Page:A history of Bohemian literature.pdf/255

 238

A HISTORY OF BOHEMIAN LITERATURE

lead them back to Rome, the doctors {i.e, the ecclesiastics of the Church of Rome), &c. And because of these foolish and false ideas about him he had to make such speeches as should close the mouths of some.

Real truth did Brother Lucas speak when he said that he wrote nothing that he did not find in the Unity. He found in it truth as the essence (of doctrine) as to service (ritual), &c. This truth he wrote, he adorned, he spread, explaining its various branches wisely and to many. . . . Some one will perhaps say that I praise learning and the learned. Yes, it is true that I praise both learning or knowledge and cultivated people. But I do not praise those who use their learning or knowledge for evil pur-

I will say, as an example, ' We praise wine, and poses. we praise also drinking or the use of wine, but drunkenness and drunken people we do not praise.' Gene-

is is,

rally we do not praise the evil use of God's good gifts. ' Abusus non tollit rem.' The sword is good, but it can serve one to good, another to evil purposes. " Others again may say : ' You attach too much imIndeed some portance to learning and the learned.' good men say that through learning discord has entered into Churches, and that this might happen to the Unity He would indeed attribute too much importance also. to learning and knowledge who should fancy that with' the Gospel, out the ' seven arts God's truth, that founded on cannot be preached, or that our salvation this learning or knowledge. But he who would say this

is

a

must indeed be very silly." "I, on my part, hold that those who work for the special gift of word of God require for that purpose called eloquence, which enables them to God which declaim, to teach, to admonish, to warn. The Lord at