of goodness if we, as it is our duty, love God with our whole hearts; for adversity would not prevail among us, did not iniquity rule. Therefore, let no tribulation or suffering for Christ’s sake cast us down, for we know for certain that whom the Lord God deigns to receive as His sons, those He chastises.” Later Wiche writes, addressing Hus: “You, Hus, beloved brother in Christ, are indeed unknown to me by face, but not by faith and love, for the whole surface of the earth would not suffice to separate those whom the love of Christ effectually joins. Take comfort in the grace that has been given to thee. Preach the truth by word and example and recall whom thou canst to the path of truth, for it is not because of vain censures and antichristian fulminations that the evangelical truth should be concealed. . . .” Wiche’s letter gives evidence of his surprising knowledge of the state of affairs in Bohemia and of his acquaintance with the names of the men who were playing a prominent part in the Bohemian reform movement. Thus he sends at the end of his letter greetings to all faithful lovers of God’s law and particularly to Hus’s “helper in evangelical work, Jacobellus.” This refers to the famed Master Jacob, or Jacobellus of Stribro (in German, Mies), who played a great part in the Hussite movement during the last years of the life of Hus and after his death.
A letter from so distant a country as England naturally was received with great enthusiasm by the congregation of Bethlehem. It cannot be better described than in the words of Hus contained in the letter which he wrote in answer to that of Wiche.[1] “Your letter,” he wrote, “which descended on us as from the Father of Light, strongly inflamed the minds of the brethren in Christ; for it contains so much sweetness, power, strength, and consolation that if by Antichrist all other writings were swept away into a chasm, it would for the faithful in Christ be sufficient to obtain salvation. While revolving in my mind the pith of your letter and its vigour I
- ↑ Palacky, Documenta, pp. 12–14. The letter is also printed by Höfler.
