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From Here to Forever
Enfeebled by illness—the damp dungeon brought on a fever
which nearly ended his life—Huss was at last brought before the
council. Loaded with chains he stood in the presence of the emperor,
whose good faith had been pledged to protect him. He firmly main-
tained the truth and uttered a solemn protest against the corruptions
of the hierarchy. Required to choose whether he would recant his
doctrines or suffer death, he accepted the martyr’s fate.
The grace of God sustained him. During the weeks of suffering
[67]
before his final sentence, heaven’s peace filled his soul. “I write
this letter,” he said to a friend, “in my prison, and with my fettered
hand, expecting my sentence of death tomorrow. ... When, with
the assistance of Jesus Christ, we shall again meet in the delicious
peace of the future life, you will learn how merciful God has shown
Himself toward me, how effectually He has supported me in the
midst of my temptations and trials.
Triumph Foreseen
In his dungeon he foresaw the triumph of the true faith. In his
dreams he saw the pope and bishops effacing the pictures of Christ
which he had painted on the walls of the chapel at Prague. “This
vision distressed him: but on the next day he saw many painters
occupied in restoring these figures in greater number and in brighter
colours. ... The painters, ... surrounded by an immense crowd,
exclaimed, ‘Now let the popes and bishops come; they shall never
efface them more!’” Said the Reformer, “The image of Christ will
never be effaced. They have wished to destroy it, but it shall be
painted afresh in all hearts by much better preachers than myself.
For the last time, Huss was brought before the council, a vast and
brilliant assembly—emperor, princes of the empire, royal deputies,
cardinals, bishops, priests, and an immense crowd.
Called upon for his final decision, Huss declared his refusal to
abjure. Fixing his glance upon the monarch whose plighted word
had been so shamelessly violated, he declared: “I determined, of
my own free will, to appear before this council, under the public
7
Bonnechose, vol. 2, p. 67.
8
D’Aubigne, bk. 1, ch. 6.