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 found there better opportunities to pursue his astronomical investigations than in Prussia.

Rudolph never married, but had an unacknowledged wife and several children, of whom he was very fond. Still he was not loyal to his family, his private character being anything but exemplary.

As soon as Rudolph became king, he made Prague his capital, and thus it also became the center of the imperial power of Germany. In those days Prague presented a gay appearance, containing, as it did, many foreign ambassadors with their splendid retinues and resident noblemen, who vied with each other in the magnificence of their establishments. Rudolph increased the effect by importing into the city works of art, curiosities, and even curious plants and animals.

But as far as government was concerned, that was sadly neglected. The king, too indolent too carry it on himself, and too suspicious to intrust it to some men of ability, managed matters in some sort of way himself, as he imagined, when in reality he was the mere puppet in the hands of some wily favorite, who in his turn was a willing tool of Spain and the Jesuits. Indeed, matters came to such a pass that even ambassadors from great nations could not obtain a hearing before the emperor unless they first bribed the favorite then in power. Often measures of great moment were passed without the knowledge of the king; for the older he grew, the more he shunned all intercourse with the world.

In course of time the Jesuits succeeded in getting the government entirely into the hands of Catholics, to the great prejudice of the Protestants, who constituted the bulk of the population. At this time the Catholics con-