A Brighter Day Begins with His Word.

John McClintock & James Strong • SECTION 1132

Section 1132

← McClintock & Strong Cyclopaedia — Volume 4

against the patrons of papal fraud and ecclesiastical cor- ruption. We are only surprised that the deep resent- ment felt was confined in its expression within such limits" (Gillett, i, 257). Both he and Huss were obliged to ilee from Prague, as the safety of their lives was threatened. Huss (q. v.) retired to the castle of Kozi Hradek, while Jerome went to Poland and Lithuania. But the seed which they had widely sown sprang up quickly, and a council which had in the mean time convened at Constance cited Huss for a defence of his course. When the tidings of the imprisonment of his friend reached Jerome he determined to go to Constance himself. He went there at first incognito and secretly (April 4, 1415), but, fearing danger for himself without the possibility of affording relief to his friend, he left for a town four miles distant, and thence demanded of the emperor a safe-conduct to Constance, that he might publicly answer before any one to ever}' charge of here- sy that might be brought against him. Not being able to obtain such a safe-conduct, he caused to be affixed the next day, on the gates of the emperor's palace, on the doors of the principal churches, the residences of the cardinals, and other eminent prelates, a notice in the Bohemian, Latin, and German languages, wherein he declared himself ready, provided only he shoidd have full liberty and security to come to Constance and to leave it again, to defend himself in public before the council against every accusation made against his faith. Not obtaining what he demanded, he procured a certifi- cate to be drawn up to that effect by the Bohemian knights resident in Constance and sealed with their seals, and with this to serve as a vindication of himself to his friends, he prepared to turn his face towards Bo- hemia. The papists determining to secure his attend- ance at the council, a passport was now sent him from the council, guaranteeing his safety from violence, but not from punishment, if he were adjudged guiltj' of the heresy charged against him; but this Jerome — Huss having been already sent to prison — deemed insufficient, and he proceeded on his journey. But his enemies suc- ceeded in waylaying him, and on the road he was ar- rested near Hirschau, a small town in Suabia, April 25, 1415, and delivered over into the power of the council May 23. He was immediately brought before a public convocation of that body. A citation was sent to him, which, it was said, had been posted up in Constance in reply to his declarations to the council. He denied to have seen them before he left the vicinity of Constance, where he had waited sufficiently long to be reached by any repl}' made within a reasonable limit of time, and that he would have complied with the summons had it reached him even on the confines of Bohemia. But this declaration rather aggravated, if anything, the members of the council, so eager to find a plea to con- demn the prisoner. Many members of this council came from the universities of Paris, Heidelberg, arid Cologne, and recollecting him, they desired to triumph over the man who had always far outstripped them. •'Accordingly one after another addressed him, and re- minded him of the propositions which he had set forth. The first among these was the leamed chancellor Ger- son, who captiously charged him with wishing to set himself np as an angel of eloquence, and with exciting great commotions at Paris by maintaining the reality of general conceptions. We may observe here, as well as in other like examples, the strong jiropensity which now prevailed to mix iqi together philosophical and theological disputes. But Jerome distinguished one from the other, and declared that he, as a university master, had maintained such philosophical doctrines as had no concern with faith. In reference to all that had been objected to him by different parties, he held him- self ready to recant as soon as he was taught anything better. Amid the noisy shouts was heard the cry. 'Je- rome must be burnt.' He answered with coolness, 'Well, if yon wish my death, let it come, in God's name !' " Wiser counsels, however, prevailed at the mo-

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Public-domain 19th-century biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical reference work; OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.

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