at Petersburg. He was told in answer that that society had as patron no less a person than His Imperial Majesty the Czar; had His Holiness the Patriarch realized this fact when he made his complaint? His Holiness would do well to look after his own diocese.[1]
Another point to be mentioned is one that affects Catholics. It is the influence of Austria-Hungary. The Emperor of Austria is throughout the Balkans looked upon as the protector of the Catholics, and the Catholic cause is identified with that of Austria—or rather of Hungary, for it is as King of Hungary that Francis Joseph II is chiefly concerned. This fact is a disastrous one for us. For a long time two great lords overshadowed these lands, the Czar as protector of the Orthodox, and the Emperor-King as chief of the Catholics. The issue is no longer quite so simple. Formerly all Slavs looked to Russia. They all dream of a great Slav Empire, for in no man's breast does the sacred fire of national feeling burn with so clear a flame as in that of a Slav. They used to look to incorporation with Russia as the realization of that dream. But the myth of the Czar-liberator is pretty well exploded now. It flourished luxuriantly till he began to liberate; now he is such a perfect terror to those he has set free (the Georgians and Armenians, for instance) that they look back to the gentle Turk with tears of affectionate regret. And the Catholic Slavs (Czechs, Croats, &c.) always have the wholesome example of Poland before their eyes. The hope of all of them is now rather a union of independent Slav States in the closest alliance. But the great obstacle to all such dreams of Panslavism is the Dual Monarchy; and so the Balkan Slavs hate and dread this great neighbour. Not far off across the Save are the Croats who sit under the crown of St. Stephen; absolutely the only difference between a Croat and a Serb is, that the Croat is Catholic and uses the Latin alphabet, the Serb is Orthodox and writes exactly the same language in Cyrillic letters. And no two races ever yet hated each other as the Serbs and Croats do. So to ask a Serb to become a Catholic is like asking him to turn Croat, look to Austria-Hungary for protection, and give up the
- ↑ Echos d'Orient, iv. p. 205.
