May the God of mercy preserve and strengthen you in his grace; and may he impart to you, as well as to me, constancy in this city; for if we continue constant, we shall obtain the succour of the Lord. It is now that I learn to understand the saying of the Psalmist: Pray and meditate on the sufferings of Christ and the martyrs: for Isaiah has declared, that experience gives intelligence,
- ↑ This letter has been, I own, classed under the same title and the same figure as the preceding one in the collection of John Huss’s Works.
- ↑ Huss commenced this letter by the following verses, which he wrote with his own hand, to console himself, and wile away the time; they are, however, so filled with jeux de mots and abbreviations, that it is impossible to translate them satisfactorily. We therefore give them in the original.—
Litera gavisus, respondeo capiti istud,
Cœtus, Iacus, ignis, ac testis restituere
Jonam, Danielem, tres Pu. . .Susannam, quia fuere
Justus, castus, puri, hæc conti. . .Spem retinentes
In Domino justo, qui liberat in se sperantes.
Poterit qui aucam, Dominus pie, carcere tetro
Eripere clausam, quæ se fœdaverit retro,
Quam purgat carcer, donat et instruit flere.
In lachrymas risus vertens, ut nunc sciat vere
Opprobria Christi, blasphemias, lumine recto
Cernere injurias et capite Sathanæ secto
Vincere morte, vel ut sibi dederit optima vita.
