the letters of safe conduct which their ambassadors to Basel were to receive. The ever-recurring insistence on this point must, of course, be attributed to the treachery once committed against Hus, the memory of which still rankled in the minds of his countrymen. The envoys also begged the Council to use its influence to persuade King Sigismund to take part in person in the deliberations at Basel, and they also, in the name of the Bohemian nation, expressed the wish that the members of the Eastern Church should take part in the deliberations of the Council. The answer of the Council was distinctly conciliatory, and appeared satisfactory to the envoys. The assembly again assured the Bohemians that their embassy would be perfectly safe in Germany and that the whole Council fully sanctioned the promises relating to this matter which its representatives had made at Cheb. The Council further promised the Bohemians that it would endeavour to persuade King Sigismund to proceed to Basel as soon as the state of affairs in Italy, which detained him there, rendered this possible. It also stated that representatives of the Eastern Church would be invited to take part in its deliberations. The Council, however, added that it appeared probable that King Sigismund would be detained in Italy for a considerable time, and that it would, in consequence of the distance of Constantinople and the difficulty of communications, not be possible to receive an early answer from the dignitaries of the Eastern Church. The Council therefore begged the Bohemians to send their embassy to Basel as soon as possible, irrespective of such possible delays. The Bohemian envoys were on the whole satisfied with their reception at Basel, and on their return to their country they spoke warmly in favour of sending representatives to the Council at Basel. It was now finally settled to do so. The different members of the embassy were to meet at Domážlice on the day of St. Nicholas (December 6), and then travel together to Basel. On November 5 the municipalities of Prague wrote to the town council of Cheb and also to the
U
