At this point Strossmayer’s life-work for his people began in earnest. Holding a most distinguished position, and with the vast revenues of his bishopric at his disposal, he opened the flood-gates of his activities, and Vienna and Budapest saw with horror and amazement the mistake they had made. Strossmayer assumed the leadership of the Nationalist party; and in Parliament, where he took his seat in the double capacity of bishop and elected deputy, he showed himself a brilliant orator, a subtle politician, and an astute diplomat. He was the incarnation of a keen, but determined and wise Opposition. He also became an intellectual leader of his people and accomplished more than anyone else before him. He founded the Southern Slav Academy of Science and Art, which in the very terms of its foundation embodies the intellectual unity of the Southern Slavs. He also founded the Croatian University; and, being a great art connoisseur, he spent years in accumulating an exceedingly fine private collection, which he presented to the nation. He built the Cathedral at Djakovo, and at his own expense sent hundreds of young Serbs and Croats to foreign art schools and universities. Every intellectual enterprise, whether literary, artistic or scientific, found in him a munificent patron. His entire income was devoted to the welfare of the nation, and the sums that Strossmayer spent in adding to the greatness and fame of his country amounted to many millions during the long years of his office. But his dearest wish was the realization of the Yougoslav ideal, the breaking down of all local barriers between Serbs and Croats, and the creation of a united people. With this end in view, and in spite of his position in the Roman Catholic Church, Strossmayer went so far as to advocate that the Serbian Græco-Orthodox, and the Croatian Catholic, Churches should unite and become one National Church. He knew that the future of his people could never be realized within the confines of the Monarchy, but that it must be identified with that of all the other Southern Slav nations, and founded upon a purely Slav basis. Strossmayer did not confine his efforts to winning converts among his own people for this idea. He knew too well, that at the decisive moment the nation would require strong support from without, and, at the risk of being accused of high treason, he entered into friendly relations with Russia, which should bring the big and powerful brother of the North nearer to his down-trodden little brother in the South. He succeeded in finding influential friends in Russia as in other countries, and his nation is still proud of his friendship with the Tsar Alexander III., Leo XIII., Gladstone, Crispi and Gambetta. Before Strossmayer entered the lists no one in Europe had taken the slightest interest in the Southern Slav problem. The slippery diplomacy of Vienna—which is only equalled in duplicity by that of Turkey—had for centuries successfully