ism are here
conspicuously apparent; for in proportion as the country has sunk into
insignificance, so the moral state of the people has fallen to a lower
standard. Nor is this so much to be attributed to any particular vices
inculcated by the Mahomedan creed, as to the necessary division of
religious and political interests, and the undue monopoly of power by a
small proportion of the inhabitants. That this power has been used
without mercy or consideration must be acknowledged; but be it
remembered that

'Their tyrants then
Were still at least their countrymen,'

and that the iniquities perpetrated by the renegade Beys cannot be with
justice laid to the charge of their Osmanli conquerors. It would,
indeed, be strange had four hundred years of tyranny passed over this
miserable land, without leaving a blight upon its children which no time
will ever suffice to efface.

As years wore on, other and more important conquests absorbed the
attention of the Mussulman rulers, and the rich pasture-lands of Bosnia,
and the sterile rocks of Herzegovina, were alike left the undisputed
property of the apostate natives of the soil. Thence arose a system of
feudal bondage, to a certain extent akin to that recently existing in
Russia, but unequalled in the annals of the world for the spirit of
intolerance with which it was carried out. Countless are the tales of
cruelty and savage wrong with which the old manuscripts of the country
abound, and these are the more revolting, as perpetrated upon those of
kindred origin, religion, and descent. The spirit of independence
engendered by this system of feudality and unresisted oppression could
only lead to one result--viz. the increase of local at the expense of
the central authority. The increasing debility of the paternal
government tended to strengthen the power of the provincial Magnates;
and the Beys, the Spahis, and the Timariots, stars of lesser magnitude
in their way, could not but be expected to adhere to the cause of the
all-powerful Kapetans rather than to the transient power of a Vizier
appointed by the Porte.

This last-named official, whose appointment was then, as now, acquired
by successful intrigue or undisguised bribery, was never certain of long
tenure of office, and invariably endeavoured by all the means in his
power to remunerate himself while the opportunity should last.

The disregard entertained for life in those times, and the indifferen