Bohemia and Poland, though Slavic in blood, are widely separated from Russia in their art. The latter has for many centuries been Roman Catholic in religion, and had attained a high degree of Western culture and refinement when Muscovy was still semi-barbarian. In fact the political rivalry between the eastern and western Slavs, intensified by the difference in religion, led the Poles to look to the west for their friends and their cultural models. Bohemia, too, as early as the thirteenth century, was peculiarly western in its ideals. It possessed the earliest real university, and nurtured the non-secular attitude toward learning which later came to such glorious fruit in France and Germany. Further, the Bohemians were the earliest Protestants and free-thinkers, and showed the most enlightened political aspirations in an age of darkness. So, in spite of blood and language, these two nations show in their art a dominant kinship with Germany. One of the earliest Bohemian folk-songs, _Sirotek_ (‘The Waif’), might almost be taken for a German chorale of the sixteenth century. Other popular songs, like _Wsak nam tak_ (‘The Sweetheart’) and _Dobromyslua husicka_ (‘The Happy Gosling’), are almost Tyrolese in their mellifluous facility. Still another fine song, _Na tech Kolodejskejch_ (‘Vain Regrets’), might in parts be a German children’s song. Again the song, _Pod tim nasim okeneckem_ (‘Under Our Cottage Window’), with its ‘snaps’ and sharp accents, suggest the melodies of Hungary. Thus Bohemia, in her folk-music, shows the influence of her neighbors on all sides, but scarcely a trace of the indigenous Slavic stock. Many of the songs show a high degree of formal perfection, and the sentiment, especially in the tenderer moods, is often deep and moving. Such a lyric as the lullaby, _Hajej muj andilku_, may rank with the best of any land in sheer beauty. If we look among the Bohemian songs for the nationalism that reveals itself in strange scales and irregular rhythm we shall find scarcely a trace of it. The metre and melodic line are always mature and polished. But with our inner ear we may detect, in the best songs, an endearing quality, a sweet lovableness, which speaks with a distinct and national voice.