Servia: The Youngest Member of the European Family: Or, a Residence in Belgrade, and Travels in the Highlands and Woodlands of the Interior, During the Years 1843-1844

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Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1845 - Juvenile Nonfiction - 352 pages

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Page 193 - Semlin; that he had joined the quarantine service, with the permission of his government, and after having directed various other establishments, was now occupied in organizing this new point. The traiteur of the quarantine gave us for dinner a very fair pillaff, as well as roast and boiled fowl; and going outside to our bench, in front of the finished buildings, I began to smoke. A slightly built and rather genteel-looking man, with a braided surtout, and a piece of ribbon at his button-hole, was...
Page 264 - He is brave in battle, highly hospitable; delights in simple and plaintive music and poetry, his favourite instrument being the bagpipe and fiddle: but unlike the Greek he shows little aptitude for trade; and unlike the Bulgarian, he is very lazy in agricultural operations. All this corresponds with the Scottish Celtic character; and without absolute dishonesty, a certain low cunning in the prosecution of his material interests completes the...
Page 341 - ... Bohemians of the middling and poorer classes, have certainly less sincerity and straightforwardness than their neighbours. An anecdote is related illustrative of the slyness of the Bohemians, compared with the simple honesty of the German, and the candid unscrupulousness of the Hungarian : " During the late war, three soldiers, of each of these three nations, met in the parlour of a French inn, over the chimney-piece of which hung a watch. When they had gone, the German said, ' That is a good...
Page 225 - ... Saint Stephan is seen giving to the king of the day the banner of Servia, in the same way as Saint Mark gives the banner of the republic of Venice to the Doge, as seen on the old coins of that state. The process of embalming was carried to high perfection, for the mummy of the canonized Knes Lasar is to be seen to this day. I made a pilgrimage some years ago to Vrdnik, a retired monastery in the Frusca Gora, where his mummy is preserved with the most religious care, in the church, exposed to...
Page 285 - The portrait prefixed to the present volume, from a painting in the possession of the reigning Prince, the duplicate of one executed for the Emperor Alexander, bears out the character thus given of the Servian hero : — " The countenance expressed not only intelligence, but a certain refinement, which one would scarcely expect in a warrior peasant ; but all his contemporaries agree in representing him to have possessed an inherent superiority and nobility of nature, which, in any station, would...
Page 294 - The imputation of cruelty and bloodthirstiness appears to be unjust. When the country was without the shadow of a constitution, and when he commanded an unorganized and uncultivated nation, he was compelled to be severe ; he dared not vacillate or relax his discipline: but now that there are courts of law, and legal forms, he hands every case over to the regular tribunals. "He has very little to say for himself, and is rude in his manners ; but his judgments in civil affairs are promptly...
Page 294 - ... who was the confidential agent of Russia in Servia, in 1810-11 : — " His countenance shows a greatness of mind not to be mistaken ; and when we consider times and circumstances, and his want of education, we must admit that his mind is of a masculine and commanding order. The imputation of cruelty appears to be unjust. When the country was without the shadow of a constitution, and when he commanded an unorganized and uncultivated nation, he was compelled to be severe ; he dared not relax his...
Page 63 - Now bring in the northern firmament, and all its stars." man, Russian, Turkish, and French, all in full buzz ! We proceeded to the dining-room, where the cuisine was in every respect in the German manner. When the dessert appeared, the Prince rose with a creaming glass of champagne in his hand, and proposed the health of the Sultan, acknowledged by the Pasha ; and then, after a short pause, the health of Czar Nicolay Paulovich, acknowledged by Baron Lieven ; then came the health of other crowned...
Page 208 - Kopaunik is not much above 6000 English feet above the level of the sea. But it is so placed in the Servian basin, that the eye embraces .the whole breadth from Bosnia to .Bulgaria. and very nearly the whole length from Macedonia to Hungary. When at length I stood on the highest peak, the prospect was literally gorgeous. Servia lay rolled out at my feet. There lay the field of Kossovo, where Amurath defeated Lasar, and entombed the ancient empire of Servia. I mused an instant on this great landmark...
Page 70 - Days' is the title of this sublime chant, which. is so old that its origin is lost in the obscure dawn of Christianity in the East, and so massive, so nobly simple, as to be beyond the ravages of time, and the caprices of convention." The town was illuminated in the evening ; and a ball was given at the new Konak or palace, built by the exiled Prince Michael, which was attended " by all the rank and fashion of...

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