and distinct; and the
direction of mind more general and universal. We find in this period
several historical works, viz. (1) A chronicle in Bohemian rhymes,
extending as far as to 1313, and finished about the year 1318, written
under king John the father of Charles IV, when the influence of the
German had reached its highest point. A glowing hatred against that
nation dictated this work, and made it for more than two hundred years
the favourite book of the Bohemian people. The name of the author is
not ascertained, although it has been usually ascribed to the canon
Dalimil Mezericky.[14] (2) Another Bohemian chronicle, written by
order of Charles IV in Latin, but translated into Bohemian by Przibik
Pulkawa. It was first published by Prochazka in the year 1786; the
Latin original in 1794. (3) Martimiani or the Roman chronicle,
translated A.D. 1400 from the German, by Benesh of Horowic. (4)
Another chronicle of the Roman emperors, translated from the Latin by
Laurentius of Brezow, the writer of several other works, some of which
were printed in the course of the following centuries.--There were
also several collections of laws; among others the oldest Bohemian
statutes, by A. of Duba, a valuable manuscript, preserved in the
imperial library of Vienna; the common and the feudal law, translated
from the Latin and kept in the library of Prague; the celebrated
_Sachsenspiegel_ or laws of Magdeburg, etc. The constant intercourse
with foreigners directed the attention of the Bohemians early to the
utility of acquiring other languages, and made the possession of their
own valuable to foreigners. We find, consequently, not less than seven
dictionaries, or vocabularies as they were called, compiled in the
course of this century; one of which, the _Bohemarius_ so called of
A.D. 1309, is even written in hexameters. As all these vocabularies
are incomplete, and better ones, founded partly upon them, have been
since compiled, they have never, so far as we know, been printed; but
are extant in several copies, and are preserved in the libraries of
Prague, Bruenn, and several churches.

Poetry, during this century, took also in Bohemia the same course as
in Germany, and degenerated into loose works of fiction between prose
and verse, mostly allegorical compositions, and the basis of the
modern novel. Such are Tristram, in 9000 verses, a translation from
the German; the life of Alexander and the History of Troy from the
Latin, both of