Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1852-01-06
MARTTNsBURG. Va, TUESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 6, 1852



In The year 1S41. one Of the beautiful Ra-
yah peasant girls. SO frequently found ii the
Turkish provinces, attracted the attention Of
the nephew and adopted son Of Mustapila,
Pacha Of Nissa. Aiisr many Intellectual en-
deayoxs. through means Of bis agents, to Sc
dnce the poor girl, with the assistance Of his
guards be surprised her at Cob, in the mids.
Of Der friends, while dancing with her be-
trothed. The peasants, Infatuated with raki
and the excitement of the dance, rushed for
ward to rescue the screaming girl from the
hands of the ravisher; but they were unaTm-
cd, and in spite Of all their efforts saw the
innocent victim carried away in triumph
During The contest several of the peasants
were severely wounded and one noble fellow
who displayed great strength and determine
ton, was shot dead. The wretchcd lover,
inconsolable at the loss Of bis Agapia, for
such was the name Of the girl, few to the
mountains and laid his grie;s before an as
acmbly Of the Haidues. The recital Of the
atrce;ous deed excited the Indignation it de-
served Better would it have been bad the
paeha's son rode rough shol over the land,
aud squeezed the last para from the unre-
sisting Rayah. than to have so publicly dis
honared { maiden Of their race. These very
primitive people--wheiher lIaiduc, shepherd
or observation-disclosures rude they may be
4 in their manners and disposed 10 assign TO
woman. as her place in society. that Of
mere domestic drudge, yet never fail to ex-
/ tibit. IN their manner and conduct towards
her, . profound respect not inferior to any
that she receives even from the most polish
ed nations. "She is" they say, 'the mother,
the guardian of infancy; the preserver Of
man during his helplcssness: without her
watchful care, the whole race would become
extinct Hence, to strike her would here
be regarded as saerilegc. During their most
tarriGe combats. when every angry passion
is excited to its utmost fury, let but woman
interpose. and instantly every weapon is low
cred. With such a chiyalrous devotion, we
cannot feel surprised that the recital of the
lover wrongs TIE forcible abduction Of the
unhappy Agapia, called forth burst of the
most violent indignation, and that the noun
taineers swore by their patron, st. George
TO rescue the maiden. even if they were to
carry thoir arms into the seraglio Of the Pa
dishah himself "Hadue to the mountains !"
resoundcd from the heights Of Tohernegorn:a
through upper Moesia, and thence through
the whole range Of the Balkan, on to Varna
on the Black Sea- Thus. the abduction cf
tie fair Agapia threatened to be as disastrous
to the Osmanli as the rape of Helen to the
Troians. i Z y Animated with such feel
i,gs and such hopes--thc one to carve out
his emancipation. the other to preserve his
revenues and peculiar rights and privileges--
commenced that dreadful Struggle between
Eifc Musau!man and Hayah, equally fanatic
and ferocious. The contest was not confined
to The deflc or the mountains; IL ragged with
81, the bitterness of intense hatred, alike in
the towns and villages. The Ilaidues having
made themselves masters Of all the passes
! leading to Constantinople, for time inter-
eeptcd every communication with the govern
ment. Meanwhile, Haidue, one Of tie COM
rades Of Izerni George, known by the name
Of Milo, and fanatic Paca Of Leskovatz in
| Upper Mocsia, carried every thing before
them. Success gained them recruits, and in
a few days Pacha Mustaplia found hiaselfbc.
sieged in bis fortress at Mss, By an infuria-
ted horde of Kayaks, amounting It is said to
upwards Of fifteen thousand Whom It ives
too late, the Pacha restored the Helena of
the Slavonians to ner people: the dciails Of
tie miseries she had suffered, her dishonor,
her forcible recantaton Of the creed Of her
fathers. only tended the more to cxasperate
the insurgents, who now massacred every Ma
hometan that fell into their bands