Note 105 — V (continued 2)

A couple of months before the triumph of the Yugoslav idea one of these priests, Dr. Alexius Ušeničnik, Professor of Theology, published at Ljubljana a little book packed with ancient and modern quotations from Latin and French, Italian and German sources. He called it Um die Yugoslavija; Eine Apologie; and in the strongest terms he combated the reproach that the Slovene bishop, the clergy and the people were not loyal to the Habsburgs. Dr. Ušeničnik proved that the poor Slovenes were suffering an almost intolerable subjection at the hands of the Germans, but he persisted in demanding nothing more than freedom within the Habsburg Monarchy. "The Monarchy," said our unhappy author, "is in the midst of its development." And this priest, who was so deaf to the grand Yugoslav idea, quoted with approval the words of Gustave le Bon: "Ideas take a long time in possessing the people's soul."