The mode of treatment of their women, an infallible sign of civilisation or the reverse, was brought prominently to the Prince’s notice by the following circumstance:—­Having, in company with the Princess, visited the cottage of a thriving pig-owner, he observed the presence of three daughters of the house.  These young ladies showed unmistakeable signs of approaching old-maidism, and the parental philosophy settled the question of their future pretty conclusively.  ‘Why,’ said he, in reply to a question put by the Prince touching the solitary condition of the damsels, ’should I allow them to marry, when each of them is worth more than three fat pigs to me.’  Manners must have changed very much for the worse since the days of Ami Boue, or it is difficult to conceive upon what he founds his assertion that labour is not imposed upon Servian women.  Indeed it would be surprising were it not so, when they are subjected by the laws of the land to the indignity of the bastinado, from which even men, save soldiers, are exempted in Mahometan Turkey.

The absence of that blind subjection to a bigoted priesthood which distinguishes the other Christian populations, would seem to indicate a certain independence of spirit, but unhappily the accompanying symptoms are not so encouraging.  With contempt for its ministers, has come disregard for the ordinances of the Church, the services of which are but scantily attended.  Yet notwithstanding the irreligion which is spreading fast throughout the land, little tolerance is shown for adherents to other than the Greek Church.  For example, Catholics are compelled to close their shops on the Greek feasts, of which there are not a few, under penalty of a fine.  In the same liberal spirit the mob are permitted to break the windows of such houses as are not illuminated on these occasions.

An ignorant and narrow-minded man is generally also vain.  The same law is equally applicable to nations.  A fancied superiority over the Christians of the other Turkish provinces cannot escape the notice of the most casual observer.  That Servia has acquired some fame for military exploits is true, and far be it from me to detract from the praise due to her efforts to achieve and maintain her independence.  The successes of their fathers, however, over the small irregular Turkish levies to which they were opposed, do not warrant the present population in indulging in the vapid boastings too often heard, of their ability to drive the Turks to Constantinople, were they permitted so to do.  In a word, they forget that they owe their present position, not to their own prowess, but to foreign intervention; without which the province would probably have shared the fate of Bosnia, Albania, Epirus, and the Pashaliks of Rutschuk and Widdin, all which were as independent as themselves, but were reconquered by the Turks, no European power having extended to them the safeguard of a guarantee.