ctive Dalmatian dialect.
The Austrians for thirty years endeavoured to Albanize them, but the
people resisted this and boycotted the church and school. The priest
Lazar, who defended their Slav national conscience, was persecuted and
forced to flee to Serbia--he is now Mayor of Janjevo. It usually
happened, by the way, that the priests of this Catholic town came from
Dalmatia; but the Slav idea could bridge over the difference between
Catholicism and Orthodoxy, so that if no Catholic priest was available
his place would be taken by an Orthodox priest from a neighbouring
village. Only a few of the natives are anti-nationalists, having been
brought up, like Father Doday, in some Italian or Austrian seminary.
There are in Albania to-day about ten such priests who come from
Janjevo.... How well this Father Doday has served his masters may be
seen in the case of the Franciscan priest in Shala, who, with the whole
population of armed Catholics, resisted the Italian advance of 1920.
Together with Lieut. Lek Marashi he organized komitadjis in Shala and
elsewhere, his purpose being to liberate his country from the Italians.
Since these latter could do nothing else against him they compelled the
Bishop of Pulati to punish him; however, all that the Bishop did was to
tell the patriot priest to go away. But Father Doday was more willing to
work for the Italians; he excommunicated his fellow-countryman, on the
ground that he would not come to Scutari, where his life would have been
in danger.

4. THE STATE OF ALBANIAN CULTURE

But, you may say, one cannot in fairness expect the new Albanian
Government to achieve in so short a time what the Serbian Government has
effected among the Albanians of Kossovo, who are being persuaded to
relinquish their devastating custom of blood-vengeance. Prior to March
1921, over 400 of its devotees and of brigands had given themselves up
in Kossovo--turning away from the old days when, as one of them
expressed it, "a shot from my rifle was heard at a distance of three
hours' travel"; one of the most eminent among them disdained to
surrender to a local authority and made his way to Belgrade, where he
presented himself one afternoon to the astonished officials at the
Ministry of the Interior. "After all," as Miss Durham has written, "the
most important fact in northern Albania is blood-vengeance." What we
must set out to probe is whether the Albanians, if they are left to
themselves, will be able aft