The sun., 1919-08-10


l. has come largely from books by
French, Italian or English writers. Rene
Pinon has discussed interestingly the Pc
itical aspects of the Albanian question
and Miss. NJ. E. Durham has written with
much understanding and warm sympathy
of the Albanian people and their struggle
for freedom and national life.
But they saw Albania through the eyes
of French scholar and an English wom-
an, and if their impressions SAVIOR of
their own national bias it would be scarcely
more than could be expected. In a ques-
ton so inherently pulling these sincere
variations of opinion may have offered to
the general reader no definite solution but
have rather increased his difficulty Of IN
raFelling its perplexities and complica-
tons. In AEbGnid, Past and Present, by
Constantine A Chekrezi, we have, how
ever, a book on Albania by an Albanian,
the first that has appeared in the English
language.
There must always have been an Al
banian question IN Europe, for the Al
banians are very generally recognized as
the most ancient race in southeastern Eu-
. rope. "They are descendants says Mr..
Chekrezi, "of the earliest Aryan immi-
grants who were represented in historical
times by the kindred Hlyrian Maeedo-
mans and Epirots"
The Albanian history is story of cen
turtles Of struggles, first against their more
numerous and powerful neighbors the
Slavs and then against their Turkish con-
querors, to maintain their existence as an
individual people and nation. They
reached the highest point of independence
In the time of their national hero, George
Castriota, whose conquest of his native
land by the defeat of its Turkish oppres-
sors is so graphically and dramatically
told by Longfellow IN his poem "Scander
beg"
Anon from the castle walls
The crescent banner falls
And the crowd beholds instead,
Like a portent in the sky,
Islanders banner fly,
The Black Eagle with double head.
1t is the sorrow of the nation that the
great Scanderbeg left no worthy sue
cessors and that the banner of the double
headed black eagle remained unfurled for
centuries.
Throughout the years of Turkish dom
ination the Albanians preserved their pc
culiar characteristics, customs, language
and national traditions. The 'blood
tends" of the northern tribes, so fire.
quentiy referred to by travellers, are a
survival of feudalism that enforced justice
In a country where there was no just
government. 1t protected the weak and
it developed high sense of chivalry in
the treatment of women. "a man who
would injure, offend or Kin a woman or
any member of the rest of the company
under her protection is treated as the
vilest coward, and there is no possible
expiation for his crime" The karass at
most of the foreign embassies In Constan-
tinople and at the chief consulates In the
Near East were generally Albanians, be-
cause they could be trusted; old Abdul
Hamid surrounded himself with Albanian
guards because they were unfailingly
faithful to duty which they accepted.
The Albanians never abandoned the
struggle for freedom. Thousands were
killed in revolutionary movements, and
hundreds emigrated 70 escape Turkish
oppression 1t was in the Albanian
mountains that the revolution which over
threw Abdul Harlid had its inception and
many of the leaders of the movement were
Afbanians. When the Young Turks failed
to keep their promises Of equal rights to
all Ottoman subjects If was the Albanians