On he went-in her coach to ride, Moore's poetry contains enough of "false and exaggerated sentiment" to deserve parodying. Beautiful as many of his songs are, they are too full of wine to be always sober, and sometimes rise into a strain so exuberantly nonsensical, that, but for the airy gracefulness of the verse, we might almost mistake them for intentional burlesques of the somewhat incoherent sentimentalism of the boon-companion school. Whether is the idea conveyed by the parody or the original the best in the following? When in death I shall calm recline, O bear my heart to my mistress dear, Bid her not shed one tear of sorrow To bathe the relic from morn till night. We cannot pursue the parody further-it degenerates, as parodies are apt to do, into mere vulgarity, mistaking slang for wit, and attempting to render that laughable which is simply despicable, in contempt of Aristotle's definition of comedy, as being "a fault or deformity of such a kind as is neither painful nor destructive." Let us appeal once more to "Punch," the repository of most of our wit and not a little of our wisdom-to furnish us with another illustration of what parody should be, namely, legitimately comic itself, a skilful adaptation of a well-known original, and that original neither too good to be above, nor too bad to be beneath, ridicule. Do not all these essentials meet in "Valor under Difficulties ?" March, march, pipe-clayed and belted in; If you can turn your head, But we have dwelt long enough on a theme which, after all, we must be content to rank among the tricks of composition. Rather than all things, Wit let none be there; and, as a jest book is very melancholy reading, and guessing riddles one of the most exhausting of recreations, the best parodies, if we have too many of them, will at last depress the most buoyant spirits and pall upon the most fun-loving appetite. They all belong to the secondary class of wit, that which is less original than imitative-and it betokens a phase of mind neither safe nor healthy when these and other like feats of literary sleight-of-hand and intellectual jugglery are in eager demand. The tendency of many of our popular writers to produce startling comic effects at any price, and to wring a jest out of the gravest materials, is a noticeable and ugly feature in our present literary taste, and one which, if we may believe historical parallels, bears a dark interpretation. This is not the place to inquire whether such a tendency be the result of a wide-spread dislocation of opinion, which leads men to hide their uneasiness and their doubts behind a mask of gayety; or whether it be the unaffected expression of real unbelief in any thing higher, and the natural product of an age which has too little faith in the unseen to be in earnest. But whichsoever it be, the symptom is a dangerous one, and threatens to give us, instead of the learned satire of the Scriblerus Club and the pungent wit of later humorists, a spurious compound, half levity and half slang, betraying a decadence in graver things than squibs and weightier than parodies. From Sharpe's Journal. A GLANCE AT THE SERVIANS. BY MISS A. M. BIRKBECK. THE Servians are divided, politically as The aspect of the steppes, or Pieszta is imwell as numerically, into two almost equal posing. The gently undulating surface preparts; for, whilst in the north of Turkey they sents a boundless level, varied by few, if any, enjoy, under present circumstances, virtual of Nature's charms, and with scarcely a trace independence, those dwelling within the Aus- of human dominion. The draw-wells, with trian frontier form part of a military system their long poles rising against the sky; at which they dislike as much as its originators, long intervals, a Csárda or a Tanya, and, and whereby they are subjected to a humiliat-after a journey of a day or two, a village, ing thraldom. As the public possess but lit- with its tent-like houses, and double-spired tle accurate knowledge of the Austrian Ser-church, scarcely serve to remove the impresvians, we have selected them for the subject sion of solitude and stillness. of our present sketch. During a journey across the steppes the traveller has ample opportunity of observing the surprising fertility of the land. The soil is a rich black loam, yielding, year after year, the most abundant produce. The crops scarcely ever fail; on the contrary, it sometimes happens that the finest wheat is left lying upon the fields, owing to the want of hands and markets. The richness of the ground renders manuring superfluous, indeed, injurious. The mildness of the climate promotes luxuriant vegetation, so that, with the exception of oranges and olives, most southern products flourish. Maize stalks reach the We find so early as the fifteenth century, records of Servian communities in Sclavonia, bearing the name of Shokacrs, and living promiscuously with the Croats, whose customs and religion they generally adopted. The mass of those Servians, however, who dwell on the Austrian side of the Save and Lower Danube, and, from the time of their settlement there up to the present day, have made themselves so conspicuous by their wild and independent spirit and constant intercourse with their countrymen beyond those border rivers, immigrated as late as the end of the seventeenth century, during the reign of Leo-height of a man on horseback, the wheat pold I. They are the descendants of those tribes who, owing to religious and political persecution, resolved to leave their home, and colonize the southern borders of the adjoining country, which, having been laid waste during the protracted struggle with Turkey, were offered to their envoys on condition that they should defend them against the inroads of the common enemy. The first troop of emigrants, led by their patriarch Arsenius, and numbering 40,000 families, crossed the Danube in the year 1688. At the news of their happy arrival and settlement, other bands followed at different times; so that the total number of the Servian population along the borders now amounts to about 800,000. The district inhabited by them is the continuation of the great Hungarian plain, which, bounded on the west by the Lower Danube, and on the east by the Transylvanian Alps, forms the most fertile part of that country, and is known under the names of Bacska, Banat, and Syrmium. bends to the ground under its own weight, and the melons are famed for flavor and size. The cultivated tracts are surrounded by extensive pastures, fragrant with aromatic herbs, upon which numberless herds of half-wild cattle roam throughout the year. The intervening lakes and morasses are the resort of myriads of wild fowl, pelicans, herons, &c., which, on the approach of a human being, rise in immense flocks into the air, and, like a cloud, darken for a moment the light of the sun. Thither herds of hogs and buffaloes repair in summer, and find ample food and water. Surrounded by Nature's bounties, the Servians live mingled with Hungarians and Ger Csárda, or Hedge Jun, an uninviting-looking hovel, where the traveller finds but scanty fare, and yet more scanty accommodation. A Tanya or farm consists of a group of huts with stacks of hay and straw, and guarded by and outbuildings, with a large courtyard, filled savage shepherd dogs, of great size, covered with white, shaggy hair. 88 A GLANCE AT THE SERVIANS. [Sept., mans in their scattered and populous villages, language, the difference in their religion has some of them containing nearly 20,000 inha- variously affected the character and habits of bitants. As there is land in abundance, a vil- the Servians, and drawn a strongly-marked lage is spread over a large tract, and produces, line of demarcation between them. Long on approach, a dreary impression from the subjection under the Turkish yoke has made general scarcity of trees. The streets are un- the Greek Servian fanatical, suspicious, and paved and immensely wide, skirted by deep vindictive. He hates every other race, every one-storied cottages, built of unbaked bricks other faith: and though he has a natural preand thatched with reeds or straw, with the dilection for freedom and independence, still, gable ends towards the street. Beneath the from ignorance and bigotry, he is the willing two front windows is usually a rustic seat, slave of his priest, who, alike uneducated, shaded by a solitary tree, and before this becomes in his turn a tool in the hand of the stands the dunghill, the ordinary indication first skilful intriguer. The Catholic Servians of a Servian dwelling. A cottage of this de- are scription is inhabited by one family only, and priests, also, as is the case amongst the Rommore gentle and conciliating. Their contains two dwelling rooms, divided by the ish clergy in Hungary, are more enlightened kitchen. Beyond this come the larder, dairy, and tolerant. stables, and the various outbuildings for agri- more knowledge than that acquired in some A Greek priest has seldom cultural use; the whole enclosed by a spa- miserable village or cloister school; yet he cious yard and garden, presenting altogether exercises boundless influence over his flock. an aspect of prosperity and plenty. We will His income is derived chiefly from the volunimagine that the gospodar or master has just tary contributions of his community, and returned from the field in his cart, to which from the produce of a few acres of land, which two fleet horses are attached, or in his heavy he tills with his own hands; also, from the wagon, drawn by three pair of oxen. his boys surround the vehicle and unharness charms against illness and evil spirits. The Whilst sale of holy pictures and relics-used as the animals, the gospodar welcomes us as his monks and higher dignitaries of the Greek guests; for hospitality is one of the domestic Church are condemned to celibacy, but the virtues of the dwellers on the Pieszta. We ac- village priest is permitted to marry once. cept the friendly bidding and follow him to the The primate of Moscow is also the primate kitchen, which serves also for a hall, is well of the Servians, and the Emperor of Russia supplied with copper and earthenware uten- the acknowledged head of their Church, and sils, and contains a large raised hearth upon the representative of the Almighty on earth. which all the cooking is done, and above In all their prayers the Emperor Nicholas which, in the lofty chimney, are seen sides of takes precedence of their own sovereign, and pork suspended for smoking. The white- they look to Russia as their deliverer from washed walls of the dwelling-rooms are hung some evil existing only in their own unenwith a goodly array of pots, and with gaudy-lightened brains. colored woodcuts or pictures upon glass, representations of the saints most worshipped sembling the Russian. But here, again, a The language is a Sclavonian dialect, rein the Greek Church, as Nicholas, Basyl, difference so far exists between the two sects George, also the Holy Virgin, and the Arch- that, whilst the Greeks retain the Russian, angel Michael. Near these paintings there the Catholic uses the Latin characters. So it is probably a bedstead, piled up to the ceiling is with their dress. The latter have adopted with feather beds. In a corner stands a stove the Croat habiliments; with the former, the of considerable size, and opposite to it a heavy old costume of the mountains still predomioaken table, on which the covered loaf and nates; the men wearing fine white calico salt always stands ready to be placed before shirts and drawers, short jackets, flat broadthe guest, with a jug of wine or a bottle of brimmed hats or high fur caps, and sheepbrandy. skin thrown over their shoulders. In Hungary the Servians are known under the name of Raizok. They, however, call made, with dark complexions, rather the reThe Servians are tall, slight, and well themselves Shokacrs and Illyrians; the for-sult of climate than a characteristic of their mer belonging to the Roman Catholic, and race; for blue eyes are frequently to be seen the latter to the Greek Church. The Illyrians amongst them. The men wear long hair and inhabit the Banat and Bácska, whilst the Shokacrs live in Syrmium, and on the military borders amongst the Croats. Though of the same origin, and speaking the same moustaches, their features are regular, but free use of brandy, (rakie.) The Servians are naturally idle, and this disposition is materially promoted by the ease with which they gain their living, together with their religious customs; their holidays forming a third part of the year, during which time they dare not work, unless upon the fields of their priests, by which little labor they are taught they are working for their salvation. The women are handsome, and delight in decking themselves in silks and finery of all descriptions. Their caps are thickly ornamented with gold tinsel, over which a veil is thrown. Like the Croatian women, they use paint from an early age, and adorn their ears with rings, and their necks with rows of coral beads. Bright colors are most admired; even their boots and shoes are often made of red or yellow leather. Amongst their superstitious customs, homage to the Genius of Spring, though savoring of paganism, evinces a spirit of poetry. On Saint George's eve, the girls of a village, dressed in their best clothes, collect the sweetest field flowers, and wander forth in troops to the nearest river or lake, into which they throw their offering amidst singing, dancing, and merry-making. Brought up in profound ignorance, and influenced by so many prejudices, it cannot be wondered that their imagination is perpetually beset by witches and ghosts, who we suppose play a prominent and certainly a very mischievous part, even in their most trivial occupations. At the head of their evil spirits stands the vampyre, an active and destructive monster, without any defined shape; but, nevertheless, universally acknow ledged and dreaded. The superstition is, that the vampyre rises from the corpses of those who have died excommunicate, or who, owing to their ill conduct through life, have descended to the nether regions. To the spirits of such persons the Servians attribute supernatural power over the living, whom they are said to be able to visit and torment at pleasure. The vampyre rises from its grave at midnight, and glides through the keyhole into the room of the sleeper, whose blood it gradually sucks out. The victim ere long expires, and in turn becomes a vampyre, carrying on after death the same terrible practice. Whenever one or two sudden deaths occur, they are ascribed to a nocturnal visitor of this kind, and the inhabitants at once resort to the most efficacious means for putting a stop to the visits of the evil spirit. As a community is seldom without some member who bears evil reputation to his grave, the finger of the public points to him as the cause of the calamity, and the people, sometimes led by the priest and magistrate, betake themselves to the cemetery to subject the suspected corpse to a lynch-law process. The grave is opened, its occupier again brought to the light of day, and on the priest's granting a formal absolution of his sins, the corpse, at the command of the magistrate, is fixed to the coffin by a stake, to prevent it from again rising; and in some cases, when the efficacy of the stake is doubted, the body is burned and the ashes scattered to the winds. Next to the vampyre rank the witches. Although represented here, as everywhere, in the harmless form of a decrepit old woman, they too are supposed to be invested with superhuman powers, and are made responsible for all the petty accidents of daily life that befall either man or beast. It is believed, that the Devil lends them his powerful aid during life, and afterwards, in consideration of his services, carries them off after a fixed period amidst a storm of hail and thunder. This invisible abduction always happens before the corpse reaches consecrated ground. As an illustration thereof, we may here relate the following anecdote:-A few years since, an aged woman, suspected of witchcraft, died in one of the Servian villages. In opposition to strong public feeling, the last rites of religion had been performed, and the coffin was borne towards its resting-place, followed by a concourse of her neighbors. The procession set out under a cloudless sky, but as it approached the cemetery, all at once a furious storm broke forth. The coffin was abandoned, and the attendants ran right and left in search of shelter from the violence of the tempest. In a short time, however, the weather cleared up, and the funeral train was again about to proceed, when, on lifting up the coffin, the men declared that it felt empty. Suspecting some mischief, they opened it, and lo! instead of the corpse there lay naught save an old broom. The Servians possess a decided warlike spirit, which, kept within proper bounds, is capable of great things. But various ferocious and lawless propensities greatly diminish their worth as allies, and as adversaries render them more troublesome than dangerous. Like the Croatian borderers, they are, notwithstanding their courage, less fitted for a lengthened combat in line, than for the defence of entrenchments and villages. But most of all are they adapted for surprises and razzias, whereby momentary and individual valor may turn the fate of the day in their who were incorporated with the counties they lived in. The experience of a constitutional existence soon convinced at least the more intelligent amongst them, that their interests were closely connected with those of the other races in Hungary, and that by promoting the welfare of the latter they would also advance their own. Time went on, and at leugth the memorable year 1848 arrived. In the first glow of enthusiasm, the aristocratic Diet, with one single stroke, razed to the ground all the feudal barriers, that were represented as obstructive of general prosperity and civilization; abolishing the tithes and all seignorial rights; introducing a uniform taxation, trials by jury, &c. The dynasty, terrified at the sight of such radical reforms, and anxious and determined not to allow their firm establishment, threw the apple of discord amongst the various races, by persuading them, and more particularly the Servian priesthood and several of their leaders, that the moment for realizing their favorite project, of forming an inde pendent Servian state, had at length arrived. favor. In war, they know no mercy, and populace, easy misled and fanaticised, gathered in large meetings and demanded, together with the Croats, an entire separation from Hungary, alleging that the Magyars wanted to suppress their religion and language. The remonstrances of the Hungarian ministry were of no avail; on the contrary, rather hastened the outbreak of the crisis. On Easter Monday, 1848, a Servian mob unfurled the flag of rebellion against the constitution, and commenced a civil war by exacting a division of property on communistical principles, and then by the slaughter of the Hungarian and German magistrates and the nobles. The fire, long and cleverly kindled, spread rapidly over several of the southern counties and the borders. With the tacit consent of Austria, whole batallions of borderers as well as bands of freebooters from Servia Proper, swelled the number of the rebels, and the southern boundary of Hungary by degrees became the arena of the most fearful carnage and depredation, carried on almost with impunity; owing to the secret understanding of the Austrian generals, who at the commencement commanded the Honveds and National Guard sent against the rebels. Hence the Servians were enabled to convert their villages into entrenched camps, from whence they carried on a desultory warfare, raising their armed force to 40,000, commanded by their national generals Theodorovics and Kaicsanin. |