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 insignificant acts of the citizens. A double system of "censure," one political, the other ecclesiastical, rendered it impossible to express in print any opinions that were not in strict accordance with the views of the government of Vienna.

While the despotism of Vienna pressed heavily on all parts of the empire, its oppression was felt more heavily in Bohemia than elsewhere; for not only were individuals deprived of all liberty, but the national language—so sacred to all Bohemians—was excluded from every school, law-court, or government office in the country. The fact that in spite of all these and of other obstacles the first half of the nineteenth century witnessed a revival of the Bohemian language is an almost unique one. This event is mainly due to a small group of literary men of whom Jungmann, Kolár, Šafařík, and Palacký were the most prominent. They obtained the support of the more enlightened members of the Bohemian nobility. As the Austrian police had at that time the power of expelling from any town those who were not either resident there or able to prove that they had sufficient means of livelihood, the patriots who were poor, and some of whom had come to Prague from other parts of the empire, were exposed to constant persecution on the part of the police. Several patriotic noblemen assured the safety of the young enthusiasts by conferring on them appointments as librarians or tutors in their families. Palacký himself was appointed "historiographer to the Estates of Bohemia," an appointment to which the government of Vienna after much delay at last gave a reluctant consent. The development of the national language was greatly furthered by the foundation in 1818 of the "Society of the Bohemian Museum." In this museum many ancient monuments of the period of Bohemia's greatness were collected. Many historical MSS. of great value also found a place in it and were afterwards printed by the Matice Česká, a society founded in connection with the museum. The foundation of the museum was mainly due to the efforts of Counts Sternberg and Kolovrat, the latter of whom