ter were aliens to Bohemia, neither came
they to that country intent only on its interests; a succession of
Habsburgs passes by in pageant, to receive the crown of Bohemia as one
among many distinctions to which their house was heir. Ferdinand III and
Leopold I pass by, and Leopold's second son Charles VI second as King of
Bohemia, last male representative of the House of Habsburg, who was
succeeded by his daughter Maria Theresia. Troubles began again as in the
days when the P[vr]emysl dynasty died out, and the German Electors
decided to choose a new Emperor. The choice fell on Charles of Bavaria,
so old St. Vitus saw again a coronation pageant and one which much
resembled that of Frederick the Winter King. Charles of Bavaria was
crowned at Prague with all the usual pomp and ceremony; he then left
Bohemia never to return. Officially this Charles' coronation seems to
count for nothing in the history of Austria into which that of Bohemia
was merged. Bohemia became for years a pawn in the stern game between
Maria Theresia and Frederick of Prussia, and St. Vitus suffered damage
from the latter's guns; the glory of Golden Prague had departed and the
stately cathedral looked down for nearly three centuries on a city that
had been put aside, out of the way of the world's commerce and its great
affairs, to dream of the days when Charles IV was King and Bohemia the
land of a free and prosperous people.

* * * * *

We were really still in the days of Charles IV when it occurred to me to
sketch out a special pageant for the Cathedral Church of St. Vitus.
Charles, as I have said before, was particularly interested in churches,
was altogether a good, pious soul, and never missed an opportunity of
bearing testimony to his faith by deeds as well as words. This does not
mean that he submitted his judgment, even in things spiritual, entirely
to the ruling of the Church; on the contrary, he found that there was
more need of reform among the clergy of his land than of churches. He
did not hesitate, either, to point out to the Pope what reforms were
needed, and, moreover, took his part in improving matters, with his
usual energy and thoroughness. Indeed, according to all accounts, the
Bohemian clergy were sorely in need of the curb: they allowed their
sporting proclivities to run to excess in such pastimes as warfare,
tournaments, hunting and gambling, and the law of celibacy had fallen
into complete disuse.