The immediate motive for the coup d'etat was the danger
of civil war. A Regent rarely excites loyalty, and a Council of Regency never ; and this particular Council had been most unwise. They had endeavoured to override the voters by arbitrary cancellings of particular elections, they had spent money, principally in jobberies, so lavishly that bankruptcy was in sight, and they had irritated the Austrian party without securing the Russian. The Army, moreover, had been alienated, probably by the jobbing inseparable from the government of a clique, and relations with Bulgaria were strained to the last point possible without war. It was openly said that the family of Karageorgevitch must be called to the throne ; and it is possible that the life of King Alexander, who is, with the exception of his father, the only Obrenovitch alive, may have been in danger. It was felt that to wait another year would be too dangerous, and that the only way was to dismiss every- body, and start fresh with a new holder of the King's authority, a new Ministry, and a new body of representatives. The revo- lution has been welcomed throughout Servia, and has not offended any of the Powers. The Regents, in truth, must have been deeply hated, or a secret which must have been suspected for some hours by at least forty people, the aides-de-camp, captains of the guard, chiefs of the barracks, Dr. Dokitch, and the household, could never have been kept.
