r the comparison he drew, so I can
only give my own personal impression of what he may have meant. There
are, to my thinking, two distinct Romes as there are two distinct
Pragues. The old original Rome seems to me fundamentally, gloriously,
and, indeed, unblushingly pagan. All the top-hamper even of such beauty
as Michel Angelo conceived does not alter this my impression. Churches
arisen out of an Emperor's bath, or resting on some pagan shrine, are
superimposed on Rome. Rome and all that Rome stands for down the ages is
that glorious mass of ruins which cluster about the Capitoline Hill or
come upon you in unexpected places. And so it is with Prague;
Prague--the real Prague--is to be found in the graceful and enduring
monuments erected by Kings of Bohemia in the Middle Ages; Prague of the
Luxemburg monarchs, with echoes, faint yet insistent, of remoter
legendary times. Over this ancient Prague rise structures of an alien
nature, _baroque_ creations of the Jesuits, in spirit foreign to all
that the capital of Bohemia stands for. Indeed, most of these buildings
are imposing; some are beautiful, but despite the mellowing influence of
time it seems as if they had not been completely merged into the soul of
the city; they do not express its inner meaning unreservedly. And modern
Prague is built up among and about the gracious relics of past ages; at
first it appears detached, as it were hesitant between the serenity of a
former golden age, the forcefulness of the Jesuit era and the vigour of
modernity, but at heart it is one with the Prague of many centuries, is
"at unity in itself" by virtue of reverence for noble tradition and hope
for a glorious future.

"Thither the tribes go up"; indeed, they have been swarming in since
Prague came into her own some few years ago and became the capital of a
free and independent republic. In former years, when Prague was still
accounted a small provincial town of somnolent habits, there were only
two or three hotels that counted at all as accommodation for foreigners;
now there are many yet inadequate to the number of visitors. As to those
that are drawn to Prague, their numbers may be accounted for by the fact
that most of them are native Bohemians who have business in the capital
as the seat of government and also as a commercial, industrial and
intellectual centre; these latter qualities attract an ever swelling
stream of foreigners. To account for this I will draw a comparison all
m