king away these from him, they reduced him
from a priest to a deacon. Then they took away the tokens of his being a
deacon, and so they stripped him of his other orders, one after another;
and when at last they had turned him back into a layman, they led him
away to be burnt. It is said that, as he saw an old woman carrying a
faggot to the pile which was to burn him, he smiled and said, "O holy
simplicity!" meaning that her intention was good, although the poor old
creature was ignorant and misled. He bore his death with great patience
and courage; and then his ashes and such scorched bits of his dress as
remained were thrown into the Rhine, lest his followers should treasure
them up as relics (July 6, 1415).

About ten months after the death of Huss, his old friend and companion,
Jerome of Prague, was condemned by the council to be burnt, and suffered
with a firmness which even those who were most strongly against him
could not but admire (May 30, 1416).

PART III.

When Pope John had been got rid of, Gregory XII., the most respectable
of the three rival popes, agreed to resign his claims. But the third
pope, Benedict XIII., would hear of no proposals for his resignation,
and shut himself up in a castle on the coast of Spain, where he not only
continued to call himself pope, but after his death two popes of his
line were set up in succession. The council of Constance, however,
finding Benedict obstinate, did not trouble itself further about him,
and went on to treat the papacy as vacant.

There was a great dispute whether the reform of the Church (which people
had long asked for), or the choice of a new pope, should be first taken
in hand; and at length it was resolved to elect a pope without further
delay. The choice was to be made by the cardinals and some others who
were joined with them; and these electors were all shut up in the
Exchange of Constance--a building which is still to be seen there. While
the election was going on, multitudes of all ranks, and even the emperor
himself among them, went from time to time in slow procession round the
Exchange, chanting in a low tone litanies, in which they prayed that the
choice of the electors might be guided for the good of the Church. And
when at last an opening was made in the wall from within, and through it
a voice proclaimed, "We have a pope: Lord Otho of Colonna!" the news
spread at once through all Constance. The people seemed to be wild with
joy that the d