Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/43

 mixed up with many heathen customs. The people said Christian prayers, sang Christian hymns, but at the same time offered sacrifices to their heathen deities. They still buried their dead in the sacred groves, and placed more confidence in wizards than in priests. But, what was worse than all this, they refused to give up the practice of polygamy and intermarriage among relatives, and still sold as slaves captives taken in war. This state of things was a source of much grief to the Christian priests, and especially to the good Bishop Detmar.

At this time, there were in Bohemia two great families, named Slavnikovs and Wirsovs. Both being powerful and wealthy, they had more influence upon political affairs than the ruler himself. But of this more will be said in another connection.

One of the Slavnikov families had a most promising boy, named Vojtech. The boy showed such love for learning that his parents determined to devote him to the Church, and for this purpose sent him to the famous school of Magdeburg. His winning disposition and aptitude for learning gained him the love and admiration of all; and when he was ordained, the Archbishop of Germany, Adalbert, gave him his own name.

After his ordination, Vojtech went to Prague, to be the assistant to Bishop Detmar. The bishop, in spite of his zealous labors, had not been successful in eradicating the heathenish customs from his country; and this was a perpetual source of grief to him. He feared lest the souls of those lost under his teaching