Page:The guilt of William Hohenzollern.djvu/95

Rh against us. The same was said to me by my cousin Count Benckendorff. A certain anti-German feeling recurs there from time to time; this is connected with the Slav movement. Against this tendency, however, there stands opposed a strong pro-German party. Neither the Tsar nor anyone in high authority is anti-German, and since the settlement of the Liman question no serious discord has arisen. On the other hand, Count Benckendorff openly admitted that there exists a strong anti-Austrian feeling in Russia. No one, however, has any desire to conquer parts of Austria, such as, for instance, Galicia.

"Whether, in view of this feeling, it would be possible to move the Russian Government to take the attitude of a passive onlooker on the Austro-Serbian passage-of-arms, I have no means of judging. What, however, I believe I can say with certainty is, that there is no chance in case of war of influencing public opinion here against Serbia, even if there should be conjured up the bloody shadows of Draga and her lover, whose removal has long been forgotten by the public here, and hence belongs to those historical occurrences with which, so far as non-British countries are concerned, people here are in general much less acquainted than the average third-form schoolboy in Germany is.

"Now I am far from suggesting that we should throw over our alliance or our ally. I consider the league that has established itself in the sentimental life of both Empires to be necessary, and with regard to the many Germans living in Austria to be the natural form of their attachment to us. It is for