apel
built by Frederick Barbarossa.

During the summer season a through coach from Paris is detached at Eger,
whence it is taken to Carlsbad, whither go those who have occasion to
repent them of the evil they have wrought in themselves by
self-indulgence; there they fast and prepare for the next season of
overeating, among peculiarly beautiful surroundings.

From Eger onwards we pass out of the zone of German predominance and
into the ancient land of Bohemia, over wooded heights and broad fertile
fields, past Marienbad, beloved of our King Edward, and where are also
many who love his memory, past Pilsen, and winding along a clear river,
the Berounka, its banks crowned here and there by castles and chapels,
each with a story all its own yet part of the life of the people of
Bohemia, until a sharp curve brings you to the meeting of the waters of
Berounka and Vltava within hail of Prague.

You should travel to Prague when the days are long, so you will be
rewarded by a very fair view as the train crosses the placid River
Vltava. Out of a shadowy mass of grey houses with tiled roofs, divided
by the glittering, winding river, rises the Castle of Prague, a massive
building crowned by a church of which the soaring spires, pinnacles, and
flying buttresses _s'accusent_ against the western sky. The train then
plunges you into a tunnel, a long tunnel taken slowly, where you may
reflect on the vision you have seen, the vision of another city "that is
at unity in itself."

You have had your first glimpse of Prague, and it was beautiful, so you
set about endeavouring to enter into the spirit of the place, to absorb
its atmosphere and to study its character. For every ancient city that
has stood up against adversity and overcome it has a very definite
character of its own. And it is a mysterious, wonderful thing this
character, this _cachet_ of a great city; the charm of Paris or the
grandeur of London, the glittering stillness of Venice or the insistent
glory of eternal Rome.

The character of a city, as is that of man, is formed by experience,
chiefly adverse, and is made evident by the work the city has done for
humanity, its creator and its care. From the study of a city's character
may you look into its future and presage whether it be likely to achieve
success or doomed to failure. For there have been failures among cities
as among men, some pathetic owing to inherent weakness, others as a
consequence of their own misdeeds