p. 410 | The Missionary by S. N. H.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 2, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 26.

The Missionary.

By S. N. H.

Huss Condemned and Burned.

AFTER thirty days' confinement, Huss was brought forth to receive his sentence provided that he would not recant. His long confinement in the damp prison and fetid air had told upon his health. The principal men of Europe had come together in the council. Wylie thus describes the assembly: "There sat the emperor; there were the princes, the deputies of the sovereigns, the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and priests; and there, too, was a vast concourse, which the spectacle, that day was to witness, had brought together.

"It was meet that a stage should be erected worthy of the act to be done upon it, that when the first champion in the great struggle that was just opening should yield up his life, all Christendom might see and bear witness to the fact." At length Huss was brought in by the archbishop of Rigi. Mass was being said as they came to the door of the council room. They remained outside, as it was not proper to hold religious services in the presence of so bad a heretic. As he was brought to the platform prepared for him, he kneeled down and remained for some time in silent prayer. The bishop of Lodi had been selected to deliver a sermon fitting the occasion. He took these words for his text: "That the body of sin might be destroyed."

To give a synopsis of the sermon would be too lengthy for this article. He bewailed the condition of the Christian church. Heresies, he said, had destroyed its peace and harmony, and God had chosen the emperor to rid the church of the dreadful schism that existed. Heresies must be put down at the expense of our dearest interests. The sword, the fagot, and other measures were to be employed. The sentiments expressed were in contrast to the teachings of our Saviour, who commands us to forgive our enemies, and to pray for them who despitefully use us. At the close of the discourse the decree was read by which the council enjoined silence. It first condemned Wycliffe and his writings, and afterward presented a long list of charges against Huss and his preaching. To many of them he attempted a reply, but was forced to desist only as he would from time to time deny them. One of the concluding articles was that Huss claimed to be the fourth person in the Trinity, one having been added.

Many of the charges were equally false, having originated in the brain of the one who drew up the articles. One accusation was that Huss had appealed to God as the supreme Judge. Whereupon Huss replied: "Most blessed Jesus, behold how this council holds as error, and reprobates, thine own deed, and the law which thou didst prescribe; when thou, thyself, overwhelmed by enemies, didst commend thy cause to thy Father, God, the most holy Judge, leaving us an example in our woe and weakness, that, with prayer for aid, we should suppliantly flee in our wrongs to the most righteous Judge." For a moment he paused; and then added: "But I say confidently that the surest and safest of all appeals is to the Master, Christ. For he it is whom no one can sway from the right, by any bribes, nor deceive by false testimony, nor snare in any sophistry, since to each he gives his own reward."

Then Huss gave his final refusal to abjure. This he accompanied with a brief recapitulation of his proceedings since the commencement of the matter, ending by saying that he had come to this council of his own free will, confiding in the safe-conduct of the emperor there present. As he uttered these last words, he looked full at Sigismund, on whose brow the crimson of a deep blush was seen by the whole assembly. The gaze of all present was at this instant turned toward his majesty, and the circumstance made a lasting impression on Germany. It was about one hundred years later when Luther was summoned to Worms, and his enemies importuned Charles V. to have the Reformer seized, notwithstanding the safe-conduct he had given him. "No," replied the emperor, "I should not like to blush like Sigismund."

But Huss did not blush. His countenance was cheerful, and he was happy in God. He felt that the power of the Highest upheld him, and that the peace of God was in his heart. The sentence of condemnation was now passed on Huss as a heretic. Then followed the ceremony of condemnation and degradation from the priesthood. This ordeal brought no blush to the brow of the martyr. One after another of the priestly vestments was produced and put upon him until he stood before them in the attire of an officiating priest. They put into his hands the chalice as though he were to celebrate mass.

They asked him if now he was willing to abjure. He replied, "With what face then should I behold the heavens? How should I look on those multitudes of men to whom I have given the pure gospel? No! I esteem their salvation more than this poor body, now appointed unto death." They took from him the chalice, saying, "O accursed Judas, who, having abandoned the councils of peace, hast taken a part in that of the Jews, we take from you this cup filled with the blood of Jesus Christ." "I hope this very day I shall drink of this cup in his own kingdom; and in one hundred years you shall answer before God and before me." There was a dispute among them whether they should use a razor or shears in cutting his hair, so as to obliterate the mark of the crown. He, turning to the emperor, smilingly said: "They cannot agree among themselves how to insult me." They placed upon his head a pyramidal crown made of paper, upon which the figures of demons were painted. "Most joyfully," said Huss, "will I wear this crown of shame for thy sake, O Jesus, who for me didst wear a crown of thorns."

When thus attired, the prelates said: "Now, we devote thy soul to the devil." "And I," said John Huss, lifting up his eyes toward heaven, "do commit my spirit into thy hands, O Lord Jesus, for thou hast redeemed me." They took him past a pile of books that was being consumed, and informed him that they were his books that were being burned. He smiled at this futile attempt to extinguish the light that he foresaw would one day light up all Germany. As he came to the spot where he was to be consumed, he kneeled down, and prayed, and repeated penitential psalms. Many who saw him said, We know not what his life has been, but he prays after a godly fashion. While engaged in prayer, his paper crown fell off. One replaced it, saying that he must be burned with the devils he had served. Huss smiled.

He was first bound facing the east. Some thought that this was not the proper position in which to burn a heretic; he was turned to face the west, and made fast to a beam, by a chain around his neck. He exclaimed: "It is thus that you silence the goose, but a hundred years hence there will arise a swan whose singing you shall not be able to silence." After the fagots were piled around him to his neck, he was once more asked to confess his errors. His last words to man were, "What errors shall I renounce? I know myself guilty of none. I call God to witness that all I have preached has been with the view of saving souls from sin and perdition; and therefore most joyfully will I confirm with my blood, that truth which I have written and preached."

The fire was rekindled twice. The second time the fire went out, his heart was found entire amid the ashes. Finally, all being consumed in the fire, the ashes, and even the soil was dug up to a great depth, and all were thrown into the Rhine, so that his very name might perish from among the faithful. From the stake of Huss, blessings have flowed to the world, and from the moment that he expired, his name became a power for truth and light. The martyr is dead, but the truth he confessed lives. Within one hundred years was fulfilled his prediction that the truth would triumph.