ly betrayed them into the
power of Rome. The Bohemians had specified four points as the condition of
peace with Rome: The free preaching of the Bible; the right of the whole
church to both the bread and the wine in the communion, and the use of the
mother tongue in divine worship; the exclusion of the clergy from all
secular offices and authority; and in cases of crime, the jurisdiction of
the civil courts over clergy and laity alike. The papal authorities at
last "agreed that the four articles of the Hussites should be accepted,
but that the right of explaining them, that is, of determining their
precise import, should belong to the council--in other words, to the pope
and the emperor."(155) On this basis a treaty was entered into, and Rome
gained by dissimulation and fraud what she had failed to gain by conflict;
for, placing her own interpretation upon the Hussite articles, as upon the
Bible, she could pervert their meaning to suit her own purposes.

A large class in Bohemia, seeing that it betrayed their liberties, could
not consent to the compact. Dissensions and divisions arose, leading to
strife and bloodshed among themselves. In this strife the noble Procopius
fell, and the liberties of Bohemia perished.

Sigismund, the betrayer of Huss and Jerome, now became king of Bohemia,
and regardless of his oath to support the rights of the Bohemians, he
proceeded to establish popery. But he had gained little by his
subservience to Rome. For twenty years his life had been filled with
labors and perils. His armies had been wasted and his treasuries drained
by a long and fruitless struggle; and now, after reigning one year, he
died, leaving his kingdom on the brink of civil war, and bequeathing to
posterity a name branded with infamy.

Tumults, strife, and bloodshed were protracted. Again foreign armies
invaded Bohemia, and internal dissension continued to distract the nation.
Those who remained faithful to the gospel were subjected to a bloody
persecution.

As their former brethren, entering into compact with Rome, imbibed her
errors, those who adhered to the ancient faith had formed themselves into
a distinct church, taking the name of "United Brethren." This act drew
upon them maledictions from all classes. Yet their firmness was unshaken.
Forced to find refuge in the woods and caves, they still assembled to read
God's word and unite in His worship.

Through messengers secretly sent out into different countries, they