n, who, in company of Sir William and Lady Hamilton, visited
Strahov on September 29, 1800. The strict rules of the congregation of
Premonstratensians allow ladies to visit only the library, which is
approached from the outer courtyard; the picture gallery is
unfortunately closed to them, a small collection but of value, its gem
is Duerer's "Rosary Feast."

[Illustration: STRAHOV MONASTERY.]

So stands Strahov, Mount Zion, between the Castle Hill and Pet[vr]in
looking out over Prague from its terraced gardens and its bower of
fruit-trees. It is always beautiful, this haunt of old-world peace,
whether the garden and the orchard be all a mass of blossom creamy white
in the sunshine, pale purples in the shadows, in the shade of midsummer
foliage when Golden Prague below glitters in the midday heat, or in
autumn when the valley is all a blaze of gold and russet, and the
distant hills stand out in strong blue masses. Winter also brings
fascination. Strahov, its many windows severely closed and reflecting a
sullen sky, seems to stand out more austerely from among the gaunt
tree-trunks, their grey and sombre outlines broken by a fantasia of
gnarled and twisted branches glittering under snow. But within those
walls, in the high altar's mysterious depth, in the long bare corridors
and tiny cells where useful work continues as it has done for centuries,
there is the "peace that passeth understanding."

CHAPTER VI

Deals in succession with five Kings of the House of P[vr]emysl, Ottokar
I, Wenceslaus I, Ottokar II, Wenceslaus II and III, with whom the male
line of this famous dynasty became extinct. This chapter also touches on
the story of the Jews of Prague and tells about one Dalibor who provided
a hero for Smetana's opera of that name. Mentions buildings and
improvements undertaken by the Kings above named; tells of their
troubles and trials, and how for a time they overcame them. Introduces
the first Habsburg to Bohemia and makes mention of other visitors to
Prague.

On the death of Vladislav II, in fact on his retirement to the
cloistered peace of Strahov, it became evident that there were too many
P[vr]emysls about in Bohemia to make for that country's peace and
contentment. These worthies were constantly falling over each other in
the scramble for the throne, and their disunited efforts resulted in ten
changes in the person of the sovereign over a period of twenty-four
years. This filled Bohemia's German neigh