Page:The Hussite wars, by the Count Lützow.djvu/338

 of one of the oldest Bohemian families, but a man of small fortune. He had, since the beginning of the war, fought on the Utraquist side, and was at that moment one of the foremost leaders of the Orphans. The powers granted him by the estates were very considerable. He was empowered to take all lawful steps to re-establish peace in the kingdom. He was given power to convoke the estates, receive representatives of foreign countries, conclude treaties, and take all military measures necessary for the defence of the country. This decision of the diet was closely followed by important events which will be mentioned presently.

It was only after the choice of a regent that the estates were able to devote their attention to the negotiations with the envoys of the Council. On November 17 some of the members of the diet visited the envoys, and Rokycan, in a conciliatory speech, invited them to be present at the meeting of the diet which was to take place on the following day. On that day the envoys appeared in the great hall of the Carolinum, where the diet again held its sittings. Bishop Philibert and Palomar first addressed the assembly, and a prolonged debate on the interpretation of the compacts began. It continued for several days, first at the Carolinum and later at the dwelling-place of the envoys, where they were visited by Rokycan, Prokop the Great, Master Přibram, Ambrose of Králové Hradec, and other Utraquist divines. In these discussions the question of Communion in the two kinds naturally played a great part. The envoys of the Council continued their system of limiting all concessions, as far as this could be done safely. Lengthy discussions began as to the districts in which Utraquist Communion should be permissible, and as to the right of children to receive Communion. Other questions of minor importance were raised. The Utraquists wished it to be stated in the proceedings that Communion in the two kinds was “useful and salutary.” The envoys, who always gave only a reluctant consent to all stipulations which sanctioned Communion in the