Page:Augustine Herrman, beginner of the Virginia tobacco trade, merchant of New Amsterdam and first lord of Bohemia manor in Maryland (1941).djvu/25

 and that they were members of the Protestant faith of Bohemia. We can assume, too, without danger of indulging in an extreme flight of fancy that young Augustine began life in Prague under favorable circumstances. From an early age he no doubt took a decided interest in his lessons and in outdoor life; and the instruction that he obtained from Nature, especially the study of geology, greatly influenced his later life. Prague at that time was an influential and beautiful city where young Herrman grew up among refined surroundings and among men and women of the world. He studied classical literature and probably many of the Oriental masterpieces. He was versed in at least six of the conversational languages of Europe. Perhaps at a tender age he began to draw and became particularly skillful in making childish maps. Geography in those early days must have had a special fascination for him and no doubt he took many youthful journeys to the far away and little known America; then a land of mystery and adventure even to the most informed. But the source material for this early period of Herrman's life is non-existent, and it is likely that he grew up amidst refined ease much like other well born lads of Bohemia.

But it was not long until this pleasant and leisurely life in the beautiful city of Prague was destined to be brought to an unhappy close. He could not have been very old when the storm clouds of religious dissension began to gather over Bohemia, to divide the people into two conflicting groups and to drive into exile those who clung to the Protestant form of worship. The parents with young Augustine fled first to Germany and made their way to Holland. It is possible that the