recent writer says, the language is closer to Latin than the Roumanians
are to Romans.

THE ALBANIANS.--The Albanian people are descended from the most
ancient of all the races in the Balkan peninsula; their language is the
oldest language spoken in Europe. For centuries they were nominally
subject to Turkey; but the Turks never really succeeded in conquering
them, though many of the Albanians became Mohammedans.

THE GREEKS.--Though the Greeks are descended in part from the people
who inhabited their country in ancient times, and though they speak a
modern form of the old Greek language, it is certain that the present
inhabitants are a much mixed race. They are largely Slav, but hold a
strong feeling for the great past of their country. This gives them an
unusually strong national rallying point. In many ways the Greeks are
the most progressive of the Balkan races.

RUSSIA AND AUSTRIA AS PROTECTORS OF THE BALKAN COUNTRIES.--The
struggle between the great powers as to which of them should become the
heirs of "the sick man of Europe," as the Sultan of Turkey was long ago
called, dates back about a century. Austria on account of her
geographical position and her desire to expand to the southward, and
Russia on account of her desire for Constantinople and the racial ties
connecting her with the Balkan states, each hoped to be preferred. Both
Austria and Russia, then, for more or less selfish reasons, were anxious
to bring about the break-up of the Turkish Empire in Europe. Whenever a
revolt against Turkish rule would break out, the revolutionists could
almost always count on the help of one or the other of these nations.

Since the Slavs and the Greeks hated each other, and both hated the