A History of Bohemian LiteratureLützow, Francis, hrabe
History
A History of Bohemian Literature
Lützow, Francis, hrabe
Czech literature -- History and criticism
The leading idea of the fourth book _Of General Christian Matters_
is one which we meet with very often in Štitný's works, but which he
has perhaps developed here more clearly than elsewhere. It is the
mystic idea of the analogy which, according to Štitný, exists between
the different conditions of men and the various choirs of angels. He
writes: "It is my duty--as indeed I promised in the preface to these
books--to explain in this my fourth book in what manner the conditions
of men in this world are similar to the various choirs of the angels;
but let no man attack me, as if I had said that such or such people
of this or that condition will be in the same choir, as angels of any
particular class. It will be well for them if they obtain heaven;
but whether a man of this or that condition will be in this choir or
that, that is a matter which I cannot judge. Yet in this world certain
conditions of men are more similar to particular choirs of angels than
others. And indeed it often happens that some common little peasant[26]
or small tradesman has greater love for God than some monk. Yet both
will be with God, but I do not know in which choir each of them will
be." Štitný then proceeds to address admonitions to the divers classes
of men. The first class mentioned are the priests and monks, whom he
compares to the cherubims. The somewhat lengthy discourse about the
monks is very interesting, and I shall quote a portion of it in Mr.
Wratislaw's translation. Štitný writes: "And thus they have fallen away
in love; they have not the peace of God in their minds; they do not
rejoice with God in devotion, but quarrel, hate each other, condemn
each other, priding themselves against each other; for love has sunk
low in them on account of avarice, because they have forsaken God
for money, breaking His holy laws and the oath of their own promise.
And besides this (which is the most dreadful wickedness), they are
irritated, they are annoyed at every good preacher or every good man
who understands their error; they would gladly make him out a heretic
that they may have greater freedom for their cunning."
The fifth and sixth books _Of General Christian Matters_ again
deal, like the first one, with purely theological subjects. It will
be unnecessary to deal with them in detail, as Štitný's later work
gives us a clearer insight into his theological views. It is easily
noticeable that Štitný's studies gradually become more profound, and
there is a marked difference between the simple and homely manner in
which the books _Of General Christian Matters_ are written and the
more learned and more brilliant style of the _Reči Besedni_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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