John Huss and the Hussite Wars - James Aitken Wylie

little importance; and when I exhort you not to
deliver an unjust sentence, I speak less for myself
than for you."
The uproar that followed these words drowned
his further utterance. The furious tempest by which
all around him were shaken left him untouched. As
stands the rock amid the weltering waves, so stood
Jerome in the midst of this sea of passion. His face
breathing peace, and lighted up by a noble courage,
formed a prominent and pleasant picture amid the
darkened and scowling visages that filled the hall.
When the storm had subsided it was agreed that he
should be fully heard at the sitting of the 26th of
May.
On that day he made his defense in an oration
worthy of his cause, worthy of the stage on which
he pleaded it, and of the death by which he was to
seal it. Even his bitterest enemies could not
withhold the tribute of their admiration at the
subtlety of his logic, the resources of his memory,
the force of his argument, and the marvelous
powers of his eloquence. With great presence of
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