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 chains as soon as possible; give back her former liberty!”

The Emperor’s face was grave.

“Look at this city, Bohemian King; look at the seat of your throne. One of the earliest and greatest universities in the world was established here by Charles IV., and only a few years later the people themselves established high schools; here education and religion were taught, not only as a special privilege to those within the walls of the schools, but proclaimed publicly in the market places and churches, where the barefooted beggar sought the truth as eagerly as the scholar. Look at this city, where your crown and scepter are deposited. It has been washed a thousand times with the tears and blood of martyrs; under its every roof was born a champion of the truth and it raised ten times as many heroes as the number of gold crosses you see sparkling on its churches. In its streets raged the storms that purified the whole world. Here men fought with sword and word for all humanity; here, for the di-