for, and its possessor consequently did not hesitate to employ every
means in his power to reimburse himself. This, and the fact that he was
never a native of the country, rendered him most unpopular; so that
while the priests (little as they may deserve it) are regarded with
reverence by the people, the Vladika was respected by neither the one
nor the other. At present the office is vacant, none having been
appointed since the demise of the last who occupied the episcopal chair.
That event occurred in the commencement of 1861, and his attempts at
extortion were so frequent and undisguised, that his death must have
been felt as a great relief by the people. Petitions were sent at that
time to Constantinople, praying for the appointment of a Slavish
Metropolitan; but, independently of the difficulty of finding anyone of
sufficient education among the Bosnian clergy, political considerations
have induced the Porte to prevent the Patriarch complying with the
demand; for, however bad in other respects they may have been, the
Metropolitans have always remembered that their allegiance was due to
the Patriarch of Constantinople, and not to the schismatic branch of the
Greek Church, over which the Czar exercises both temporal and spiritual
sway. Were a Slavish Metropolitan appointed, Russian influence would be
dangerously augmented, and the task of transferring the allegiance of
the people from their proper ecclesiastical head to the Russian Emperor,
as has been attempted in Bulgaria, would here become easy of
accomplishment.

In the N. and W. the Romish faith finds the greatest number of
supporters, who look to Austria as their guiding star in all matters
connected with religion. In their ranks are comprised the
agriculturalists and artisans of the province, few being engaged in
commerce. As regards education or enlightenment they are no farther
advanced than their Greek compatriots: few can read or write their own