The Morning Post of Tuesday published a further exception- ally
interesting letter (dated December 7th) which had been received by the London correspondent of an Hungarian news- paper from a friend at Budapest. The news of the great Serbian victory over the Austrians had not yet been officially made known, much less was its extent appreciated, yet the letter makes it plain that the shock to public feeling at Vienna and Budapest was already extraordinarily severe. The public had been told that the Serbian Army need no longer be seriously considered. When the bad news began to be whispered the Viennese—such is the difference of character between the two races—" looked for consolation to the sky," while the mob at Budapest broke into hostile demonstrations against the Austrian General Potiorek. To be beaten by the Serbians, says the writer of the letter, is more than the people can endure. They would not have been enraged if the Russians had beaten them again, but they feel that the Serbian victory makes them ridiculous—which is worse than being beaten. Every Hungarian newspaper blames the German General Staff, which is said to draw off Austro-Hungarian troops for its own purposes, and generally to use Austria-Hungary as a cat's-paw. The Budapest mob "wants peace, and will not rest till it is in sight."
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