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98
MARIA FELICIA

had prepared him for a Latin school in Prague, he sent a humble request to the Count, describing the boy’s uncommon ability, pleading that he might be allowed to enter the higher school, and urging that the Count would never regret having spent money for his education, for the boy would become a faithful priest or a teacher.

But the supplication was very ungraciously received. Count Felsenburk impatiently made known to the chaplain that he needed his servants for himself, that he did not intend to part with them in the interests of religion or education. At the same time he asked the chaplain to be more careful in the future, that the minds of the people in his service, who were made for work and obedience, might not be infected with harmful ideas, and not to cultivate foolish ambition in them. The porter’s son, then, remained at the Palace, where he had been born and brought up. He had to learn to sweep well in all the corners and take care of his father; no other duty was imposed on him.