Читать книгу The Lands of the Tamed Turk; or, the Balkan States of to-day онлайн

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“The end of the year 1801 saw Servia a prey to systematized vandalism. It was a reign of unexampled tyranny and cruelty. The bloodthirstiness of the Sultan’s janizaries increased like the strength of a torrent. The Dahis, in obedience to the Sultan’s firmans, commissioned murderers to proceed through Servia and kill all the mayors of towns and villages, chiefs of cantons, priests and monks. A wave of terror swept over the land, spreading panic in every direction. Mothers hugged their children to their breasts and men in hushed whispers spoke of self-destruction as a less miserable fate than falling into the hands of the Turks. Every male over seven years of age was to be destroyed. But something in the Servians which had hitherto lain dormant, a spirit of manhood which had not been manifested before, arose under the whip of the gigantic thraldom; seemingly the crushed and oppressed drew breath, the instinct of self-preservation kindled in their hearts, and the embers burst out into a new flame of patriotism.”