Page:Bohemia An Historical Sketch.djvu/20

Rh The art of war also was early developed by the genius of leaders such as Žižka and the two Prokops.

I have little space in my "Sketch" to deal with these matters, and I leave my readers and critics to draw such conclusions from the facts narrated as they think justified. Every effort has been made to reduce the bulk of my narrative; only those of my friends who know the enormous mass of material in German, Latin, and Bohemian to which I have had recourse, will be able to gauge the labour involved in limiting the growth of the book. The interest to me has grown as the work has progressed, for the history of Bohemia, so little known to English readers, may be regarded as a drama, and even perhaps as a tragedy.

Though Bohemia has—undoubtedly to its ultimate advantage—long formed part of the vast Empire now known as Austria-Hungary, the country still retains a language, a literature, and a history of its own. To outline within the limits of a sketch some of these elements of its interest is my sole object. Though I have the materials, I have not the time nor opportunity to write a history of Bohemia in English; I only ask my readers to judge of my book as being what it is—a sketch of a great country's history.

My principal authorities are the numerous works published during the present century in German and Bohemian by Palacký, Jungmann, Tomek, Tieftrunk, Helfert, Höfler, Rezek, Bilek, Goll, Gindely and many others. I have endeavoured, by means of references and notes, to mention as far as possible the authors to whom I am indebted. An enumeration of all the works consulted, which would of course include the older authorities also, would have unduly lengthened the book. Many points of Bohemian history being still contested, I have been obliged to give in my footnotes longer and more numerous quotations than might perhaps appear necessary. Readers who omit them will yet be able to follow the general outline of the narrative. Besides the modern writers mentioned above, I have availed myself of the information contained in the "Journal of the Bohemian Museum" (Časopis Musea Ceskeho), so rightly described by Mr. Morfill as "a mine of Slavonic lore."