ve lessons for us. These are the conditions, as Mr.
Nan Mashek, himself a Bohemian, states them:[65]

[Sidenote: John Huss and Jerome of Prague]

"For two hundred and fifty years they have been oppressed by a
pitilessly despotic rule. In the day of their independence, before 1620,
they were Protestants, and the most glorious and memorable events of
their history are connected with their struggle for the faith. The
history of their Church is the history of their nation, for on the one
hand was Protestantism and independence, on the other, Catholicism and
political subjection. For two centuries Bohemia was a bloody
battleground of Protestant reform. Under the spiritual and military
leadership of such men as Jerome of Prague, John Huss, and Ziska, the
Bohemians fought their good fight and lost. After the battle of White
Mountains, in 1620, national independence was completely lost, and
Catholicism was forcibly imposed upon the country. All Protestant
Bibles, books, and songs were burned, thus depriving the nation of a
large and rich literature. Those who still clung to their faith publicly
were banished, their property becoming forfeited to the state. After 150
years, when Emperor Joseph II. of Austria gave back to the Protestants
some measure of their former freedom, many of the churches were
reestablished; but Protestantism had lost much of its strength. The
political revolution of 1848 led to new subjugation, and emigration was
the result. Large numbers left the country in quest of freedom, and some
of these found their way to America."

[Sidenote: Farmer Settlers in the West]

The first Bohemian settlers were of the most intelligent and more
prosperous classes. They went West, chiefly to Wisconsin, where their
farms are among the finest in the state. In Kewaunee County they
constitute over one third of the population, or 6,000 out of 17,000.
They have developed into an excellent type of American citizenship, have
looked well after the education of their children, many of whom have
gone to college, and are in every way progressive. Read thoughtfully
what Mr. Mashek says:

[Sidenote: Easy Assimilation Through Religion]

"In the country the assimilation of Bohemians is not a problem which
offers difficulties. The public school is everywhere so potent an
Americanizer that it alone is adequate. There is, however, one other
influence which if brought to bear, especially in the large communities,
would be helpful. _I r