The reconstruction of South-Eastern Europe

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF

in a friendly alliance of tribes, governed by elders, having no slaves nor bondmen among them.

The old Slavonic language, with all its richness and beauty, which gave birth to the modern Russian, Polish, Czech and Serbo-Croat languages, was already so highly developed that even to-day, after many centuries of separate . political and national life, the Slavonic languages represent a strong and beautiful bond of union among the different Slav nations. The Gospels were translated into the old Slavonic language as early as the ninth century; also the beautiful hymns of the Orthodox Church, which have been so highly appreciated by so great an artist as Tolstoy, were written in the first days of our Christianity. The best proof of the intense love of the Slavs for their language can be seen in the fact that they accepted Christianity only when the Gospel was preached to them in their own language, and as early as the tenth century a fierce fight raged among the Roman Catholic Serbo-Croats of the Dalmatian coast against the introduction of the Latin language in their churches. The Slav language is used even to-day in the Roman Catholic parishes on the islands of the Dalmatian Archipelago, although many over-zealous bishops have endeavoured to banish it and to replace it by Latin. The Slavs were so proud of their language that they called every foreigner Nemetz,

30