Page:Glimpses of Bohemia by MacDonald (1882).pdf/43

 covers England and Wales. The case of England and Wales is closely approximate to that of Bohemia and Moravia, for the Crown Prince of Bohemia was Margrave of Moravia, as ours is Prince of Wales. There is not, however, as between the English and the Welsh a difference in race and language. Bohemians and Moravians are alike Czech, and use that Slavonic tongue. The House of Hapsburg finds it convenient to govern Bohemia and Moravia as separate provinces, and decrees that the Reformed Church in each province shall meet in a separate Synod, but in no true sense do these Synods represent separate Churches. Indeed we found that most of the pastors in Moravia were born Bohemians, while some of those in Bohemia were born Moravians.

Mr. Crerar and I, travelling together, reached Prague on the evening of Saturday, 17th September, where we were welcomed by Mr. Pirie. On Monday morning we started with Mr. Pirie for Klobouk, joining Dr. Lang and Mr. Cuthbertson in the train. The journey from Prague to Brünn occupied five hours. With beautiful weather such as we fortunately enjoyed, the scenery, we passed, in itself would have gratified the eye; but as Mr. Pirie poured out historical lore, connecting the different localities with incidents in the Hussite, Thirty Years, Seven Years’, or Seven Weeks’ Wars, any one would indeed have been a heartless being who had not his emotions stirred and his sympathies enlisted in behalf of the people of this most interesting country, which well may be styled the “cockpit” of Europe.

Arrived at Brünn, we were received at the station by Pastor Cisar, who conveyed us in carriages to Klobouk, a town of 3500 inhabitants, quite off the line usually followed by travellers. Indeed, the delegates were informed that they were the first Scotchmen who had been seen in Klobouk within the memory of man, although a Scottish lady had recently visited the Reformed pastors in the Moravian Highlands. Explanation of the choice of such a meeting place is unnecessary to those acquainted with the history of Protestantism in Bohemia and Moravia. 4em