Page:Letters of John Huss Written During His Exile and Imprisonment.djvu/208

 is important that all Christians should find refuge. Behold! already this head is, as it were, severed by the sword; already this terrestrial god is enchained; already his sins are laid bare; this never-failing source is dried up—this divine sun is dimmed—this heart has been torn and branded with reprobation, that no one should seek an asylum in it. The Council has condemned its chief, its own head, for having sold indulgences, bishopricks, and other things. But among those who have condemned him are to be found a great number of purchasers, who have, in their turn, engaged also in this unworthy traffic. There was amongst them the bishop, John Litomissel, who twice wished to buy the bishoprick of Prague; but others had the advantage over him. O! corrupt men! Why have they not, first of all, torn the beam from their own eyes; since it is written in their own law: “Whoever shall purchase a dignity with money shall be deprived of it.” Sellers, therefore, and buyers, and whosoever shall interfere in this shameful contract, be ye condemned, as St Peter condemned Simon, who wished to buy from him the virtue of the Holy Ghost.

They have anathematized the seller and condemned him, and they themselves are the purchasers; they have affixed their hands to this pact, and they remain unpunished! What do I say? They traffic in this merchandise even in their very dwellings! There is in Constance one bishop who has bought, another who has sold, and the