Page:Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz (1862).djvu/36

 and social intercourse in the spirit of love, and in mutual readiness to aid;’ in order that thereby might be manifest that with them ‘faith and love stood without deception, and also certain hope of heaven.’ The following resolution is also particularly remarkable:—‘We must hold fast to all that is righteous, good, and honourable, wherever and under whatever Government we are, to which we must pay taxes, and render services in humble obedience, and for which we must pray to God. Thus we should also be one with our neighbours in the congregation, and in obedience and union assist everything that is beneficial to the common weal. Thus the brethren and sisters who practise a trade or agriculture, or serve for hire, may seek for gain, in order to supply their wants. The freeholders and landed proprietors may farm their property, and if they understand that a Christian of the same faith is in need, they ought to impart to him of their substance according to his wants; and thus bearing each other’s burthens, all seek to fulfil the law of Christ.’ There was nothing in their manifesto which Rokycana, the Utraquist Archbishop Designate of Prague, or the Pope himself, could not have subscribed, just as well as its authors; for it had no other object than the practice of Christianity, somewhat affected by the socialist spirit of the primitive Church. What, however, drew most odium upon the new ‘Brethren’ was, the dogma they held, that the sacraments, when administered by priests who led a vicious life, lost their salutary efficacy, and the circumstance that they, on that account, attended only to such clergymen as, in their judgment, lived piously and enjoyed the grace of God. From a public document which they issued, July 29, 1468, we learn, ‘That it had been for several years strictly forbidden in Bohemia to hold religious meetings, not only in towns, but also in villages, and even where there were no