by the Hungarian war.  He was anxious to weaken the power of the nobles in Bohemia.  There was ever, in those days, either an open or a smothered conflict between the king and the nobles, the monarch striving to grasp more power, the nobles striving to keep him in subjection to them.  Ferdinand attempted to disarm the nobles by sending for all the artillery of the kingdom, professing that he needed it to carry on his war with the Turks.  But the wary nobles held on to their artillery.  He then was guilty of the folly of hunting up some old exploded compacts, in virtue of which he declared that Bohemia was not an elective but a hereditary monarchy, and that he, as hereditary sovereign, held the throne for himself and his heirs.

This announcement spread a flame of indignation through all the castles of Bohemia.  The nobles rallied, called a diet, passed strong resolutions, organized an army, and adopted measures for vigorous resistance.  But Ferdinand was prepared for all these demonstrations.  His Hungarian truce enabled him to march a strong army on Bohemia.  The party in power has always numerous supporters from those who, being in office, will lose their dignities by revolution.  The king summoned all the well affected to repair to his standards, threatening condign punishment to all who did not give this proof of loyalty.  Nobles and knights in great numbers flocked to his encampment.  With menacing steps his battalions strode on, and triumphantly entered Prague, the capital city, situated in the very heart of the kingdom.

The indignation in the city was great, but the king was too strong to be resisted, and he speedily quelled all movements of tumult.  Prague, situated upon the steep and craggy banks of the Moldau, spanning the stream, and with its antique dwellings rising tier above tier upon the heights, is one of the most grand and imposing capitals of Europe.  About one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants crowd its narrow streets and massive edifices.  Castles, fortresses, somber convents and the Gothic palaces of the old Bohemian monarchs, occupying every picturesque locality, as gray with age as the eternal crags upon which they stand, and exhibiting every fantastic variety of architecture, present an almost unrivaled aspect of beauty and of grandeur.  The Palace on the Hill alone is larger than the imperial palace at Vienna, containing over four hundred apartments, some of them being rooms of magnificent dimensions.  The cathedral within the precincts of this palace occupied more than one hundred and fifty years in its erection.

Ferdinand, with the iron energy and determined will of an enraged, successful despot, stationed his troops at the gates, the bridges and at every commanding position, and thus took military possession of the city.  The inhabitants, overawed and helpless, were in a state of terror.  The emperor summoned six hundred of the most influential of the citizens to his palace, including all who possessed rank or