es, were forming the Serbo-Croat Coalition.
This was a great step in the direction of the Yugoslavia which
Strossmayer did not live to see.

RELIGIOUS DISPUTES BETWEEN SERBS AND ROUMANIANS

Between Serbs and Roumanians of the Banat an ecclesiastical dispute
was on the horizon. The Roumanian Orthodox body had suffered a severe
loss through the Uniate Church, which captured many of the old
Orthodox places of worship. Thus the famous little church of
Huniadora, whose frescoes have been so glowingly described by Mr.
Walter Crane, fell into their hands. This occurred in many cases at
the wish of a small part of the congregation--and this part might
consist of gipsies--whereupon the majority would be obliged to build
themselves another church. The Greek Catholic Uniate Church was apt to
lose its national Roumanian colouring and admit the Magyar language,
which was occasionally resented by the faithful. Thus, as the Bishop
of Caransebes (now the Metropolitan of Roumania) told me, there came
into a church at Tergul, near Moros-Varshahel, a woman with a basket
of eggs. When she perceived that she could not understand the language
that was being used she put down her basket and uttered a loud curse,
"May thunder and lightning strike this church!" she cried. And after
the service had begun in a church near Grosswardein the wife of a
clergyman pulled the priest's beard, while other ladies tore off his
robes. Nevertheless this Uniate Church continued to exist and it was
natural that the Orthodox Roumanians should seek in some way to
compensate themselves for their losses. They had, as we have mentioned
above,[59] been given hospitality by the Serbian Church and given the
use of a monastery for the education of their priests. They now
suggested that it would be well if the Serbs handed over to them a
number of the Banat monasteries, and when the Serbs declined they
started a great lawsuit at Buda-Pest. Professor Iorga, the historian,
told me that he thought his countrymen were justified in that these
monasteries were originally neither Serbian nor Roumanian, but Roman
Catholic, being erected, in pursuance of their propaganda, by the
French dynasty which the Hungarians had over them in the fourteenth
century. Their nomenclature, said the Professor, is neither Serb nor
Roumanian, they had no privileges from Serb or Roumanian princes and
he believed that they only passed to the Serbs after having been
abandoned by the Catholics. A l