know that they have perused these books more carefully than the Holy Scriptures in their desire to discover my errors.
Sent off on Thursday evening before St. Peter’s Eve. Amen.
The following farewell to his old University is remarkable for its close approximation to the position of Luther at Worms, and of Wyclif before him. At one time, as we have seen, Hus had been willing to trust the Council, provided the false charges were withdrawn (see p. 224). He had thence advanced to a belief in the general rottenness and untrustworthiness of the Council, as shown by its treatment of John, and its moral chaos (pp. 216, 218, 257, 263). He now demands that his arguments shall be overthrown by Scripture. Hus’s optimism as to the victory of the truth is emphatic. He sings with unfaltering note:
Truth crushed to earth shall rise again,
The eternal years of God are hers.
LXXVIII. To the University of Prague
(June 27, 1415)
Worshipful masters, bachelors, and students of the University of Prague, dearly beloved in Christ Jesus! I exhort you in the name of the blessed Jesus to love one another, to root out schisms and to promote the honour of God before all things. Remember how I always sought to make the welfare of the University conduce to the honour of God, how I grieved over your disputes and secessions,[1] and how I desired to unite together our glorious country; and lo! it hath turned with exceeding bitterness against me, as you see in the case of some of
- ↑ Excessibus. The German secession to Leipzig had been laid, not unjustly, at his door (see p. 18). But perhaps the word should be translated “excesses” by an extension of classical use.
