Panslavism and Germanism. By Count Valerian Kransinski [pp. 486-508]

The Slavonic Nations.
cop as to that of the blind hero, whose place he took, and who,
with prophetic discernment, had fixed upon him as his successor, yet the candid student of Procop's life will, we think, be
forced to assent to the high estimate of his worth by his contemporaries, and to confess that he deserves to be ranked among
the greatest men of his day. Little, if at all inferior to Zisca
in military genius, he was endowed with qualities to which
Zisca made no pretensions. He was an accomplished scholar
and large-minded patriot, as well as a victorious general, and
even when complete master of Bohemia, and the idolized leader
of her triumphant armies, his constant aim and effort was not
to aggrandize himself, but to restore to his country an honourable peace. Procop was the son of a noble without fortune.
By the aid of a maternal uncle, who adopted him, he received a
learned education, and was enabled to travel extensively through
Italy, France, Spain, and Palestine. After his return home,
he was induced, much against his will, to enter the priesthood,
and hence received the nickname of the Tonsured. On the
outbreak of the Ilussite war, he abandoned the Church for the
army, and attached himself to Zisca, who speedily discovered
his great abilities, and as before stated, pointed him out as his
successor. By his admiring countrymen he was called Procop
the Great, and he certainly was more deserving of the title
than some of those whose names it adorns.
The terror produced by Zisca's arms gave the HIussites a
short interval of repose even after his death, during which they
made occasional incursions into the adjacent provinces of Ger many. At length the emperor prepared to invade Bohemia at
the head of 200,000 of the choicest troops of Germany. The
Hussites were far inferior in point of numbers, but they were
animated with the confidence of success, generated by an
unbroken series of triumphs. The two armies met on the plain
of Toplitz, on the confines of the Germanic and Teutonic worlds.
The Germans charged with the utmost impetuosity, and in the
outset succeeded in breaking the first line of defence, but the
violence of the effort, combined with the fatigues of a long
march, had so exhausted them that they were unable to follow
up the advantage. At this critical moment Procop gave the
signal of attack, and pouring in his fresh and furious Hussites,
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