Protestantism in Poland and Bohemia - James Aitken Wylie

But, says Comenius, "the scene of their
departure cannot be described," it was so
overwhelmingly sorrowful. The pastors were
followed by their loving flocks, bathed in tears, and
so stricken with anguish of spirit, that they gave
vent to their grief in sighs and groans. Bitter, thrice
bitter, were their farewells, for they knew they
should see each other no more on earth. The
churches of the banished ministers were given to
the Jesuits.
The same sorrowful scenes were repeated in all
the other towns of Bohemia where there were
Protestant ministers to be driven away; and what
town was it that had not its Protestant pastor?
Commissaries of Reformation went from town to
town with a troop of horse, enforcing the edict.
Many of the Romanists sympathized with the
exiled pastors, and condemned the cruelty of the
Government; the populations generally were
friendly to the ministers, and their departure took
place amid public tokens of mourning on the part
of those among whom they had lived. The crowds
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