Page:Bohemian poems, ancient and modern (Lyra czecho-slovanska).djvu/24

xx ‘Under the reign of Ferdinand II.,’ says Pelzel, a Roman Catholic writer, ‘the whole of the Bohemian nation was entirely changed and recast. It is scarcely possible to find in history another instance of a whole nation so much changed in a space of about fifteen years. In the year 1620 all Bohemia was, with the exception of some nobles and monks, Protestant; at the death of Ferdinand II. in 1637, it was, at least in appearance, entirely Roman Catholic. The merit of this conversion of a whole country in so short a time was claimed by the Jesuits. When they were once boasting of this achievement at Rome in the presence of the Pope, the celebrated Capuchin monk, Valerianus Magnus, who was present on that occasion, and who had also taken a part in the conversion of Bohemia, said:

“Holy Father, give me soldiers as they were given to the Jesuits, and I will convert the whole world.”

‘The states of Bohemia had, till the battle of the White Mountain, almost more power than the parliament of England. They made laws, concluded alliances with their neighbours, imposed taxes, conferred the rank of nobility upon meritorious individuals, kept their own troops, chose their kings, or at least their consent was asked when a father