Page:Glimpses of Bohemia by MacDonald (1882).pdf/51

 In the afternoon of the Sabbath we spent at Lhota, we walked to Stritez, where, after sermon by Pastor Jelinek, Mr. Crerar gave an address in English, translated by Mr. Karafiat, as had been done at Lhota in the morning. The Austrian Government apportioned the whole country into Protestant parishes, and Mr. Jelinek’s parish stands out as the largest, embracing as it does the whole province of Silesia, in addition to a big slice of north-eastern Moravia. The law gives him the right, either by himself or an authorised vicar, to preach in any place where he finds a Protestant, and he is anxious to take advantage of this right. This important opportunity for evangelistic effort should not be neglected.

With the assistance of the Gustavus Adolphus Society, large ecclesiastical edifices have been put up in some of the Moravian parishes, but they prove veritable white elephants to the people. Mr. Karafiat’s wooden church is kept in constant repair by members of his own session, at a trifling cost, while the large churches I have referred to require tradesmen, such as masons and plasterers, who have to be brought great distance at considerable expense. We saw one such church, the congregation meeting in which were in the greatest anxiety as to how they were to raise funds to keep it in repair. A lesson this to our committees if they think of helping in the building of new churches.

Reluctantly saying farewell to Mr. Karafiat on Tuesday morning (27th September), and travelling all that day, we reached Kolin, in the centre of Bohemia, late at night. Once a fortified stronghold, Kolin is now a busy manufacturing town, with a population of 12,000. The fortifications are hid by the tall factories, the old palace of King George of Podiebrad is used as a municipal office, the castle as a brewery. Still, the town has an attractive appearance, especially when seen from the opposite bank of the Elbe. In the days of Huss, Kolin declared for his views, and it was for long a stronghold of the Taborites. But from the disaster of 1621, until Mr. DusékDušek [sic]’s appointment in 1868—that is, for almost 250 years the town was without a Protestant pastor. Mr. DusékDušek [sic]’s 4em