Travels in Southeastern Europe

The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.

THE STORY OF THE PEOPLE. 95 This is a tale from the Christian point of view, but from the Sultan's own men I have heard singular reflections on the state of the country, not merely- from gendarmes or common peasants, but from men in official positions, who all professed Mohammedanism. One discoursed to me a long while before he came to the point. I wondered what he was staying for. Finally he got up to say good-bye. ' You have travelled much,' he said. 'I believe you have come as a friend to the people. You have seen the state of the country under this Government. You will understand that in my position it is impossible for me to speak more plainly. What I came to say is this: If you will report truly all you have seen and heard to the English people, you may do a great service to a most unhappy land.' And he retired in a hurry. The belief in the power of a casual stranger to remedy the state of affairs is extraordinary and rather pathetic. Another man-and he, too, was a Moslem official -spoke out to an extent that astonished me. 'This unhappy land,' he said, 'is given over to the Devil. You see his work everywhere. The Moslems are breaking the commandments of the Prophet, and the wrath of God is upon them. They are drunken; they kill one another as well as Christians. In your Empire there are more Moslem subjects than there are under the rule of the Sultan, but with you they are good subjects, and practise their religion properly, and live in peace with others. Here there is no law, no peace. You cannot imagine
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About this Item

Title
The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author
Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas
Page 95
Publication
London :: Nelson,
[1905]
Subject terms
Eastern question (Balkan)
Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

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https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001
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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bosnia/ans3900.0001.001/102

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"The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham." In the digital collection Travels in Southeastern Europe. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 30, 2025.
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