obliged to take an oath that he believed in the immaculate conception of the Virgin.
As to the general tenor of their education, it was mostly scholastic—empty discussions about empty and useless subjects. While Comenius was publishing books and establishing schools in foreign countries, wherein were to be trained men and women having their observation cultivated, their intellect quickened, and the whole world of real objects opened to them, his countrymen were doomed for several more generations to chew the dry leaves of monkish scholasticism.
With all these evils to cope with, it was not surprising that the nation’s spirit was broken, that they lost their patriotic sentiments, and to a great extent became Germanized. Indeed, so many forces were brought to bear upon them, that if it were not for their proverbial tenacity, they would have become completely denationalized, adopting, like Scotland and Ireland, the language of their conquerors. The language was mostly preserved among the lower classes of people; for the upper classes, and especially the nobility, gloried in their foreign customs and speech. It was at this time that the old simple title “sir,” used among the nobility, was gradually dropped, the nobles adopting such titles as count, duke, baron, prince—titles before unknown in Bohemia.
As for native literature, that became entirely neglected, and what few authors there were, wrote mostly in the Latin tongue. Among these, the most noteworthy was the Jesuit Balbinus, who produced some valuable historical works; the second to him in rank was the Moravian Pesina, also a historian; and in connection with him may be mentioned Hamersmid Ka-
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