Page:The letters of John Hus.djvu/179

 of retaliation, if they fail legally to prove against him obstinacy in error or heresy. To all which charges before the said Archbishop and prelates, and withal at the next General Council in Constance, he is ready with God’s help to reply, to abide by the law, and, in Christ’s name, to prove his innocence according to the decrees and canons of the holy fathers. Given on Sunday following the feast of St. Bartholomew.

To his Majesty, to the Queen, to their advisers, the Prefect of the court, and the whole court.

I, Master John Hus, do hereby make known and declare that, whereas I did clearly learn from certain persons that a letter was sent by the Pope to his Majesty (though I knew not by whom it was transcribed), wherein his Majesty was advised zealously to weed out of his kingdom of Bohemia all budding heretics, and whereas, as I put my trust in God, it was without fault of my own that a rumour of that kind did arise, causing me to be pointed at with the finger, I despatched hither and thither many letters, lest on any account his Majesty should incur slander and Bohemia disgrace, and, moreover, caused them to be posted up, announcing that I would show myself in the Archbishop’s court, in order that