Page:The Jail, Experiences in 1916.pdf/18

 (politisch verdächtig) inscribed on their military papers and these two letters ensured their bearers a continual strict control and other agreeable attentions upon all battle-fronts, whether in Russia, in Serbia, in Romania, in Italy; people of all classes and ranks lived under continual police observation: taverns, cafés, theatres, public places swarmed with police spies, and espionage penetrated even into families; there was a deluge of anonymous accusations on all sides, and as a result of them, cross-examinations, domiciliary searches, arrests and imprisonments took place; childish leaflets were, heaven alone knows how, circulated among the peaceful population, and it fared ill with anyone of whom it could be proved that he had possessed, read or even only looked at anything of the kind; all civilian rights were suspended, there were no personal liberties, there were no constitutional libertie, there were only military tribunals and they worked as they were obliged to work; Czech people were tried and sentenced by judges who did not know a single word of Czech; nobody was safe either by day or night, there was a deluge of halters, life-long terms of imprisonment, hundreds and hundreds of years of jail, confiscation of property; those who were locked up included women, students, female clerks, authors, members of parliament, bank managers, officials of the most diverse branches, grocers, workmen, journalists, clergymen of all denominations,—everybody was under suspicion, the whole nation was under suspicion. Thus literally as at Brussels in the year 1567.

A sultry stillness settled upon the whole kingdom of Bohemia. Cowards began to accommodate themselves to the prevailing conditions, and met the rule of terror halfway. People with firm back-bones repeated the words of Talleyrand: Everything in the world can be proved by means of bayonets, but it is impossible to sit on