The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 81

The European Union in Prophecy
hundred and forty days in a frightful prison," he said, "in the midst of filth,
noisomeness, stench, and the utmost want of everything; you then bring me out before
you, and lending an ear to my mortal enemies, you refuse to hear me. . . . If you be
really wise men, and the lights of the world, take care not to sin against justice. As to
me, I am only a feeble mortal; my life is but of little importance; and when I exhort
you not to deliver an unjust sentence, I speak less for myself than for you."-- Ibid., vol.
2, pp. 146, 147.
His request was finally granted. In the presence of his judges, Jerome kneeled
down and prayed that the divine Spirit might control his thoughts and words, that he
might speak nothing contrary to the truth or unworthy of his Master. To him that day
was fulfilled the promise of God to the first disciples: "Ye shall be brought before
governors and kings for My sake. . . . But when they deliver you up, take no thought
how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall
speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in
you." Matthew 10:18-20.
The words of Jerome excited astonishment and admiration, even in his enemies.
For a whole year he had been immured in a dungeon, unable to read or even to see,
in great physical suffering and mental anxiety. Yet his arguments were presented
with as much clearness and power as if he had had undisturbed opportunity for study.
He pointed his hearers to the long line of holy men who had been condemned by unjust
judges. In almost every generation have been those who, while seeking to elevate the
people of their time, have been reproached and cast out, but who in later times have
been shown to be deserving of honour. Christ Himself was condemned as a malefactor
at an unrighteous tribunal.
At his retraction, Jerome had assented to the justice of the sentence condemning
Huss; he now declared his repentance and bore witness to the innocence and holiness
of the martyr. "I knew him from his childhood," he said. "He was a most excellent man,
just and holy; he was condemned, notwithstanding his innocence. . . . I also--I am
ready to die: I will not recoil before the torments that are prepared for me by my
enemies and false witnesses, who will one day have to render an account of their
impostures before the great God, whom nothing can deceive."--Bonnechose, vol. 2, p.
151.
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