The Express.
London, England, 1853-01-15 00:00:00

MONTENEGRO.

The Trieste Gazette, of the 9th, states that the
blockade of the Albanian coast has commenced, but
this important statement needs confirmation. Advice's I
from Constantinople, of the Ist inst., state that the I
expedition against the Montenegrins will consist of I
27 battalions of land troops, independent of the
blockade of the coast.
the same journal says of the battle, before or dur-
ing which the Montenegrins withdrew from Zabljak:
" The bloody strife, which lasted a whole day, was
begun by the Montenegrins. Hurried on by their own
impatience in sight of the enemy, at early dawn ono '
petty attacked some blockhouses, held by the Turks,
la the neighbourhood of the fortress, while another
fell upon the Pacha of Scutari's camp. The fight '
was of the bitterest. The men fought hand to hand, '
mid in such confusion that Turk slew Turk, and
Montenegrin cut down Montenegrin."
Letters from Servia state that Prince Daniel of
Montenegro has sent his private secretary, Bidako-
witseh, to Servia, in order to negotiate for him a
marriage with a niece of 'the Prince of that country.
The Montenegrins are members of the great &mien
Emily, and have with it common religion and tradi-
tions. The warlike songs which the Montenegrins
sing are of Servian heroes. Prince Daniel, we have
already stated, on succeeding to his uncle, the late
V'ad ka, refused to accept the spiritual power with
the temporal, until that time united with it. The Greek
church permitting marriage to its priests (once in a
lifetime)nforces the celibacy of its bishops. It was
to escape from this condition, so serious an obstacle
to an energetic ruler desirous of founding a family,
that the Prince took the resolution referred to. The
ago of the Montenegrin ruler is 24.
In the Aeon, published at Athens, we find it stated
by a Constantinople correspondent, that as many as
3,000 Montenegrins reside in the Turkish capital.
A few days ago the Charibati, as the Montenegrins
arc there called, applied to the government offices
for passports to their native hills, which were as a
matter of prudence refused. Thereupon they. betook
themselves with the same request to the Rassian, and
afterwards to the Austrian and Greek embassies, but
with no better success. The Ottoman government,
moreover, saw with great displeasure this resort to
other porters, and threw several of the Charibati into
prison.
The following instructive sentences are translated
from a recent volume on Montenegro, by the well-
known traveller Kohl :—" I betray no state secret
when I allege what is known to so many perms,
that the Vladika of Montenegro receives by way of
Cattaro a yearly sum of 40,090 florins from Russia.
The Vladika, who, by means of this money, is in a
position to exercise considerable influence over the
principal Montegrin families, while he is also enabled
to conduct public affairs with few and light taxes, is
thus brought into dependence upon Russia. His sub-
jects, like all the southern Sclavi of the Greek confes-
sion, look to Russia as their saviour. The traveller
in Montenegro thus sees on all sides the portraits of
Peter the Great or Nicholas 1., but I never saw a
likeness of an Austrian emperor."