their cordial reception, and hoped that they would grant forgiveness should any of the Bohemian speakers in the heat of argument have offended some member of the Council. Cardinal Cesarini replied to Rokycan’s speech. He had obviously thoroughly studied the situation in Bohemia, and the increasing antagonism which divided the moderate from the advanced party among the Bohemians had not escaped him. He therefore, speaking with his accustomed courtesy, declared that though the Bohemians had only enumerated four articles, it was rumoured in the assembly that some of them differed from the Church of Rome in their doctrine on other points also. He then read out twenty-eight so-called “articles,” the contents of which were to a considerable extent derived from the speeches of Nicholas of Pelhřimov and Peter Payne, as well as from the writings of Wycliffe, and statements which were attributed to the English divine. He then put several questions to the Bohemians, demanding an answer to them. Some of these questions were distinctly invidious. The cardinal wished to know what words the Bohemians used on the occasion of the consecration of the holy bread and wine, whether they accepted the regulations of the Church with regard to the marriage of consanguineous persons, whether they recognised the authority of the ecumenical councils, and specially whether they considered as heretics those who opposed the decrees of the Councils of Nicea, Constantinople, and those of the first Council of Chalcedon. The cardinal finally wished to know whether the Bohemians recognised the Pope as the true successor of Christ, and whether they accepted the doctrine that the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and the Son.
Nobody knew better than Cardinal Cesarini that the opinions of the Bohemians differed with regard to some of the points which he had enumerated. They were, however, at that moment still conscious of the necessity of presenting a united front to their antagonists, if they hoped to obtain some of the reforms which they desired. Rokycan, therefore, in the name
