Page:The life & times of Master John Hus by Count Lützow.djvu/303

 The earthly God is in bonds, and he is openly convicted of sin, the fountain has become dry, the sun has become dim, the heart has been plucked out, the refuge has fled from Constance and has been abandoned, so that none can flee to it. The council has condemned him (Pope John XXIII.) as a heretic because he sold indulgences and bishoprics, and other benefices, and among those who condemned him were many who had themselves bought such things from him, and others who had trafficked in them. Thus John, Bishop of Litomysl, was present, who twice bid for the archbishopric of Prague, but others outbid him. Oh, why did they not first remove the beam from their own eye? Truly their (canon) law says: ‘If one has obtained some dignity by means of money, let him be deprived of it.’ Therefore should the seller and buyer, and he who deposits money, or acts as agent, be publicly condemned. St. Peter condemned and accursed Simon because he wished to buy for money the power of the Holy Ghost. These (the members of the council) condemn indeed and curse the vendors, but they themselves continue buyers and givers of earnest-money. There is a bishop at Constance who bought (benefices) and another who sold, and the pope received money for giving his consent. It is thus also in Bohemia (and Moravia), as is known to you. Oh, had but the Lord Jesus said at the council: ‘He among you that is without the sin of simony, let him condemn Pope John!’ It seems to me that they would have run away, one after the other. Why then did they kneel before him, kiss his feet, call him holiest father, knowing that he was a heretic, a murderer, one guilty of nameless sin—of all of which offences he was convicted? Why did the cardinals choose him as pope, knowing that he was an evil murderer, one who had killed the holy father? Why did