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 honor . 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 .
In self-reproach for his own denial of the truth , Jerome continued : " Of all the sins that I have committed since my youth , none weigh so heavily on my mind , and cause me such poignant remorse , as that which I committed in this fatal place , when I approved of the iniquitous sentence rendered against Wycliffe , and against the holy martyr , John Huss , my master and my friend . Yes ! I confess it from my heart , and declare with horror that I disgracefully quailed when , through a dread of death , I condemned their doctrines . I therefore supplicate . . . Almighty God to deign to pardon me my sins , and this one in particular , the most heinous of all ." Pointing to his judges , he said firmly : " You condemned Wycliffe and John Huss , not for having shaken the doctrine of the church , but simply because they branded with reprobation the scandals proceeding from the clergy--their pomp , their pride , and all the vices of the prelates and priests … The things which they have affirmed , and which are irrefutable , I also think and declare , like them ."
His words were interrupted . The prelates , trembling with rage , cried out : " What need is there of further proof ? We behold with our own eyes the most obstinate of heretics !" Unmoved by the tempest , Jerome exclaimed : " What ! do you suppose that I fear to die ? You have held me for a whole year in a frightful dungeon , more horrible than death itself . You have treated me more cruelly than a Turk , Jew , or pagan , and my flesh has literally rotted off my bones alive ; and yet I make no complaint , for lamentation ill becomes a man of heart and spirit ; but I cannot but express my astonishment at such great barbarity toward a Christian ." -- Ibid ., vol . 2 , pp . 151-153 . Again the storm of rage burst out , and Jerome was hurried away to prison . Yet there were some in the assembly upon whom his words had made a deep impression and who desired to save his life . He was visited by dignitaries of the church and urged to submit himself to the council . The most brilliant prospects were presented before him as the reward
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