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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



classes became communicants of the Eastern 

 Orthodox Church, the ritual of which in each 

 country of its faith was always celebrated in 

 the vernacular of the people. When after- 

 ward they changed to Roman Catholics, Latin 

 in church services superseded the Cyrillic 

 alphabet and the old Slavic ritual. 



The Czech language, thus excluded from the 

 Church by Latin and from society by German, 

 became the peculiar heritage of the common 

 people. As long as Bohemia was an inde- 

 pendent State, neither persuasion nor persecu- 

 tion could force them to give it up. 



After Bohemia became an Austrian province, 

 all obtainable Czech books and manuscripts 

 were burned and the use of Czech in writing 

 or in schools was prohibited under heavy pen- 

 alties. But the Czech persisted in his pas- 

 sionate devotion to his mother tongue. Lan- 

 guage and nation became synonymous, both 

 denoted by the same word, jazyk. The lan- 

 guage kept the nation alive and saved it from 

 absorption. Meanwhile it produced such 

 wealth of early poetry as is found among no 

 other Slavs. 



The political existence of the Czechs re- 

 sembled in striking degree that of their racial 

 kindred, the Poles. In both there was found 

 a strong, sound, patriotic common people. In 

 both there was the same vacillating royalty, 

 eventually elective, and above people and king 

 a turbulent, over-rich nobility, the patriotism 

 of which seemed usually subordinate to class 

 or personal interest. But the humbler Czechs 

 were of more independent spirit, less easily 

 cowed, and sometimes able to force the nobles 

 to follow instead of lead. 



Czech romance finds expression in its grand- 

 est figure, John Huss ; in the blind, unconquer- 

 able leader of Zizka ; in the stirring, futile hero- 

 isms of the Hussite wars; in Comenius, one of 

 the foremost educators of history, author of 

 "The Visible World," the first illustrated book 

 for children, and even in its militant University 

 of Prague, the most venerable school of learn- 

 ing in Central Europe. 



The evil genius of the Czechs was long the 

 House of Hapsburg. Though afterward nomi- 

 nally existent, their kingdom was submerged 

 at the battle of White Mountain in 1620, only 

 its name surviving among the titles of the Au- 

 strian Emperor. 



The royal history of Bohemia twice touches 

 England in an interesting way. From the Bo- 

 hemian King, Ferdinand, who lost his throne 

 at White Mountain, was descended George I, 

 the first English sovereign of the House of 

 Hanover. The crest of the Prince of Wales 

 with its three feathers and motto, "Ich Dien," 

 was formerly borne by the Bohemian kings. 

 After the great victory of Crecy in 1346, it was 

 picked up by Edward the Black Prince near 

 the body of the blind Bohemian king John, 

 who had fallen in the battle, and has ever 

 since been the crest of the heir to the English 

 crown. 



In the former kingdom of Bohemia there 

 are about 7,000,000 inhabitants, nearly four- 



fifths of whom are Czechs, and the remainder 

 mostly Germans. Many other Czechs live in 

 Austrian and Prussian Silesia, among the Mo- 

 ravians and Slovaks, and in the United States. 



The recent exploits, of the Czecho-Slovaks in 

 Siberia, Russia, France, and Italy won the ad- 

 miration of the world and were no small factor 

 in gaining from the Entente Allies the recog- 

 nition of Czecho-Slovakia as an independent 

 State. 



THE MORAVIANS 



The Moravians, centered on the Morava, 

 occupy a plateau of the size of Massachusetts, 

 south of the Czechs and Slovaks, whom they 

 much resemble. They were Christianized by 

 Saint Methodius. In the ninth century their 

 kingdom, which reached the Oder and the 

 Drave, was overwhelmed by the Magyars. 



Disciples of John Huss founded the Mora- 

 vian Brethren, long a religious force in Bohe- 

 mia and Poland. Almost destroyed in the 

 Thirty Years War, the few survivors took 

 refuge in Saxony. Persecuted there, many 

 emigrated to Georgia, in America. John Wes- 

 ley came in contact with them, and their ex- 

 emplary, persuasive influence resulted in his 

 conversion and that of his brother Charles. 

 They were the first to insist on the conversion 

 of the heathen as the duty of the Church. Since 

 then they have been foremost in missionary 

 labors. In Moravia the Brethren have almost 

 disappeared. All but four per cent of the 

 1,700,000 Moravians are Roman Catholics. In- 

 dustrious, enterprising, intelligent, lovers of 

 liberty, they were always restless under Aus- 

 trian rule and deserve the freedom that now 

 seems theirs. 



THE SLOVAKS 



The Slovaks are mostly found in the north- 

 ern provinces of Hungary. On the east they 

 mingle with the Ruthenians and on the west 

 with the Czechs, on whom they are wont to 

 depend. They are a peaceful, primitive people. 

 Having no national church, never having 

 known independence until 1918, they inherit 

 few traditions, but many popular songs. Their 

 nobles are completely magyarized. 



Until recently, Slovak merchants and the 

 middle class generally wished to be taken for 

 Germans. But the people have always resisted 

 foreign control. Despite its sharp division into 

 dialects, they have always cherished their lan- 

 guage, their sole bond of union. The Magyars 

 treat them with brutal contempt. Many have 

 emigrated to the United States. Altogether 

 they number about 2,500,000. 



During the last fifty years there has been a 

 marked awakening in education and national 

 feeling. No longer indifferent to foreign domi- 

 nation, they enter upon a national existence of 

 their own. 



THE RUTHENIANS 



Ruthenian, meaning Russian, was the name 

 given by the Austrians to such of their sub- 



