“He never provoked a quarrel, nor threw down a defiance without deliberation. No wanton hostility ever showed itself in his temper; and no treachery or cruelty ever stained his knighthood. Were he now present, I believe he would undauntedly accept this challenge.
“My judgment is that we resist to the last; and if we must fall, let us fall as men who feel that their soldier’s honor is more sacred to them than all else.”
“My judgment,” said Wok, “corresponds with that of my brother. We must consider, however, that now it is not only the king but the empire that confronts us. I do not believe that any concession, and especially any weakness, will procure for our brother the least relaxation. I am sure he would never counsel us to consider him, but to sustain the honer of his house. His fate is already decided. Those who could abandon honor, degrade the name of hospitality, abjure truth, and conspire to betray, can also send to us deceitful messages and perjured promises. This offer, in terms indirect, of freedom to our brother contains no stipulation, and is only another snare intended to deceive us. No consideration of dignity or good faith can be expected from those who now compose the king’s council. The palace has become a den of infamy; the wisdom that restored Bohemia is denounced, by a contemptible superstition, as magic; and the honor we did the Austrian woman only elicits the depraved spirit that now corrupts the palace of the Premysls. Our only hope is in our hands; and by our swords alone can we expect any terms from our enemies.”
