WHILE the Wickliffites were persecuted and dispersed, the seeds of the Reformation were sown more widely, and the harvest, by being delayed, became the more plentiful. Their doctrine was carried into Bohemia, where it took deep root, and flourished in a strong soil. What doctor John Wickliffe was in England, doctor John Huss was in Bohemia: he boldly defended his doctrine, and fell a martyr in the glorious cause of religion.
John Huss, or Hus, whose name in the Bohemian language signifies Goose, was born at Hussenitz, a village in Bohemia. His parents were not blest with affluence; but they gave him a liberal education, which he improved by his strong mental abilities, and close application to his studies, in the university of Prague, where he commenced master of arts, and batchelor of divinity, in 1408. It was in this year that Sbynko, or Subinsko Lepus, the archbishop of that city, issued two orders to suppress the doctrine of the Wickliffites, which had been introduced into that kingdom, and was countenanced by the greatest part of the masters and scholars of the university of Prague, who had got the books of Wickliffe into their hands.
Queen Anne, the wife of king Richard II of England, was daughter to the emperor Charles IV, and sister to Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, and emperor of Germany. She was a princess of great piety, virtue, and knowledge; nor could she endure the implicit and unreasonable service and devotion of the Roman church. Her death happened in 1394, and her funeral was attended by all the nobility of England. She had patronized doctor Wickliffe, who speaks of her in his book "Of the threefold Bond of Love," in these words: "It is possible that the noble queen of England, the sister of Caesar, may have the gospel written in three languages, Bohemian, German, and Latin: but to hereticate her, on this account, would be Luciferian folly." After her death, several of doctor Wickliffe's books were carried by her attendants into Bohemia, and were a means of promoting the Reformation there.
The books of Wickliffe were carried into Bohemia by Peter Payne, an Englishman, one of his disciples: but the archbishop of Prague ordered the members of that university to bring him the books of Wickliffe, that those in which any errors were found might be burnt. The tracts of Wickliffe had been so carefully preserved, that we are assured a certain bishop wrote out of England, that he had got two very large volumes of them, which seemed as large as St. Austin's works. Archbishop Sbynko burnt two hundred volumes of them, very finely written, and adorned with costly covers and gold bosses; for which reason, they are supposed to belong to the nobility and gentry of Bohemia.
Peter Payne was principal of Edmund-hall, in the university of Oxford, where he was distinguished for his excellent parts, and his opposition to the friars. He was a good disputant, and confuted Walden, the Carmelite, about the beggary of Christ, pilgrimages, the eucharist, images, and relics; for which he was obliged to quit the university, and fly into Bohemia, where he contracted an acquaintance with Procopius, and published some books written by Wickliffe, which were greatly esteemed by Huss, Jerom, and the greatest part of the university of Prague. The students belonging to this learned seminary were offended with their archbishop for suppressing the books of Wickliffe, and ordering the Bohemian clergy to teach the people, that, after the pronunciation of the words of the holy sacrament, there remained nothing but the body of Jesus Christ under the species of bread, and the body of Jesus Christ in the cup.
Huss had distinguished himself in the university, where he taught grammar and philosophy. He had applied himself to the study of the holy scriptures, and the Latin fathers: he was become an excellent preacher, and was made chaplain in the church of the holy innocents, called Bethlehem, at Prague. He was held in great estimation for his exemplary life and conversation as a divine, and for having been one of the principal persons who had obtained a great favor to the university. It should be observed, that this university was founded by the emperor Charles IV who composed it of persons from the four different states of Bohemia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Poland. The three latter were almost all Germans, and had three voices against one, which made them masters of the professor's chair, governors of the university affairs, and disposers of the best benefices in the city: while the poor Bohemians, whose prosperity depended entirely on those advantages, found themselves utterly excluded. This was the state of that seminary, when doctor Huss, assisted by others, represented the cause of the complaining Bohemians to their king Wenceslaus V. Huss was successful; he obtained a revocation of the privileges granted to those foreigners, and the Bohemians were restored to the principal places in the university; which so greatly offended the foreigners, that they retired to Misnia, and carried with them upwards of two thousand scholars. This increased the reputation of doctor Huss, and made him of great consideration in the university, when the archbishop published two orders against Wickliffitism.
John Huss arduously embraced the doctrine of Wickliffe, and easily persuaded many members of the university, that the first of these orders, made by the archbishop, was an infringement of the privileges and liberties of the university, whose members had a right to read all sorts of books, without any molestation. He also observed, that the second order contained a most intolerable error, in seeming to affirm that there was nothing but the body and blood of Christ under the species of bread, and in the cup. Upon this foundation, they appealed from those orders to Gregory XII at Rimini, who was then acknowledged pope in Germany, in opposition to John XXIII at Rome, and Benedict XIII at Avignon. Their appeal was received, and the pope cited the archbishop to Rome. But that prelate informed Alexander V that the doctrine of Wickliffe began to take root in Bohemia: upon which the archbishop obtained a bull, whereby that pope gave him commission to prevent the publishing of those errors in his province.
The archbishop, by virtue of this bull, definitively condemned the writings of Wickliffe; proceeded against four doctors, who had not delivered up the copies of that divine; and prohibited them, notwithstanding their privileges, to preach in any congregation. Doctor Huss, with some other members of the university, and the patron of the chapel of Bethlehem, made their protestations against these proceedings; and, on the twenty-fifth of June 1401, entered a new appeal from the sentences of the archbishop. This affair was carried before pope John XXIII who granted a commission to cardinal Colonna to cite John Huss to appear personally at the court of Rome, to answer the accusations laid against him of preaching both errors and heresies. Doctor Huss desired to be excused a personal appearance, and was so greatly favored in Bohemia, that king Wenceslaus, the queen, the nobility, and the university, desired the pope to dispense with such an appearance; as also that he would not suffer the kingdom of Bohemia to lie under the defamation of being accused of heresy, but permit them to preach the gospel with freedom in their places of worship; and that he would send legates to Prague to correct any pretended abuses, the expense of which should be defrayed by the Bohemians.
Three proctors appeared for doctor Huss, before cardinal Colonna, who was elected pope, in 1417, and assumed the name of Martin V. The proctors alleged excuses for the absence of Huss, and declared they were ready to answer in his behalf: but the cardinal declared Huss contumacious, and excommunicated him accordingly.
The proctors appealed to the pope, who appointed the cardinals of Aquileia, Brancas, Venice, and Zabarella, to draw up the process of this whole affair. Those commissioners not only confirmed the judgment given by carinal Colonna, but carried the matter much further, for they extended the excommunication; which had passed against Huss, to all his disciples, and also to his friends. He was declared a promoter of heresy, and an interdict was pronounced against him. From these proceedings he appealed to a future council; and, notwithstanding the decision of the four commissioners, and his being expelled from the church of Bethlehem, he retired to Hussenitz, the place of his nativity, where he boldly continued to promulgate his new doctrine, both from the pulpit, and with the pen.
The letters which he wrote, about this time, are very numerous; and he compiled a treatise wherein he maintained that the reading of the books of heretics cannot be absolutely forbidden. He justified Wickliffe's book on the trinity, and defended the character of that reformer against a charge brought by one Stokes, an Englishman, and others, who accused him of disobedience.
It is truth, and not opinion, which can travel through the world without a passport. The glorious case of truth had been freely espoused by Huss, who undauntedly declaimed against the clergy, the cardinals, and even against the pope himself. He wrote a discourse to prove, that the faults and vices of churchmen ought to be reproved from the pulpit, regarding the blood of Jesus Christ, which many pretended to have as a relic. He observed, that Christ, being glorified, took up with him all his own blood, and that there is no remains of it on earth; and also that the greatest part of the miracles which are reported about the apparition of his blood, are the frauds and impostures of avaricious and designing men. He maintained, that Jesus Christ might be called bread: but he departed not from the doctrine of the church about the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. He believed transubstantiation, and maintained it in his writings. He constantly professed to hold the doctrines of the real presence and transubstantiation. Thus he quotes Bede with approbation: "Quia panis cor hominis confirmat, et vinum auget sanguinem, in homine, merito idem panis in carnem domini mutatur, et idem vinum in sanguinem transfertur, non per figuram, nec per umbram, sed per veritatem. "
About this time, Peter of Dresden was obliged to fly from Saxony, and seek a refuge at Prague, where he encouraged Jacobelle of Misnia, a priest of the chapel of St. Michael, to preach up the establishment of the communion under the species of Wine. This opinion was embraced by doctor Huss and his followers, who began to preach that the use of the cup was necessary to the laity, and that the sacrament should be administered under both kinds. Archbishop Sbynko was incensed at these proceedings, and applied to king Wenceslaus for assistance, which that monarch refused. The prelate then had recourse to Sigismund, king of Hungary, who promised to come into Bohemia, and settle the affairs of the church in that kingdom: but Sbynko died in Hungary, before Sigismund began his journey into Bohemia. Albicus succeeded to the archepiscopal see of Prague, who permitted the Hussites to continue their sermons, and their doctrine became almost general.
Doctor Huss left his retirement, and returned to Prague, in 1412, at the time that pope John XXIII published the bulls against Laodislaus, king of Naples, whereby he ordered a crusade against him, and granted indulgences to all those who undertook this war. These bulls were confuted by Doctor Huss, who declaimed against crusades and indulgences. The populace became animated by his orations, and declared that pope John was antichrist. The magistrates caused some of them to be apprehended, and the rest took up arms to set them at liberty; but they were pacified by the magistrates, who gave them solemn assurance that no injury should be done to the prisoners: however, they were privately beheaded in the judgment-hall. The blood which ran out from the place of execution discovered the massacre of these men to the common people, who took arms again, forcibly carried off the bodies of those that were executed, honorably interred them in the church of Bethlehem, and reverenced them as martyrs.
The magistrates of Prague found it necessary to publish their reasons for these rigorous proceedings against the Hussites. They assembled many doctors of divinity in their city, who drew up a censure of forty-five of Wickliffe's propositions; and in their preface to it, they asserted the authority of the pope, the cardinals, and the church of Rome; after which, they accused the Hussites of sedition. Doctor Huss wrote many books, and other discourses, against the censure of these doctors, whom he called Prætorians. He maintained some of the articles which they condemned; particularly those concerning the liberty of preaching, the power of secular princes over the revenues of ecclesiastics, the voluntary payment of tithes, and the forfeiture that spiritual and temporal lords make of their power when they live in mortal sin.
Doctor Huss wrote a long treatise about the church, to confute the preface of that censure, in which he maintains, that the church consists of those only who are predestinate; that the head and foundation of it is Jesus Christ; that the pope and cardinals are only members of it, and the other bishops are successors to the apostles as well as they; that no one is obliged to obey them, if their commands are not agreeable to the law of God; and that an excommunication which is groundless bath no effect. He particularly answered the writings of Stephen Paletz, Stanislaus Zuoima, and eight other doctors. He also caused a writing to be fixed upon the church of Bethlehem, charging the clergy of these six errors: First, Of believing that the priest, by saying mass, becomes the creator of his creator. Second, of saying that we ought to believe in the virgin, in a pope, and in the saints. Third, that the priests can remit the pain and guilt of sin. Fourth, That everyone must obey his superiors, whether their commands be just or unjust. Fifth, That every excommunication, just or unjust, binds the excommunicate. The sixth relates to simony. He also wrote three large volumes against the clergy; the first entitled, "The Anatomy of the Members of Antichrist." The second, "Of the Kingdom of the People, and the Life and Manners of Antichrist." The third, "Of the Abomination of Priests, and carnal Monks, in the Church of Jesus Christ." Besides these, he wrote several other tracts on Traditions, the unity of the Church, Evangelical Perfection, the Mystery of Iniquity, and the Discovery of Antichrist. With what surprising spirit, strength of argument, and powerful judgment, he wrote on these subjects, may be well conceived by the amazing influence that his doctrines obtained.
Wickliffe had advanced, "That if a bishop or priest should give holy orders, or consecrate the sacrament of the altar, or minister baptism, whiles he is in mortal sin; it were nothing avaylable." This was vindicated by doctor Huss, who observes, that the article consists of three parts: First, That a civil or temporal lord is no lord while he is in mortal sin: Secondly, That a prelate is no prelate while he is in mortal sin: Thirdly, That a bishop is no bishop while he is in mortal sin. Both these divines taught subjection and obedience to princes: but Wickliffe asserted, that "if temporal lords do wrongs and extortions to the people, they ben traytors to God and his people, and tyrants of antichrist: " and Huss corroborated this opinion by showing that it was held by St. Austin.
Though John Huss, and Jerom of Prague, so far agreed with Wickliffe, that they opposed the tyranny and corruptions of the pope and his clergy: yet they were not of the same opinion with relation to the eucharist, for neither of them ever opposed the real presence, and transubstantiation, as Wickliffe had done.
The great and noble Sir John Oldcastle, lord Cobham, had spoken boldly in several parliaments against the corruptions of the Christian faith and worship, and had frequently represented to the kings Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V the insufferable abuses committed by the clergy. This nobleman, at the desire of doctor Huss, caused all the works of Wickliffe to be written out, and dispersed in Bohemia, France, Spain, Portugal, and other parts of Europe. But that good man, who had written several discourses concerning a reformation of discipline and manners in the church, was abandoned by Henry V and fell a sacrifice to the fury of the priests. He was condemned, in 1413, by the archbishop of Canterbury as a heretic, and sent to the tower by the king, who had an affection for him. He escaped from his confinement, and avoided the execution of his sentence till 1418, when he was taken, and burnt hanging. His behavior, at the time of his death, was great and intrepid. He exhorted the people to follow the, instructions which God had given them in the Scriptures; and admonished them to disclaim those false teachers, whose lives and conversations were so contrary to Christ, and repugnant to his religion. England was filled with scenes of persecution, which extended to Germany and Bohemia, where doctor Huss, and Jerom of Prague, were marked out to share the fate of Sir John Oldcastle.
The council of Constance was assembled the sixteenth of November 1414, to determine the dispute between the three persons who contended for the papacy. Bartholomew Cossa took the name of John XXIII: Angeli de Coraro called himself Gregory XII: and Pedro de Luna was stiled Benedict XIII: but it was John who summoned doctor Huss to appear at Constance. The emperor Sigismund, brother and successor to Wenceslaus, encouraged Huss to obey the summons, that he might clear the Bohemian nation from the imputation of heresy: and, as an inducement to his compliance, he sent him a passport, with assurance of safe conduct, whereby he gave him permission to come freely to the council, and return from it again.
Doctor Huss caused some placarts to be fixed upon the gates of the churches in Prague, wherein he declared, that he went to the council to answer all the accusations that were made against him; and that he was ready to appear before the archbishop, to hear his adversaries, and justify his innocence. He demanded of the bishop of Nazaret, the inquisitor, whether he had anything to propose against him; from whom he received a favorable testimony: but when he presented himself at the court of the archbishop, who had called an assembly against him, he was denied admission. When he departed from Prague to repair to Constance, he was accompanied by Wences, lord of Dunbar, and John, lord of Chlum. Huss made public declarations, in all the cities through which he passed, that he was going to vindicate himself at Constance, and invited all his adversaries to be present. He arrived at Constance on the third of November; and soon after Stephen Paletz came there as his adversary, who was joined by Michael of Causis. They declared themselves his accusers, and drew up a memorial against him, which they presented to the pope, and prelates of the council.
Doctor Huss, twenty-six days after his arrival, was ordered to appear before the pope and cardinals. It has been observed, that his appearing there was by the emperor's own request: but, notwithstanding the safe conduct, he was no sooner come within the pope's jurisdiction, than he was arrested, and committed prisoner to a chamber in the palace. This violation of common law and justice was taken notice of by a gentleman, who urged the imperial safe conduct: but the pope observed, that he never granted any safe conduct, nor was he bound by that of the emperor. The emperor arrived at Constance on the twenty-third of December, and pope John fled from thence, as the council had resolved, that he and his two rivals, Gregory and Benedict, should divest themselves of all authority, that their competition might be fairly decided, schism extirpated, and a universal reformation of faith and manners enacted, with respect both to the head and members of the church. The fourth session was held on the twenty-sixth of March 1415, in which the powers of the council, independent of the pope, were reacknowledged and ratified. The eighth session was held May the fifth, when the doctrines of Wickliffe were condemned as heretical in forty-five articles: and in the twelfth session, held the twenty-ninth of May, pope John XXIII was deposed.
The fathers of the council were ranged under five nations; Italy, France, Germany, England, and Spain. All matters proposed in the council were to be determined by the plurality of voices in each nation: but the cardinals, and their college, had their votes: and it was agreed, that after the business had passed through the different committees, the full state of the whole should be made to the council, and that their decree should be formed upon the plurality of the votes of the nations. Robert Halam, bishop of Salisbury, the bishop of Litchfield, and the abbot of St. Mary's in York, were members of this council for the English nation.
The spirit with which the council of Constance acted against the popes; their declaring themselves as a council, and all councils to be above popes; the rigor with which they executed their decrees, and the awful form of their proceedings, are commendable. But to what did it all tend? To no generous principal of love to God, or benevolence to man. It only translated the seat of wicked power. The people were as much slaves to ignorance, they were as much tied down to superstition; and they had as little the exercise of any one rational sentiment, as ever. This council acted the part of inquisitors: they ordered the remains of doctor Wickliffe to be dug up and burnt, "with this charitable caution, if they might be discerned from the bodies of other faithful people. His ashes were cast in the Swift; that brook conveyed them into the Avon; Avon into the Severn; Severn into the narrow seas; they into the main ocean. Thus the ashes of Wickliffe are the emblems of his doctrine, which is now dispersed all over the world."
Doctor Huss was allowed to be a man of consequence, and reputation, in Bohemia: he was a great and good man, whom we may really call a martyr to Christianity. His accusers presented a petition to the pope, containing the heads of the accusation which they had to propose against him, and requested that commissioners might be named to draw up his process. The patriarch of Constantinople, and two bishops, were the persons commissioned, who heard many witnesses against doctor Huss, and ordered his books to be examined. While this process was drawing up, pope John escaped from the emperor Sigismund, who delivered Huss into the hands of the bishop of Constance, by whose order he was confined in a castle beyond the Rhine, near to Constance.
The council appointed the cardinals of Cambray, and St. Mark; the bishop of Dol, and the abbot of the Cistercians, to finish the process against doctor Huss, and renew the condemnations against the doctrine of Wickliffe. Soon after, they joined to these commissioners a bishop for each nation, and granted a commission to cite Jerom of Prague, the companion and friend of doctor Huss, who was one of the principle preachers of this new doctrine. The nobility of Bohemia and Poland presented a petition to the emperor and council, wherein they desired that doctor Huss might be set at liberty, as he had been seized and imprisoned contrary to the safe conduct of his imperial majesty. The Bohemians presented a writing to the council, wherein they maintained, that the propositions which the enemies of Huss had drawn out of his books were mutilated and falsified, on purpose to put him to death: they prayed the council to set him at liberty, that he might be heard for himself, and offered to give bond for his appearance. The patriarch of Antioch answered, in the name of the council, that they could not set Huss at liberty; but would send for him, and give him a favorable hearing. The lords of Bohemia then addressed the emperor, who had sent him there to defend that kingdom from a charge of heresy, and was now one of his persecutors.
The fourteenth session was held the fifth of June, when it was resovled, that, before they sent for doctor Huss, the articles drawn out of his books should be examined, and condemned, even without hearing his vindication. This was so strongly opposed by the nobles of Bohemia, that the emperor told the council, they must hear Huss, before they condemned him; upon which they sent for him, ordered him to acknowledge his books, and read the first articles of his accusation. These were about thirty, drawn from the writings of Wickliffe, and some of them he freely admitted; such as "that there was one, only, universal church, which is a collection of all the elect. That the apostle Paul was never a member of the devil, which he proved from the testimony of St. Augustine. That a predestinate person always continues a members of the church; because, though he may sometimes fall from that grace which is adventitious to him, yet never from the grace of predestination. That no member of the true church apostatizes from it, because the grace of God, which establishes him, never fails. That St. Peter never was, nor is, the head of the catholic church, because this is the peculiar prerogative of Christ. That the condemnation of the forty-five articles of Wickliffe was irrational and unjust. That there was no color of reason there should be a spiritual head always visibly conversant with the church, and governing it."
These are doctrines which, even in the purest ages of the church, have received countenance, and Huss boldly acknowledged them. But one circumstance bore more hard against him, which was, wishing his soul to be with the happy spirit of Wickliffe. Doctor Huss had too generous, too open, a nature, to deny what he thought; nor did he imagine that life was worthy prevarication. He freely confessed, he was so charmed with Wickliffe's books, that he wished his spirit might enjoy the same fate with his hereafter. A great many other false and frivolous objections were raised against him, which he refuted with a manly eloquence; and recommending himself, and his cause, to God, he was carried off.
He was no sooner gone, than the emperor, whose subject he was, and who showed a peculiar zeal in his fate, rose, and told the assembly, "That, in his opinion, every tenet he had then held, deserved death. That if he did not abjure, he ought to be burnt: and that all his followers, especially Jerom of Prague, should be exemplarily punished." But we are told, that the emperor and the cardinal of Chambre, exhorted doctor Huss to submit to the decision of the council. The next day, he was brought again before the assembly, where eighty-nine articles were read to him, which were said to be drawn out of his books, and he was advised to abjure them all: but he replied, that there were many of those propositions which he had never maintained, and he was ready to explain his opinion regarding the others. After many disputes, he was sent back to prison; and a resolution was then taken to burn him as a heretic, if he would not retract.
The emperor, on the tenth of June, sent four bishops, and two lords, to the prison, to prevail on Huss to make a recantation. But that pious divine, with truly Christian simplicity, called the great God to witness, with tears in his eyes, that he was not conscious of having preached, or written, anything against the truth of God, or the faith of his orthodox church. The deputies then represented the great wisdom and authority of the council. "Let them, said Huss, send the meanest person that can convince me, by arguments, from the word of God, and I will submit my judgment to him. " This Christian and pious answer had no effect; because he would not take the authority and learning of the council upon trust, without the least shadow of an argument offered; and the deputies departed in high admiration of his obstinacy!
While this good confessor was in bonds, he wrote letters to incite his countrymen to persevere in the doctrines he had taught; and expressed his own firm resolution of never departing from them while he had life.
Doctor Huss, on the seventh of July, was conducted to the place where the fifteenth session of the council was held. He was required to abjure, which he refused: and the bishop of Lodi, in a bloody, persecuting sermon, about the destruction of heretics, pronounced the prologue of his fate. The proctor of the council demanded that the process against Huss should be finished; the condemned articles of Wickliffe were read, and the thirty articles alleged against Huss, who explained some, and defended others. Many other articles of accusation were also read, which were proved by witnesses against him. His fate was determined, his vindication disregarded, and judgment was pronounced. His books were thereby condemned, and he was declared a manifest heretic, convicted of having taught many heresies and pernicious errors; of having despised the keys of the church, and ecclesiastical censures; of having seduced and given scandal to the faithful by his obstinacy; and of having rashly appealed to the tribunal of Christ: the council, therefore, censured him for being obstinate and incorrigible, and ordained, "That he should be degraded from the priesthood, his books publicly burnt, and himself delivered to the secular power."
Doctor Huss heard this sentence without the least emotion. He knelt down, with his eyes lifted towards heaven, and said, with all the spirit of primitive martyrdom, "May thy infinite mercy, 0 my God, pardon this injustice of my enemies. Thou knowest the injustice of my accusations: how deformed with crimes I have been represented; how I have been oppressed by worthless witnesses, and an unjust condemnation: yet, 0 my God, let the mercy of thine, which no tongue can express, prevail with thee not to avenge my wrongs." These excellent sentences were so many expressions of treason against the trade of priestcraft, and considered as such by the narrow-minded assistants. The bishops appointed by the council stripped him of his priestly garments, degraded him, and put a miter of paper on his head, on which devils were painted, with the inscription, "A ringleader of heretics. " Our heroic martyr received this mock-miter with a gallant air of unconcern, that seemed to give him dignity instead of disgrace. A serenity, a joy, a composure, appeared in his looks, which indicated that his soul had cut off many stages of tedious journey in her way to the point of eternal joy and everlasting peace.
The bishops delivered Huss to the emperor, who put him into the hands of the duke of Bavaria. His books were burnt at the gate of the church, and he was led to the suburbs to be burnt alive. When he came to the place of execution, he fell on his knees, sang portions of psalms, looked steadfastly towards heaven, and repeated these words: "Into thy hands, 0 Lord, do I commit my spirit, thou hast redeemed me, 0 most good and faithful God." When the chain was put about him at the stake, he said, with a smiling countenance, "My Lord Jesus Christ was bound with a harder chain than this for my sake; and why should I be ashamed of this old rusty one?" When the fagots were piled up to his very neck, the duke of Bavaria was officious enough to desire him to abjure. "No, says Huss, I never preached any doctrine of an evil tendency; and what I taught with my lips, I now seal with my blood. " He said to the executioner, "Are you going to burn a goose? In one century, you will have a swan you can neither roast or boil." If he was prophetic, he must have meant Luther, who had a swan in his arms. The flames were then applied to the fagots, when the martyr sang a hymn with so loud and cheerful a voice, that he was heard through all the cracklings of the combustibles, and the noise of the multitude. At last his voice was cut short, and he was consumed in a most miserable manner. The duke of Bavaria ordered the executioner to throw all the martyr's clothes into the flames: after which, his ashes were carefully collected, and cast into the Rhine.
While doctor Huss was in prison, he wrote some treatises about the commands of God, of the Lord's Prayer, of mortal Sin, of Marriage, of the Knowledge and Love of God, of the three Enemies of Man, and the seven mortal Sins, of Repentance, and of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. He also drew up a little piece about the Communion in both kinds. He wrote an answer to the propositions drawn out of his books, which had been communicated to him: and he prepared three discourses; one about the Sufficiency of the Law of Jesus Christ; another to explain his faith about the last Articles of the Creed, and the third about Peace. All these treatises were printed in one volume at Nuremburg in 1558: as also a second volume containing a Harmony of the four Evangelists, with moral Notes; many sermons; a Commentary upon the first seven Chapters of the first Epistle to the Corinthians; Commentaries upon the seven canonical Epistles, the 109th Psalm, and those following to the 119th; a piece against the Proposition, that a Priest is a Creator of the Creator, wherein he maintained transubstantiation; a Treatise of the Adoration of Images, wherein he maintained, that the humanity of Jesus Christ ought not to be adored with the worship of Latria, but only with the worship of Hyperdoulia; but only with the worship of Christ ought not be adored.
This is a full account of the doctrines, the trial, and death of this great martyr; who as well as his friend Jerom, may be considered, in one measure., as dying for the principles of Wickliffe transmitted to them from England.