terrupting his banquet he mounted his horse, wishing to view his endangered camp. A troop of fifty horsemen had arrived at the castle. I was myself one of those who interrupted the banquet. When the king reached the Strahov gate, it was closed. He beheld the terrible spectacle of his army in full flight. Terrified also by the fearful screams of the women, the king returned to the castle.’
Paul Stranský’s work, Respublica Bojema, was written while the author was living as an exile in Holland, and on the suggestion of those celebrated publishers the Elzevirs. It appeared in 1643, and was dedicated to the sons of King Frederick, Rupert and Maurice, princes of the Palatinate. It contains in one small volume a short outline of the ancient constitution of Bohemia, which is still valuable, and a brief sketch of the history of the country. Considering that Stranský had, as he himself tells us, been deprived of his entire fortune by the Imperialists, it must be admitted that the book is written with great moderation.
Both Skála and the two last-named authors wrote while in exile. In Bohemia historical and indeed all literature ceased for a time after the battle of the White Mountain. There is, with a few trifling exceptions, an interval of two centuries, speaking roughly, between the historians to whom I have now referred, and those who will be the subject of my last lecture.
