Page:The Bohemians (Czechs) In The Present Crisis.djvu/12

 Nor must we lose sight of the fact that Bohemian public opinion was always favorable to England.

English contributions to the science of government and to real democracy cannot be overestimated. Bohemians have always considered Great Britian as one of the representative democracies of the world, and it is a fact that most Bohemian political parties, as one of the planks in their political platforms, have a demand for the introduction of many English constitutional customs, this being especially true of the jury system.

It is not without significance that English philosophy became well known in Bohemia through the efforts of that greatest of living Bohemians, Professor Masaryk, now the leader of the movement for Bohemian independence, and professor in the London University.

John Stuart Mill is one of the most popular political authors known in Bohemia.

All these bonds of sympathy between Bohemia and England could not be wiped out by a declaration of war by the Vienna government against France and England, and it is only natural that such a declaration was met among the Bohemians with indignation and downright horror.

This was especially true of a war against kindred peoples, against the Russians and the Serbians.

During the first Balkan war, nowhere were the victories of the Balkan league more enthusiastically celebrated than in the capital of Bohemia, in Prague.

But the bonds between the Russian and Serbian people and the Bohemians are not merely those that usually exist between nations of the same origin, but they are also due to the fact that the Serbians and Russians, like all Slavic people, are essentially democratic. The present form of government in that respect makes little difference. The Russian muzhik with his mir is about as near a democracy as can be, and we all know that in their attitude, even to those in power, the Russian muzhiks are known for their democratic simplicity.