But though we admire Russia for her action, and as
friends of the Slav nationalities hold that she was perfectly right, we cannot, if we are to be perfectly frank, pretend that the final result will be peaceful. Austria-Hungary in her present frame of mind is sure to regard the championship of the Slav cause by Russia with suspicion, and the more chivalrous that championship is the greater will ultimately be the alarm of the statesmen of Austria-Hungary. They would far rather deal with a cynical and selfish than with a Slavophil Russia. To put the matter in another way. The twenty-six million Slays in the Hapsburg dominions would have Been with consternation the Slave of the Balkans cutting each other's throats. They will therefore greatly honour Russia for her unselfish intervention and for her vindication of Slav solidarity. But this is the last thing which the statesmen of Vienna want to see happen. They have, however, no one but themselves to thank for the position into which the Government of Vienna has been gradually drifting—the position of an anti-Slav Power. We have no pleasure in recording this fact, for we are no enemies of Austria-Hungary, but very much the reverse; but a fact it is, and one which must be faced.
