other articles. B. contains, besides the city of Prague, 16 circles, governed by officers appointed yearly. The most important places are the cities of Buntzlau, Melnik, Turnau, Reichenberg, Trautenau, Kuttenberg, Budweis, Pilsen, Carlsbad (q. v.), Joachimsthal, Teplitz (q. v.), Eger; the fortresses of Königingrätz, Josephstadt, Theresienstadt; the manufacturing town of Rumburg; the villages of Aderbach, Sedlitz, Seidschütz, Püllna, Königswart, Franzensbrunnen (q. v.), Marienbad (q. v.), &c. For internal intercourse, there are excellent highways, extending 1060 miles; and, in 1826, a rail-road was laid to connect the Danube with the Moldau.-The Bohemians of all ranks are distinguished for their public spirit, exert ing itself in the most noble and useful plans. In 1822, they had 2996 public establishments for education, a university, 3 theological academies, 26 gymnasiums, 2961 common schools, and a conservatory for music, 6709 teachers, 410,463 pupils'; among them, 2055 students in the high schools. (See prof. Schnabel's Statistical Account of Bohemia.)

BOHEMIAN BRETHREN; the name of a Christian sect, which arose in Bohemia, about the middle of the 15th century, from the remains of the stricter sort of Hussites. (q. v.) Dissatisfied with the advances towards popery, by which the Calixtines (q. v.) had made themselves the ruling party in Bohemia, they refused to receive the compacts, as they were called, i. e., the articles of agreement between that party and the council at Basil (30th Nov. 1433), and began, about 1457, under the direction of a clergyman, Michael Bradatz, to form themselves into separate parishes, to hold meetings of their own, and to distinguish themselves from the rest of the Hussites by the name of Brothers, or Brothers' Union; but they were often confounded by their opponents with the Waldenses and Picards, and, on account of their seclusion, were called Cavern-hunters (Grübenheimer). Amidst the hardships and oppressions which they suffered from the Calixtines and Catholics, without making any resistance, their numbers increased so much, through their constancy in their belief and the purity of their morals, that, in 1500, their parishes amounted to 200, most of which had chapels belonging to them. The peculiarities of their religious belief are seen in their confessions of faith, especially their opinions with regard to the Lord's supper. They rejected the idea of transubstantiation, and admitted only a mys

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tical spiritual presence of Christ in the eucharist. In other points, they took the Scriptures as the ground of their doctrines throughout, and for this, but more especially for the constitution and discipline of their churches, received the approbation of the reformers of the 16th century. This constitution of theirs was framed according to the accounts which remain of the oldest apostolic churches. They aimed to restore the primitive purity of Christianity, by the exclusion of the vicious from their communion, and by making three degrees of excommunication, as well as by the careful separation of the sexes, and the distribution of the members of their society into three classes-the beginners, the proficients and the perfect. Their strict system of superintendence, extending even to the minute details of domestic life, did much towards promoting this object. To carry on their system, they had a multitude of officers, of different degrees: viz. ordaining bishops, seniors and conseniors, presbyters or preachers, deacons, ædiles and acolytes, among whom the management of the ecclesiastical, moral and civil affairs of the community was judiciously distributed. Their first bishop received his ordination from a Waldensian bishop, though their churches held no communion with the Waldenses in Bohemia. They were destined, however, to experience a like fate with that oppressed sect. When, in conformity to their principle not to perform military service, they refused to take up arms in the Smalkaldic war against the Protestants, Ferdinand took their churches from them, and, in 1548, 1000 of their society retired into Poland and Prussia, where they at first settled in Marienwerder. The agreement which they concluded at Sendomir, 14th April, 1570, with the Polish Lutherans and Calvinistic churches, and still more the Dissenters' Peace Act of the Polish conven-" tion, 1572, obtained toleration for them in Poland, where they united more closely with the Calvinists under the persecutions of the Swedish Sigismund, and have continued in this connexion to the present day.—Their brethren, who remained in Moravia and Bohemia, recovered a certain degree of liberty under Maximilian II, and had their chief residence at Fulnek, in Moravia, and hence have been called Moravian Brethren. The issue of the 30 years' war, which terminated so unfortunately for the Protestants, occasioned the entire destruction of their churches, and their last bishop, Come

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nius (q. v.), who had rendered important services in the education of youth, was compelled to fly. From this time, they made frequent emigrations, the most important of which took place in 1722, and occasioned the establishment of the new churches of the Brethren by count Zinzendorf. (For the history of the old churches of this sect, we refer the reader to Cranzen's History of the Brethren, and to Schulz On the Origin and Constitution of the Evangelical Brethren's Church (Gotha, 1822), a sensible and impartial work.) Although the old Bohemian Brethren must be regarded as now extinct, this society will ever deserve remembrance, as a quiet guardian of Christian truth and piety, in times just emerging from the barbarity of the middle ages; as a promoter of pure morals, such as the reformers of the 16th century were unable to establish in their churches; and as the parent of the esteemed and widely extended association of the United Brethren (q. v.), whose constitution has been modelled after theirs.

BOHEMIAN AND BAVARIAN FOREST. From the Fichtelgebirge, southward, towards the confluence of the Ilz and the Danube, extends a ridge of mountains, covered with wood, called the Bohemian Forest, in ancient times a part of the Sylva Hercynia, the highest peaks of which are the Arber (4320 feet high), Rachel and others. It separates Bavaria and Bohemia. The great abundance of wood has occasioned the establishment of many glass-houses, forges, &c. in this region. The inhabitants have acquired, in their seclusion from the world, many characteristic virtues and vices.

BOHEMIAN LANGUAGE. The Czechish (Bohemian) dialect was the first of the Sclavonic idioms which was cultivated scientifically. This dialect is spoken in Bohemia, Moravia, with slight variations in Austrian Silesia, in half of Hungary, and in Sclavonia. That the Czechish has been widely spread as a dialect of the Sclavonian, is proved, as well by its antiquity, and its degree of cultivation, as by the size of the countries whose national language it is. We shall consider first the richness of the vocabulary of this language. This richness consists in the number of inflexions of the syllables at the beginning and end of words. Thus from the single radical word byti (his) there are more than 110 derivatives; from the radical word dége se (ê read like ea), signifying it happens, there are more than 95, without reckoning the frequent

ative verbs, verbal substantives and adjectives. By the simple prefixing of the letters s, w, v, z, the verb acquires a different signification; e. g., s-razyti, v-razyti, w-razyti, convey the meanings to beat down, to beat off, to beat in. Hence this language has formed, from native roots, all the scientific terms of theology, jurisprudence and philosophy, and, with every new invention, can be further developed. A proof of its richness is to be found also in the numerous synonymes, as psyce (c read like the Italian ce), kubka, tjsta, the bitch; hodmost, dustognost, dignity; hnug, mrwa, manure; wes, wesnice, dedina, the village.-If one compares the Bohemian radical words with the analogous terms in other languages, he will be astonished at the number of inflexions and derivations by which the language of the Czechi is distinguished. A great part of the facility with which it receives new forms and additions rests upon its manifold declensions and its numerous tenses and participles. In this respect, the language of the Bohemians excels that of all other modern nations, with the exception of the other races of Sclavonic origin. In the variety of declensions, which are terminated almost all with a vowel, are inflected only at the end, and are used without an article (see the Grammar of Negedly, Prague, 1821), the Bohemian equals the precise Latin; for instance, muzi (viro), zene (femina), (z read like the French ch), &c. The participles give it a great deal of pliability, as they unite in themselves the advantage of verbs and adjectives, by denoting, as verbal adjectives, at once the quality of the thing and the determination of the time, saving thus the use of the relatives which, who, as, and the prepositions after, since, &c., by which periods become so dragging: hence its conciseness.-Another advantage of the pliability of the Bohemian language is the means which it affords of compounding words; as, Samowládce, he who rules alone; Hromovládny, the ruler of the thunder, &c. The Bohemian expresses the compound words of the Greeks and Germans sometimes by a particular form of the adjective, sometimes by particular substantives; as, kostnic, the charnel-house; chmelnice, the hop-yard; duha, the rainbow.-Another peculiarity is the great variety of diminutives, by which not only small, but agreeable and dear objects are designated; as, panacek, the little gentleman; milenka, the much beloved; panenka, the little maid, and many others: also the ways of expressing concisely the frequent

naming of a thing; for instance, Frantiskowati se (s read as sch), to use frequently the name Francis; macechowati se, to use frequently the name step-mother. It possesses also the patronymic nouns; for instance, kralowec, the king's son. It indicates concisely that an action is completed; as, dopsati, to write to an end. It contains the inceptive verbs; for example, hrbatim, I am becoming hunch-backed; and many others.-Secondly, the Bohemian language has much expressiveness and energy, as it is not weakened by a number of articles, auxiliary words, conjunctions and words of transition, but is able to represent the objects of imagination, of passion, and all the higher emotions of the poet and orator, in a quick, vigorous and lively manner, by its brevity, heaping together the most significant words, and arranging the connexion of the parts of speech according to the degree of feeling to be expressed, so as to give the style spirit and energy, or gentleness and equability. The Bohemian designates many objects by the imitation of natural sounds. Thus the names of many animals are taken from their voices; as, kruta, the turkey; kachna, the duck. Many plants he names from their effects; as, bolehlaw, hemlock (from head-ache). The conciseness of the language is increased by the absence of auxiliaries in the greater part of the verbs; as, dam, I shall give. The preterites, in the third person, singular and plural, express a meaning still further condensed, as the variation in the last syllable is made to designate the sex; for example, psal, psala, psalo, he, she, it has written; psali, psaly, psala, they have written; narozen, narozena, narozeno, he, she, it has been born. Thus the absence of the personal pronouns in the verbs, of the article in the substantives, and the use of many participles and participial forms, give to this language the expressiveness and power of the Latin. In like manner, the Bohemian saves many prepositions and much circumlocution of other kinds, by the use of the instrumental, agreeing with the Latin ablative; for instance, secenjm mece hlavu mu st' al (t read like te), with a blow of the sword he has cut off his head. This language is, therefore, very well fitted for the translation of the Latin classics. By the use of the part. præt. activi, the Bohemian can designate, as well as the Greek, who has really performed the action contained in the predicate of the accessary clause, which the Latin, with his ablative absolute, or

του

participle passive, must leave always undefined and dubious; for instance, Πινδαρος Πασικλέα αποδείξας επιτροπον και παιδος και των χρημάτων απήρεν εις Πελοποννησον ; Pindarus vstanowiw Pasiklea za porucnjka syna swého a geho gmenj, táhl do Peloponnesu; Pindarus constituto Pasicle tum filii tum bonorum tutore, in Peloponnesum abiit. This contributes to the perspicuity and precision of the Bohemian language. Every notion, moreover, is expressed by a peculiar word; for example, the verbs zjti, strjhati, krágeti, rezati, denote to cut with the scissors, with the sickle, with the knife, and with the sithe; while most languages use one verb, to cut, in all these cases. In the subtilty of grammatical structure, the Bohemian is like the Greek, and has the advantage over the Latin and other languages. In speaking of two hands, two eyes, &c., the dual number is used; e. g., ruce, oci, &c. The language is also capable of expressing the idea of duration referring to an indefinite past time, like the Greek aorist; for instance, kupowal dum, ale nekaupil ho, which we have no means of rendering precisely, for kupowati means to buy, and kaupiti means also to buy: accordingly the phrase would be, literally, he bought the house, and bought it not, which would be a contradiction: he was about to buy the house, but did not buy it, would be also an incorrect expression of this idea, for the action was already going on—he was already buying. The language affords several preterite tenses, which are distinguished with great subtilty; as, præt. sing. unit. (time which has only past once)-kaupil, he has bought once; plusquamperf. primum-kupowal, he had purchased for a long time; plusquamperf. secundum-kupowawal, he had purchased formerly several times; plusquamperf. tertium-kupowawawal, he seldom had purchased in former times; where, by adding the auxiliary verb byl, a time still longer passed may be expressed, though this is very seldom used; for instance, byl kupowawal, he had purchased in times long past. Another advantage of the language consists in the many future tenses by which the Bohemian denotes not only the time, but also the duration, and the more or less frequent repetition of the action; viz. futurum simplex―kaupjm, I shall purchase once; futurum durativum

for instance, budu kupowati, I shall be purchasing for a long time; fut. frequentativum-budu kupowawati, I shall purchase several times; and fut. iterativum

budu kupowáwati, I shall be purchasing

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very often. Not less manifold in signification, and equally subtile in the determination of time, are the participles and the participial constructions. The determination of the sex and the number by the final syllable of the participle gives the Czechish language no small preference above others. The Bohemian can express himself as elegantly and politely, and at the same time as concisely, as the Greek with his optative; for instance, nechalo toho, she may let it go; vcinil, let him do it. The small, connective particles of speech, which the Bohemian has, in common with the Greek, must be considered as so many touches and shadings, by which the whole idea and feeling is more distinctly expressed. The Greek adda μev, yap, de, TE, &c. agree with the Bohemian ele pak, wsak, li, z, t'; only the three latter are always affixed to a word. Finally, the free, unrestrained arrangement of the words contributes much to perspicuity, as the Bohemian is less fettered than any of the other modern languages to a particular construction.-By a happy mixture of vowels and consonants, and by a combination of the latter favorable for the pronunciation, the language has also much euphony, though many call it rough on account of the r (read rsh); but the sound of entire words, not that of the single letters which compose them, determines the roughness or smoothness of their pronunciation; besides, every language, on account of the difference of the feelings which it has to convey, some gentle, others harsh and violent, ought to be able to form some harsh sounds. The terminations of the various declensions and conjugations are mostly vowels, or the smoother consonants. In general, the Bohemian has a natural melody, like that of the Greek; for the tongue stops longer on a syllable containing a long vowel, á, é, j, u, y, than on one containing a short vowel. In the Bohemian alphabet of 42 letters (a number in which it is surpassed only by the Indian, the most copious of known alphabets, and the Russian, which comes next to it), there are to be found all the sounds of the other languages. The English sound of ts the Bohemian expresses with c, the English y with g, the sh with ss or s, the Italian ce or ci with c, the French ge and gi with the , the Italian u with the y, the gn with the n, the English w with the w, particularly at the end of words. Hence his alphabet enables him to write all languages so as to give their correct pronunciation, and to pronounce

them easily and well, so as to be considered by Frenchmen, Germans and Italians as their countryman. He never confounds smooth and rough letters; his singing is easy and graceful, and the Bohemian opera pleases, like the Italian, as it suppresses no syllables, but gives a full sound to each word. It is very seldom that combinations of difficult consonants are to be found in the Sclavonic idioms, and these may be softened by the freedom of construction which the language allows. The euphony of the language is also the reason why the Bohemian takes a rank in music inferior only to that of the Italian. Throughout Europe, Bohemian musicians are to be found: the distinguished musicians of Austria are mostly from Bohemia. Taste and feeling for music almost always keep pace with the melody of the language of a nation.

Bohemian Literature has five periods. The first extends from the mythological times to 1409. It is certain, that, among the Sclavonian tribes, the Czechi were the first who cultivated and fixed their language. (See Sclavonians and Sclavonic Language.) It affords no written documents of remote antiquity, unless we believe the Runic characters to have been in use before the introduction of Christianity. We know, however, that the language of that period was similar to the present, from the names of the gods, dukes, rivers, cities, mountains, which have been preserved, such as Perun, Prcemysl, Boriwog, Wltawa, Bila, Praha, Tetin, Krkonose. The Sclavonian apostle Method, and the philosopher Constantine, called Cyril, made the Selavonians in Moravia acquainted with Christianity. From thence it penetrated, under duke Boirwog, to Bohemia, and thus the people of this country received the GræcoSclavonic ritual in the year 845. The same Constantine invented for the sounds of the Sclavonic language the CyrillicSclavonic alphabet-Az, Buky, Wiedi, Glagol, Dobro, &c., borrowed mostly from the Greek. In later times, the Glagolitic alphabet sprung up, of which, however, less use was made. When the Latin church supplanted the Greek in Moravia, Bohemia and Pannonia, the Latin alphabet came also into use, instead of the Cyrillic. In Bohemia, the Cyrillic character was in use only with the monks of Sazawa, who observed the Sclavonic ritual. King Wratislaus, intending to introduce it again in other places, and asking the permission of pope Gregory VII, received a refusal. As the Latins endeav

ored to annihilate all the writings of the old ritual, and the Sclavonic language was, in many cases, obliged to give way to the Latin, Bohemian literature suffered from popery incalculable injury: hence we possess, from the earlier centuries, but a few insignificant remains in the characters above mentioned. In the 10th century, the Bohemians had a school at Kudet, in which they learnt Latin. Their most ancient relic is the hymn (Hospodine Pomiluyny) of bishop Adalbert (Wegtech), a native Bohemian, which is sung to the present day, even by the Russians and Poles. Some think it of still greater antiquity. From the 11th century, we have no complete works; but, in Latin documents, Sclavonic names are frequently found. The 12th and 13th centuries were more fertile. When king Wratislaus issued the summons for the renowned expedition to Milan, all Prague resounded with the songs of the valiant young knights; but none of them has been preserved. Zawis Z. Rozmberka wrote, in 1290, several good poems. The Bohemians possess the remains of a collection of lyric-epic national songs, without rhyme, which seem to have been of great merit; but only two sheets of parchment, in duodecimo, and two small strips, have been preserved. Mr. Hanka, keeper of the Bohemian national museum, discovered these valuable remains in a room in the church at Königinhof, in a pile of neglected papers. The manuscript appears to have been written in the years 1290 and 1310: some of the poems may be still older: the more is the loss of the greater part of them to be regretted. This whole collection consisted of 3 books, as may be concluded from the inscription of the remaining chapters of the 3d book, which are inscribed 26th, 27th, 28th. 14 poems are preserved, which constitute those 3 chapters. (See Rukopi's Kralodworsky wydany od Wac, Hanky, 1819.) We cannot determine the subject of the first song, Boleslaw, by the part which has come down to us; the second poem, Wihori Dub, calls upon duke Udalrich to drive the Poles from Prague (1003); the third, Benes, celebrates the repulse of the Saxons who advanced from Görlitz; the fourth relates Jaroslaw Sternberg's victory over the Tartars, near Olmütz, in 1241; and so on. Göthe found these national songs worthy of particular attention. They deserve, perhaps, to be placed by the side of Ossian's poems. A Bohemian psalter, and a legend, in rhyme, on the 12 apostles (the latter only a fragment

of 70 verses, at Vienna), have also been preserved; likewise, the Complaint of a Lover on the Banks of the Muldau (Weltawa), in prose; a fragment of a history of the passion of Jesus, in rhyme; the hymn Swaty Waclawe; besides a number of poems, songs, fables and satires, in verses of four feet, also in rhyme. The 14th century is more productive. Under the emperor Charles IV, who promoted the cultivation of the Bohemian language, the university of Prague was founded, in 1348. In the golden bull, he commanded the sons of the German electors to learn the Bohemian language. Under his son, the emperor Wenceslaus, all decrees were written in Bohemian, which formerly were in Latin. Prague was then not only the most populous city in Germany, but also, on account of its splendid court and the wealth of its citizens, the centre of the arts and sciences. Dalemil Mezericky wrote a history of Bohemia in verse; Ondreg Z. Dube, a collection of Bohemian laws, in 3 vols.; Warinec Z. Brezowa, a history of the Roman einperors, and translated Mandeville's Travels; Pribik Pulkawa, a Bohemian history; and Benes Z. Horowic, a history of the empire to the time of Wenzel. This period affords, also, many vocabularies, poems and songs; also a translation of the life of Alexander the Great; the life of the emperor and king Charles IV; the description of the heroic feats of Pliehta of Zerotin, and of the battle of Cressy, in 1346, and an account of the death of king John, which celebrates his fame and that of the other Bohemian heroes; a description of the tournament in 1315; the expedition of king John against count Matthias of Trenzcin, &c.-With Huss commenced the second period, from 1409 to 1500, which elevated the character of the Bohemian language and nation. The assembled fathers at Constance and Bâle beheld with astonishment, among the Bohemian nobility and citizens, men not only distinguished for their intrepidity, but able, also, to explain with profound learning the word of God. The Bohemian nobility of those times not only wielded with a vigorous arm the national weapon of their country in defence of the rights of the nation, but stood, also, in the first rank of scientific cultivation. The prevalence of religious disputes caused the Bible to be generally read and understood. Eneas Sylvius, then pope, says, Pudeat Italia sacerdotes, quos ne semel quidem novam legem constat legisse, apud Taboritas vix mulierculam invenies, quæ