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A HISTORY OF BOHEMIAN LITERATURE
is much to be regretted that English historians have as yet availed themselves so little of Palack^'s monumental History of Bohemia}^ Francis Palacky was born in 1798 at Hodslavice in Moravia, not far from Pferov or Prerau, an old centre of the Unity. The traditions of the Brethren never quite died out in this part of Moravia. Palack3^'s forefathers had belonged to the Unity, and the family, during the many years of persecution, continued secretly to worship according to its teaching. When the Emperor Joseph II., who, as regards religious toleration, was far in advance of his age, issued a decree authorising Protestant religious services according to the Augsburg and Helvetic Confessions, Palack^'s parents declared their adherence to the It may be mentioned that the Bohemian former creed. Brethren have only during the present reign again been recognised as a religious community. The traces of the traditions of the Brethren are very noticeable in Palack;^'s works, particularly in his masterly account of the career of Hus. After obtaining the rudiments of education in local schools, Palacky in 181 2 proceeded to the Protestant in Hungary. Here already lyceum at Pressburg Palacky gave proof of his studious nature, and his predilection for historical research was already evident. Gifted with the Slav facility for acquiring languages, Palacky at Pressburg obtained a thorough knowledge We are told that Bolingof the English language. broke's Letters on the Study and Use of History , Blair's '
I have
dwelt with more detail on this subject in a (Bohemian) essay on
" Some references to Palack^ in the Works of English Writers," which appeared in the Pamatnik Palackeho (Palacky Memorial), published occasion of the centenary of Palack;^'s birth.
in 1898 on the
