Page:Edvard Beneš – Bohemia's case for independence.pdf/95

Rh and their courage are not small. They would be ashamed by their silence to let the world believe that they approve of this injustice, or that they dare not make their protest against it because of its underlying power.

"Their name must go down to history untarnished. They must and will remain faithful to the spirit of their ancestors, who were the first in Europe to proclaim the principle of freedom of conscience, and who in the face of an enemy superior in numbers, have fought to the point of exhaustion."

Such is the true Czech spirit and tradition, unchanging and undying. The national spirit of the Czecho-Slovaks is as free and as democratic as that of the British nation, which has succeeded after many constitutional struggles in gaining self-government and individual freedom.