Page:The letters of John Hus.djvu/263

 rise of a new age. As Bishop Creighton well points out: “A new spirit had arisen in Christendom when a man felt that his life and character had been so definitely built up round opinions which the Church condemned, that it was easier for him to die than to resign the truths which made him what he was.” But of the truth of our estimate of the value and importance of these last letters the reader can judge for himself.

The letters of this last month for the most part are without date, nor are we anxious to date them. They are letters that deal with the great eternal principles and struggles of the soul. With these the time element has little concern.

The is dated by Palackẏ as written before the trial. The whole tone of the letter, especially clause two, leads us to attribute it to the three weeks between the trial and the final scene, when Hus was visited by deputation after deputation anxious to overcome what they deemed the scruples of an overnice conscience. Luther’s comment to this epistle prefixed in the Epistolæ Piissimæ is most just: ‘Hus fights another battle between the flesh and the spirit over the confession of truth, a fight worthy of the knowledge of pious men.’

I still urge you for God’s sake not to let any one get a look at my letters, nor let them be made public, because I am afraid of the risk to individuals. Be careful both in word and in action. Veit, if he is to remain here, ought to be very careful. I have, further, rejoiced greatly at the news that my gracious lord hath arrived. Our Saviour restored Lazarus to life after he had lain four days in the grave. He preserved Jonah for three days in the fish, and sent him forth again to his preaching. He 15