Bolzano und die Sorben by Wilhelm ZeilReview by: Gerald StoneThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 47, No. 109 (Jul., 1969), pp. 553-554Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4206130 .

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reviews 553

the price had to be paid, and the same applies to Denmark. All that Charles was willing to concede as late as 1716, however, was the restoration of the status quo (p. 446), and still later he considered that Sweden was entitled to some territorial compensation by Denmark (p. 450)! This surely indi? cates that Charles completely misjudged his own strength and that of his

country. It is true that at this stage he hoped to reverse the fortunes of war

by military action, but was that a realistic hope ? If so, then only after peace had been concluded with one or the other enemy. That questions such as these can be asked is another merit of an interesting and provocative study; throughout it stimulates the reader's mind, and it bears testimony to the valour and the achievements of a very remarkable king. London F. L. Carsten

Zeil, Wilhelm. Bolzano und die Sorben. Schriftenreihe des Instituts fur sorbische Volksforschung, No. 38. VEB Domowina-Verlag, Bautzen, 1967. 264 pages. Plates.

The peace of Prague of 1635, by which the Habsburg Emperor Ferdi? nand II was obliged to cede the two Lusatias to the Elector of Saxony, John George I, ensured the enduring predominance of the Protestant

religion among the Sorbian population as a whole. The Catholic church, however, retained a small foothold in Upper Lusatia, and the part played by Catholics in Sorbian cultural life, particularly in the national awakening in the 19th century, has been of no little significance.

An event of particular moment in the cultural development of the Catho? lic Sorbs (and, indeed, of the entire Sorbian nation), was the establish? ment in 1706 of the Wendish Seminary in the Prague Mala Strana. Dr Zeil's book is basically a history of the seminary in the late 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, but it is more than this. Making use of Czech, German and Sorbian sources, including much archive material, the author has succeeded in covering an important, and hitherto un?

appreciated, aspect of the seminary's activity?its role as a centre of

activity for several prominent followers of the Bohemian Catholic theo?

logian and philosopher Bernhard Bolzano, and hence as a centre from which Bolzano's ideas were disseminated among the Sorbian intelligentsia.

Bolzano, the son of an Italian immigrant, was born in Prague in 1781, the year of Joseph H's edict of toleration, and despite the period of reac? tion which set in with Francis H's accession in 1792, the spirit of Jose- phinism which pervaded his childhood years was an important influence in his subsequent intellectual development. In 1807 he became professor of Catholic Theology in the Philosophical Faculty of Prague University. The chair had been instituted by Francis II to further the education of students in a spirit of loyalty to emperor and pope. In the terms of his

appointment, therefore, Bolzano was required to give edifying addresses to students of the entire University in order to combat political and

religious free-thinking. His own desire for a just society, his belief in the

equality of men and of peoples, his condemnation of wars and of tyranny, 17

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554 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW

and his unorthodox views on many other subjects were naturally unaccep? table to both secular and ecclesiastical authorities. It is scarcely surprising, therefore, that he was eventually dismissed from his post in 1819. Dr Zeil considers these addresses, which were heard by audiences numbering about a thousand, to be Bolzano's most valuable contribution to social and

political thought in the Bohemian 'Pre-March' era. Their influence on his

students, both German and Slav, was deep and lasting. Bolzano's followers included a number of figures prominent in the Czech national movement, but of greater significance for the Sorbs was the fact that for 35 years the Wendish seminary remained under the control and influence of Bolzanists,

beginning with the appointment of Frantisek Pfihonsk^ to the office of

president in 1824. Prihonsky was the first Czech to hold this office and under his guidance and direction the seminary assumed a key position in the Sorbian national awakening. The other Czech patriots whose associa? tion with the seminary contributed to the growth of national consciousness

among its Sorbian members include Josef Dobrovsky and Vaclav Hanka, and Dr Zeil has, appropriately, allotted special sections to his accounts and assessments of their activities. He also deals separately with the students'

society, named 'Serbowka', which was founded by members of the

seminary in 1846. This is a well-proportioned work which deals efficiently and judiciously

with one of the most interesting chapters in the history of Czech-Sorbian cultural relations.

Nottingham Gerald Stone

Manstein, C. H. von. Contemporary Memoirs of Russia from the Tear 1727 to 1744. [Reprint.] Russia through European Eyes, no. 7. Frank Cass & Co., London, 1968. 416 pages. Index.

Christoph Hermann von Manstein (1711-1757) sprang from an old Baltic German noble family. Born in St Petersburg, where his father was in the tsar's service, he received a military education in Berlin and in 1736 was commissioned as an officer in the Russian army. His services in the war against the Tatars and Turks earned him rapid promotion, and in

1739 he became adjutant-general to the commander-in-chief of the Russian

forces, Field-Marshal von Munnich, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. It was in this capacity that, shortly after the death of the empress Anna

Ivanovna, he helped to carry out a coup d'etat whereby the unpopular regent, von Buhren (Biron), was deposed and Munnich assumed the chief role in the government. In November 1741, when Yelizaveta Pet- rovna seized power by another palace revolution, Manstein's political affiliations immediately made him suspect. He forfeited his property and was sent to command a regiment in a remote part of the empire. Three

years later, after various turns of fortune, Manstein decided to resign his

commission, and when his request was rejected left the country without

permission and made his way to Berlin. He was subsequently sentenced to death in absentia by the Russian authorities, and spent the remainder of his

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