Page:The Hussite wars, by the Count Lützow.djvu/307

 Council of Basel as soon as the necessary letters of safe conduct have been received, which will be the case immediately. The holy assembly [the Council] received this news with unprecedented joy and with hands raised unto Heaven; for our ambassadors assured us that the deliberations at Cheb had been carried on with such complete sincerity, and the Bohemians had shown so conciliatory a spirit, that there was every reason to hope for their conversion. They [the envoys] had finally been begged by the Bohemians with cordial embraces and tears to do all that was in their power to settle matters peacefully. They added that such great kindness had been shown them during the negotiations that he who, hearing of this, did not burst into tears, would show but little love of Christ.” It is of course necessary to receive the cardinal’s statements with some reserve. He had to overcome the Pope’s strong objection to the Council of Basel and to all negotiations with so-called heretics. Having spent some time in Germany and taken part in the recent disastrous campaign, he well knew how strong and indeed invincible the Hussites were as long as they remained united. He also knew better than the Pope and the cardinals in Rome how strongly the democratic character which the Hussite movement had assumed appealed to the German townsmen and peasants. He was also well aware of the fact that the anti-clerical movement, caused by the evil life of many German priests, had recently become much stronger, particularly since the defeat of Domážlice, which many Germans believed to be a token of God’s wrath.

It was according to the then existing constitutional organisation of Bohemia necessary that the agreement of Cheb should be sanctioned by a general meeting of the estates of the country. The diet therefore assembled at Kutna Hora about August 30 and approved of the decision that the Bohemians should take part in the ecumenical council. It also elected a large number of delegates who were to proceed to Basel. Among them were