Page:The life & times of Master John Hus by Count Lützow.djvu/171

 declared by the archbishop that he had believed that the municipalities had on their own authority, and not by order of the king, seized church property. Having now been informed of the contrary, he wished to raise no further complaints against the citizens.

This sensible and business-like document, which certainly contained the germ of a permanent agreement, has been little noticed by historians. It is scarcely uncharitable to suggest that this silence is due to the blind disparagement of King Venceslas which we find in all the works of Roman Catholic writers as well as in those of some German Protestants. The statement contained in this document that it was the duty of the rulers to suppress vices and heresies foreshadows the Hussite period, where we find similar enactments in the Articles of Prague, the compacts, and elsewhere. At the time when the agreement mentioned above was drawn up, it was also settled that Archbishop Zbynek should send to Pope John XXIII. a letter interceding for Hus. A draft of such a letter was actually drawn up, but the letter was never sent. This caused renewed bitterness. The archbishop appeared to act in a half-hearted manner, and Venceslas, impatient by nature, soon again became incensed against the ecclesiastical dignitaries of Bohemia. Hus meanwhile, relying on his firm conviction that he had spoken and written nothing contrary to the true Catholic faith, again wrote to Pope John. He again affirmed that he was a true Catholic and denied ever having stated that the material substance of bread remained in the sacrament after communion or having said that a priest in the state of mortal sin could not administer the sacraments validly. These accusations had been frequently raised by Palec and Michael de causis, who believed or pretended to believe that if they proved that any book of Wycliffe which Hus admitted to have read contained a statement contrary to the teaching of the church, this was a sufficient proof that