpected appearance of Master Christian, my faithful master and benefactor, I could not restrain the tears which flowed from my eyes. I was told you had left sometimes since with all your sweet, but my soul is comforted. The God of all goodness at one time consoles, at another time afflicts me, but I hope he will not forsake me in my trials. I have again suffered horribly from the stone, from which I have never suffered previously to my imprisonment. I have also been attacked by fever and seized with vomiting and my jailers who took me out of the prison thought I should have died there. There are now presented to me many articles, heaps of falsehoods, besides those concerning which you have already received many answers. I have not dared reply to the writing which you transmitted to me on the subject of the articles of the Parisian doctors, for I could not do it secretly, being closely watched. It is better for me to abstain rather than to place in peril this faithful friend whom I recommend to you. I would willingly see you with the senior Wenceslas and Master Christian if you speak to the Vice Chamberlain. I think he will permit you to be admitted. Converse before my guards in Latin, I did not dare keep the articles about my person. Make copy of what I have written on the Ten Commandments of God. If I live, I will answer the articles of the Chancellor of Paris. If I die, God will answer them for me at the day of judgment. I know not where is my faithful brother in Christ. Is Master Christian with you? I pray you salute him, as likewise the senior Wenceslas and the other faithful Bohemians. Torment not yourself about the living being dear here. Live as you can, and should God permit me to leave the prison, you will not repent these expenses. If you see the senior Henry of Plumlovitz or Shtiborov butz, salute them for me. It will be eight weeks tomorrow that John Huss has been confined in this refractory. Noble and good senior, and defender of the truth, remain here with constancy you and the senior Henry until the end arrives, and I hope that our Savior Jesus Christ will permit it to contribute to his glory and to the ransom of my sins. I should behold with pleasure the Emperor commanding me to transmit him my answers on the articles of Wycliffe. Oh, if God would deign to put wisdom in his mouth that he might comport himself amongst the princes as the defender of the truth. I have finished today an essay on the body of Christ. Yesterday I wrote another on marriage. You will get them copied. Some Polish knights and a single Bohemian in their company have visited me. Letter 13. To the same. John Huss, so many times and so profidiously questioned by his adversaries, declares again what he acquiesces in. Noble and good senior, I have great consolation experienced, and I implore you in the name of God not to lose patience in taking so much trouble about me for so long a time. The God of truth and of justice will reward you for it. The commissioners during several days wish to confide my affair to twelve or thirteen head lawyers. I refuse to consent to it. But after having written my answers to the forty-five articles of Wycliffe, as well as to those of my own, which are alleged against me, I wrote with my own hand a protest by which I declared that I wished to appear before the whole council, and there uphold my faith. In it will be seen the articles which have been falsely extracted from my treatise on the church, being added to and taken from, as well as the answer which I wrote in prison, without the assistance of any book. I have never in my life found in my misfortune a more cruel comforter than pallets. All the clerks of the Pope's chamber, as well as my keepers, treat me with great attention. The Lord delivered Jonas from the belly of the whale, Daniel from the lion's den, the three young men from the fiery furnace, and Susanna from the sentence of false witnesses. He can also deliver me, if it should promote his glory and the preaching of his word. If, on the contrary, my death is agreeable to the Lord, let God's name be blessed. If, at least, I was permitted to see only once the Emperor with our bohemians, I should be consoled in my afflictions. I rejoiced in the news which I have received. Truly, the Lord has comforted me. I was happy to hear of the Senor Henry Snopek being in good health. I wish to have a Bible sent me. Do not grieve on my account. I conjure you to treat well this faithful friend, to whom I am under particular obligations. Let her fourteen. To the same. Hust desires to have several things in his prison to beguile the time, and to fortify himself by the peruse of the holy scriptures. My good Senor, endeavor to obtain a Bible for me, and send it by this excellent man. And if Peter, your secretary, has any ink, let him give me some with a few pens and an ink stand. I have no news of my Polish servant, nor of Master Cardinal. I have learned only that your noblemen are here with the Emperor. Wherefore, I conjure you to entreat his Majesty in my favor, and in the name of Almighty God, who has so generously bestowed his gifts upon me, and on account of the justice and truth which ought to be made manifest for the honor of God and the advancement of the Church. Beseech his Majesty to deliver me from my chains, that I may be enabled to dispose of myself and appear before a public assembly. Learn that I have been very ill, and have been obliged to take remedies, but that I am now better. Salute, I pray you, the Bohemian noblemen, who are at the King's Court. Written in prison, and by the well-known hand of Peter, our secretary. Letter 15. To the same. He exhorts his friends to beware of the snares of his adversaries, who, like the Carissians, listen to and invent them all things. I have passed nearly the whole night in answering and writing the articles that Palitz has drawn up. He labors directly for the purpose of procuring my condemnation. Make God pardon him, and be my aid. They affirm that the article concerning the depriving the clergy of their property is heretical. Make the Emperor understand that if this article is condemned as heresy, it will follow that he himself, as well as his father the Emperor and King of Bohemia, will be condemned as heretics for having stripped the bishops of temporal wealth. Do not send a letter by anyone whom you cannot answer for as for yourself. Tell Dr. Schmitz to beware of coming here, or Master Jerome, or any of our friends. I am astonished that the Emperor has forgotten me, and does not communicate with me. Perhaps I shall be condemned before I have said a word to him. It is for him to see if it is to his honor to act thus. Noble and good, Senior John, my excellent benefactor, my intrepid defender, I conjure you not to let yourself be troubled on my account, nor for the loss from which you suffer. Almighty God will reward you with usury. Salute, I pray you, our Bohemian lords. I do not know anything concerning them, but I think that the Senior Wenceslas Dubai is here, as well as Henry Lotsenbach. If you decide upon anything, let me know of it. Let John Braddock, who is so dear to me, pray to God with all the others for me, and cause the Emperor to ask for the answers signed by my hand, those I have drawn up for the Articles of Wycliffe, as well as for those imputed to myself. Let these answers be copied, but not shown, more than is necessary, and let the copies not be too much multiplied in order that the Articles may remain quite distinct. I know not if the petition will be read, which I forwarded to the Patriarch, to lay before the Council. I think he will not present it. If it pleased God, the Emperor, by means of one or two articles, might reduce to nothing the conclusions of the Doctors of Prague concerning the subtraction of property, the donation of Constantine, and alms. I do not wish to deny these articles. It would be necessary for the Emperor to allege some good motive, and that these were suggested to him by someone who is not of ours. If I was free, I would speak alone with the Emperor. See him in order that the affair which concerns you, and to which you are attached, should not be secretly transferred elsewhere to prevent your interfering in it any longer. Let Master John Cardinal be prudent. For these he imagines to be friends and spies, and I have heard it said by several of these who questioned me, a certain John Cardinal has confounded together the Pope and the Cardinals, saying that they were all Simonists. Let Master Cardinal keep as much as possible under the Imperial Roof, that his person may not be seized as mine was. No one has done me so much harm as Palitz. May God forgive him. Palitz has directed everything. He insisted upon citing all the persons who adhere to my opinions, that they might be constrained to abjure. He has said in my prison that all those who came to hear me maintained that the material bread remained after the consecration. I am surprised none of our Bohemians visit my prison. Perhaps they act all for the best. Let this paper be torn directly after it is read. Said by the bearer of this letter another shirt. Sen. John insists with the Bohemians that the citation of all those who are called upon to appear may be annulled, that the Emperor may consider his heritage and not suffer any ill-disposed person to harm it. Why can I not speak to him once before being condemned, for I came here after his desire and with the promise that I should be permitted to return safe and sound to Bohemia. End of Letter 15. End of Letters 11 to 15 of Series 2 of the Letters of John Huss by Emile de Bonne Showes translated by Campbell McKenzie. Letters 16 to 25 of Series 2 of the Letters of John Huss by Emile de Bonne Showes translated by Campbell McKenzie. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Letters 16 to 25. Letter 16 to the same. He informs his friend of Pope John's flight, requests the Bohemian nobles to employ their efforts to obtain his deliverance. My keepers have already taken themselves away. I am no longer supplied with food, and I am ignorant of the fate that awaits me in my prison. I implore you to go with the other nobles to the Emperor to induce him to put an end to my captivity, that he fall not on account of me into sin and confusion. I proceed you also to come and see me with our nobles of Bohemia, for it is necessary that I should speak with you. Noble Senor John, go and speedily find the Emperor with the Senor Wenceslas and all the others. It would be dangerous to wait. It is important for me that it should be done as soon as possible. Come quickly and learn the other things which I desire you to do. I fear that the Grand Master of the Papal Court may carry me away with him this night, for he has remained today at the monastery. The Bishop of Constance has written to me that he would not treat any affair with me. The Cardinals have done the same. If you love the unfortunate Huss, take care the King gives me guards of his own court that he delivers me from prison this evening. Written in prison on Sunday evening. My noble Lord, delay not. Let her seventeen to the same. He tells him of the consolation which he has received in prison. I have received great consolation from the visit of the Bohemian noblemen, but I was much distressed at not having been permitted to see you. Master Christian has left the city, bearing the message of Senor Henry and also of Master Yesenets. I think the Council is much agitated on account of the Pope's flight. In all things executed, or to be executed, God should be consulted before human reason. This is what they have not done, and it is why. If God grants me a happy issue, I will not forget this faithful friend. But if my death is only deferred, it is to you I recommend him. I have discovered that the Senor William is my friend. Return him thanks for me. I saw Wenceslas Duba shedding tears when he spoke to me, and the Senor Mosca showed me all the kindness of a friend. Letter eighteen. John Haas to his benefactors. He returns him thanks, exhorts them to live purely, and reminds them of the conduct of the Council toward Pope John XXIII after his flight. Most generous lords, faithful defenders of the truth, and my count's solars, you whom God has sent as angels to me, I cannot fully express to you how grateful I feel for all the constancy and charitable kindness that you have shown to me a poor sinner. But a servant in the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, I trust the Divine Jesus, our Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour will reward you in the present life, and give himself unto you as the most precious gift in the life to come. I exhort you, therefore, by his mercy, to bind yourself strongly to his law and holy commandments. Noble Lord Wenceslas, in taking a spouse, live purely in marriage, and renounce the vanities of the age. And you, Lord John of Clum, you who already serve no longer than the kings of the earth, dwell with your wife and your children under the yoke of the Lord. You behold how the wheel of the vanities of the world turns round, raising one man, and depressing another, but giving to all whom it raises a fleeting joy, after which comes the eternal punishment in fire and darkness. You know of what description are these spiritual princes, who call themselves the true vicars of Christ, and his apostles, who proclaim themselves the Holy Church, and the very sacred council that is infallible, and which, nevertheless, transgressed in adoring John the 23rd, and in calling him most holy, when they knew him to be a manslayer, impure, a Simonist, and a heretic, as they have declared him to be in the sentence which condemns him. Behold how they have struck off the head of the Church. They have torn out the heart of the Church. They have dried up the inexhaustible fountain of the Church. They have violated and destroyed the imperishable refuge of the Church, where every Christian should find a refuge. May God pardon Stanislaus Pollitz and their brethren, for they thus designated the pope in the sentence which they rendered by the mouth of Stanislaus. And now Christendom is without a pope. It has Jesus Christ for the head who directs it, for the heart that vivifies it by grace, for the fountain which waters it with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, for the imperishable and never-failing refuge to which I have recourse in my misfortune in the firm hope that I shall always find direction, assistance, and all sufficient regeneration, and that God will fill me with infinite joy by delivering me from my sins, and from this miserable life. The Council aired several times in erroneously rejecting some articles from my books, as tainted with corruption, immutilated several passages as we'll be seen on comparing these articles with my books. It is there evident to both of us that Jesus Christ, the infallible Judge, will not sanction all that has been done and said at this Council. Happy then are they who, keeping his law, perceive, detest, and avoid vain pop, avarice, hypocrisy, the fraud of Christ's enemies, and who wait with patience the coming of the sovereign Judge and his angels. I conjure you by the bowels of Jesus Christ to avoid bad priests, and to love good ones according to their works. I conjure you and the faithful barons not to permit, according to your power, worthy priests to be oppressed. It is for that purpose that God has raised you above others, and I think there will be in Bohemia a great persecution of the faithful servants of God if he does not relieve them by the arms of his secular lords whom he has enlightened by his words more than by our spiritual chiefs. Oh, what madness to condemn as erroneous the Gospel of Christ and the Epistle of St. Paul who professes to have received the truth not from men but from God. And to reject the example of Jesus Christ himself, of his apostles, of the other saints in condemning the communion of the cup of our Lord, instituted for all adult believers. Do they not say the permission given to devout laymen to participate with the lips in the cup of Christ is an error? And if a priest presents them this cup to drink of, he is reputed in fault and should he persist is condemned as a heretic. Oh, St. Paul, thou hast sent unto all the faithful for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come. That is to say, until the judgment day when he shall come and behold already the custom of the Romish church opposes the accomplishment of thy word. Letter 19 to John of Chlumb. He alludes to the injuries which he had to suffer from the council and deputies. If my letter has not yet been sent to Bohemia, keep it and do not send it, for harm might come from it. The emperor might well ask who was to be judge since the council has not cited me to appear before him nor have I been accused in his presence. Nevertheless, the council has cast me into prison and ordered its procurator to proceed against me. If I obtain a public audience, I ask noble and excellent senior John that the emperor should be present and a place near him assigned to me in order that he may hear me with facility. I also pray that you with the senior Wenceslas and my other protectors be present if you can and hear the words that Jesus Christ my procurator shall put in my mouth, that whether I live or die you may be unto me true witnesses, that impostors may not say that I abjured the truth which I preached. Know that in presence of witnesses and notaries I demanded in my prison from the commissioners that they should send me an advocate and procurator. They promised to do so and afterwards refused them to me. I then confided myself to the Lord Jesus that he may enlighten, plead and judge my case. I do not think that there are other subjects of accusation against me than these. First, the obstacle I raised against the publication of the Bull of the Crusades. They are in possession of my treatise. They have read it to me and I have acknowledged it. Secondly, they accuse me of having officiated when under excommunication. Thirdly, my appeal to the Pope is imputed to me as a crime. They read this appeal in my presence and before all I joyfully exclaimed that this appeal should be mine. Lastly, in the fourth place, I am accused of having left behind me at Prague a writing which my enemies have interpreted against me and in which I said, I quit the city without safe conduct. You will answer this by saying when I left Prague I had no safe conduct from the Pope and in fact I had none and I was not aware when I wrote that letter that you work to accompany me on my journey. After the public audience, should I obtain it, may the Emperor not permit me to be cast again into prison. May I gather the fruits of your good counsels and of those of your friends and if it should please God tell the Emperor several things for the advantage of Christendom and for his own good. Letter 20 to Peter Maldonjevitz. John Huss's Dream Explain this night's dream. I thought they wanted to destroy at Bethlehem all the representatives of Christ and that they destroyed them. The next morning, on rising, I saw many painters who were painting finer and more numerous images. I looked at them with joy. The painter said, with the crowd, let the bishops and the priests come now and let them endeavor to destroy these designs. Upon this great multitudes rejoiced at Bethlehem and I with them and on a waking I found that I was laughing. Several have published that they wished to destroy what is written at Bethlehem. I will send a copy of the treatises which I have transcribed in duplicate. Letter 21 Peter Maldonjevitz to John Huss Peter explains the dream to John Huss according to his interpretation of John of Chlumb, whom, in pleasantry, they used to call the doctor of Bebroch, because during John Huss's stay at the imperial town of Bebroch, as John of Chlumb frequently conferred with the priests and other letter-men relative to the obedience due to the Pope, excommunication in other similar matters, the report was disseminated in the town that the nobleman, John of Chlumb, had been created doctor in theology. Dearest friend, be not in any respect uneasy, respecting the public audience, for it occupies more attention than usual, as well as your affairs, and we hope with the grace of God that everything will terminate happily. But trouble not your head with phantoms, forget them, and think only in what manner you may reply to the objections that will be made against you. And yet the word of truth, which cannot err, forbids you to mediate too much, for it declares that when you are brought before men, it shall be suggested to you at the moment what you ought to say. This is the explanation of your dream. The image of Christ painted on the walls of the chapel is his life, which we ought to imitate. It is the same for the holy and ineffacable scripture, which is represented on the same place, in which, towards the evening, the enemies of the cross endeavor to rub out, the sun withdrawing itself from them on account of the iniquities of their life. All these things then appear forgotten in the eyes of the world. But the next day, when the Son of Justice shall have risen again, the preachers of Christ's word will renew these same images, and will retrace them in a more brilliant manner than preaching on the house top what was before only whispered in the ear, and, as it were, delivered up to oblivion. The result will be the great source of joy to believers, and although the humble bird at present placed on the altar may be delivered up to suffering in putting off a feeble body, yet our firm hope is that hereafter awakening, after this miserable life as from a dream, it will live with him who is in heaven, and will laugh to scorn those impious persons who endeavor to destroy the image of Christ and the holy scriptures, and that, at the last, with the divine protection, he will again, in a more remarkable manner, retrace the ladder for his flock and his dear friends. This is the explanation given by the Doctor of Bebroch in comparing this dream with one of Daniel's visions. Your friends and faithful disciples are happy in receiving your letters. The ambassador of the King of France has arrived today at Constance. Letter 22 Reply of John Huss to Peter. He explains his dream himself, and comforts himself by the holy scriptures. I have received much consolation from what the Doctor of Bebroch has desired you to write me. His explanation is in accordance with my own ideas. I forget neither this precept of Cato, disturb not thyself with thy dreams, nor the order of God, pay not observance to visions, and yet I hope that the life in Christ which I imprinted at Bethlehem by his word in the hearts of my hearers, and which his enemies have endeavored to destroy by forbidding me to preach in that place, and by wishing me to pull it down. I hope, I say, that this same life shall be sketched hereafter far more effectively by preachers of greater eloquence than myself, to the great joy of the people who cling with all their might to the life of Christ. Greatly shall I rejoice when I awake, as our Doctor expresses it, that is to say, when I shall rise from the bosom of the dead. And as to the scripture printed on the walls of Bethlehem, and relative to which palates is so much irritated, declaring that I have abused the people about it, this same palates insists on it being destroyed, and in order to overwhelm me as much as possible, he has greeted me in a most dreadful manner as I shall relate hereafter with God's permission. With respect to what I ought to reply to the objections that may be brought against me, I rely on the Divine Saviour to whom I have appealed, whom, in presence of the commissioners, I have chosen for my judge and advocate, declaring firmly that I selected for my advocate and judge, the Lord Jesus, him who would soon judge us all. I committed my cause to him, as he had confided to his father. It is he who has declared as our Doctoral Lord of Bebrock remarks, take no heed of what you will say, for I will give you a wisdom and eloquence, which your enemies will not be able to resist. Jerome has written, the Lord has said to us, do not allow yourselves to be troubled, fear nothing, you shall march to the combat, but it is I who will fight, your mouth shall open, but as I who will speak, you shall be betrayed by your relations, your friends, your brothers, and they will deliver you up to death. The injuries that we receive from the persons who are strangers to us are less cruel than others. Our sufferings are so much the more bitter that we expected more from these who inflicted them on us, for we suffer not only in our body but also in our mind from charity being destroyed. This is what Jerome says, and as to me, my grief proceeds above all from palates. In truth, the Doctor of Bebrock has the advantage over Lord Henry and over Master John of Yanowitz. The other dreams will also be explained if it please God. Let the Doctor of Bebrock keep to himself alone what he has imparted to me, relative to my letter. For Christ has said, a man's enemies are of his own household, and you shall be betrayed by your own relatives. Farewell, be firm and constant, all you that dwell in the city of Constance. Greet all the friends for me, but prudently, for fear the question be asked, how you know that I have sent them a greeting. Letter 23 to John Hoss Hoss is informed of several circumstances by his friends. Dearest friend, Lawrence the Year acts and the truth have never been more the objects of secret and unjustifiable snares than at present. However, your affair is postponed in consequence of a train of incidents that have occurred and which were not in any way connected with it. All your friends, and particularly Christian, are most attentive to the good widow as to a second surreptant. A bit of triangular paper has fallen into the hands of your enemies. It has been the subject of a denunciation, and the information were lodged so promptly that it was impossible to prevent the act. The Doctor of Bebroch has been demanding by what means and by what occasion he can write to you. The conclusion that has been drawn is that he is negligent about doing so. Right, I pray you a few words of consolation for your most attached friends. Letter 24 John Hoss's Reply May the God of mercy preserve and strengthen you in his grace, and may he impart to you as well as to me constancy in this city, for if we continue constant we shall obtain the sucker of the Lord. It is now that I learn to understand the saying of the psalmist, pray and meditate on the sufferings of Christ and the martyrs, for Isaiah has declared that experience gives intelligence, and unless a man has undergone temptation he can know nothing. I do not understand what the Doctor of Bebroch inquires about, and I form no conjectures relative to his being negligent in writing. I only wish that he may be in good health, but that the health of the soul may be first fortified in him by the Lord. What I desire most ardently for him is the improvement of his soul's health, as well as that of his body, and after this life, eternal happiness with the saints. Rejoice all of you who are united in the Lord, salute each other, and prepare yourselves to partake worthily of the body of the Lord before the Feast of Easter. I have not been able to participate in this holy sacrament for a length of time, and I shall still be deprived of it as long as it shall be the good pleasure of the Lord. It was the same with the Apostles of Christ and a great number of the saints who were debarred from the sacrament in prison and in desert places. I rejoice that you are together, and that Zaliz and Abrada is with you in good health. I also am well, being as I hope in Jesus Christ, and I shall still be better after death if I observe faithfully God's commandments. Oh, that God would accord me sufficient time to reply to the Chancellor of Paris, who so rashly and unjustly and in the presence of so great an assembly did not blush to accuse his fellow creature of errors. But God, perhaps by my death or by his, will render all writing on my part useless, and in his last judgment will clear up everything far better than I could do by any work of mine. Letter 25 to the same. He again requests that the noblemen who have been his protectors should obtain him a hearing, that he praise earnestly to have the Emperor and the Council applied to on the subject. Beloved friend in Christ, endeavor once more to persuade all our noblemen to solicit the Emperor and the Council that what they promised may take place, for they declared to me the facts alleged against you shall be put down briefly in writing, and in an approaching audience you shall reply. Our noblemen, by reminding the Emperor and the Council their own words, can constrain them to do what they have promised. Then in the Council with the assistance of God I will loudly proclaim the truth, for rather than to be thus basely stifled by them, I prefer to have my body burned with the fire. But I am anxious that every Christian shall know what are my last words. I therefore in the name of the most high conjure my noble friends to act with energy and to give me a last proof of their firmness. My trust in the Lord, noble John, my generous and most faithful friend is unchangeable. May God award you a fitting recompense for all your kindness. I conjure you not withdraw until all has been consummated. Oh, why am I not led forth to the funeral pile, rather than be thus prevented from being heard? I still hope that the Almighty God will deliver me from their hands through the merits of the saints. Let me know, I pray you, if I shall tomorrow be heard before the Council. Salute from me, all my friends in Bohemia, and beseech them to pray to God for me. Should I remain imprisoned, it will be a great consolation to me, during my melancholy expectation of death, to know that you have exhorted the Masters to remain steadfast in the truth, as well as the young maiden Petra and all her family. I recommend, Master Jesenitz, to take unto himself a wife. Pray, my good friend, Guzikon and Nekure, not to be angry with me for not having paid what I owed them, for it was totally out of my power. Let those persons who have aided me with their money, salute my friends in Christ of both sexes, and let them pray to God for me. No one will repay them, as well as our Lord Jesus Christ, the money they had advanced me, it having been done for his service. I should, however, be well pleased that the richer persons paid the poorer. But I fear that in some this saying may be confirmed. CHASOCHI TOSMISHLI END OF LETTER XXV END OF LETTER XVI-XV OF SERIES II OF THE LETTERS OF JOHN HUSS BY EMIL DE BUNNERSHOWS TRANSLATED BY CAMBELL MACKENZIE