Herzegovina; Or, Omer Pacha and the Christian RebelsArbuthnot, George
History
Herzegovina; Or, Omer Pacha and the Christian Rebels
Arbuthnot, George
Hercegovina (Bosnia and Hercegovina) -- History; Serbia
'Montenegro,' said the former gentleman, 'c'est une invention de
Monsieur Hecquard.' Instances of such duplicity have been frequently
brought to light. These, while they reflect little credit on the
individual, speak badly for the good faith of the government
represented, as discovery is rarely followed by punishment--frequently
quite the reverse.
The high-handed policy which the Porte is now pursuing is the most
likely to be attended with beneficial results; for, as experience has
shown us, the system of concession is entirely useless, each addition to
their territory only making the Montenegrins the more grasping and more
avaricious. That a solution of the difficulty must in some way be
arrived at is clear. Should Turkey fail in effecting this by the means
she is now adopting, Europe will be called on to interfere; for while
things exist as at present, the developement of those countries in
agriculture or commerce is as impossible as in civilisation and
Christianity.
The disorganised condition of the Herzegovina, with its attendant
incubus of half a million of debt, renders it certain that one of two
results must inevitably ensue: either Turkey will be compelled to
surrender that province, and possibly Bosnia also, or she will sustain a
still severer blow to her already shattered finances. Of the two evils,
the latter is the least in the opinion of the Ottoman government, and it
was this consideration which induced it to determine on the prosecution
of hostilities in 1861. Several causes combined to retard the
commencement of military operations until late in the year. The
principal reasons were, the almost unprecedented drought which prevailed
during that year, and the deference shown by Omer Pacha to the wishes
of the European Commission, then sitting at Mostar, whose members did
all in their power to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion without having
recourse to arms. In the meantime troops were being massed, and stores,
provisions, and magazines provided at Gasko, Bieliki, and Trebigné. The
country infested by the insurgents extended from Bosnia round the
frontier as far as Suttorina, in the vicinity of which Luca Vukalovitch
had established his quarters. This man, who has acquired a certain
notoriety, was a blacksmith by trade, but, preferring a life of lawless
indolence to honest labour, betook himself to his present calling. He
appears to be quite devoid of that chivalrous courage which has
distinguished many of his class, and consequently deserves neither
sympathy when free nor mercy from his captors when taken.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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