were the Herr Pfarrer, or priest of the parish,
and Herr Melitka, the schoolmaster. We
were all hushed into a deathlike stillness.
It was

         " As when before the startled eyes
            Of some glad throng mysteriously,
         With giant-step, in spirit-guise
            Appears a wondrous Deity." *

* Bowring's " Schiller.''

One half of the boys neglected to rise from
their seats. Herr Holub bent and twisted
his body in all conceivable directions, and
sought by dumb-show to express the feelings
of reverence which filled him for the
newcomers.

The Herr Pfarrer declared that he had
come to say a few words to the naughtiest
boys in the school; but he begged that Herr
Holub would, for the present, go on with his
lesson. The usher, who had not even
commenced, made a deep bow, and offered his
chair to the Herr Pfarrer. Herr Melitka sat
down on the Bock, crossed his hands on the
top of his cane, and rested his chin on his
hands.

When it came to the turn of the unfortunate
Samuel, he limped up, wiping his eyes with
one hand, and applying the other to that part
of His body which had suffered from the
"Pardus." Herr Holub's position was by no
means enviable. The priest was known to be
given to drink, but he was also strongly
opposed to injustice of any kind, even in the
case of a Jew.

"Tell me, dearest child," said Herr Holub,
"what are these letters?"

"Te-ersch-i!" said Herzel, sobbing.

"And how do you read the word, my son?"

"Tschi!"

"Right so! tzi! Thou art a good and
obedient boy, but thou must not cry when
thou art called up for thy lesson."

Hereupon Herzel Samuel cried bitterly, and
the priest insisted on knowing what was the
matter. Herr Holub, folding his hands, and
leaning his head on one side, stated that Herzel
was in general good and obedient; but that
he had grossly misconducted himself by
overthrowing the master's table, and pulling down
the spelling-board, and that he had been
justly punished for so doing.

The Herr Pfarrer received this explanation
with evident displeasure. He shook his head,
and took snuff with great energy. "You
ought not," said he—" you ought not rashly—
you ought first—that's the reason of my
coming—I passed this window—heard a great
noise in this room—look in—that fellow,
Kokrha Wojtech, and Franta—that's his
name, I think—bad boys—great vagabonds—
table on his head—climbing about the board—
accidents will happen—as I told you—You
ought first—just send the boys away, and let
those two fellows remain here." This
reprimand before the whole school, was a sad
humiliation to Herr Holub.

Prayers were said, and the school was over.
We marched out of the room, making a bow
to the priest and Herr Melitka, leaving
Wojtech and Franta to the dreadful
castigation which, I was certain, they had to
expect at the hands of the Herr Pfarrer.

When I came home, my mother asked me
what I had learned at school. I replied, " A
Pardus."

Things were no better during my
subsequent pupilage. Herr Holub was a tyrant
in the school, whatever he might seem
abroad. The ruler and the rod, the " Bock"
and the Bible, were, in his hands, equally
tools of tyranny. We all suffered more or
less, but the greatest sufferer was Herzel
Samuel, the Jew; for that wretched boy's
family, from his father down to the maid-of-
all-work, seemed to conspire to deprive the
usher of those fees and perquisites on which
a Bohemian pedagogue must rely for his
sustenance. Herzel Samuel had consequently
three whippings, where the favoured boys
scarcely had one. Out of school, and especially
in his private lessons, Herr Holub was the
very pattern of a paternal despot. He was
patient and kind, and only in cases of an
extreme and hopeless opaqueness of intellect,
did he condescend to elucidate his meaning
by pinching the pupil's ear. In some things
it is easier to be a looker-on than a principal
agent. It is remarkable how much whipping
a boy can stand in others. Thanks, then,
to Herzel Samuel, and other devoted heads
among my schoolfellows, on whom Herr
Holub emptied the vials of his wrath, and
thanks to the private stipend of one florin
per month, and last, not least, thanks to the
blandishments of my pretty cousin, my talents
were permitted to develop themselves in the
natural way, and without the forcing heat
which Herr Holub applied to mature the
latent energies of the exotic Jew. It did not
take me above sixteen months to master the
alphabet; and in two years more I could
spell my way through any German or
Bohemian book. I had, moreover, an indistinct
notion of numbers, and of the multiplication
table. I had made some progress in the noble
art of writing; but with respect to
orthography, I was firmly convinced that it was a
snare and a delusion. Herr Holub, however,
protested that I had entered the realms of
science with the rapid step of a conqueror.
He delivered me up to Herr Melitka, in
whose class my scientific attainments were to
receive the last and finishing touch.

To be admitted to Herr Melitka's class
was indeed an honour; few children could
boast of it, for the majority of my little
companions passed the time between the sixth
and twelfth year under the rod of the
redoubtable Herr Holub, where they learned
just enough of reading, writing, and accounts
to enable them to read their tax-papers,
write their letters, and sell their corn, fodder,
and cattle. Herr Holub was not altogether