5 FEBRUARY 1916, Page 13

THE LATE COUNT LUTZOW.

[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 Bun,—May I venture to say a wind about an eminent Bohemian nobleman just deceased, Count Ltitzow ? Ho was well known in London and in these countries generally, and ho did much to make his country and his countrymen known to English- speaking peoples. He was a charming personality, esteemed highly by every one who knew him. A true patriot, a man of broad views and of great literary taste, he helped to make . Bohemia, its cause, its history, and its people, better known to us than but for him would probably be the case. His works are of high historLal and literary merit, and may fairly be regarded as standard_ authorities on the subje3ts dealt - w:th by him in an attractive sty'e. He was a voluminous writer, and among his many works may be mentioned The Story of Prague, The History of Bohemia, The Life and Times of Meeter John Ifus, and -The Hussite Wars. So highly esteemed was he in literary circles in England that after his Ilehester Lectures on the Blitemiait . historians, Oxford gave him the honorary. degree. of. D.Litt., and his own Prague—the famous University founded-by the EMperor Charles -W.—conferred upon-hit' the Ph.D.' degree.

His translation of John Amos , tlYiradi

may also be noticed. He was a member of the Athenaeum (4W,, and among his many tastes was a love of horse-racing. Ho often visited Ireland in that connexion, and was an excellent judge -of horses, having bred some good race-horses. - When at home in his beloved Bohemia he resided at the famous old Chateau de Zampach, situated about as hundred miles from Prague, and there dispensed hospitality with an open hand. I often got invitations to visit him when in Bohemia, but I was -unable to avail myself of the kindness. Only a few days before his lamented death I got a letter from hiM from Territet Montreux. He had to live in Switzerland, as he could not, with his well- known syMpathies with England, return to hiS native land with safety. There he died in exile, deeply and deservedly regretted by every true friend of Bohemia, and by every one who sympa- thizes with • the aspirations of that gifted .people-a-the Czechs. He did more than any man of recent times to make Bohemia and England better known to each other and their peoples acquainted. No one who loves Bohemian literature or who takes an interest in its history can ever be unmindful of what we owe to this genial and gifted nobleman, who, after Bohemia, loved England so much, and, after his own • fellow-countrymen, loved the English-speaking peoples of not only the United Kingdom but the United States, where about four years ago he travelled and lectured before several of the principal Universities. Peace to his ashes ! He, being too old, did not die lighting for tint praying for .his native land's liberation.---I am, Sir, &c., 45 Wellington Band, Dublin. • rt. J. I: