,
but she refused to do so. Sir Edward Grey of England led in an effort to
bring about arbitration after Austria had declared war, and he all but
succeeded for Austria and Servia both agreed to submit their differences
to arbitration and Russia agreed to this. But just here Germany openly
butted in and declared that she would not arbitrate anything and thus
the war went on until it had involved nation after nation and
practically the whole world was into it either directly or indirectly.

When the declaration of war came to Servia, their old king was in bad
health and was at a sanitarium. He had appointed his son to the regency.
But at the word of war, old King Peter left the watering-place and
started for the front. With flag in hand he came to the troops and
addressed the men saying: "Soldiers, your old king has come to die with
you; if there be any who are afraid let him turn back." It is easy to
imagine the result. Not one of them turned back, and they easily routed
the enemy and swept all before them. But the story of these terrible
years can only be mentioned. The year 1914 was a year of victory for the
Servians. But later on came the tremendous reverses, the awful typhus
fever and the heroic retreat over the mountains. This retreat is one of
the saddest and yet one of the most heroic pages of history. Finally
France was able to come to the rescue and the Servians found a refuge on
the island of Corfu. Had it not been for France the Servian nation would
have been all but annihilated.

While Servia has never made a contribution to civilization as has
Belgium, she has played such a noble part that she will always have a
large place in the heart of mankind. She has kept the Turk from invading
Europe for centuries and it is hard to realize just what that means. The
Turk has always been a plunderer and has cursed everything he touched.
But his cup of iniquity has been filled to overflowing and the death
rattle is in his throat.

Providence has thus used Servia in a most wonderful way. Her great
vision has been a united country with all the Servians included, where
they can work out their own problems and live in peace and harmony.
These people are devoutly religious, most of them belonging to the Greek
Orthodox church. They have great respect for learning. They are a most
hospitable people and any foreigner is always made a welcome guest. They
are well read in history but have never been favorably inclined toward
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