THE SKETCHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 76

THE SKETCHER.

THE MAN OF MONTENEGRO. SICOLAS I, WARRIOR AND RULER. The finest and most picturesque figure in the Balkans to-day is Prince Nicolas, of Montenegro. For more than AO years Nicolas has guided the destinies of his rugged land through war and through peace, and his reign bids fair to stand out as remarkable, even in a family which has given six consecutive risers in 200 years, the Tecord of everyone of whom would be a credit to any dynasty in history. When hie uncle, Danilo I, fell mortally wounded into his oonsort's arms stricken t>y the assassin's bullet, some 50 years ago, the bereaved Princess Darinka, with great judgment and presence oi mird, proclaimed as Prince, not her husband's brother, Mirko, for he was a very firebrand, and his bellicose tendencies were somewhat dreaded, but Mirko's son Nicolas. Thus at tEe early age of 18, betrothed since infancy to the gracious and beautiful Milena, daughter of the Voivode Vukotich, Nicolas grasped the soepire of the Black Mountain. Viscountess Strangford, I who saw him very shortly afterwards, describes him as an extraordinarily handsome man. Philatelists are familiar with his portrait, as it appeared for many years upon his stamps. The wide, open forehead is well shown, the black hair and whiskers, but not the soft southern, somewhat sad expression of those Uack eyes, often lit up by a kind and merry smile. To-day advancing years have given his manly figure a portliness that is attained , by all these stalwart mounta'njers ; this adds even a greater dignity to a grand and imposing presence. The face is kind and Tuddy, but the hair U no longer black, and a short grizzled beard ha« taken the place of the familiar black whiskers. ~ A Bit of a Poet. — Educated at Trieste and then nt Pails, Prince Nicolas is a polished linguist and litterateur blessed with a full share of the poetic fervour which is born in all men of Serbian Tace. He is the author of many a fine and stirring war-so ■)#, and at least two plays, "Prince 4rbi;wt'' and "Balkanska Tsaritsa" ("The Empress of the Balkans"). The latteT is as iemarkable for the tyle and purity of the diction as for its political motif. ' For Nicolas never for one instant fovtreta the grand idea which all Serbs cherish in their heart of hearts — the restoration of the Empire of the mighty Stepan Dushan — the tadition of the Nemanichi. The very first years of his reign were troubled by a bloody war with the Turks. Outnumbered, overwhelmed ori every side, in spite of heroic efforts, Montenegro was staggering under blew aftei blow, her , strength nearly exhausted, her powder spent, her bullets shot away, when Europe intervened, crying "Hold ! Enough !" The succeeding years of peace were devoted to furthering the material prospects of his country. No longer is the army mobilised by men shouting from hill-top to hill-top ; telegraph w ires penetrate int< the remotest corners of the land. Fine, wellmade Toads cut into the country to all the chief centres. But the chief pride of the little principality is in its educational facilities. One of these is a benefit conferred by the Romanoffs ; this is the Russian Institute, where some three score girls from all parts, even from beyond the frontiers, receive a valuable education and a sound training. In most parts of the country there are good elementary schools, but th>9 majority of the older generation were too busy fighting in the days of their youth to learn much of the three R's, and many of the scarred and sturdy old veterans cannot sign their own names. — When Herzegovina Rcee. — About 16 years after hie first war Nicolas saw the Herzegovians his cousins, natives of the land whence his family originated, rise in a gr-eat effort and throw off the Ottoman yoke, under which they hod groaned for four centuries. The warrior poet wrote a stirring call to arms, "Onam, onamo! Za Brda !" ("Yonder, over the mountains !'"), and led forth his strapping mountaineers to fight for freedom's sake against tha common foe. Tin's 'brought down a Turkish invasion from all sides, and over 80,000 men were hurled simultaneously against the tiny principality, 'j he Montenegrins performed prodigies of valour. On the Albanian eide th. Prince's cousin, the handsome and charming IJozLo Petrovich, v.-ith the Voivode Klia Plam-e-n-its (the "Little Flame") and only SGOO men, twice defeated Ali-Saib with over 30.000 Turks in pitched battle at Meduu. At Kerstats, on the noith-east, four battalions of Montenegrins, a mere handful of some 200 C meji among the rocks and crags, held at hzy some 14,000 Turks under Suleiman Pasha. In the east, after .>omo four months' siege. Nicolas himself took the Turkish town of Nikshich. The \ ictorioue Prince received the surrender leclining upon his strukii on a rock outtide the town. Evans has described the I s-cene. In a gay moment the Prince I "knocked off" a Homeric verse, which he ! wired announcing tli3 victory to the Prinj cess, who held guard at Cetinje : ! Na Lijelu Onogoshtu zastava cc moja vije ; I Pod njiin Vojvoda Piamenats rumo vim pije; Oko njega. bar.iaktari zagraktashe ka' crlovi' A Nik3hichi sjetni; tuzhni sad su mene sve 1 robovi ! which being translated runs *. On -white Onogosht'a walls my standard is flying ; 'Neath it, Voivotte Plamenats quaffs the red wine ; Bound him the standstrd-beurers, shrieking like eagles, gather; But Nikshich mourns; ea<J are fch-ey now, all captive to my arms. Evans describes the frenzied scenes of joy in Cetinje when the glad tidings were made known. The whole town abandoned

itself to a night of raving delirium, and even the Royal Princesses came down and tripped a measure with the townsfolk in the broad streets of Oetinje. The result of the war "was to double the territories of Montenegro, to give her the longed-for outlet upon the coast, and to make for ever the reputation of Prince Nicolas. — Thirty Years of Peace, But j During the 30 years that have elapsed ' since those martial days peace has reigned in Montenegro Rugged and scarred veterans still tramp th* rocks. Vukotich, ' commander of the Northern Army, father- j in-law of the Prince, died but a year or two ago. The gallant Bozho Petrovich ' was for years Minister of the Interior, ! and now lives at peace in his picturesque seat near Nikshich. The rubicund face ■ and portJy form of Elia Piamenats, till ! recently Minister of Wai, is still in J familiar sight in Cetinje, where, in epite of his great age, this stalwart veteran may 1 be often seen smoking a cigarette and 1 strolling with his Prince down the , Dvorska Ulitsa. A younger generation ' has grown up, to whom Nicolas has granted a Constitution and a Parliament, j for here leforms come ireely from above, ■ and are not forced out from beneath. | The younger men have not seen war, but j in their veins there courses the blood of many g>etnerations of indomitable warriors, ' and should tb« occasion arise the hand- j ahar will be gripped by strong brown ! hands and the rifle held with unerring ' aim, for ths heart behind them will be ( true as ever, though the foe 1 be no longer ; the once-hated Crescent, but the black and yellow flag of Austria. j