placed to a great extent under the tutorship of Austria; and if the monks gain in culture, his Apostolic Majesty gains in goodwill. Add to this that the Roman Church in Bosnia is in one way or another indebted to the Imperial Government for pecuniary contributions, and that the establishment of the Austrian Consulate-General at Serajevo in 1850 has made it possible for Austria to play the part of patroness[199] of the Catholics in Bosnia, and to carry into effect in the most emphatic way in this part of the Sultan’s dominions the right of protecting the Roman Catholic Church in Turkey, which she secured by the Peace of Carlovitz. No one, after this, will be surprised to learn that the Roman Catholic influence in Bosnia is a lever in the hands of Austria; and, to quote the words of an attaché of the Austrian Consulate-General in Serajevo, ‘The Emperor of Austria is, in the eyes of Bosnian Roman Catholics, the Emperor and supreme prince of the Catholic Church, just as in the eyes of the Oriental Greek population the Russian Emperor is the head of the Greek Church.’[200] So we were not long in discovering the Austrian leanings of the monks while discussing the possible eventualities of Bosnia. They were extremely interested in the attitude of England—complained bitterly of the way in which we had supported the Turk against the rayah, but at the same time professed themselves extremely hostile to Russia. But they betrayed a lively repugnance to the Great Serbian idea in any shape, seeing in Serbian unity the triumph of their Greek rivals, who form the large majority of the population of Bosnia, and who would at once become the ruling caste,[201] if Bosnia were united to Free Serbia, Montenegro, and the other fragments of the old Serbian Empire. As far as we could gather their aspirations, they were willing to see the old kingship of Bosnia restored under the suzerainty of Catholic Austria, thinking that the Latins would thus recover their old dominant position in the country, and the Catholic rulers obtain the same support of Austrian cannon as their forefathers had of Hungarian battleaxes. Failing the erection of a Roman Catholic principality under the wing of the double-eagle, they were willing to see the whole country occupied by Austria, and actually annexed. But rather than see Bosnia in any form a _Serbian_ state, they would accept the continuance of Turkish rule. These sentiments must not however be looked on as universal among the Roman Catholics of Bosnia. In many parts they are yielding to a generous sympathy with Greek fellow-Christians. Notably in Herzegovina, Roman priests have appeared among the leaders of the insurrection; and Bishop Strossmayer, whose influence among the Roman Catholics is very great, is himself a warm champion of union with free Serbia.[202] CHAPTER V. TRAVNIK AND FOINICA.