Similar scenes took place in the historical Old Town Square, around the splendid monument of John Hus, that three years before had had to be unveiled by stealth. Men, women, and children felt that the noble past of which Czechs have always been so proud, was come again. Pride swelled their hearts, too, that all that they were gaining had come to them through efforts and sacrifices of their own, so great that the world had been forced to recognize and admire. On the following day the Slovak delegates were received officially, thus uniting the two branches of the Czecho-Slovak nation. The first act of the new state was to declare a republican form of Government with Thomas Garigue Masaryk as President. President Masaryk was to take up his official residence in the immense royal palace so long deserted. Carpenters and others were busy modernizing it. This palace had lived through unusual vicissitudes of fortune. Already in the tenth century, a stone fortified palace stood there, but it was not until the reign of Bohemia's beloved King Charles I that it assumed something of its present form, being modeled by him after the Louvre of Paris. It was enlarged by King Vladislav, the principal hall being named after him. In Rudolph's time other Halls were added. After the defeat of the White Mountain, when Bohemia lost her independence, it no longer served as a royal residence, and was practically deserted. In 1757, it was bombarded, to be rebuilt and enlarged by Empress Maria Theresa. And now the greatest change of all: it was to be the home of the President of a thoroughly democratic state. Many days following were festal days. People flocked to the churches, particularly to the Cathedral of St. Vitus, which is one of the great works of King Charles. While the young people looked forward to the future, the old recalled the past. "Ah, how King Charles in his heavenly home will rejoice," one bent old woman, supported on crutches, murmured. "And saintly Vaclav, too," scarcely breathed another so emaciated that she looked like a moving shadow. "He'll be proud now that Bohemia is called after him the Realm of St. Vaclav. Ah, I must see once more those precious relics we have kept of him." With difficulty she made her way to the Cathedral where St. Vaclav's helmet, sword, and coat of mail have been religiously preserved. Jozef's godfather sent him several picture postcards reminding him of Jozef's hero, King Charles. One represented the historic stone bridge, which Charles had had built with such care that he did not live to see it finished. On this card he wrote: "All the statues on the bridge have a dazed expression. I wonder what they think of the change." Another card was of the old walls of Praha, working on which through the King's care saved a thousand men from starving in a time of famine.