Precursors of Spiritism.

— We read in the Siècle of July 11, 1869:

The five hundred years of John Huss.

“Recently the newspapers of Bohemia published the following appeal:

“This year is commemorated the 500th anniversary of the birth of the great reformer, the patriot and learned master John Huss. This date imposes, above all upon the Bohemian people, the duty of solemnly recalling the epoch in which there arose, in its bosom, the man who had taken as the aim of his life the defense of freedom of thought. It was for this idea that he lived and suffered; it was for this idea that he died.

“His birth made the dawn of liberty shine on the horizon of our country; his works spread light throughout the world and, by his death at the stake, truth received its baptism of fire!

“We are convinced that we have not only the sympathies of the Bohemians and of the Slavs, but also those of enlightened peoples, and we invite them to celebrate the memory of this great spirit, who had the courage to uphold his conviction before a world enslaved by prejudices and who, in electrifying the Bohemian people, made it capable of a heroic struggle that will remain engraved in History.

“The centuries have flowed by; progress has been accomplished, the sparks have produced flames; truth has penetrated millions of hearts. The struggle continues, the nation for which the immortal martyr sacrificed himself has not yet left the field of battle to which the word of the master had summoned it.

“We entreat all the admirers of John Huss to gather in Prague, in order to draw, from the memory of the sufferings of the great martyr, new strength by means of new efforts.

“It will be in Prague, on the coming 4th of September, and on the 6th, in Husinec, where he was born, that we shall celebrate the memory of John Huss.

“On those days all the patriots will come to attest that the Bohemian nation still honors the heroic champion of its rights, and that it will never forget the hero who raised it to the height of the ideas that are still the beacon toward which Humanity marches!

“Our appeal is also addressed to all who, outside Bohemia, love truth and honor those who died for it. Let them come to us, and let all civilized nations unite to acclaim, together with us, the imperishable name of John Huss!

“The president of the committee.”

Dr. Sladkomsky “There follow thirty signatures of members of the committee, lawyers, literary men, industrialists.

“The appeal of the Bohemian patriots could not fail to arouse lively sympathy among the friends of liberty.

“A newspaper of Prague had had the disastrous idea of proposing a petition to the future council to ask for the revision of the trial of John Huss. The newspaper Norodni Listy refuted this strange proposition with vigor, saying that the revision had been carried out before the tribunal of civilization and of History, which judges popes and councils.

“The Bohemian nation, adds the Norodni, pursued this revision with sword in hand, in a hundred battles, on the very day after the death of John Huss.”

“The Czech sheet is right: John Huss has no need to be rehabilitated, just as Joan of Arc has no need to be canonized by the successors of the bishops and doctors who burned them.”

— For our part, we have come to join to the homages paid to the memory of John Huss our testimony of sympathy and of respect for the principles of religious liberty, of tolerance and of solidarity that he popularized during his life. This eminent spirit, this convinced innovator, has a right to the first rank among the precursors of our consoling philosophy. Like so many others, he had his providential mission, which he fulfilled even unto martyrdom, and his death, like his life, was one of the most eloquent protests against the belief in a petty and cruel God, as well as against the routine teachings, which had to yield before the awakening of the human spirit and the deepened examination of natural laws. Like all innovators, John Huss was misunderstood and persecuted; he came to correct abuses, to modify beliefs that could no longer satisfy the aspirations of his epoch. Necessarily he was bound to have as adversaries all those interested in preserving the old order of things. Like Wyclif, like Jacobel [Jacobel of Mysa, cleric of the Catholic Church] and Jerome of Prague, he succumbed beneath the efforts of his allied enemies; but the truths that he had taught, made fruitful by persecution, served as the foundation for the philosophical novelties of later times and brought about the era of renewal that was to give rise to liberty of conscience and to liberty of thought in matters of faith. We do not doubt that John Huss, whether as a Spirit or as one incarnate, in case he has returned to our Earth as a man, has constantly devoted himself to the development and the propagation of his beliefs concerning the philosophical future of Humanity.

We are authorized to think that the appeal of the Bohemian people will be heard by all who appreciate and venerate the defenders of truth. Great philosophers have no homeland. If, by birth, they belong to a particular nationality, by their works they are the luminaries of the whole of Humanity which, under their impulse, marches toward the conquest of the future.

Persuaded that we satisfy the desire of the majority of our readers, we fulfill the duty of making known, by a brief note, what the eminent man was throughout his life, whose 500th anniversary Bohemia will celebrate on the coming 4th of September:

John Huss was born on July 6, 1373 under the reign of the emperor Charles IV and under the pontificate of Gregory XI, about five years before the great schism of the West, which may be regarded as one of the seeds of Hussitism. History teaches us nothing of the father and mother of John Huss, except that they were upright creatures, but of obscure origin. According to the custom of the Middle Ages, John Huss, or rather, John of Huss, was so called because he was born in Husinec, a small borough situated to the south of Bohemia, in the district of Prachen, on the frontiers of Bavaria. His parents took the greatest care with his education. Having lost his father in childhood, his mother taught him the first elements of grammar in Hussinecz, where there was a school. Then she took him to Prachen, a city of the same district, where there was an illustrious college. He soon made great progress in letters and drew to himself the friendship of the masters by his modesty and docility, according to the testimony that the University of Prague rendered him after his death. When he was sufficiently advanced to go to Prague, his own mother conducted him there. They relate that this poor woman, full of zeal for the education of her son, carried with her a goose and a cake, to present them to his teacher. n But, unfortunately, the goose escaped along the way, so that, to her great sorrow, she had nothing but the cake to give as a present to the master. Deeply grieved by this small incident, she prayed several times, asking God that He would deign to be the father and the preceptor of her son. When he had acquired in Prague solid knowledge in literature, the professors, noting in him much intelligence and vivacity of spirit, as well as a great activity for Science, judged it well to enroll him in the chapter of the University that had been founded in 1247 by the emperor Charles IV, king of Bohemia, and confirmed by the pope Clement VI.

Kept apart from the diversions of youth, John Huss employed his free hours for good reading. He read with pleasure above all those of the ancient martyrs. It is told that one day, reading the legend of Saint Lawrence, he wished to test whether he would have the same courage as that martyr, by putting his finger in the fire; but they add that he soon withdrew it, very displeased with his weakness, or that one of his comrades opposed it.

Be that as it may, it appears he did no wrong in preparing himself for the fire. Moreover, when he wished to make this trial, he was already sufficiently advanced in age that the edict of 1276, by which Charles VI condemned heretics to the fire, in some way gave him the presentiment of what was to happen to him.

A great obstacle stood in the way of the ardor that John Huss had to instruct himself: poverty. In this difficulty, he accepted the offer made to him by a professor, whose name is unknown, to take him into his service and to furnish him the books and all that was necessary to pursue his studies. Although this situation was rather humiliating, he found it fortunate in view of his aim, and he profited from it so well that he satisfied, at the same time, his master, whose friendship he won, and his passion for letters. John Huss made considerable progress in the University; by his books, it appears that he was versed in the reading of the Greek and Latin Fathers, since he cites them many times. One may judge by his commentaries that he knew Greek and had notions of Hebrew. At about twenty years of age, he won the title of bachelor and, two years later, that of master of arts. It is not known who his masters were, save what he himself says of Stanislas Znojma, who, later, became one of his greatest adversaries. He was ordained a priest in 1400 and, in the same year, was appointed preacher of the chapel of Bethlehem. It was there that he had the opportunity to exercise his talents, cherished by some, suspected and hated by others, admired by all. At the same period he was appointed confessor of Sophia of Bavaria, queen of Bohemia. It was in the period from 1403 to 1408 that John Huss, together with Jerome of Prague, studied the works of Wyclif and of Jacobel and began to separate himself from orthodox teaching. From the beginning, a certain number of disciples who were always faithful to him remained attached to him.

On October 22, 1409 he was appointed rector of the University of Prague, discharging this new office with the applause of all the world. Until then, he had not approved the doctrines of Wyclif except in vague terms and with caution. At this period he began to speak more openly of his personal beliefs.

Among his works prior to the council of Constance, one notes the Treatise on the Church, from which were drawn all the arguments for his condemnation. During his captivity, he devoted himself especially and entirely to the execution of his last philosophical works. It was thus that he produced the manuscripts of the Treatise on marriage, on the Decalogue, on the love and the knowledge of God, on Penitence, on the three enemies of man, on the supper of the Lord, etc.

All the contemporary historians, even among his adversaries, render homage to the purity of his life: “He was, they say, a philosopher of great reputation for the regularity of his morals, his rude, austere and entirely irreproachable life, his gentleness and his affability toward all; he was more subtle than eloquent, but his modesty and his great conciliatory spirit persuaded more than the greatest eloquence.”

The lack of space not permitting us to extend ourselves as much as we would wish, we shall limit ourselves to a few characteristic citations. Far from fearing death, at times he seemed to await it with impatience, as the end of his labors and the beginning of the reward. He had the habit of saying: “No one is rewarded in the other life more than he has merited in this one, and the manners and places of reward varied according to merits.” To those who wished to convince him to retract and abjure, he several times gave this response worthy of note: “To abjure is to abandon an error that one has committed; if anyone teaches me something better than I have advanced, I am ready to do gladly what you require of me.” We end with the testimony of the University of Prague, given in his favor after his death:

“They say that he had, in this field, a superior spirit, a lively and profound penetration; no one was more apt to write at one stroke, nor to give more cutting responses to objections. No one had a more vehement zeal, nor better discernment; he was never caught in error, except in the opinion of the wicked, who attacked him fiercely because of his love of justice. O man of inestimable virtue, of brilliant sanctity, of inimitable humility and piety, of unbelievable disinterestedness and charity! He despised riches in the last degree, he opened his heart to the poor; often he was seen on his knees, at the foot of the bed of the sick; he conquered the most untamable natures by gentleness and led the impenitent to dissolve in tears; he drew from the Holy Scriptures, buried in oblivion, new and powerful motives, in order to exhort the vicious ecclesiastics to turn back from their dissoluteness and to fulfill the commitments of their character, and to reform the morals of all the orders on the basis of the primitive Church. “The opprobriums, the calumnies, the hunger, the infamy, the thousand cruel tortures and, at last, the death that he suffered, not only with patience, but even with a tranquil and smiling countenance, all this is the authentic testimony of a virtue proof against everything, of a courage, of a faith and of a piety unshakable. We have judged it well to set forth all these things before the eyes of Christendom, in order to prevent the faithful, deceived by the false imputations, from staining the regard for this just man, nor for those who follow his doctrine.”

— Evoked by one of our mediums, the Spirit of John Huss gave the following communication, which we hasten to show to our readers, as well as an instruction by Mr. Allan Kardec on the same subject, because they seem to us to characterize well the nature of the eminent man, who occupied himself with such ardor, ever since the fifteenth century, in preparing the elements of the philosophical emancipation and regeneration of Humanity.

(Paris, August 14, 1869.)

The opinion of men may disperse for a moment, but the justice of God, eternal and immutable, knows how to reward, when human justice chastises, lost through iniquity and personal interest. Barely five centuries (a second in eternity) have passed since the birth of the obscure and modest laborer and already human glory, to which he no longer clings, has replaced the infamous sentence and the ignominious death, incapable of shaking the firmness of his convictions.

How great Thou art, my God, and how infinite is Thy wisdom! Beneath Thy powerful breath my death became an instrument of progress. The hand that struck me reached, with the same blow, the terrible secular errors with which the human spirit had become soaked. My voice found an echo in the hearts indignant at the injustice of my executioners, and my blood, poured out like a beneficent dew upon a generous soil, made fruitful and developed in the advanced spirits of my time the principles of the eternal truth. They understood, reflected, analyzed, labored and, upon the formless, rudimentary foundations of the first liberal beliefs, edified, in the succession of the ages, philosophical doctrines truly generous, profoundly religious and eternally progressive. Thanks to them, thanks to their persevering labors, the world knows that John Huss lived, suffered and died for his beliefs; it is much, my God, for my frail efforts, and my rehabilitated spirit has difficulty in resisting the sentiments of gratitude and of love that carry it away. To recognize that they erred in condemning me was justice; the homages and the testimonies of sympathy with which they glorify me are excessive for my weak merits.

The human Spirit has advanced since the fire consumed my body. A flame no longer destructive, but regenerative, embraces Humanity; its contact purifies, its warmth makes grow and vivifies. In that beneficent focus there come to be reanimated all those wounded by sorrow, all those tortured by the trial of doubt and incredulity. The sufferer departs consoled and strong; the undecided, the incredulous and the despairing, full of ardor, of firmness and of conviction, come to swell the active and fruitful army of the emancipating phalanxes of the future. To those who asked of me a retraction, I answered that I would renounce my beliefs only before a doctrine more complete, more satisfying, more true. Well then! since that time my Spirit has grown greater; I have found something better than I had won and, faithful to my principles, I have successively repelled what my old convictions had of the erroneous, in order to welcome the new truths, broader, more consonant with the idea that I formed of the nature and the attributes of God. As a Spirit, I progressed in space; returning to Earth, I progressed also. Today, returning once more to the homeland of souls, I am in the front rank beside all those who, under this or that name, march sincerely and actively toward the truth and devote themselves, in heart and in spirit, to the progressive development of the human spirit. Thanks to all who reverence in my earthly personality the memory of a defender of truth; thanks, above all, to those who know that, above the man there is the Spirit, freed by death from material fetters, the free intelligence that works in accord with the exiled intelligences, the soul that gravitates ceaselessly toward the center of attraction of all creations: the infinite, God!

John Huss.

(Paris, August 17, 1869.)

In analyzing through the ages the History of Humanity, the philosopher and the thinker soon recognize, in the origin and the development of civilizations, an imperceptible and continuous gradation. – From a homogeneous and barbarous whole there arises, in the first place, an isolated intelligence, unknown and persecuted, but which, nonetheless, makes an epoch and serves as a landmark, as a point of reference for the future. – The tribe, or if you wish, the nation, the Universe advance in age and the landmarks multiply, sowing here and there the principles of truth and of justice that will be the portion of the generations that come. These scattered landmarks are the precursors; they sow an idea, develop it during their earthly life, watch over it and protect it in the state of Spirit, and return periodically through the centuries to bring their assistance and their activity to its development. Such was John Huss and so many other precursors of the Spiritist philosophy.

They sowed, labored and made the first harvest; then they returned to sow again, awaiting that the future and providential intervention would come to make their work fruitful.

Happy is he who, from the height of space, can contemplate the various stages traversed and the labors accomplished for love of truth and of justice; the past gives him nothing but satisfaction, and if his attempts were incomplete and unproductive in the present, if persecution and ingratitude at times still come to disturb his tranquillity, he has a presentiment of the joys that the future holds in reserve for him.

Glory on Earth and in the spaces to all those who consecrated their entire existence to the development of the human spirit. The future centuries venerate them and the superior worlds hold in reserve for them the reward due to the benefactors of Humanity.

John Huss found in Spiritism a belief more complete, more satisfying than his doctrines and accepted it without restriction. – Like him, I have said to my adversaries and contradictors: “Do something better and I will join myself to you.”

Progress is the eternal law of the worlds, but we shall never be surpassed by it, because, in the same way as John Huss, we shall always accept as our own the new principles, logical and true, that it falls to the future to reveal to us.

Allan Kardec.

[1] It is notable that Huss, in Bohemian, means goose. It appears that the homeland of John Huss was so called because there these birds are abundant.