Hungarian war. He was anxious to weaken the power of the nobles in
Bohemia. There was ever, in those days, either an open or a smothered
conflict between the king and the nobles, the monarch striving to grasp
more power, the nobles striving to keep him in subjection to them.
Ferdinand attempted to disarm the nobles by sending for all the
artillery of the kingdom, professing that he needed it to carry on his
war with the Turks. But the wary nobles held on to their artillery. He
then was guilty of the folly of hunting up some old exploded compacts,
in virtue of which he declared that Bohemia was not an elective but a
hereditary monarchy, and that he, as hereditary sovereign, held the
throne for himself and his heirs.

This announcement spread a flame of indignation through all the castles
of Bohemia. The nobles rallied, called a diet, passed strong
resolutions, organized an army, and adopted measures for vigorous
resistance. But Ferdinand was prepared for all these demonstrations. His
Hungarian truce enabled him to march a strong army on Bohemia. The party
in power has always numerous supporters from those who, being in office,
will lose their dignities by revolution. The king summoned all the well
affected to repair to his standards, threatening condign punishment to
all who did not give this proof of loyalty. Nobles and knights in great
numbers flocked to his encampment. With menacing steps his battalions
strode on, and triumphantly entered Prague, the capital city, situated
in the very heart of the kingdom.

The indignation in the city was great, but the king was too strong to be
resisted, and he speedily quelled all movements of tumult. Prague,
situated upon the steep and craggy banks of the Moldau, spanning the
stream, and with its antique dwellings rising tier above tier upon the
heights, is one of the most grand and imposing capitals of Europe. About
one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants crowd its narrow streets and
massive edifices. Castles, fortresses, somber convents and the Gothic
palaces of the old Bohemian monarchs, occupying every picturesque
locality, as gray with age as the eternal crags upon which they stand,
and exhibiting every fantastic variety of architecture, present an
almost unrivaled aspect of beauty and of grandeur. The Palace on the
Hill alone is larger than the imperial palace at Vienna, containing over
four hundred apartments, some of them being rooms of magnificent
dimensions. The cath