A History Of Servia And The Servian Revolution (Europe 1815-1945 Series)

Excerpt from The History of Servia, and the Servian Revolution: With a Sketch of the Insurrection in Bosnia And though steamboats ply on the Danube, Mr. Paton is as yet the only writer who has made English readers acquainted with Servia: to the ability and intelligence of this gentleman the English public are indebted for a lively and faithful account of the present state of the Servians and their country. Viewing them as a Christian people subjected to an infidel despotism, the Servians excite a sympathy that ought to be extended to the Bulgarians also. Professor Ranke, in a letter to the translator of this work, expresses a hope "that his History of the Servians may excite in our mighty nation an interest for the Christians under Turkish rule." This feeling influenced the translator in venturing upon a task, the difficulty of which would have induced her to shrink from it had she not been animated and encouraged by an ardent hope of thus promoting the author's views. The almost legal exactness and judicial caution of Ranke, and the peculiarities of his style, which present many obstacles to the conscientious translator, characterize the present beyond any of the other works by the same author. This may be accounted for, partly by the vague and fragmentary character of the materials, and partly by those minute details of circumstances where effects appear disproportioned to causes. For it is a prevailing characteristic of all revolutionary periods, that great events arise out of seemingly trivial accidents; and the springs of action in national movements must often be sought for in the breast of an individual, or in the latent feelings of a small and yet uncivilized community. This work, though professing only to treat of "the Revolution in Servia," and occupied chiefly with the most stirring and recent period of its history, is, however, not limited to the revolutionary era: the "Retrospective Sketch" of the Servians to which the earlier chapters are devoted, gives as complete an account of the rise and fall of the nation as is necessary to enable the reader to understand the position of affairs at the commencement of their struggle for independence. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.