Page:Lectures on The Historians of Bohemia by Count Lutzow (1905).djvu/112

 Austrian province, were treated by Palacký with contempt that was generally silent. His age, and his position as member of the upper house of the Vienna parliament, secured him against all personal molestation.

There was again a change in the political situation, when the Emperor Francis Joseph issued his memorable decree of September 14, 1871. He there declared that ‘in consideration of the former constitutional position of Bohemia, and remembering the power and glory which its crown had conferred upon his ancestors, and the constant fidelity of its population, he gladly recognized the rights of the kingdom of Bohemia, and was willing to confirm his assurance by taking the coronation oath.’ This important declaration for a short time caused the return of Palacký to political life, but his hopes were destined again to be disappointed.

In his last years the old historian, thoroughly disgusted with Austrian politics, frequently declared that ‘Bohemia existed before Austria, and would exist after Austria’ an expression that became almost proverbial. In 1876 the Bohemian edition of Palacký’s great historical work was completed, and this event was the subject of great rejoicing among the Bohemian people. Their joy, however, was turned into grief, for Francis Palacký died on May 26 of the same year. His funeral was the occasion of general national mourning in Bohemia.

I have as yet only referred to Palacký’s history of Bohemia, which is of course his masterpiece, but some of his shorter works have great value. One of the earliest of these is a book written in German, which is entitled Würdigung der alten böhmischen Geschichtschrei-