Chapter X: Part III: Servia

XII THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN SERVIA

To understand the situation in Servia it is necessary to know a little of the history of that interesting country, which is always furnishing a sensation for Europe, and the story of the feud between two peasant families, which has been the cause of most of the trouble. At the beginning of the last century Servia was a Turkish province and was governed by a just and humane pasha named Hadji Mustapha. He was not only popular, but was beloved by his Christian subjects, and the land was peaceful and prosperous. The Janizaries, however, did not approve of his liberal policy or his efforts to protect the inhabitants against their extortions and cruelties, so they shut him up in the citadel and put him to death. They explained to the Sultan that he had been untrue to the Turks and was a friend of the Christians. The Janizaries had their own way for four or five years, and, fearing an uprising of the people, decided to murder every man who could possibly be looked upon as a leader. Thousands were massacred; every town and village in Servia flowed with blood. Among those who escaped to the mountains was a swineherd named George Petrovitch (George, the son of Peter), better known to history by his nickname, Kara (Black) George, because of his dark complexion and raven hair. He is the greatest hero of Servian history, and to him his country owes its independence from the Turks.

He was a very able man and generally respected, but was absolutely illiterate, being unable to read or write, and could not even sign his name. When he became king he used a peculiar cipher or rubric to show his approval of state papers. But he had natural intelligence and sagacity. His integrity was never questioned and his sense of justice was Spartan. He allowed his own brother to suffer the death penalty as an example to others for defying the authority of the government. While King of Servia he wore the ordinary peasant’s garb, because he said it was more appropriate to his ignorance and simple character than a crown and robe of state, and he lived with the same frugality as when he was tending his pigs in the mountains, often cooking his own meals in the palace kitchen.

Karageorge drove out the Turks and organized a liberal monarchy in Servia. Keenly appreciating his own deficiencies, the first thing he did was to establish a free public school system in every province, with a university at Belgrade. He introduced courts of justice, reduced taxation, punished corruption, suppressed vice and organized the different branches of the government with the skill of an experienced statesman; but the people were not able to advance at his rapid pace and he suffered the fate of many men who have been ahead of their generation. His enemies encompassed him about, and his critics interfered with his plans for the improvement of the country. In a fit of anger and indignation because the public would not sustain his reforms, he abdicated the crown after a reign of nine years. He was the founder of the Karageorgovitch family, which is one of the parties to a perpetual feud for the control of Servia.

His rival, the founder of the other faction, was also a peasant, the son of a house-servant, a man who did menial work about the castle of an aristocratic family named Obren. His father was called Tescho, but, as is common among the Balkan peasants, he had no family name, and when he became conspicuous enough to need one he adopted that of his master, and the founder of the present reigning house of Servia became known as Milos Obren. When Karageorge abdicated, Milos was the most influential man left in the city of Belgrade, and the Turkish pasha who invaded the country and captured the city appointed him governor of the province. This honor excited his ambition and jealousy, and, fearing a popular movement to recall Karageorge to the throne, he betrayed him to the Turkish pasha, and, in obedience to the latter’s orders, willingly hired a professional assassin named Vuica to murder his unsuspecting rival while asleep in the shepherd’s hut he occupied in the mountains. Thus began the feud between the descendants of the two men, which continues to the present day, and the history of Servia is little more than a recital of the rivalries between the Obrenovitch and the Karageorgovitch families. Milos finally succeeded in reaching the throne, and, being a man of very different disposition from Karageorge, ruled as an autocrat until he was compelled to abdicate by an outraged people, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Milan III., who died a month later, when his brother Michael was seated.

Michael made a good king. He was liberal, just, progressive, and introduced many modern improvements into Servia, besides carrying on the reforms begun by Karageorge. He built a fine system of roads and highways, erected several good public buildings, laid out parks, built an opera-house and an art gallery, all of which were excellent things in their way, but cost money. The peasants, who have always ruled Servia, objected to what they called “German ideas” and drove Michael from power, electing as king in his place Alexander Karageorgovitch, a son of the national hero. The latter had held an humble position in the Servian army, was modest, quiet and reserved. In an unostentatious way he continued the policy of public improvements begun by Michael, encouraging the arts and industries. During his reign Servia enjoyed peace for several years and made rapid progress, but the dissatisfied element soon began agitations again, and, encouraged by the partisans of the Obrenovitch family, obtained control of the parliament, which demanded Alexander’s abdication, and called back old Milos, who had been in exile in Austria. He reigned for two years, until he died, and it was good for the country that his life was not prolonged, for he labored under the delusion that his recall was a vindication of his previous autocratic policy, and his rule was worse than before.

Upon the death of Milos, Michael again came into power. During his exile he had traveled much, had studied the art of government in several of the European capitals, had learned foreign languages and foreign affairs, and this education and observation, with his natural abilities, made him a safe and prudent sovereign. He was altogether the best ruler Servia has ever had; but there were continual conspiracies against him by partisans of the Karageorge family, and, being unable to control the parliament, they removed Michael by assassination. He was murdered in the garden of his country palace. It was the intention of the conspirators to proclaim Peter Karageorgovitch as king simultaneously with the announcement of Michael’s death, but their carriage broke down on their way back to Belgrade and the news of their crime preceded them. The minister of war took prompt action, arrested the assassins and locked them up in the dungeons of the citadel. The plot proved to be widespread. Several members of the Karageorge family were convicted of complicity and put to death, but there was no direct evidence against Peter, who then, as now, was living quietly at Lucerne, Switzerland, engaged in scientific pursuits. His late wife, Zorka, was a daughter of the reigning Prince of Montenegro, and he has two sons in the Russian army. He is now an old man, but, like Don Carlos of Spain and the Duke of Orleans of France, is a recognized “pretender,” and his name is always used by the “outs” as a shibboleth when they are trying to raise a revolution.

The national assembly placed Milan IV. on the throne, and in 1869 he was crowned. While getting his education in Paris he had acquired habits of luxury, gambling and dissipation, which unfitted him for the responsibility of ruling a primitive and a restless country like Servia. His love of pleasure, his low tastes, reckless extravagance and selfish disposition were his ruin. He squandered the nation’s money and lost his private fortune at cards. His wife, Natalie Keskho, daughter of a colonel in the Russian army, was compelled to leave him and was finally granted a divorce. Their domestic troubles and the scandals of the Servian court for a dozen years during the reign of Milan furnished gossip for all Europe. Finally, enervated by dissipation and despised by his subjects and all decent people, he abdicated in 1889 in favor of his son Alexander, a lad of thirteen, who is now king of Servia.

This precocious youth, when not more than fifteen years old, fell under the fascinations of Mme. Draga Maschin, who had been a lady-in-waiting to his mother. She is an ambitious and brilliant woman, gifted with considerable beauty, and the daughter of a cattle-dealer in Belgrade named Lunjevitza. When only seventeen years of age she married Colonel Maschin, an engineer in the Servian army, who obtained a divorce from her because of her scandalous relations with the young king, which began when he was a mere boy, and since that time she has resided in the palace and has absolutely controlled him. The Dowager Queen Natalie again and again attempted to bring the lad to his senses and break off the relations, but Mme. Draga had more influence than the mother, and actually compelled the latter to leave the palace and the Kingdom of Servia. Natalie is now residing at Biarritz, very much respected and beloved by many people, although she made herself very unhappy and excited much hostility among the Servian politicians by her sympathy with Russia, and her desire to bring Servia within the Russian influence. Whatever may have been said of her political imprudence, her character has never been questioned.

Draga was ambitious to share the throne with her youthful lover, although she was nearly twice his age, but her high aspirations were stubbornly opposed by the ministers of state and the leading politicians of Servia. After the abdication of his father, Prince Alexander, during his minority, ruled the country through three regents, all venerable and patriotic men, but it became necessary for Draga to get rid of them for her own safety and the success of her schemes. She found the young king a willing tool, and one night, when he was only seventeen years old, he invited the regents to the palace, and while they sat at dinner they were arrested upon a charge of treason and thrown into prison, while he proclaimed himself king. This _coup d’état_ was successful, for the army admired the audacity of the youngster and sustained him. He has since married his mistress, and she remains as influential as ever, the most interesting and conspicuous figure in Servian politics.

King Alexander is a degenerate, and his brief career is disgusting. He looks as if he had escaped from an asylum for the depraved, but is by no means feeble of mind or body. On the contrary, he has a vigorous constitution, and on two or three occasions has shown a nerve and power of command which would do credit to a great general. Unfortunately he has inherited some of the depravity of his father, the late King Milan, who was probably the worst ruler Europe has seen for a generation, but at the same time the son possesses a physical and moral courage that Milan never displayed.

Draga Maschin, the daughter of the Servian cattle-dealer, reached the throne by a series of sacrifices and intrigues more sensational than have ever occurred outside of fictional literature; and yet she is not happy, because for their sins both she and her youthful husband are boycotted by all the courts of Europe. Queen Victoria was so disgusted at the vulgar comedy enacted at Belgrade that she wanted to emphasize her disapproval by withdrawing the British minister. There have been a good many scandals in royal families, and some exist at the present time, which would make an interesting chapter, but there has been nothing for generations so nasty as that of Servia. As a consequence the royal couple have not been recognized in any way by other royal houses, much to the chagrin and disappointment of Queen Draga.

The latest political crisis in Servia was due to the lack of a baby. The country was excited by intrigues attending the selection of an heir to the throne. Our guide sagaciously observed that “some people complain of having too many children, but this is the first time I ever heard of national politics being disturbed by the lack of one.” Servia is a little country, but is an important factor in European politics, being one of the “buffer states” between Russia and the port on the Mediterranean which the Czar covets. Austrian influence is stronger than Russian, yet there is a Russian party which also represents the interest of a family whose ancestors once occupied the throne, and are all the time suspected of being engaged in a conspiracy to recover power. These conspiracies have been more frequent than ever of late years, and the field for intrigue is the more fertile because Queen Draga has not furnished an heir to the crown, and the doctors say that she is not likely to do so. It therefore becomes necessary to select a successor to King Alexander in order to avoid revolution if he should suddenly die or be driven from the palace. By selecting the heir-apparent in advance, future conspiracies may be avoided; but the political interests of a great part of the European continent are directly involved in the selection, and the question is, Shall Russia name the man?

Negotiations were conducted for several years between the Servian minister of foreign affairs and Count Lamsdorff, the head of the foreign office at St. Petersburg, for a visit to the Czar, which is the height of the ambition of both King Alexander and his Queen, and a matter of political importance for the Russians. This involved the political control of Servia, and the nomination of an heir to the Servian throne. Although Queen Draga had other plans, and desired her brother, a young lieutenant in the Servian army, to be proclaimed heir-apparent, she was willing to sacrifice him and all the rest of her relations if the Empress Alix would receive her. But the latter, who is a good woman, absolutely refused to do so, and even declined to answer a letter which Queen Draga wrote, imploring her kindly consideration. It is said that she threw the letter indignantly into the fire before reading it, as soon as she discovered whom it was from.

It is one of the open secrets of the Servian court that Queen Draga proposed that if the Emperor and Empress of Russia would receive her husband and herself at their country palace near Odessa, King Alexander would nominate, as his successor on the Servian throne, Prince Mirko, son of Prince Nicholas of Montenegro, and brother of Helena, Queen of Italy. The royal family of Montenegro have very close relations with the Russians, and are always educated at St. Petersburg. Prince Mirko is a great favorite with the widow dowager Czarina, and spent several years of his childhood in her family, developing a remarkable taste for music. He is such a clever composer that his music is played by all the Russian military bands, and is equally popular in Italy. He is a good-looking lad of twenty-one, of stalwart figure and athletic habits. His life has been very different from that of the depraved young King of Servia; in fact, all the members of the family of Montenegrins have been admirably brought up and are persons of cultivation and refinement.

Two of his sisters, who were also educated under the direction of the dowager Czarina, have married members of the Russian imperial family, and their dowry was provided by the late Czar. Danilo, crown prince of Montenegro, married a daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and is, therefore, a brother-in-law of the Grand Duke Vladimir, who gave him a million rubles to start housekeeping. Thus the interest of the Russian imperial family, as well as the ministers of state, was excited by the prospect of securing a throne for young Mirko, and the Servians realized that such an inducement would have great weight with the Czarina Alix and might possibly persuade her to consent to receive a woman with even so bad a record as Queen Draga.

The Italian interest in the appointment of Mirko was equally great. Queen Helena was an active participant in the negotiations with Servia for Mirko’s nomination. The Servians do not care so much for Italy as for Russia. Queen Draga did not care whether the Queen of Italy received her or not, but of course appreciated that Queen Helena might exert some influence upon the Czarina.

There was still another and very important political phase to the negotiations. Peter Karageorgovitch, the “pretender” to the Servian throne, married a sister of Mirko, the eldest daughter of Prince Nicholas, and, although she died in 1887, he is still considered a member of the Montenegrin family, and the relations between his sons and their uncles and aunts in Montenegro are very cordial. Two of these sons are now at a military school at St. Petersburg, and a third is in the Russian army. It might be that Peter would renounce formally all pretensions on the part of himself and the Karageorgovitch family to the throne of Servia if his brother-in-law, Mirko, were proclaimed heir-apparent. This would be a great advantage to Servia, and would do more than any other one thing to put an end to the conspiracies and political agitations which have distracted this country.

King Alexander, as well as Queen Draga, will have to swallow a good deal of chagrin if Mirko is selected, for that depraved sovereign received a most humiliating snub from the lovely Princess Xenia, the fourth daughter of Prince Nicholas, which he cannot have forgotten. Before his marriage with Draga Maschin, the boy king agreed to yield to the importunities of his ministers and seek a wife elsewhere, and there was some correspondence concerning an alliance with the royal family of Montenegro. King Alexander made a visit to Cetinje, the Montenegrin capital, to become acquainted with the young lady who was recommended as a suitable bride, but when the Princess Xenia saw him she was so disgusted with his appearance and manners that she refused to sit at the same dinner-table or receive any attention whatever from him, and Alexander had to be told that his suit would not be successful. He left Cetinje in a state of furious indignation, and when he returned to his capital he dismissed from office and banished from the country all the members of his cabinet who had advised him to go there, and married Draga Maschin forthwith.

There was a sensational scene at the palace when Queen Draga’s plan to proclaim her brother as heir-apparent was disclosed. He is said to be a reputable young fellow and a good soldier, about twenty-four years of age, but he has no claims upon the throne, and nobody wanted him except his sister, who, the people think, has already received more consideration than she is entitled to. His name is Nikodem Lunjevitza. At first nobody believed the story that floated out of some mysterious quarter, that Alexander intended to adopt his brother-in-law as a son and name him as the future king of Servia, because it was so audacious as to be incredible, but within a few days the confirmation was abundant. The king expressed his intention to three or four different persons. Then the ministry took up the matter and decided, after long and serious consultation, that it would be an act of duty and patriotism to immediately check the ambition of their queen. Therefore, the entire cabinet, with Mr. Vuitsch, the prime minister, at their head, called at the palace at an unusual hour and asked for an audience. Alexander must have suspected the purpose of their visit, for, after keeping them waiting for fifteen or twenty minutes, he appeared in the full uniform of the commander-in-chief of the Servian army, with his wife upon his arm. Advancing a few steps from the entrance, the royal couple stood arm-in-arm, with a defiant air, while the eight ministers arose and saluted them. Mr. Vuitsch, in a conciliatory way, suggested that as they desired to consult the king upon a matter of importance to the state, the presence of Her Majesty was not necessary. But Alexander had evidently been through a rehearsal, for he replied firmly and without hesitation:

“The Queen of Servia is interested as much as myself in all affairs of state.”

The prime minister bowed in acquiescence and proceeded to say that disquieting rumors concerning the selection of an heir to the throne had been in circulation for several days, and had reached the ears of the cabinet from unofficial sources. No notice had been taken of them until they had been confirmed by persons who were in the confidence of His Majesty more than his own cabinet and lawful advisers. Therefore they deemed it their duty to enter a remonstrance and to remind him that the _Skupshtina_, which was about to assemble, under the constitution must be consulted, and their approval obtained before the proclamation of an heir-apparent could be formally made. He was confident, the premier said, that a majority of that body, which was Radical in sentiment, would never agree to the choice His Majesty had made, and, with the history of Servia so familiar in his mind, His Majesty must recognize the danger to himself and to the country of a difference with his parliament upon so important a subject as the selection of his successor. He, therefore, begged that, before any formal steps were taken, the leaders of the parliament should be consulted.

Alexander here interrupted, and shouted in an excited manner: “I shall carry out my will.”

“The will of the people must also be considered,” answered the prime minister firmly.

Queen Draga, who seemed perfectly cool in contrast to the agitation of her husband, motioned to the latter to be silent, and said, “The will of the monarch is the more important,” then, whirling the king around, she almost dragged him to the door, and the royal couple left the audience-chamber without the usual formalities. The cabinet exchanged glances and retired. Within a few days they took occasion to have the leader of the Radical majority in the parliament send a message to the queen by a person who would be sure to deliver it correctly, that her plan to name her brother as heir to the throne would never be agreed to, and admonished her that her own safety required her to relinquish it.

There have been frequent attempts to assassinate the queen, and at one time a story was circulated that she had committed suicide. It is believed to have originated with her enemies to cover a failure at assassination. She is extremely unpopular, and her vindictiveness has incited a personal hostility and provoked attempts upon her life. Alexander is a mere puppet in her hands. He does nothing without her approval. She is actually the head of the Servian government.

XIII THE CAPITAL OF SERVIA

The train rolled into a fine large station at ten o’clock on a beautiful night in October, 1901, when we had an opportunity to observe how things are managed in a hotbed of revolutions, for in Servia there is more politics than in Kansas or Nebraska, and the “ins” are always afraid the “outs” are going to raise a rumpus. As a consequence, the country is often compared to a volcano, and the government officials are very cautious about admitting strangers and political exiles into the capital.

An hour or so before we entered the Servian boundaries from Budapest, an officer in a dizzy uniform of scarlet and gold braid collected our passports, and asked a series of questions concerning our residences, birthplaces, religion, professions and “stations in life,” which we answered with accuracy and patience. Then, shortly before we arrived at Belgrade, he returned the documents with the most polite compliments. Alighting from the car, we followed the crowd into a sort of chute upon the station platform, like those used for cattle in stock-yards, at the end of which two more officers stood, and again demanded our passports and railway tickets. Having complied, we passed on into a big room with benches running up and down the center, where our luggage, with that of other arrivals, was arranged.

The customs office did not show us much attention; their inspection of our luggage was over in a minute; but they overhauled that of the native passengers as if they meant to find something. I suppose they were looking for arms, ammunition, incriminating documents or something of that sort, or perhaps only for liquors and tobacco, which are government monopolies; but the examinations were very thorough, and both men and women had to tumble the contents of their bags and boxes out upon the bench in a most exasperating manner. One man, who had ridden with us all the way from Budapest, evidently had been indulging in a little extravagance, and had half a dozen new collars and cuffs. These attracted the attention of the inspector, who counted them three or four times, and then took them into an inner room, where he weighed them, and collected a few coppers in duty. Hot with indignation the owner searched his pockets, slammed the duty down upon the bench and hurled about a bushel of Servian oaths at the inspector, who took it as coolly as possible and went on examining the luggage of other people. The indignant man then began to collect his scattered effects; but between every three or four handfuls he would explode again. I do not know who he was, but if he ever catches that customs inspector in a dark alley there will be a homicide reported in the Servian newspapers.

Our trunks were loaded upon the box of an ancient cab drawn by a pair of diminutive animals, which had more spirit than flesh, and whirled around the corner of the station to a brilliantly lighted office, which the driver told us was the police headquarters, where our passports could be recovered. The officers were very polite, but they wanted to know my profession. There are often reasons why one does not care to advertise himself as a newspaper reporter. It sometimes interferes with the success of a mission. I told them I was a traveler, but they desired something a little more definite. So, for the time being, I concluded to be a gentleman of leisure, and was visiting Servia in pursuit of the picturesque. The chief was extremely deferential and hoped he had not put me to any inconvenience. He insisted upon shaking hands, and bowed us to the door with the grace of a dancing-master.

The big café of the hotel to which we were driven was filled with blue smoke. Underneath the cloud we could discern a crowd of men earnestly engaged in a discussion which they kept up until an early hour in the morning, and we learned that the chief occupation of a large portion of the inhabitants was drinking beer, talking politics and smoking cigarettes. The next morning was Sunday, and the café was again filled at an early hour, with women as well as men, and every table was occupied all day long, while the cigarette smoke hung over their heads like a blue mist and concealed the ceiling. It was always so as long as we remained in Belgrade. The café was crowded when we came downstairs in the morning and when we went to bed at night, and the consumption of beer, wine, coffee and cigarettes must be very large.

Sunday morning the king gave an audience to the _Skupshtina_, as parliament is called, and it was, therefore, one of the great days of the year. The bishops and the clergy, in their magnificent, embroidered vestments, were even more imposing than the generals in uniforms of blue, scarlet and green, with gold braid. The members of the diplomatic corps in court dress were led by the Turkish minister and his suite. The Austrian and Russian representatives were handsomely decorated and made a fine appearance. They were watched with interest because it is supposed that both are intriguing for the control of the country. The members of the _Skupshtina_ were clad in black evening dress, with embroidered shirt-fronts, white ties and white gloves. A band of music stood in the area beside the palace and played lively airs while the ceremonies were going on, and a battalion of the king’s bodyguard, in brilliant uniforms like those of the Austrian Hussars, was drawn up in two lines, between which everybody had to pass. I looked at those troops with peculiar interest, because upon their loyalty the life of the king depends. Most of them are young men, some mere boys, but they all had intelligent faces and seemed conscious of their responsibility.

The royal palace, which is in the center of the city of Belgrade, is in two parts and disconnected. One resembles a French chateau and looks like a comfortable home, being pleasantly and tastefully fitted up. It is only two stories in height, the lower floor containing the drawing, dining and reception rooms and the upper floor the living apartments. It is large enough for an ordinary family, and would make an acceptable abode for a gentleman of wealth and culture. The other part, which is across an area forty or fifty feet wide, is a more pretentious structure, which rises next to the street, without grounds, and looks like a public building. It is known as the New Konak, and was built by Milan, the gambler king, for entertaining purposes. The exterior as well as the interior is very pretentious, being of stuccoed brick, with elaborate moldings, four stories high and painted yellow, like nearly all the government buildings and business blocks. Within is a series of magnificent apartments, equal to those in the palaces at Berlin and Vienna, designed by a French architect and finished with tapestries and gilding at a cost that was enormous for the size and wealth of the country. The guards are thick around the palace, which indicates either lack of confidence or a cowardly king. But the precaution is well taken.

Sunday morning everybody goes to market, and the display of fish, meats and vegetables is large and interesting. On one side of the principal square were butchers, hucksters, and dealers in knickknacks from Servia, while everything on the other came from Hungary, across the River Save, and paid duty. The latter and their wares were much better looking, and the venders wore better garments than the Servians, many of them appearing in the Hungarian national costume. Their butter and cheese were more appetizing and were displayed in a neater manner; their vegetables were superior to those of Servian growth, the meat was of a better quality, and it was, therefore, not surprising when we were told that the wealthy class of the population patronized the Hungarians and paid a little more for their supplies. The common people buy food at the Servian end of the market. The fruits were beautiful, especially the grapes and plums. From those plums are made the prunes of commerce, and a large part of our supply comes from Servia. Plums are the largest and most valuable crop of the country. The exports of dried prunes were more than forty thousand tons in 1901, and from thirty to forty thousand tons were used in the distillation of plum brandy.

Servia is an agricultural country, and out of a population of 2,312,000, eighty-seven per cent are engaged in farming, the number of individual farms being 293,421, generally comprising from twenty to thirty acres each. Over 300,000 acres are devoted to plum trees. The next best crops are wheat, grass and corn. Pigs are one of the staple products. After the war with Bulgaria a few years ago, in which Servia was defeated, it was proposed to pay an indemnity of a million and a half of swine instead of cash. There are large flocks of sheep and a good deal of wool is handled, and the ranges are well stocked with cattle.

Whenever Servia has a period of peace the flocks and herds increase with great rapidity, and the wealth of the country grows like compound interest. Servia has been extensively advertised as “a poor man’s paradise,” as the soil, climate and other conditions are favorable for people of small means. Farms can be bought for small sums of money, and the ranges for cattle and sheep are usually public lands, which cost nothing except a small tax which is paid into the treasury of the township or commune. Recently several new industries have been established. A German company has built a large beet-sugar factory within sight of Belgrade, and a linen manufactory has been erected by Belgian capital. There are several match factories, flour-mills, tanneries and breweries, and the government is proposing to pay subsidies to encourage the introduction of woolen mills and other mechanical industries in different parts of the country. Servia is prospering. There is plenty of work at good wages, but at the same time considerable emigration to the United States and to the neighboring countries, because of a disinclination among the young men to spend five years of their lives in the military service.

At market we saw a bride in the native dress, who had just come from the church where the marriage ceremony had been performed, and was receiving the congratulations of her friends and neighbors, while her proud husband stood at her side and was envied. She was a buxom damsel of the Swedish type, with blond hair and a clear blue eye. Her head was covered with a peculiar turban, from which hung clusters of silver coins. Long strings of coins were suspended from a necklace and a girdle, and hung over her shoulders and hips, and must have been very heavy. These were her dowry. She had begun to save them during her childhood, and instead of putting them in a savings-bank had strung them together for ornaments and had worn some or all of them on festive occasions to attract the attention of the eligible young men of the neighborhood. They were of different denominations, large and small, and were arranged with a good deal of taste. The custom of the country permits a bride to control her dowry after marriage, and many women are able to preserve their wedding coins and transmit them to their children. Sometimes they are exchanged for a piece of land, a cottage, or cattle, and sometimes the coins are taken, one by one, from the string, to meet emergencies in domestic economy. As a rule, however, the peasants of Servia are well-to-do, and as long as peace can be preserved they are able to live comfortably and save money.

The city of Belgrade lies upon a narrow, elevated peninsula between the River Save and the Danube. It has improved considerably during the last quarter of a century. The streets are wide and lined with fine buildings after the Austrian style of architecture, with frequent open squares which the public uses for market-places. The older part of the city, nearest to the banks of the rivers, which was built during Turkish domination, is composed of low buildings of adobe, with roofs of red tile, fronting upon narrow and crooked streets and abounding in filth and bad smells. One part is given up to the Jewish population, who are huddled together in narrow quarters called the Ghetto, although many are supposed to be rich and to own large areas of valuable real estate in other sections of the city. There is no persecution of the Jews in Servia. Freedom of worship is granted by the constitution, although the state religion is the Greek orthodox. Out of a total population of 2,312,484 souls 2,281,018 are communicants of that church. The Roman Catholics number 10,411; the Mohammedan gypsies, 11,586; Turks, 2,489; Jews, 5,102; Protestants, 1,002.

The prevailing prejudice against the Jews is due to their success in business rather than to religious scruples. They are not allowed to hold office, although there is no legal prohibition, and are often hooted at in the streets. In ordinary business transactions the keen rivalry of the Jews is exasperating to their Christian competitors, and their commercial enterprise in all directions has interfered considerably with the prosperity of the natives. In the mercantile trade they have the best shops and undersell the Christians; in brokerage and the commission business they show a shrewdness and prudence which enable them to make money while others lose, and they have thus acquired wealth and commercial influence which make them objects of envy. I did not hear any Christian say a good word of a Jew in Servia, but at the same time I was not able to discover an instance in which a member of that race has failed to fulfill his contracts or has asked more than his due. The persecution of the Jews in the neighboring Kingdom of Roumania, where they form a large portion of the population, is becoming desperate. There the restrictions of the Middle Ages are still in force. Jewish children are not allowed to attend the public schools; Jewish students are not admitted to the technical schools or the university; Jewish operatives cannot be employed in manufacturing establishments; the Jews are prohibited from practicing professions and engaging in certain kinds of commercial business, the object being to drive them out of the country. All this is in violation of the provisions of the Treaty of Berlin, under which the Kingdom of Roumania received the protection of the great Powers, but it is useless for the Jews to appeal because they cannot get a hearing. There is no such trouble in Servia or Bulgaria, and for that reason a considerable emigration from Roumania is moving that way.

Since the time of King Michael, Servia has had an excellent school system and a law making education compulsory. All children between the ages of seven and fourteen must attend school, and since 1865, when only four per cent of the population could read and write, there has been remarkable advancement. There are a number of academies, a school of commerce, an agricultural college, a school of wine-culture and a university with four hundred and thirty-six students, of whom twenty-eight are women. In addition to these there are also twenty-seven _hospitens_, or guests--students who are too poor to pay the matriculation fees, but are allowed to attend the lectures and enjoy the full benefit of the university training without receiving degrees. The university occupies a fine building opposite the principal square, and has a well-selected library of forty thousand volumes. The entire expense of the university is paid by the national treasury, and during the year 1900 was $109,000. There are four faculties--law, medicine, science and philosophy.

Some of the school buildings are excellent examples of modern construction and convenience, and they show an educational enterprise that is creditable to the country. The government supports a museum of natural history, a theater for the encouragement of opera and the drama in the native tongue, and a small picture-gallery, which contains an interesting collection of portraits of national characters and several examples of old masters which have been presented from time to time. There are also a number of paintings by native artists. One of them, representing the coronation of an early king of Servia, was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Salon in 1900, and was purchased by the government as an encouragement to other artists. Nearly all the pictures by native artists relate to historical events--warfare, massacres and assassinations, dying women and headless men, for the history of Servia has been a chronicle of horrors.

There are a public park and children’s playground, with swings, merry-go-rounds, toboggan slides and other amusements; a musical garden, where a military band plays two or three times a week; and a botanical collection that promises well. In the parks and public square are a number of statues and monuments to Servian military heroes, poets and literary men.

The Servian language is a mixture of the Russian and Greek and is similar to that of Bulgaria.

The cathedral is a commonplace building with a fantastic tower of Byzantine style. It is interesting only because it contains the tombs of Kings Milos and Michael. The epitaph of the latter reads: “Thy memory shall not perish.” Karageorge is buried in the woods in the mountains where he was assassinated. King Milan was buried in Vienna, where he died in 1899.

At the extreme point of the peninsula, at the junction of the Save and the Danube, is a promontory rising between three and four hundred feet, with sheer cliffs at the point and on both sides. Here a fortress was erected by the Romans before the time of Christ. Much of the original wall still remains and the inclosure has been used continuously for military purposes for at least two thousand years. There are two series of fortifications, both protected by moats and double walls, and the citadel must have been impregnable before the invention of heavy artillery. It commands a wide valley, and the view from the point is one of the most attractive in Europe.

The castle is in an excellent state of preservation and the outer walls are used as a prison for all kinds of offenders. The prison is well kept, the inmates are humanely treated and every Sunday morning are allowed to send to the public market articles of their handiwork to be sold for their own benefit. Every prisoner is allowed to prosecute his trade if he has one and enjoy the proceeds of the sale of everything he makes. If he is a shoemaker or a tailor he can continue to work for his customers, and one day of the week he is allowed to receive visitors, who bring him orders and take away goods that are finished. Women prisoners do sewing and embroidery. At the market on Sunday the stand for the sale of prison-made goods is attended by officers of the police, who take the names of purchasers and the prices of the articles purchased. During the last few years the administration of justice has been much improved and the courts are said to be well managed.

Within the walls of the citadel are barracks for a regiment of artillery, residences for the commander of the army and his staff, a school for the education of non-commissioned officers, a church which the soldiers are required to attend, and the headquarters of the military administration. There is also a memorial mosque, which was erected in honor of Hadji Mustapha who governed Servia early in the last century, and, strange to say, was beloved by the people. He was murdered by the Janizaries because he was too just and liberal.

The remains of Roman times are interesting and among the best preserved in Europe. In the center of the citadel is a well containing fifty-five feet of water, on a level with the Danube River, which is reached by descending four hundred and thirty-two steps. The well is surrounded by a brick wall three feet thick. The steps wind around it, and you go down, down, down into the darkness of the bowels of the earth, until the water-level is reached, where there is a chamber of considerable size, evidently intended for storage of ammunition. This well is said to be nearly two thousand years old, yet the brick-work is almost perfect. It was built by the Romans to furnish water for the garrison in case of a siege.

Below the walls of the citadel, upon the banks of the Danube, are two large barracks capable of accommodating twenty-five hundred men, with magazines for the storage of powder, and an old tower called the Nebojsche, or torture-tower, which is supposed to have formerly had an underground connection with the citadel, but it has been filled up and forgotten for centuries. Here prisoners were taken to be tortured and executed, and their bodies were thrown into the Danube.

Military service is compulsory. Every young man of sound body, when he becomes of age, must serve two years in the army, eight years in the reserve, and ten years in the national militia, or second reserve. The active strength of the army in time of peace is 35,640 men, the first reserve 160,751, and the second reserve 126,110, making a total of 322,501 men capable of military service in time of war. The army is organized and uniformed on the Russian plan, and has been trained by Russian officers.

Every man who has performed military service is entitled to the right of suffrage, and all others who pay taxes to the extent of fifteen francs a year.

There are no paupers in Servia, and therefore no need of almshouses. There is a free hospital for both military and civilian patients, which is well kept.

Three miles from town, a park called Topschider, reached by a line of electric cars, surrounds a country palace in which King Michael lived much of his time. There is a farm where he conducted experiments in agriculture and horticulture. In the upper rooms of the palace are cases containing his library of agricultural works, many of which are in English; glass jars filled with seeds which he imported from foreign countries for experimental purposes, and glass cases containing wax casts of apples, pears, peaches, grapes and other fruits which he raised. Here he lived the life of a farmer and devoted his time to studying the interests of his people; and here he was assassinated by conspirators who were not allowed to have the share they wanted in the control of the government.

The park is very pretty, and in front of the palace is a group of noble old sycamores, one of which is said to be the largest tree in Europe. Its branches extend over a diameter of more than two hundred feet and are sustained by props. We paced it and made it thirty paces from the trunk to the tip of the outermost branch. The trunk is twenty-two feet in circumference, and the tree is perfectly healthy and symmetrical.

The house, or palace, so called, is rude and uncomfortable. There is nothing attractive about it. The rooms are dark, dismal and ill-furnished, but it was the favorite residence of King Milos and of King Michael who were men of primitive tastes. Milos died in an upper chamber he used to occupy, and everything remains as he left it--his bed, his clothing, his slippers and a tattered old dressing-gown hanging on a nail.

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PART IV Bosnia

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