Page:The future of Bohemia by Seton-Watson (1915).pdf/22

 rássy. The inevitable result has been that the Czechs have wasted many golden opportunities and have been forestalled by other races, notably the Magyars and the Poles. They have allowed themselves to squander time and energy over barren linguistic brawls, to overdo the policy of the mere wrecker and obstructionist, and so to destroy their prestige and reputation for political foresight both at home and abroad. Meanwhile their progress in other fields than politics has been altogether admirable. They have developed a rich and attractive literature, with at least two poets of the front rank, Svatopluk Cech and VrhlickyVrchlický [sic], as well as numerous novelists, dramatists, historians, and men of science. Their system of education is highly efficient, and worthy of the tradition of their own Comenius (Komensky), one of the greatest educationalists of modern times. To-day there are two Universities in Prague, a German and a Czech, the latter with more students than Oxford and Cambridge combined, and some professors of European fame. In Bohemia and Moravia to-day there are practically no illiterates.

In drama the Czechs are also well to the fore. The National Theatre at Prague is one of the best of its kind in Europe; indeed, to many chance visitors the existence of this splendid Slavonic theatre must have been something of a revelation. Still more is this true of music, for which the Czechs are justly celebrated. They and their half-brothers the Slovaks are extra-