Page:Glimpses of Bohemia by MacDonald (1882).pdf/52

 congregation is now in possession of some interesting relics of the Taborite times. They were found in the neighbourhood of Kolin in 1866, along with two skeletons, one of which is now supposed to have been that of Prokopius, the Taborite priest, while the other was evidently that of a knight. Beside the priest were found a beautiful communion cup of beaten silver, with exquisitely chased ornamentation, part of a glass plate used for the sacramental bread, black glass buttons, and the remains of the brass clasps and leather binding of a book, doubtless a Bible. Beside the knight, silver spurs and buckles, and the rusted remains of a sword.

The first day with Mr. DusékDušek [sic] was spent in visiting Kuttenberg, once the second city of Bohemia, and remembered on account of the wholesale martyrdom which took place at its silver mines, down the shafts of which upwards of 4000 Hussites were thrown. It is famous also in Bohemian history for the victories gained by Zizka in its neighbourhood. Its population 400 years ago was 30,000, now it has barely 16,000, of whom only 200 are Protestants. There are many interesting buildings in this town, including a ruined castle of the Bohemian kings, the old mint, and silver exchange. The latter, with its heavy masonry and grated windows, bears a striking testimony to the former wealth of the city. The half-finished church of St. Barbara, standing conspicuously on the highest part of the town, a splendid specimen of Bohemian Gothic architecture, is specially worthy of a visit, for not only has it several unique architectural features, but in the course of recent restorations, ancient frescoes of great interest, supposed to date prior to the Hussite times, have been disclosed. The features given to our Lord, the Virgin, and others, are entirely different from those we see elsewhere, and suggest a sceptical view of the authenticity of the generally received portraits.

In Austria the Government keep the growth, manufacture, and sale of tobacco a monopoly in their own hands. The leaf is allowed to be grown only in Hungary, a restriction which gives the Bohemians one of their many grudges against the Hungarians, but there are manufactories in various parts of the empire. Near Kuttenberg there is a large