There Is A
Voluminous Literature On The Subject Of These Strangers, The Authors Of
Which Are Nearly All Albanians Themselves.
The fullest account of older
conditions may well be that contained in the third volume of Rodota's
learned work (1758); the ponderous Francesco Tajani (1886) brings
affairs up to date, or nearly so.
If only he had provided his book with
an index!
There were troubles at first. Arriving, as they did, solely "with their
shirts and rhapsodies" (so one of them described it to me) - that is,
despoiled of everything, they indulged in robberies and depredations
somewhat too freely even for those free days, with the result that
ferocious edicts were issued against them, and whole clans wiped out. It
was a case of necessity knowing no law. But in proportion as the forests
were hewn down and crops sown, they became as respectable as their
hosts. They are bilingual from birth, one might almost say, and numbers
of the men also express themselves correctly in English, which they pick
up in the United States.
These islands of alien culture have been hotbeds of Liberalism
throughout history. The Bourbons persecuted them savagely on that
account, exiling and hanging the people by scores. At this moment there
is a good deal of excitement going on in favour of the Albanian revolt
beyond the Adriatic, and it was proposed, among other things, to
organize a demonstration in Rome, where certain Roman ladies were to
dress themselves in Albanian costumes and thus work upon the sentiments
of the nation; but "the authorities" forbade this and every other
movement.
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