The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1853-03-17
The Montenegrins.

p,,,;c attention has been lately attracted by
:. oc.onnts of the war which is going on be-
,.een the Turks and their refractory depend
onts. the Monteuegrins Every foreign arrival
brings news Of its progress. and Of the new
nhrase it ,assames, together with speculations
70 10 the probable hearing it will have upon En-
,onean poItics Turkey, il is said by the latest
.cnounts is making preparations 10 throw an
army q. 80. 900 soldiers at once into the coun-
try. and overpowcr and reduce 1t speedily to
anbiection. One would suppose war could not
have been maintained so long rs this one has.
-, mower so weak There not over l00.-
mo ;nhabitants in the territory os Montenegro ::
and its whole extent of mountain peaks will not
So over-estimated at ninety square miles. The
souovioq from the New Be iford Mercuru. in
r:ference to this subject, will be read with in
:terest:
:. 'The two great arhiters of the destinies OF
ro.,erh Europe Russia and Austria. are draw
trsinfo the conflict, and the Eastern question.
the perpetual puzzle of cabinets, bids fair to ne
rsv;red This is sufficient apology for word
or two upon Montenegro and its people They
form nerhap. the last fragment of the old Ser
Wan Kingdom, that once stretched from the
Black Sea to the Adriatic, but now bl"fted from
the map of nations. In race they are dist,n.
from the Ottoman people, as well as IN their
,.l;o;on which is that of the Greek Church.
sometbinp of the old republicanism- of the early
NJ England colony may find parallel in
them for they are in fact;-a republic of small
communities each village having the right to
be governed by its own assembly. The head of
the people, called Bladcka, is both temporal
and spiritual LEADERS, bishop and sovereign
The Office is hereditary and in one family, but
cannot descend directly, as the priesthood. re
oure, celihacy. The present Bladicka is a
practsed soldier. having been educated to mil
i,ary career before entering the church.
uLike most mountaineers, the MOntenegrins
are sh arp shooters, using long guns that carry
10 a great distance, and hardy, brave and fierce,
and burn with unquenchable hatred against the
THrks. Their land is a series of mountain
except rough and scarce discernible paths,
Astounding in Businesses all but inaccessible TO
regular troops. Constantly annoyed by their
;ncursions into its territory, the Porte has at
tempted 20 crush them, and hence the present
war.
=. ...Ia tic examples of similar attempts before
alluded TO, the long md costly and doubtful
struggle has. been between such people and
mighty nations in the prime of vigor, and assis
ted by. al that exhaustlesS means and modern
science can supply. Here they have only to
contend with an effete monarchy, with irregular
and feeble resources and far behind the rest of
Europe in, warlike arts The result especially
If the mediation of Russia and Austria be thro'n
into the scale of the Montenegrins, is hardly to
be questioned
meanwhile. we of the United States, cannot
but look with inter, ST Al the brave struggles Of
these mountaineers though their territory and
numbers hardly would equal a single county of
some of our own states"