SERVIA, AUSTRIA, TURKEY, AND RUSSIA. 169 



in the Balkan Peninsula, and would certainly be followed by decisive 

 events. 



Russia has long dissembled her displeasure at the independence of 

 Servia. She knows perfectly well that Servia is her only dangerous rival 

 in the Balkan Peninsula. She has always tried, since the beginning of 

 the century, when she forced Kara-Georgevics out of the country, 

 and hottnded on the Turks to invasion, to keep Servia under her 

 power. 



The charge made against Servia by Russia is, that she has sold 

 herself to Austria, and that King Milan was a pensioner of the 

 Austrian Empire ; but such a charge comes with a bad grace from 

 Russian lips. 



We all know that Montenegro is an ally of Russia, and that Prince 

 Nicholas is much indebted to her sympathy and support. If, there- 

 fore. Prince Nicholas of Montenegro has allied himself to Russia, 

 why is King Milan unworthy to reign because he has allied himself 

 to Austria ? But the charge is false, for King Milan, it is believed, is 

 wealthy, and is independent of either Austria or Russia. 



The real cause of Russia's sorrow and hate is not that King 

 Milan allied himself to the Emperor of Austria, but that he was 

 not an ally of the Czar of Russia. 



The dynasty of Obrenovitch has twice been proclaimed the here- 

 ditary ruling House of Servia. This has never been the case with 

 the Kara-Georgevics family, and if the Servians were polled as to 

 which dynasty they would have to rule over them, Kara-Georgevitch 

 or Obrenovitch, they would, almost to a man, vote for the dynasty of 

 Obrenovitch. 



Every step in Servian progress is connected with the Obrenovitch 

 dynasty. The liberation of the country from the Turks, the 

 evacuation of Belgrade and other fortresses by the Ottoman troops, 

 the independence of the country, the extension of its territory, the 

 making of its railways, all of these are the beneficent results of the 

 Obrenovitch rule. 



If we turn to the other side of the picture, and ask what the 

 Kara-Georgevics family have done for Servia, we find that Black 

 George, the only great man that family ever produced, deserted his 

 country in the hour of danger in 1812, and thus sacrificed every 

 claim he had upon her gratitude. 



Can Servia therefore look forward to the restoration of the Kara- 

 Georgevics dynasty, even though the present Pretender is a son-in- 

 law of Prince Nicholas, and an ally of Russia ? 



