commentaries, in studying them as their models, both in poetry and prose, and in throwing light upon the precious remains of antiquity, that were discovered from day to day. In all these branches of literature, many arrived at such degrees of excellence, as it is almost impossible to surpass, and extremely difficult to equal. Nor were the other languages and sciences neglected. In the university of Paris there was now a public professor, not only of the Greek, but also of the Hebrew tongue; and in Spain and Italy the study of that language, and of Oriental learning and antiquities in general, was pursued with the greatest success. John Reuchlin, otherwise called Capnion, and Trithemius, who had made an extraordinary progress, both in the study of the languages and of the sciences, were the restorers of solid learning among the Germans. Latin poetry was revived by Antony of Palermo, who excited a spirit of emulation among the favourites of the Muses, and had many followers in that sublime art; while Cyriac of Ancona, by his own example, introduced a taste for coins, medals, inscriptions, gems, and other precious monuments of antiquity, of which he himself made a large collection in Italy.||

larly among those of a certain rank and figure. The most eminent patron of this divine philosophy, as it was termed by its votaries, was Cosmo de' Medici, who had no sooner heard the lectures of Pletho, than he formed the design of founding a Platonic academy at Florence. For this purpose, he ordered Marsilius Ficinus, the son of his first physician, to be carefully instructed in the doctrines of the Athenian sage, and, in general, in the language and philology of the Greeks, that he might translate into Latin the productions of the most renowned Platonists. Ficinus answered well the expectations, and executed the intentions of his illustrious patron, by translating successively into the Latin language, the celebrated works of Hermes Trismegistus, Plotinus, and Plato. The same excellent prince encouraged by his munificence, and animated by his protection, many learned men, such as Ambrose of Camaldoli, Leonardo Bruno, Poggio, and others, to undertake works of a like nature, that the Latin literature might be enriched with translations of the best Greek writers. The consequence of all this was, that two philosophical sects arose in Italy, who debated for a long time (with the warmes. animosity in a multitude of learned and contentious productions) this important question, which was the greatest philosopher, Aristotle or Plato.*

V. Between these opposite factions, some eminent men, among both Greeks and Latins, thought proper to steer a middle course. Το this class belonged Johannes Picus de Mirandola, Bessarion, Hermolaus Barbarus, and others of less renown, who, indeed, considered

would by no means suffer Aristotle to be treated with indifference or contempt, and who proposed to reconcile the jarring doctrines of these two famous Grecian sages, and to combine them into one system. These moderate phi

IV. It is not necessary to give here a peculiar and minute account of the other branches of literature that flourished in this century; nevertheless, the state of philosophy deserves a moment's attention. Before the arrival of the Greeks in Italy, Aristotle reigned there without a rival, and captivated, as it were by a sort of enchantment, all without exception, whose genius led them to philosophical inquiries. The veneration that was shown him, degenerated into a foolish and extravagant en-Plato as the supreme oracle of philosophy, but thusiasm; the encomiums with which he was loaded, surpassed the bounds of decency; and many carried matters so far as to compare him with the respectable precursor of the Messiah. This violent passion for the Stagirite was however abated, or rather was rendered less gene-losophers, both in their manner of teaching, ral, by the influence which the Grecian sages, and particularly Gemistius Pletho, acquired among the Latins, many of whom they persuaded to abandon the contentious and subtle doctrine of the Peripatetics, and to substitute in its place the mild and divine wisdom of Plato. It was in the year 1439, about the time of the famous council of Florence, that this revolution happened in the empire of philosophy. Several illustrious personages among the Latins, charmed with the sublime sentiments and doctrines of Plato, propagated them among the studious youth, and particu* R. Simon, Critique de la Bibl. Eccles. par M. Du-Pin, tom. i. p. 502. Boulay, Histor. Paris. tom. v. p. 852.

Pauli Colomesii, Italia Orientalis, et Hispania Orientalis.

R. Simon, Lettres Choisies, tom. i. p. 262; tom. iv. p. 131, 140.

Dictionnaire Hist. et Critique de Bayle. See the Itinerarium of Cyriac, published at Florence in 1742, by Mehus, from the original manuscript, together with a preface, annotations, and several letters of that learned man, who may be considered as the first antiquary that appeared in Europe. See also the Epistles of Leonardo Aretino, tom. ii. lib. ix. p. 149.

See Christ. August. Heumanni Acta Philosopho rum, tom. iii. p. 345.

VOL. I.-52

and in the opinions they adopted, followed the modern Platonic school, of which Ammonius was the original founder. This sect was, for a long time, regarded with the utmost veneration, particularly among the Mystics; while the scholastic doctors, and all such as were infected with the itch of disputing, favoured the Peripatetics. But, after all, these reconciling Platonists were chargeable with many errors and follies; they fell into the most childish su

* Boivin, dans l'Histoire de l'Academie des Inscriptions et des Belles Lettres, tom. iv. p. 381.Launoy, de varia Fortuna Aristotelis, p. 225.

Leo Allatius, de Georgiis, p. 391.-La Croze, Entretiens sur divers Sujets, p. 384.-Joseph Bianchini, dei Gran Duchi di Toscana.-Bruckeri Historia Critica Philosophiæ, tom. iv.

It was not only the respective merit of these two philosophers, considered in that point of light, that was debated in this controversy; the principal question was, which system was most conformable to the doctrines of Christianity? And here the Platonic certainly deserved the preference, as was abun dantly proved by Pletho and others. It is well known, that many of the opinions of Aristotle lead directly to atheism.

† See Bessarion's Letter in the Histoire de l'Aca. demie des Inscriptions, tom. v. p. 456.-Thomasius, de Syncretismo Peripatetico, in ejus Orationibus, p 340.

perstitions, and followed, without either re- || But, on the death of these powerful and reflection or restraint, the extravagant dictates of their wanton imaginations.

spectable patrons, the scene was changed to their disadvantage. In 1473, Louis XI., by the instigation of his confessor the bishop of Avranches, issued a severe edict against the doctrines of the Nominalists, and ordered all their writings to be seized, and secured in a sort of imprisonment, that they might not be perused by the people. But the same monarch mitigated this edict in the following year, and permitted some of the books of that sect to be delivered from their confinement.† In 1481, he went much farther; for he not only granted a full liberty to the Nominalists and their writings, but also restored that philosophical sect to its former authority and lustre in the university.

CHAPTER II.

Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the Church, and its Forms of Government, during this Century.

VI. Their system of philosophy was, however, much less pernicious than that of the Aristotelians, their adversaries, who still maintained their superiority in Italy, and instructed the youth in all the public schools of learning. For these subtle doctors, and more especially the followers of Averroes, (who maintained that all the human race were animated by one common soul,) imperceptibly sapped the foundations both of natural and revealed religion, and entertained sentiments very little, if at all, different from that impious pantheistical system, which confounds the Deity with the universe, and merely acknowledges one self-existent being, composed of infinite matter and infinite intelligence. Among this class of sophists, the most eminent was Peter Pomponace, a native of Mantua, a man of a crafty turn, and an arrogant, enterprising spirit, who, notwithstanding the pernicious tendency of his writings (many of which are yet extant) to undermine the principles, and corrupt the doc- I. THE most eminent writers of this century trines of religion,* was almost universally fol- unanimously lament the miserable condition to lowed by the professors of philosophy in the which the Christian church was reduced by Italian academies. These intricate doctors the corruption of its ministers, and which did not, however, escape the notice of the in- seemed to portend nothing less than its total quisitors, who, alarmed both by the rapid pro- ruin, if Providence should not interpose, by gress and dangerous tendency of their meta- extraordinary means, for its deliverance and physical notions, took cognizance of them, and preservation. The vices that reigned among called the Aristotelians to give an account of the Roman pontiffs, and, indeed, among all the their principles. The latter, tempering their ecclesiastical orders, were so flagrant, that the courage with craft, had recourse to a mean and complaints of these good men did not appear perfidious stratagem to extricate themselves at all exaggerated, or their apprehensions illfrom this embarrassing trial. They pretended founded; nor had any of the corrupt advocates to establish a wide distinction between philo- of the clergy the courage to call them to an sophical and theological truth; and maintain-account for the sharpness of their censures and ing that their sentiments were philosophically true, and conformable to right reason, they allowed them to be deemed theologically false, and contrary to the declarations of the Gospel. This miserable and impudent subterfuge was condemned and prohibited in the following century, by Leo X. in a council which he held at the Lateran.

VII. The Realists and Nominalists continued their disputes in France and Germany with more vigour and animosity than ever; and, finding that reason and argument were feeble weapons, they had recourse to mutual invectives and accusations, penal laws, and even to the force of arms; a strange method, surely, of deciding a metaphysical question! The contest was not only warm, but was very general in its extent; for it infected, almost without exception, the French and German colleges. In most places, however, the Realists maintained a manifest superiority over the Nominalists, to whom they also gave the appellation of Terminists.† While the famous Gerson and the most eminent of his disciples were living, the Nominalists were in high esteem and credit in the university of Paris.

* See the very learned Brucker's Hist. Crit. Philosophiæ, t. iv. p. 153.

See Brucker's Historia Critica Philosophiæ, tom. iii. p. 904.-Jo. Salaberti Philosophia Nominalium Vindicata, cap. i.-Baluzii Miscellan. t. iv. p. 531.Argentre, Coll. Docum. de nov. Error. t. i. p. 220.

of their complaints. The rulers of the church, who lived in luxurious indolence, and in the infamous practice of all kinds of vice, were even obliged to hear with a placid countenance, and even to commend, these bold censors, who declaimed against the degeneracy of the church, declared that there was scarcely any thing sound either in its visible head or in its members, and demanded the aid of the secular arm, and the destroying sword, to lop off the parts that were infected with this grievous and deplorable contagion. Affairs, in short, were brought to such a pass, that those were deemed the best Christians, and the most useful members of society, who, braving the terrors of persecution, and triumphing over the fear of man, inveighed with the greatest freedom and fervour against the court of Rome, its lordly pontiff, and the whole tribe of his followers and votaries.

II. At the commencement of this century, the Latin church was divided into two great factions, and was governed by two contending pontiffs, Boniface IX. who remained at Rome, and Benedict XIII. who resided at Avignon.

*Naude's Additions a l'Histoire de Louis XI. p. 203.-Du Boulay, Hist. Acad. Paris. tom. v. p. 678, 705.-Launoy's Histor. Gymnas. Navar. t. iv. op. part i. p. 201, 378.

† Boulay, t. v. p. 710.

1 The proofs of this we find in Salebert's Philo sophia Nominal. vindicata, cap. i -See also Boulay.

tom. v.

violently carried on by three contending chiefs, who loaded each other with reciprocal maledictions, calumnies, and excommunications. Alexander V., who had been elected pontiff at the council of Pisa, died at Bologna in 1410; and the sixteen cardinals, who attended him in that city, immediately filled up the vacancy, by choosing, as his successor, Balthasar Cossa, a Neapolitan, destitute of all principles both of religion and probity, who assumed the title of John XXIII. The duration of this schism in the papacy was a source of many calamities, and became daily more detrimental both. to the civil and religious interests of those nations among whom the flame raged. Hence it was that the emperor Sigismund, the king of France, and several other princes, employed all their zeal and activity, and spared neither labour nor expense, in restoring the tranquillity of the church, and uniting it again under one spiritual head. On the other hand, the pontiffs could not be persuaded by any means to prefer the peace of the church to the gratification of their ambition; so that no other method of accommodating this weighty matter remained, than the assembling of a general council, in which the controversy might be examined, and terminated by the judgment and decision of the universal church. This council was accordingly convoked at Constance, in 1414, by John XXIII. who was engaged in this measure by the entreaties of Sigismund, and also from an expectation, that the decrees of this grand assembly would be favourable to his interests. He appeared with a great number of cardinals and bishops, at this famous council, which was also honoured with the presence of the emperor, of many German princes, and of the ambassadors of all the European states, whose monarchs or regents could not be personally present at the decision of this important controversy.*

Upon the death of the former, the cardinals of || into three great factions, and its government his party raised to the pontificate, in 1404, Cosmo de Meliorati, who assumed the name of Innocent VII.,* and held that high dignity during the short space of two years only. After his deccase, Angelo Corrario, a Venetian cardinal, was chosen in his room, and ruled the Roman faction under the title of Gregory XII. A plan of reconciliation was however formed, and the contending pontiffs bound themselves, each by an oath, to make a voluntary renunciation of the papal chair, if that step should be deemed necessary to promote the peace and welfare of the church; but both of them scandalously violated this solemn obligation. Benedict, besieged in Avignon by the king of France, in 1408, saved himself by flight, retiring first into Catalonia, his native country, and afterwards to Perpignan. Hence eight or nine of the cardinals, who adhered to his cause, seeing themselves deserted by their pope, went over to the other side, and, joining publicly with the cardinals who supported Gregory, they agreed to assemble a council at Pisa on the 25th of March, 1409, in order to heal the divisions and factions that had so long rent the papal empire. This council, however, which was designed to close the wounds of the church, had an effect quite contrary to that which was generally expected, and only served to open a new breach, and to excite new divisions. Its proceedings, indeed, were vigorous, and its measures were accompanied with a just severity. A heavy sentence of condemnation was pronounced, on the 5th day of June, against the contending pontiffs, who were declared guilty of heresy, perjury, and contumacy, unworthy of the smallest tokens of honour or respect, and separated ipso facto from the communion of the church. This step was followed by the election of one pontiff in their place. The election took place on the 25th of June, and fell upon Peter of Candia, known in the papal list by the name of Alex- iv. The great object of this assembly was ander V., but all the decrees and proceedings the healing of the schism that had so long rent of this famous council were treated with con- the papaey: and this purpose was happily actempt by the condemned pontiffs, who con- complished. It was solemnly declared, in the tinued to enjoy the privileges and to perform fourth and fifth sessions of this council, by two the functions of the papacy, as if no attempts decrees, that the Roman pontiff was inferior had been made to remove them from that dig- and subject to a general assembly of the uninity. Benedict held a council at Perpignan; versal church; and the same decrees vindicatand Gregory assembled one near Aquileia. ed and maintained, in the most effectual manThe latter, however, apprehending the resent-ner, the authority of councils. This vigorment of the Venetians, made his escape in a clandestine manner from the territory of Aqui- in six volumes in folio, at Frankfort, in 1700, by The acts of this famous council were published leia, arrived at Caieta, where he threw himself Herman von der Hardt. This collection, however, upon the protection of Ladislaus, king of Na-is imperfect, notwithstanding the pains that it cost ples, and, in 1412, fled thence to Rimini.

III. Thus was the Christian church divided

* Beside the ordinary writers, who have given us an account of the transactions that happened under the pontificate of Innocent VII., see Leon. Aretin. Epistol. lib. i. ep. iv. v. et Colluc. Salutat. Epistol. lib. ii. We have also an account of the pontificate of Gregory, in the Epistles of the same Aretin, and in Jo. Lai, Delic. Eruditorum, tom. i.

† See L'Enfant Histoire, du Concile de Pise.-F. Pagi, Breviar. Pontif. Romanorum, tom. iv.-and Bossuet, Defensio Decreti Gallicani de Potestate Ecclesiastica, tom. ii.

1 He had offended the Venetians by deposing their patriarch, Antony Panciarini, and putting Antony du Pont, the bishop of Concordia, in his place.

the laborious editor. Many of the acts are omitted, and a great number of pieces are introduced which

by no means deserve a place. The history of the same council by L'Enfant, is composed with great accuracy and elegance; but the supplement that was given to it by Bourgeois de Chastenet, a French lawyer, is a performance of little merit; it is entitled, Nouvelle Histoire du Concile de Constance, ou l'on fait voir combien la France a contribue a l'extinction du Schisme.'

For an account of these two famous decrees, which set such wise limits to the supremacy of the pontiffs, see Natalis Alexand. Hist. Eccl. sec. XV. Diss. iv.-Bossuet, Defens. Sententiæ Cleri Gallican. de Potest. Ecclesiast. tom. ii.-L'Enfant, Dissert. Historique et Apologetique pour Jean Gerson et le Concile de Constance, which is subjoined to his his tory of that council.

*

with vehemence against the vices that had corrupted the clergy of all denominations; nor was he singular in this respect; for such remonstrances had become very common, and were generally approved by the wise and the good. Huss, however, went still farther; and, from the year 1408, used his most zealous endeavours to withdraw the university of Prague from the jurisdiction of Gregory XII., whom the kingdom of Bohemia had hitherto acknowledged as the true and lawful head of the

clergy in general, who were warmly attached to the interests of Gregory, were greatly exasperated at these proceedings. Hence arose a violent quarrel between the incensed prelate and the zealous reformer, which the latter inflamed and augmented, from day to day, by his warm exclamations against the conduct of the court of Rome, and the corruptions that

ous proceeding prepared the way for the degradation of John, who, during the twelfth session, was unanimously deposed from the pontificate, on account of several flagitious crimes that were laid to his charge, and more especially for the scandalous violation of a solemn engagement which he had taken about the beginning of the council, to resign the papal chair, if that measure should appear necessary to the peace of the church; which engagement he broke some weeks after by a clandestine flight. In the same year (1415,) Grego-church. The archbishop of Prague, and the ry sent Charles de Malatesta to the council to make, in his name, a solemn and voluntary resignation of the pontificate. About two years after this, Benedict was deposed by a solemn resolution of the council, and Otto de Colonna raised, by the unanimous suffrages of the cardinals, to the high dignity of head of the church, which he ruled under the title of Martin V. Benedict, who still resided at Perpig-prevailed among the sacerdotal order. nan, was far from being disposed to submit either to the decree of the council which deposed him, or to the determination of the cardinals with respect to his successor. On the contrary, he persisted until the day of his death, which happened in the year 1423, in as-portant kind had not arisen to keep up the suming the title, the prerogatives, and the authority of the papacy. And when this obstinate man was dead, a certain Spaniard, named Giles Munoz, was chosen pope in his place by two cardinals, under the patronage of Alphonso, king of Sicily, and adopted the title of Clement VIII.; but this sorry pontiff, in 1429, was persuaded to resign his pretensions, and to leave the government of the church to Mar-versity of Prague. He also multiplied the tin V.

VI. Such were the circumstances that first excited the resentment of the clergy against John Huss. This resentment, however, might have been easily calmed, and perhaps totally extinguished, if new incidents of a more im

flame and increase its fury. In the first place, he adopted the philosophical opinions of the Realists, and showed his warm attachment to their cause, in the manner that was usual in this barbarous age, even by persecuting, to the utmost of his power, their adversaries, the Nominalists, whose number was great, and whose influence was considerable in the uni

number of his enemies, in 1408, by procuring, V. If, from the measures that were taken in through his great credit, a sentence in favour this council to check the lordly arrogance of of the Bohemians, who disputed with the Gerthe Roman pontiffs, we turn our eyes to the mans concerning the number of suffrages to proceedings against those who were called he- which their respective nations were entitled in retics, we shall observe in this new scene no-all points that were carried by election in the thing worthy of applause, but several things, university. That the nature of this contest on the contrary, that can only excite our indig- may be better understood, it will be proper to nation, and which no pretext, no consideration, observe, that this famous university was divided, can render excusable. Before the meeting of by its founder Charles IV., into four nations, this council, great commotions had been excit- namely, the Bohemians, Bavarians, Poles, and ed in several parts of Europe, and more espe- Saxons; of which, according to the original cially in Bohemia, by contests on religious sub-laws of the institutions, the first had three sufjects. One of the persons that gave occasion to these disputes was John Huss, who lived at Prague in the highest reputation, both on account of the sanctity of his manners, and the purity of his doctrine, who was distinguished by his uncommon erudition and eloquence, and performed, at the same time, the functions of professor of divinity in the university, and of ordinary pastor in the church of that famous city. This eminent ecclesiastic declaimed

* On the 29th of May, 1415.

On the 26th of July, 1417. - A Bohemian Jesuit, who was far from being favourable to John Huss, and who had the best opportunity of being acquainted with his real character, describes him thus: "He was more subtle than eloquent; but the gravity and austerity of his manners, his frugal and exemplary life, his pale and meagre countenance, his sweetness of temper, and his uncommon affability toward persons of all ranks and conditions, from the highest to the lowest, were much more persuasive than any eloquence could be." See Bohuslaus Balbinus, Epitom. Hist. Rer. Bohem. lib. iv cap. v. p. 431.

frages, and the other three, who were comprehended under the title of the German nation, only one. This arrangement, however, had not only been altered by custom, but was entirely inverted in favour of the Germans, who were vastly superior to the Bohemians in number, and assumed to themselves the three suffrages which originally belonged to the latter. Huss, therefore, whether animated by a principle of patriotism, or by an aversion to the Nominalists, who were peculiarly favoured by the Germans, raised his voice against this abuse,

* See the Litere Nominalium ad Regem Francia Ludovicum VI., in Baluzii Miscellan. tom. iv. p. 534, where we read the following passage: "Legimus Nominales expulsos de Bohemia eo tempore, quo hæretici voluerunt Bohemicum regnum suis hæresibus inficere.-Quum dicti hæretici non possent disputando superare, impetraverunt ab Abbisseslao (Wenceslao) principe Bohemiæ, ut gubernarentur studia Pragensia ritu Parisiensium; quo edicto coacti sunt supradicti Nominales Pragam civitatem relinquere, et se transtulerunt ad Lipzicam civitatem, et ibidem crexerunt universitatem solemnissimam."

and employed, with success, the extraordinary || with extraordinary vehemence against the Rocredit he had obtained at court, by his flowing man pontiffs, the bishops and monks: but this and masculine eloquence, in depriving the freedom was deemed lawful in these times, Germans of the privilege they had usurped, and it was used every day in the council of and in reducing their three suffrages to one. Constance, where the tyranny of the court of The issue of this long and tedious contest* Rome, and the corruption of the sacerdotal was so offensive to the Germans, that a prodi- and monastic orders, were censured with the gious number of them, with John Hoffman, utmost severity. The enemies, however, of the rector of the university, at their head, re- this good man, who were very numerous, cotired from Prague, and repaired to Leipsic, loured the accusation that was brought against where Frederic the Wise, elector of Saxony, him with such artifice and success, that, by the erected for them, in 1409, that academic insti- most scandalous breach of public faith, he was tution which still subsists in a flourishing state. thrown into prison, declared a heretic, because This event contributed greatly to render Huss he refused to obey the order of the council, odious to many, and, by the consequences that which commanded him to plead guilty against followed it, was certainly instrumental in bring- the dictates of his conscience, and was burned ing on his ruin; for no sooner had the Germans alive on the 6th of July, 1415; which dreadful retired from Prague, than he began not only punishment he endured with unparalleled magto inveigh with greater freedom than he had nanimity and resignation, expressing in his formerly done against the vices and corruptions last moments the noblest feelings of love to of the clergy, but even went so far as to re- God, and the most triumphant hope of the commend, in an open and public manner, the accomplishment of those transporting promises writings and opinions of the famous Wickliffe, with which the Gospel fortifies the true Chriswhose new doctrines had already made such a tian at the approach of eternity. The same noise in England. Hence an accusation was unhappy fate was borne with the same pious brought against him, in 1410, before the tribu- fortitude and constancy of mind by Jerome nal of John XXII., by whom he was solemnly of Prague, the intimate companion of John expelled from the communion of the church. Huss, who appeared at this council with the He treated, indeed, this excommunication with generous design of supporting and seconding the utmost contempt, and, both in his conver- his persecuted friend. Terrified by the prossation and his writings, exposed the disor-pect of a cruel death, Jerome at first appeared ders that preyed upon the vitals of the church, and the vices that dishonoured the conduct of its ministers; and the fortitude and zeal which he discovered on this occasion were almost universally applauded.

VII. This eminent man, whose piety was truly fervent and sincere, though his zeal, perhaps, was rather too violent, and his prudence not always equally circumspect, was summoned to appear before the council of Constance. Obedient to this order, and thinking himself secured from the rage of his enemies, by the safe conduct which had been granted to him by the emperor Sigismund, both for his journey to Constance, his residence in that city, and his return to his own country, John Huss appeared before the assembled churchmen, to demonstrate his innocence, and to prove that the charge of his having deserted the church of Rome was entirely groundless. And it may be affirmed with truth, that his religious opinions, at least in matters of importance, were conformable to the established doctrine of the church in this age.§ He declaimed, indeed,

willing to submit to the orders of the council, and to abandon the tenets and opinions which it had condemned in his writings. This submission, however, was not attended with the advantages he expected from it; nor did it deliver him from the close and severe confinement in which he was kept. He therefore resumed his fortitude; professed anew, with an heroic constancy, the opinions which he had deserted for a while from a principle of fear, and maintained them in the flames, in which he expired on the 30th of May, 1416.*

Many learned men have endeavoured to investigate the reasons that occasioned the pronouncing of such a cruel sentence against Huss and his associates; and, as no adequate reasons for such a severe proceeding can be found, either in the life or opinions of that good man, they conclude that he fell a victim to the rage and injustice of his unrelenting enemies. And indeed this conclusion is both natural and well-grounded; nor will it be difficult to show how it came to pass, that the reverend fathers of the council were so eagerly bent upon burning, as a heretic, a man who Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, who was neither deserved such an injurious title, nor bribed by both of the contending parties, protracted such a dreadful fate. In the first place, John instead of abridging this dispute, and used to say with a smile, that he had found a good goose, which Huss had excited, both by his discourses and laid every day a considerable number of gold and silby his writings, great commotions in Bohemia, ver eggs. This was playing upon the word Huss, and had rendered the clergy of all ranks and which, in the German language, signifies a goose. Historians differ much in their accounts of opinions of that great man in relation to the papal the number of Germans that retired from the uni-hierarchy, the despotism of the court of Rome, and versity of Prague upon this occasion. Æneas Sylvius reckons 5000; Trithemius and others 2000. Dubravius 24,000; Lupatius 44,000; Lauda (a contemporary writer) 36,000.

See Laur. Byzinii Diarium Belli Hussitici, in Ludewig's Reliquiæ Manusciptorum, tom. vi. p. 127.

It was observed in the preceding section, that John Huss adopted with zeal, and openly recommended the writings and opinions of Wickliffe; but this must be understood of the writings and

the corruption of the clergy; for, in other respects, it is certain that he adhered to the most superstitious doctrines of the church, as appears from various passages in two sermons which he had prepared for the council of Constance.

The translator has here inserted into the text the long note (a) of the original, which relates to the circumstances that precipitated the ruin of these two eminent reformers; and he has thrown the citations therein contained into several notes.