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7 Hus appeals to our heart and imagination, Comenius appeals to our mind and thought, Chelčický appeals to our soul and conscience. Hus is colorful and dramatic, Comenius is majestic and profound, Chelčický is rugged and disturbing.

Both Hus and Comenius were highly educated men; they wrote in Czech as well as in Latin; their work is known abroad, Chelčický was born and remained the rest of his life a peasant, a yeoman. He did not possess an academic education and knew only the rudiments of Latin. He wrote in Czech only, and so it happens that his work is well nigh unknown in the West.

That Chelčický ranks among the most precious manifestations of the Czech mind is not only the exalted opinion of the writer of this thesis; all those who are conversant with Czech and Slav culture and literature concur. "Some Czech historians call Chelčický – and perhaps not without foundation – the greatest philosophic genius of his age in all coeval Europe." One of the first foreigners who became acquainted with the work of Chelcicky, Leo N. Tolstoy, declared:

Apart from its interest, concerning which there may be differences of opinion, it is one of the most remarkable results of human thought, both on account of its profundity and the wonderful power and beauty of its language, not to mention its antiquity. And yet, this book has remained unprinted for centuries, and continues to be unknown except to a few specialists This book is among the few which have been saved from the flames into which books denouncing official Christianity were commonly cast.}}

A.N. Pypin, quoted on the jacket of by Petr Chelčický, edited by Emil Smetánka, rev. ed. of 1929.