JOHN HUSS, D. D. THE BOHEMIAN REFORMER. OHN HUSS, or Hus, whose name in the Bohemian language signifies Goose, was born at Hussenitz, a village in Bohemia. His parents were not blest with affluence; but they gave him a liberal education, which he improved by his strong mental abilities, and close applica tion to his studies, in the university of Prague, where he commenced batchelor of arts, in 1393, master of arts in 1395, and batchelor of divinity in 1408. Huss was a man (says Wharton in his appendix to Cave's Historia Literaria) even by the confession of his enemies, illustrious and remarkable both for doctrine and piety. It was in this year that Sbynko, or Subinsko Lepus, the archbishop of that city, issued two orders to suppress the doctrine of the Wickliffites, which had been introduced into that kingdom, and was countenanced by the greatest part of the masters and scholars of the university of Prague, who, by a providence we shall mention presently, had got the books of Wickliffe into their hands. Queen Anne, the wife of king Richard II. of England, was daughter to the emperor Charles IV. and sister to Wenceslaus king of Bohemia, and Sigismund emperor of Germany. She was a princess of great piety, virtue, and knowledge; nor could she endure the implicit and unreasonable service and devotion of the Romish church. Her death happened in 1394, and her funeral was attended by all the nobility of England. She had patronized Wickliffe, who speaks of her in his book "Of the three-fold bond of Love," in these words; "It is possible that the noble queen of Eng "land, the sister of Cæsar, may have the gospel written "in three languages, Bohemian, German, and Latin: "But to hereticate her, on this account, would be Lu"ciferian folly." After her death, several of Wickliffe's books were carried by her attendants into Bohemia, and were the means of promoting the reformation there. The books of Wickliffe were carried into Bohemia by Peter Payne, an Englishman, one of his disciples: But the archbishop of Prague ordered the members of that university university to bring him the books of Wickliffe, that those in which any errors were found might be burnt. The tracts of Wickliffe had been so carefully preserved, that we are assured a certain bishop wrote out of England, that he had got two very large volumes of them, which seemed as large as St Austin's works. Archbishop Sbynko burnt two hundred volumes of them, very finely written, and adorned with costly covers and gold bosses; for which reason, they are supposed to belong to the nobility and gentry of Bohemia. Peter Payne was principal of Edmund-hall, in the university of Oxford, where he was distinguished for his excellent parts, and his opposition to the friars. He was a good disputant, and confuted Walden, the Carmelite, about the beggary of Christ, pilgrimages, the eucharist, images, and relicts; for which he was obliged to quit the university, and fly into Bohemia, where he contracted an acquaintance with Procopius, the Bohemian General, and published some books written by Wickliffe, which were greatly esteemed by Huss, Jerom, and the greatest part of the university of Prague. The students belonging to this learned seminary were offended with their archbishop for suppressing the books of Wickliffe, and ordering the Bohemian clergy to teach the people, that, after the pronunciation of the words of the holy sacrament, there remained nothing but the body of Jesus Christ under the species of bread, and the body of Jesus Christ in the cup. There was also, according to Fox, another cause of the dispersion of Wickliffe's books in Bohemia. A young man, of an opulent and noble family of that country, came over to Oxford, about the year 1389, for the prosecution of his studies, and, upon his return, carried with him several tracts of Wickliffe, amongst which were his books, De realibus universalibus; De civili jure divino; De ecclesiá; De quæstionibus variis contra clerum, &c. With this gentleman Huss was well acquainted, and obtained from him the loan of these books, which were the means of bringing light into his mind, and so much impressed him with the conviction of their truth, that he embraced and maintained the doctrines they contained ever afterwards. He used to call Wickliffe an angel sent from heaven to enlighten mankind; and would mention among his friends his meeting with that great author's writings, as the most happy circumstance of his life; adding, that it would be his joy in heaven to live for ever with that excellent man. Huss had distinguished himself in the university, where he taught grammar and philosophy. He had applied him self self to the study of the holy scriptures, and the Latin fathers: He was become an excellent preacher, and was made chaplain in the church of the Holy Innocents, called Bethlehem, at Prague. He was held in great estimation for his exemplary life and conversation as a divine, and for having been one of the principal persons who had obtained a great favour to the university. It should be observed, that this university was founded by the emperor Charles IV. who composed it of persons from the four different states of Bohemia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Poland. The three latter were almost all Germans, and had three voices against one, which made them masters of the professor's chair, governors of the university affairs, and disposers of the best benefices in the city: While the poor Bohemians, whose prosperity depended entirely on those advantages, found themselves utterly excluded. This was the state of that seminary, when doctor Huss, assisted by others, represented the cause of the complaining Bohemians to their king Wenceslaus V. Huss was successful; he obtained a revocation of the privileges granted to those foreigners, and the Bohemians were restored to the principal places in the university; which-so greatly offended the foreigners, that they retired to Misnia, and carried with them upwards of two thousand scholars. This increased the reputation of doctor Huss, and made him of great consideration in the university, when the archbishop published two orders against Wickliffitism. that Huss arduously embraced the doctrine of Wickliffe, and easily persuaded many members of the university the first of these orders, made by the archbishop, was an infringement of the privileges and liberties of the university, whose members had a right to read all sorts of books, without any molestation. He also observed, that. the second order contained a most intolerable error, in seeming to affirm that there was nothing but the body and blood of Christ under the species of bread, and in the cup. Upon this foundation, they appealed from those orders to Gregory XII. at Rimini, who was then acknowledged pope in Germany, in opposition to John XXIII. at Rome, and Benedict XIII. at Avignon. Their appeal was received, and the pope cited the, archbishop to Rome. But that prelate informed the pope, that the doctrine of Wickliffe began to take root in Bohemia: upon which the archbishop obtained For Dr Hufs's public defence of Wickliffe's opinions before the univerfity of Prague, in the year 1412, fee Fox's Acts, &c. vol. 1. temp. |