applied to the whole of Bohemia
and Moravia, and meant that Czech would henceforward have a position within
the government service. It was another step in the same direction when, in
1886, it was ordered that "to avoid frequent translations" business
introduced in Czech should be dealt with in the same language in the high
courts of Prague and Bruenn. Then not only were a large number of Czech
elementary schools founded, but also many middle schools were given to the
Czechs, and Czech classes introduced in German schools; and, what affected
the Germans most, in 1882 classes in Czech were started in the university
of Prague--a desecration, as it seemed, of the oldest German university.

The growth of the Slav races was, however, not merely the result of
government assistance; it had begun long before Taaffe assumed office; it
was to be seen in the census returns and in the results of elections.
Prague was no longer the German city it had been fifty years before; the
census of 1880 showed 36,000 Germans to 120,000 Czechs. It was the same in
Pilsen. In 1861 the Germans had a majority in this town; in 1880 they were
not a quarter of the population. This same phenomenon, which occurs
elsewhere, cannot be attributed to any laxity of the Germans. The
generation which was so vigorously demanding national rights had themselves
all been brought up under the old system in German schools, but this had
not implanted in them a desire to become German. It was partly due to
economic causes--the greater increase among the Czechs, and the greater
migration from the country to the towns; partly the result of the romantic
and nationalist movement which had arisen about 1830, and partly the result
of establishing popular education and parliamentary government at the same
time. As soon as these races which had so long been ruled by the Germans
received political liberty and the means of education, they naturally used
both to reassert their national individuality.

It may be suggested that the resistance to the German language is to some
extent a result of the increased national feeling among the Germans
themselves. They have made it a matter of principle. In the old days it was
common for the children of German parents in Bohemia to learn Czech; since
1867 this has ceased to be the case. It may almost be said that they make
it a point of honour not to do so. A result of this is that, as educated
Czechs are generally bilingual, it is easier f