"Throughout all his wanderings Lasco's thoughts were habitually turned towards Poland, and he maintained a constant intercourse wilh his countrymen, and also with his sovereign, Sigismund Augustus, who entertained a high regard for him. He returned to Poland in 1556, and no sootier did his arrival become known than the Romish clergy, taking the alarm, hastened to implore the king to banish from his dominions a man whom they described as an outlawed heretic, and the source of troubles and commotions wherever he went. To this representation the king paid no regard; and, to the annoyance of the bishops and the papal nuncio, Lasco was soon after in- trusted wilh the superintendence of all the Reformed churches of Little Poland. Through his influence the tenets of the Swiss Reformers were extensively adopted by the higher classes of his countrymen. The chief ob- jects, however, which he kept steadily in view were the union of all Protestant sects, and the ultimate establish- ment of a Reformed National Church modelled on the plan of the Church of England, for which he had con- ceived a high admiration. But his exertions in the cause of reform were much weakened by the rise of Antitrin- itarian sentiments in some of the churches which he su- perintended. He struggled hard, and not without suc- cess, to check the progress of these opinions. In the public affairs of the Church he took an active part, and assisted in preparing the version of the first Protestant Bible in Poland. In the midst of bis unwearied labors in the cause of the Polish Reformation, Lasco was cut off in 1560, before he had an opportunity of fully maturing his great designs.
"One of the last objects on which the Polish Reformer had set his heart was the speedy convocation of a na- tional synod. This proposal, however, met with violent opposition from Rome and its partisans. The pope, Paul IV, despatched a legate to Poland with letters to the king, the senate, and the most influential noblemen, promising to effect all necessary reforms, and to call a general coun- cil. Lippomani, the' papal legate, was an able man, and a devoted servant to the see of Rome. The Romish clergy were much encouraged by the presence of this dignitary in the country, who endeavored, but without effect, to prevail upon the king to adopt violent measures for the extirpation of heresy. The crafty emissary of the pope succeeded also by his intrigues in fomenting discord among the Protestants. He assembled a synod of the Polish clergy, which, while it lamented the dangers which threatened the Church, both from within and from with- out, passed many resolutions for improving its condition and coercing the' heretics. The extent to which the syn- od, instigated by Lippomani, pushed their jurisdiction may be seen from their proceedings in a case of alleged sacrilege recorded both by Romish and Protestant writ- ers. ' Dorothy Laszecka, a poor girl, was accused of hav- ing obtained from the Dominican monks of Sochaczew a host, feigning to receive communion. It was said that she wrapped that host in her clothes, and sold it to the Jews of a neighboring village, by whom she had been in- stigated to commit this act of sacrilege by the bribe of three dollars and a gown embroidered with silk. This host was said to have been carried by the Jews to the synagogue, where, being pierced with needles, it emitted
a quantity of blood, which was collected into a flask The Jews tried in vain to prove the absurdity of the charge, arguing that, as their religion did not permit them to believe in the mystery of transtibstantiation, they never could be supposed to try a similar experiment on the host, which they considered as a mere wafer. The synod, influenced by Lippomani, condemned them, as well as the unfortunate woman, to be burned alive. The iniquitous sentence could not, however, be put into execution with- out the exequatur, or the confirmation of the king, which could not be expected to be obtained from the enlight- ened Sigismund Augustus. The bishop Przeremb'ski, who was also vice-chancellor of Poland, made a report- to the king of the above-mentioned case, which he de- scribed in expressions of pious horror, entreating the monarch not to allow such a crime committed against the Divine Majesty to go unpunished. Mvszkowski. a great dignitary of the crown, who was a Protestant, be- came so indignant at this report that he could not re- strain his anger, and was only prevented by the presence of the king from using violence against the prelate, the impiety and absurdity of whose accusation he exposed in strong language. The monarch declared that he would not believe such absurdities, and sent an order to the staroxt (chief magistrate or governor) of Sochaczew to release the accused parties ; but the vice-chancellor forged the exequatur, by attaching the royal seal without 'the knowledge of the monarch, and sent an order that the sentence of the synod should be immediately carried into execution. The king, being informed of this nefarious act of the bishop, immediately despatched a messenger to prevent its effects. It was.'however, too late, and The judicial murder was perpetrated.' This atrocious affair excited, of course, a great sensation throughout Poland, and awakened such feelings of hatred against Lippomani that he lost no lime in quitting the country, a step which was absolutely necessary, indeed, as his life was in dan- ger.