The letters of John Hus/Letter 78, To the University of Prague
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 my dearest friends for whom I would have laid down my life; and it hath inflicted on me calumnies, curses, and finally an untimely death. Almighty God, forgive them, for they know not what they do;[2] with all sincerity I pray that He may spare them. Moreover, dearly beloved in Christ Jesus, stand in the truth whereof you have knowledge; for it wins its way before all else and waxes strong even for evermore. Let me tell you I have not recanted nor abjured a single article. The Council desired me to declare the falsity of all of my books and each article taken from them. I refused to do so, unless they should be proved false by Scripture. I mean that whatever false interpretation should be found in any article whatever, I abhor it, and commend it to the correction of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who knows my real intention and will not interpret in a wrong sense which I do not intend. I exhort you in the Lord to abhor any false meaning you may be able to discover in any of these articles, but always to preserve the truth that is intended.
I, Master John Hus, in chains and in prison, now standing on the shore of this present life and expecting on the morrow a dreadful death, which will, I hope, purge away my sins, find no heresy in myself, and accept with all my heart any truth whatsoever that is worthy of belief.
Written on Thursday before St. Peter’s Eve.
I pray you to love the Bethlehem and put Gallus[3] in my place; for I trust that the Lord is with him. Amen. I commend to you Peter Mladenowic, my fathful and loyal comforter and supporter.
The following letter, with its bitter sarcasms on Sigismund’s faith, is rightly sent to Duba and Chlum, the officials originally deputed by Sigismund to protect Hus, and see to the carrying out of the safe-conduct. We had already learned that Chlum had left the court (p. 243). We now see that in reality he had been dismissed. His plain speech was not welcome to the faithless monarch.
The letter is without date, and possibly should be put earlier in the month. The reference to Veit as well as to Sigismund’s advice at the Council would lead us to this. But if it be dated, with Palackẏ, at the close of the month, the reader will note that up to the very end, though firm in the day, Hus had severe struggles with himself when chained alone at night in the darkness of his cell.