Huss and Jerome
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encampeth against thee; thou hast put them to shame, because God
hath despised them.” [
Psalm 53:5
.]
The papal leaders, despairing of conquering by force, at last re-
[118]
sorted to diplomacy. A compromise was entered into, that while
professing to grant to the Bohemians freedom of conscience, really
betrayed them into the power of Rome. The Bohemians had specified
four points as the condition of peace with Rome: The free preaching
of the Bible; the right of the whole church to both the bread and the
wine in the communion, and the use of the mother-tongue in divine
worship; the exclusion of the clergy from all secular offices and au-
thority; and in cases of crime, the jurisdiction of the civil courts over
clergy and laity alike. The papal authorities at last agreed to accept the
four articles, stipulating, however, that the right of explaining them, of
deciding upon their exact meaning, should belong to the church. On
this basis a treaty was entered into, and Rome gained by dissimulation
and fraud what she had failed to gain by conflict; for, placing her own
interpretation upon the Hussite articles, as upon the Bible, she could
pervert their meaning to suit her own purposes.
A large class in Bohemia, seeing that it betrayed their liberties,
could not consent to the compact. Dissensions and divisions arose,
leading to strife and bloodshed among themselves. In this strife the
noble Procopius fell, and the liberties of Bohemia perished.
Sigismund, the betrayer of Huss and Jerome, now became king
of Bohemia, and, regardless of his oath to support the rights of the
Bohemians, he proceeded to establish popery. But he had gained little
by his subservience to Rome. For twenty years his life had been filled
with labors and perils. His armies had been wasted and his treasuries
drained by a long and fruitless struggle; and now, after reigning one
year, he died, leaving his kingdom on the brink of civil war, and
bequeathing to posterity a name branded with infamy.
Tumults, strife, and bloodshed were protracted. Again foreign
armies invaded Bohemia, and internal dissension continued to distract
the nation. Those who remained faithful to the gospel were subjected to
a bloody persecution. As their former brethren, entering into compact
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with Rome, imbibed her errors, those who adhered to the ancient
faith had formed themselves into a distinct church, taking the name
of “United Brethren.” This act drew upon them maledictions from all
classes. Yet their firmness was unshaken. Forced to find refuge in the