pledge you. I shall endeavour to get you conveyed out of the country; for the revenge of a monk never dies; and at this minute they have bloodhounds, in human form, in pursuit of you; but, thank Heaven, the light of the Reformation begins at length to shine in this longbenighted country, and in that light these monasteries will melt away like snow in the beams of the sun." In short, I accompanied him to his father's house, where I remained concealed for two months.

As successive troops of pilgrims from Bohemia were now on their march to the shrine of Saint Martin, it was agreed that I should join one of those superstitious idle gangs, which might be compared to locusts, that devoured every thing in their way, and even surpassed the gipsies in thievery. I was soon trimmed out in a pilgrim's suit, with a staff, and pair of beads-I was going to say, a league in length: I was also taught to mumble some prayers over them. In this dress, I joined a group composed of the merriest fellows in the universe. I was pleased with the conversation of two in particular; one might be about twenty-four years of age, and the other about forty; of a gay, lively disposition. I affected to be very grave, but they soon saw that it was not my natural disposition. For the sake of distinction, I shall call the young man a rake, and the other was a physician. On

the third evening of our march, the Doctor whispered me to follow them at a little distance, as soon as I should see them separate themselves from the rest: I did so, and when I came up to them, they began to rally me on my affected gravity, and to turn the shrine of Saint, Martin, and all his devotees, into ridicule. Having walked about half a league, we came to a very fine house: I was surprised to see them enter it with as much familiarity as if it were their own. The lady of this stately mansion received us in the kindest manner, and ordered the maids to bring water and wash our feet. Every thing was new to me; the walls were hung with fine paintings, glasses, &c. They were all highly pleased with my simplicity, which they soon saw was not affected. The supper was sumptuousthe richest wines of Virovichitz: the lady was a Slavonian; she honoured us with her company. As soon as the cloth was removed, and the lady had withdrawn, my companions pushed about the glass, and their conversation added an additional flavour to it. I was left to drink as much or as little as I pleased. I told them my adventures, and they laughed heartily at them: they were highly pleased with my description of the fat infuriated abbot, and his charge to me about the young girl. "Well," said the Doctor, " you must take care and bring no more eggs to a monastery;--

G 2

*

nastery;-your abbots are excellent judges of

eggs.

"Regula presbyteri jubet hæc pro lege teneri, Quod bona sunt ova hæc, candida, longa, nova.”

"I bless my stars," said the young Bohemian, that I was not caught in one of those cages called a monastery: but how do I pity the poor nuns, immured in a living sepulchre !--for what is a nunnery but the grave of youth, beauty, and innocence? My father," said he, addressing himself to me, "is a very good kind of man, but the priests rule him; they have fettered his mind with beads; they eat his meat, they drink his wine, they ride his horses, and if a murmur should escape him, he is threatened with the fire of purgatory. He thinks I am now kissing the shrine of Saint Martin; but I would much rather kiss"

Doctor. Take care-you must humour the old man :-he is very rich, you know.

Bohemian. I wish he may live to enjoy his wealth: I have an estate of my own; I am fond of my pleasures, it is true; but I am no spendthrift: I am not like one of those that live on the harvest of next year's sickle; I shall never drink a glass beyond the relish of it. He wants me to marry a rich widow: no, no, none of your jointured widows for me, even though she possessed

1

sessed a palatinate; she would consider me as a purchase, and as such she would treat me: let me have one of my own choice, my equal in years, in estate, and temper.

Doctor. A rare jewel!

Bohemian. A jewel that I could wear in my bosom. You have fine women in Hungary(addressing himself to me).

Author. I never saw many of my fair countrywomen.

Bohemian. But I have seen many of them: such shapes and complexions-as straight as a pine-every hair finer than Cupid's bowstring -the lily and the rose contending for the empire of their cheeks-with lips like the bleeding ruby, and only made to kiss each other: how your cold philosophers and snarling cynics have endeavoured to decry the loveliest part of the creation! It is for woman, after all, that we live; and it is woman that sweetens all the cares of life it is for woman that the poet first tunes his lyre the painter is happy to catch the distant semblance of her angelic face it is love that invites the sculptor's chisel, and wings the shuttle in war, who would be roused by the sound of the trumpet, if the general did not tell us that we were called forth to bleed for the safety of our fair countrywomen?

Author. Though I cannot speak from expe

rience, yet I feel the truth of what you say.

But war

Bohemian. Yes, war, I confess, has many inducements: the finest men, the finest horses, the richest dress, the finest music, and the greatest reward-the heart and hand of the woman you idolize-these are the inducements that lead to the tented field.

Author. We should not go to war for the sake of war.

Doctor. But what will you say to the prince or general that kindles the flames of war merely for the sake of plunder or conquest?

Author. I would be one of the first to meet that prince or general in the gate on such an occasion; I should look on death to be glorious in such a cause. I know that there are spirits in the world, who, salamander-like, can only ex. ist in fire; such men, if it be fair to call them by that name, may well be marked as the enemies of the human race.

Doctor. May such names be gibbetted to all eternity!

The Bohemian entertained us with several stories of the tricks which he had put on monks, to the no small merriment of the company, which was now enlivened by the addition of the lady of the house, and her sister, a beautiful young woman, who had been bred in Prague. About