Page:The life & times of Master John Hus by Count Lützow.djvu/50

 of the Emperor Charles. The head of that chancery was then John of Streda, Bishop of Litomysl. Through the influence of Streda, Milic obtained in 136—even before he had been ordained a priest—from Pope Innocent VI. a papal provision, bestowing on him a benefice in the archdiocese of Prague. He became a canon of St. Vitus in that city, and it appears that somewhat later the rank of archdeacon was also conferred on him. But his enthusiastic, pious, and conscientious nature induced him in 1363 already to abandon all his honours.

It has often been stated that the impression produced on Milic by the preaching of Conrad Waldhauser was the cause of this determination. It was at any rate not the only cause. The work of Milic as archdeacon had given him a terrible insight into the depravation of the clergy, and he could not fail to perceive that the system of papal provisions by which he had himself benefited, contributed largely to the general demoralisation. Milic therefore considered it his duty to renounce all worldly goods, and to devote himself entirely to preaching. Being of the Bohemian nationality, he was able to preach to the people in their own language, a thing that had been impossible to Waldhauser. In the autumn of the year 1363 he began preaching at Prague, first at the Church of St. Nicholas in the “small quarter” and then at that of St. Giles in the old town. As had been the case with Waldhauser previously, Milic also was almost immediately confronted by the enmity of the mendicant friars. A man of an enthusiastic and even visionary nature, he carried out to the full the principle of apostolic poverty which he had imposed upon himself. He had given everything to the poor, and depended for his nourishment entirely on the gifts of pious women, and would accept only what was absolutely necessary to sustain life. His clothing was of the meanest description, and when he walked from one church to another—he often preached in different churches on one day in Latin, Bohemian, and German—the