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A STORY OF BOHEMIAN LOVE
107

The second day after Prague was taken the Bavarian Elector came to the city, assuming the office of King of Bohemia, and ordering the people to prepare for his coronation. At his command a herald was sent out to proclaim his accession to the throne. Richly dressed and magnificently decorated, this herald rode through Prague with the Bohemian lion hoisted on a pole, and shouted before every public hall that from that day the Elector of Bavaria was King of Bohemia. Once the lion fell into a mud-pool, and the people considered it a bad omen and prophesied that the reign would not last long. The nobility and the upper middle class had at once to pay homage to the new King or leave Prague. Those who left were Counts Kinsky̌, Šafgačov, Šlikov, Vrbnov, Kokořov and Galasov. Count Felsenburk was in Vienna long before the command was given. He went to offer his services as soon as he heard that enemies were approaching the Bohemian boundary. About four hundred of the noblemen remained in Prague, among whom were the Chotkovs,