SLAVS ON SOUTHERN FARMS. 19 



of the Poles to the north of the Sudet Mountains, reaching;, perhaps, into Moravia. 

 Both races had settled their respective territories before th 1 latter half of the first 

 millenium B. C, and can well be regarded as antochthonous in their countries. 



Historical data concerning the Bohemians begins in the seventh century. At that 

 time their territory included what is now Bavaria. The Slovaks at this time occupied 

 a very large portion of what is to-day Hungary. 



The naturally faA^orable and protected situation of the Bohemians resulted in a rapid 

 and auspicious development of the people, and had it not been for some of its rulers 

 with their foreign sympathies, the nation would have played a greater part among the 

 Slavs and be a different pobitical unit to-day. 



Colonization with Germans of parts of Bohemia and Moravia by these rulers was detri- 

 mental. This Germanization continued until the fourteenth century, when checked 

 by the revulsion of the people under the leadership of John Hus in the Husite wars. 

 As a result of these wars, the Bohemian language again became the official language in 

 Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, a general national rejuvenation following. 



In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries German aggression was again felt, and 

 after the disastrous battle of Bila Hora near Prague in 1620, Bohemian nationality 

 crumbled and was ruined by the repeated destructive invasions of the Thirty Year;? 

 War. Then came further German colonization and more Germanization. 



A century ago it seemed as if the nation was doomed to follow the fate of the Elbe 

 Slavs and become completely germanized. Instead of this, however, a marked and 

 gradually reawakening of the national spirit became manifest and to-day it stands a 

 most cultured and united and productive country. 



In matters of education and general culture there is a marked dif- 

 ference in Europe between the Bohemians and the Slovafe. The 

 percentage of the Bohemians, so Prof. Niederle claims, who can read 

 and write exceed that of even the Germans, and is the highest for 

 any large group of people in Europe. Among the Slovaks, due to 

 adverse local conditions and governmental restrictions placed upon 

 them by both the Austrians and the Magyars, the number who can 

 read and write is possibly as low as 40 per cent. 



As a people, however, the Slovaks have never had a real chance to 

 properly develop themselves or to make any noticeable progress, for 

 what the various European governments have not denied them their 

 religion has. It is a well-known fact, for instance, that among the 

 Protestant Slovaks in Europe the percentage of illiteracy is as low 

 as among the Bohemians. The total number of Slovak Protestants, 

 however, is comparatively very small. This deprivation of equal 

 opportunities in Europe, as haslbeen demonstrated by the Slovaks in 

 Arkansas and in the south-side Virginia counties, does not disbar 

 them in the South as undesirable agricultural settlers, for under 

 proper conditions they make very rapid progress. 



In Europe, it is interesting to know, the Bohemians are engaged, 

 according to occupations, about 43 per cent in agriculture, 37 per cent 

 in industry, 11 per cent in the civil service, and 9 per cent in trans- 

 portation. 



Glancing now just briefly at the cultural side of Bohemian nation- 

 ality, we find that two of their national songs reflect somewhat their 

 character. Austro-Gcrman dominance over the Bohemians prohibited 

 for many years the singing of Hej Slovane, their stirring battle song, 

 and a song which reveals the Bohemian's passionate love of liberty. 

 To-day the inspiring, ringing words of this song may be heard again 

 in Bohemia. The deep sentiment and patriotic response which the 

 singing of this song produces on a Bohemian gathering is impossible 

 to understand until one has heard it sung under the shadows of the 

 ancient Bohemian hills, its high-flung defiance and militant spirit 

 is lost in a mere reading of a translation, but the fullness of its patriot- 



