s convent fled,
And vanished, some three hundred years ago,
And all the world hath counted him as dead."
Then Aloysius felt the blessed tears
Fulfill his eyes, whence dropped the scales away.
Kneeling, he cried, "Oh, brethren, let us pray.
One day is with the Lord a thousand years,
A thousand years with Him are as a day."
EMMA LAZARUS.
A FEW HOURS IN BOHEMIA.
The beauty of this country is that no turbulent sea confines its
borders, nor are martello-towers needed to guard its coast: no jealous
neighbor threatens its frontier, no army oppresses its citizens, and
no king can usurp its throne. Its locality is hard to define: like the
Fata Morgana, it is here to-day and gone to-morrow, for its territory
is the mind of men, and in extent it is as boundless as thought.
Natives of every clime are enrolled among its freemen, and all lands
contain its representatives, but it is in the picturesque streets of
the older continental cities of Europe, where rambling lodgings and
cheap apartments are many, that the invisible mother-country founds
her colonies. I will tell you how I went and what I saw there.
Afra was a cosmopolite, and consequently knew Bohemia, its byways and
thoroughfares. If any one could fill the office of guide thereto,
Afra could, and when one evening she rushed into my room saying, "Come
along if you want to go to Bohemia," I did not hesitate a moment, but
made ready for the journey, with the simple precaution of putting on
my bonnet and shawl.
"A cab?" I asked as we moved from the door.
"Who ever heard of entering Bohemia in a cab?" laughed Afra dryly.
"People have been known to drive _out_ in their own carriages, but
they always make their first appearance there on foot, or at best in
an omnibus."
"As you please," I replied, trying to keep pace with her rapid step,
which showed constant practice.
"I wonder you did not propose a balloon," she continued pettishly.
"The gods don't give everything to one person: now, they give us
brains, and they give other people--money."
"If you would understand, I--"
"No, you wouldn't. I sha'n't ride in cabs until I can pay for them
myself; meanwhile, I have gros sous enough in my pocket for an omnibus
fare, and if you have the same we will stop here." At this she entered
a bureau, and as I followed I saw her get some tickets from a man who
sat behind a small counter, and then composedly sit down on a bench
while she sai
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