Page:The life & times of Master John Hus by Count Lützow.djvu/184

 Public opinion was already so intensely excited and irritated by the traffic in indulgences that troubles broke out in several churches. In the cathedral of St. Vitus, the Tyn church, and that of St. Jacob part of the congregation protested against what it considered a glorification of simony. In each of these three churches a young man who was supposed to be the ringleader was arrested and brought to the town hall of the old city. Through the vicissitudes of municipal politics, into which I cannot enter here, the German, or, as we may call it, the ultramontane party, had at that moment the upper hand in the councils of the old town. The members of this party saw that the government of their city was slipping away from them, and they determined to intimidate the people by a vigorous action. Here again it may be interesting to read the words of a contemporary writer. After mentioning the imprisonment of the three youths, the chronicler writes: “Here I could tell much of what happened the day before these men were beheaded. It was on a Monday (that they were beheaded) and the Sunday before they were arrested during the preaching But I must shorten my account. I was present on that Monday; it was about the third hour, and it was already rumoured that these three men had been imprisoned because of the indulgences; and the news reached Magister Hus. Then Magister Hus’ with many other masters and students went to the town hall begging the councillors that they would allow him (Hus) to appear before them, for that he wished to talk with them; and thus they allowed him with some other masters to appear before them. The other masters remained before the town hall with their students, of whom there might be about two thousand. Meanwhile, Master Hus spoke to the councillors, begging them to do no harm to the three because of the indulgences, and saying that he was himself the cause of the opposition to the indulgences.