25 JUNE 1887, Page 3

A rumour gathers strength in Vienna that the King of

Servia, who is distracted with troubles, political and domestic, intends to abdicate. He has taken a holiday to drink the waters at an Austrian bathing-place, and it is asserted that he will never return. We doubt the story. King Milan's defeat by Prince Alexander shook his throne to an extent hardly recog- nised in the West ; but his abdication would be followed by an explosion in favour of the Russian candidate, Karageorgevitch, and consequently an Austrian occupation of Belgrade. The Hapeburgs will strain every nerve to avoid such a necessity, and King Milan is not the man to resist that kind of pressure. He will, we believe, go back, unless satisfied that his life is in danger.