dwelling in the land. The Diet of 1615 had recently published new enactments favourable to the national
language.[1] Even after the battle of the White Mountain, a German prince, John George, Elector of Saxony, had when writing to Ferdinand stated that a German in Bohemia was to be treated as a "guest and stranger."[2] In this respect a complete change took place. It has already been mentioned that the German language was granted equal rights with the national one, and as the new judges and officials appointed by Ferdinand often knew little or no Bohemian, the German language shortly after it had been admitted obtained preference to that of the country. Another circumstance that contributed largely to the decline of the Bohemian language was the system of land-confiscation which the Imperialists carried out on a gigantic scale. Almost the whole of the ancient nobility of Bohemia was deprived of its estates. The first confiscations touched only those who had—sometimes under compulsion—recognized the government of King Frederick. The later confiscations, however, included all who did not conform to the Roman creed, even if they had always continued faithful to the house of Habsburg. More than half the landed property in Bohemia was confiscated, and of the larger estates in the country only one hundred and forty-seven remained in the hands of their previous owners.[3] These were principally Bohemian Romanists such as Slavata, Martinic, and Waldstein, who at this moment laid the foundation of his vast fortune. The place of the ancient Bohemian nobles who were driven, often penniless, into exile was taken by a very motley company, consisting mainly of Imperial courtiers and generals. We find among these men of various nations—Germans, Spaniards, Walloons, Italians, and, after the fall of Waldstein, Scotchmen and Irishmen. All, however, shared a common devotion to the Church of Rome, and a common hatred of the Bohemian nation. These men were almost all ignorant of the Bohemian language, which indeed they despised as the
