destroy them. Do not let them send me sheets containing six pages of paper,[1] for I fear they may cause trouble to the messenger and others. I also pray in the name of God that all the lords should entreat the king to allow me to be heard once more, that I may answer the accusations, as indeed the king promised at the last meeting of the council. It will be greatly to his shame if he overlooks this promise. But I presume that his word is as trustworthy as it was with regard to the safe-conduct, and in Bohemia they already told me to beware of his safe-conduct. Others said: ‘He himself will deliver you into the hands of his enemies.’ Lord Mikes Divoky[2] said to me in the presence of Magister Jesenic: ‘Magister, know for certain that you will be condemned.’ He, I think, knew the king’s intentions. I thought that the king (Sigismund) understood God’s law and the truth, but I find he understands them very little. He condemned me before my enemies did. Had he but followed the example of the heathen Pilate, who, having heard the accusations, said: ‘I have found no fault in this man,’ or had he but said: ‘Behold, I have given this man a safe-conduct. If he will not submit to the decision of the council, I will send him back to the King of Bohemia with your (the council’s) decision and evidence, that he (the King of Bohemia) and his clergy may pronounce judgment on him;’ for he (Sigismund) let me know through Henry Lefl and others that he would grant me sufficient hearing, and, if I did not submit to the sentence, send me safely back.”
On June 10—two days after the second hearing—Hus wrote the letter which of all his letters has obtained, and rightly obtained, the greatest fame.[3] It is addressed “To the
- ↑ In Latin, sextemi. The sending of large sheets of paper probably aroused the suspicions of the gaolers and spies.
- ↑ Lords Mikes of Divoky and Henry Lefl, mentioned later in this letter, were courtiers of King Sigismund.
- ↑ It has been frequently translated, though generally not from the Bohemian original. I translated—of course from the original—portions of this letter in my Bohemia, a Historical Sketch, and History of Bohemian Literature. I here give the letter in its entirety.
