hemian surpasses by far,
not the Polish, but the southern and eastern languages, and its
peculiar preference of the vowels _e_ and _i_ over the fuller sounding
_a, o, u_, do not add to the euphony of the language; although it
seems singular to bring forward such a reproach against a people so
distinguished for their musical talent.

The history of the Bohemian literature may be divided into five
periods.

The _first_ comprises the whole interval from our first knowledge of
the Czekhes to the influence of Huss; or from A.D. 550 to A.D. 1400.

The _second_ period comprises a full century, from Huss to the general
diffusion of the art of printing.

The _third_ period, the golden age of the Bohemian literature,
comprises about the same interval, and extends to the battle at the
White Mountain, A.D. 1620.

The _fourth_ period, extends from the battle at the White Mountain to
the revival of literature in 1774-1780.

The _fifth_ period, covers the interval from 1780 to the present time.

FIRST PERIOD.

_From the first settlement of the Czekhes, A.D_. 550, _to John Huss,
A.D_. 1400.

Of the language of the Czekhes as it existed when they first settled
in Bohemia, nothing is left, except the names they gave to the rivers,
mountains, and towns, and those of their first chiefs. All these names
entitle us to conclude, that their language was then essentially the
same as at the present time, though more nearly approaching the Old
Slavic. The first _certain_ written documents of the language are not
older than the introduction of Christianity. There were indeed
discovered, about thirty years ago, some fragments of poetry, which
appear to lie derived from the pagan period.[11] The manuscript has
been deposited in the Museum of Prague, and the high beauties and
evident antiquity of these poems have secured them warm advocates and
admiring commentators. But the circumstance that Dobrovsky doubted
their genuineness, induces us to regard this point at least as not
incontestable in respect to the language; in respect to the manners
they describe, and the institutions they allude to, they bear very
strong evidence of a later origin.[12] Another highly valuable
fragment is the celebrated manuscript of Koniginhof, discovered in the
year 1817 by the librarian Hanka, half buried among rubbish and
worthless papers.[13] This collection, the genuineness of which is
subject to no doubt, contains likewise several poems, the original