Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/297

 delegates. The sessions were prolonged many days, since it seemed next to impossible to come to some agreement. During one of the debates the Basil delegate charged the Bohemians with spreading their doctrines by means of fire and sword, to which Prokop the Great replied:

“As to wars, may God Almighty bear me witness, not we, but your side, began the war by raising against us the bloody cross. You devastated our country with fire and sword in the most frightful manner; we, however, with God’s help, were able to withstand this unjust oppression, and will withstand it still further until peace is secured by the acknowledgment of those blessed truths contained in the ‘Four Articles.’ We further would inform your honor that we hold in abhorrence the evils incident to war, and that we reprove those who are guilty of them; and we carry the burden of war only because we desire such a peace as shall, secure unity in the Church, reform in morals, and all the blessings that you yourself desire to attain.”

The Basil delegates, not succeeding in bending the Diet to their wishes, resorted to intrigue. Calling a secret meeting of nobles, they represented to them how unbecoming it was that they, the rightful rulers of the kingdom, were so degraded that they were compelled to obey persons who were not even worthy to be their servants; and they showed them that this state of affairs must continue unless they found help in peace and unity with the Church when the old condition would be restored. From that time on, the noblemen spared no pains to induce the Diet to come to some agreement with the Church. Finally it was agreed that the “Four Articles,” with some limitations, would