other of the
emperor Charles V. This prince was received by the Bohemians with
reluctance as their king, and only on the condition, insisted on by
the Estates, that he should subscribe the compact of Basle, by which
their religious liberties were secured to them. So long as Ferdinand
was occupied in Hungary against the Turks, all went well in Bohemia;
but when, in the war which followed the league of Smalkalde (1547),
the Protestants of this country refused to fight against their
brethren, a new and unremitted persecution began against all, who
could in any way be comprised under the name of _sectarians_. The
compact of Basle was strictly only in favour of the Utraquists or
Calixtins; the Lutherans and Taborites, or, as they were then called,
United Brethren, as also the Picardites and Grubenheimer, were
considered as _sects_, and did not belong to the indulged.[29] Their
churches were shut up; their preachers arrested; and all who did not
prefer to exchange their religion for the Roman Catholic, were
compelled to emigrate. The scene altered under Maximilian II,
Ferdinand's successor, a friend of the Reformation, and in every
respect one of the most excellent princes who ever took upon himself
the responsibility of directing the destinies of a nation; to use
Schaffarik's happy metaphor, the benefits of his administration fell
on the field, which Ferdinand's strength had ploughed, like a mild and
fertilizing rain. During his life, and the first ten years of his son
Rudolph's reign, Bohemia was in peace: the different denominations
were indulged; literature flourished, and the Bohemian language was at
the summit of its glory. But we regret to add, that the Protestants,
instead of improving this fortunate period by uniting to acquire a
legal foundation for their church, instead of a mere indulgence
depending on the will of the sovereign, lived in constant mutual
warfare, and attempted only to supplant each other. An ordinance in
1586 against the Picardites, a name under which the Bohemian Brethren
were then comprehended; and still more the strict censorship
introduced in 1605; first aroused them to unite their strength against
oppression; and in 1609 they compelled the emperor to subscribe the
celebrated _Literae Imperatoriae_, or edict, by which full liberty in
matters of religion was secured to them. During the rest of this
period, the Protestants remained the ruling party. The university of
Prague, by the side of which