Before the war the average reader did not know where Bohemia was located with respect to Austria-Hungary. That ethnically, there might be a difference between a Čech, Hungarian and an Austrian he suspected, yet it was not wholly clear to him wherein the dissimilarity lay. One could cite countless instances of astonishing naiveté concerning the history of the nations which inhabit central and southeastern Europe. Four years ago a journalist and a writer who served on the western front in the capacity of a war correspondent made the astounding discovery that “the ancient Czech (Bohemian) language still continues to be spoken in Prague.” It would no doubt amuse a Dutchman to read that “Dutch is still spoken in Amsterdam”; yet transpose Dutch for Bohemian and Prague for Amsterdam and the analogy is precise. When one remembers with what fine scorn an American looked down upon that corner of Europe, which in his opinion exhibited altogether too many superfluous boundary dots, one begins to realize what thankless, almost futile task it was to talk to him of the trials, ambitions and triumphs of the Bohemian O’Connells, Emmets, Shelleys, Macauleys and Hallams. With the rest, the Bohemians had to pay the penalty of being thought a small nation. Again there are the Bohemians and bohemians and how to differentiate between the two is still a puzzle to a considerable portion of the public. Are all the Bohemians artists, who “secede from conventionality in life and art”? That even cultured--let us not hope educated--Americans and Englishmen entertain the weird notion that there exists some distant relationship between Bohemians, bohemians and gypsies, is, alas, too true. In the novel _Strathmore_, Louise de la Ramée (Ouida) for instance, asserts quite seriously that gypsies in Bohemia have Slavonic features, that their language is a dialect of the Bohemian and that the “lawless, vagrant, savage race” is a Slavic tribe domiciled in Bohemia. Not a few are misled by the term Czech, thinking it probably signifies a people other than the Bohemians. A New York paper, in enumerating the disaffected races of Austria-Hungary, named the Bohemians _and_ the Czechs. This is precisely like saying Yankees _and_ Americans or Germans _and_ Teutons, for, as informed readers are aware Bohemians and the Czechs are one and the same.[1] [1] The race name of the Slavic inhabitants of Bohemia in the native language is _Čech_ (singular), _Čechové_ (plural). The country is called _Čechy_. _Čech_ is pronounced nearly like Chech (the last ch as in the Scottish loch). The use of the form Czech should be discouraged, inasmuch as it wholly fails to bring out the proper sound. The _Cambridge Modern History_, a distinguished work, adheres consistently to the spelling Č-e-c-h.