Page:The life & times of Master John Hus by Count Lützow.djvu/191

 should by the flight of a priest be deprived of the word of God and of baptism, then he must not fly; for if such a man fled from his flock, leaving it to the devil, he would be as a hireling, who loves his body more than the salvation of his fellow-creatures.’ Thus did St. Augustine answer this question to this Honoratus. And I relying on the love of God and the advice of many whose heels I am not worthy to kiss and on this speech of St. Augustine, seeing that the people had sufficiently of God’s word and spiritual aid, fled when they attempted to murder me. Then I returned and again preached, and then when a consultation concerning an agreement was held by wish of the king and with the consent of the people, I again fled. Then when the consultation did nothing to free the word of God (to allow the freedom of preaching) I again preached and they always stopped the (religious) services (because of the interdict), and this diabolical stopping caused great injury to the people as they (the priests) would neither christen nor bury the dead; and dreading this great disaster among the people I again fled. And I know not whether I did well or evilly like a hireling nor whether these reasons will help me (to prove) that I was not a hireling.”

This passage giving an interesting insight into the mind of Hus proves how earnestly and piously he weighed all arguments both in favour of his leaving Prague and of his remaining in that city. As already mentioned, Hus finally decided in favour of the former alternative. He determined to leave Prague for a short time. King Venceslas still hoped against hope that an agreement between the contending parties could be concluded, and he thought that the absence from Prague of Hus, who had incurred the deadly hatred of the rich parish priests, would facilitate a settlement. He therefore begged Hus to leave Prague for a short time, and the pious Queen Sophia, who had always continued to attend Hus’s sermons in the Bethlehem chapel, probably used her influence for the same purpose. Hus was also moved by the sufferings of the