ce. On
arriving there he was convinced that he had only exposed himself to peril,
without the possibility of doing anything for the deliverance of Huss. He
fled from the city, but was arrested on the homeward journey, and brought
back loaded with fetters, and under the custody of a band of soldiers. At
his first appearance before the council, his attempts to reply to the
accusations brought against him were met with shouts, "To the flames with
him! to the flames!"(145) He was thrown into a dungeon, chained in a
position which caused him great suffering, and fed on bread and water.
After some months the cruelties of his imprisonment brought upon Jerome an
illness that threatened his life, and his enemies, fearing that he might
escape them, treated him with less severity, though he remained in prison
for one year.

The death of Huss had not resulted as the papists had hoped. The violation
of his safe-conduct had roused a storm of indignation, and as the safer
course, the council determined, instead of burning Jerome, to force him,
if possible, to retract. He was brought before the assembly, and offered
the alternative to recant, or to die at the stake. Death at the beginning
of his imprisonment would have been a mercy, in comparison with the
terrible sufferings which he had undergone; but now, weakened by illness,
by the rigors of his prison-house, and the torture of anxiety and
suspense, separated from his friends, and disheartened by the death of
Huss, Jerome's fortitude gave way, and he consented to submit to the
council. He pledged himself to adhere to the Catholic faith, and accepted
the action of the council in condemning the doctrines of Wycliffe and
Huss, excepting, however, the "holy truths" which they had taught.(146)

By this expedient Jerome endeavored to silence the voice of conscience and
escape his doom. But in the solitude of his dungeon he saw more clearly
what he had done. He thought of the courage and fidelity of Huss, and in
contrast pondered upon his own denial of the truth. He thought of the
divine Master whom he had pledged himself to serve, and who for his sake
endured the death of the cross. Before his retraction he had found
comfort, amid all his sufferings, in the assurance of God's favor; but now
remorse and doubt tortured his soul. He knew that still other retractions
must be made before he could be at peace with Rome. The path upon which he
was entering could end only in complete apostasy. Hi