Page 38 (1/2)
THE SAME (LATER IN THE SAME DAY)
The Council resu at four o'clockThe Voivode PeterVissarion and the Voivodin Teuta had arrived with the "Gospodar Rupert,"as the er) on the armouredyacht he calls _The Lady_The National Council showed great pleasurewhen the Voivode entered the hall in which the Council iven to hier, bythe express desire of the Council, was asked to be present at theHe took a seat at the bottoh asked by the President of the Council to sit atthe top of the table with himself and the Voivode
When the formalities of such Councils had been completed, the Voivodehanded to the President a n Courts on behalf of the National CouncilHe then explainedat length, for the benefit of the various members of the Council, thebroad results of his missionThe result was, he said, absolutelysatisfactoryEverywhere he had been received with distinguishedcourtesy, and given a sySeveral of the Powersconsulted hadfinal answers, but this, he explained,was necessarily due to new considerations arising from the internationalcohout the world as"the Balkan Crisis"In time, however (the Voivode went on), these Powers to forment--which, of course, they did not declare to him--as totheir own ultiesuch tentative setting forth of their own attitude in each case can be sonaht say, upon ajustifiable personal belief) that the Great Powers throughout theworld--North, South, East, and West--were in thorough sympathy with theLand of the Blue Mountains in its aspirations for the continuance of itsfreedo to you, the GreatCouncil of the nation, the assurance of protection against unworthyaggression on the part of neighbouring nations of present greaterstrength"
Whilst he was speaking, the Gospodar Rupert riting a feords on astrip of paper, which he sent up to the PresidentWhen the Voivode hadfinished speaking, there was a prolonged silenceThe President rose,and in a hush said that the Council would like to hear Mr Rupert SentLeger, who had a co certain recent events
Mr Rupert Sent Leger rose, and reported how, since he had been entrustedby the Council with the rescue of the Voivode Peter of Vissarion, he had,by aid of the Voivodin, effected the escape of the Voivode fro this happy event, the reat cordon round the Tower so soon as it was known thatthe Voivode had been ihtAs a determined resistance was offered by the e, none of these escapedHe then went on to tell howhe sought intervieith the Captain of the strange warship, which,without flying any flag, invaded our watersHe asked the President tocall onThis, in obedience to hisdirection, I didThe acquiescent hly they endorsed Mr Sent Leger's words and acts
When I resuer described how, just before thetinated him, as did everyspeaker thereafter--the warship met with some under-sea accident, whichhad a destructive effect on all on board herThen he added certainwords, which I give verbatim, as I am sure that others will some timewish to remember them in their exactness:
"By the way, President and Lords of the Council, I trust I may ask you toconfirm Captain Rooke, of the armoured yacht _The Lady_, to be Admiral ofthe Squadron of the Land of the Blue Mountains, and also Captain(tentatively) Desmond, late First-Lieutenant of _The Lady_, to thecommand of the second warship of our fleet--the as yet unnamed vessel,whose former Captain threatened to boreat service to the Land of the Blue Mountains, anddeserves well at your handsYou will have in hireatofficialOne ill till his last breath give you good and loyalservice"
He had sat down, the President put to the Council resolutions, which werepassed by acclaiven command of the navy, andCaptain Desmond confirmed in his appointment to the captaincy of the newship, which was, by a further resolution, named _The Gospodar Rupert_
In thanking the Council for acceding to his request, and for the greathonour done hier said:
"May I ask that the armoured yacht _The Lady_ be accepted by you, theNational Council, on behalf of the nation, as a gift on behalf of thecause of freedom from the Voivodin Teuta?"
In response to the ift was accepted the Gospodar Rupert--Mr Sent Leger--bowed, and wentquietly out of the room
As no agenda of thehad been prepared, there was for a time, notsilence, but much individual conversationIn the midst of it theVoivode rose up, whereupon there was a strict silenceAll listened withan intensity of eagerness whilst he spoke
"President and Lords of the Council, Archbishop, and Vladika, I shouldbut ill show my respect did I hesitate to tell you at this the firstopportunity I have had of certain ress of recent events, have coe on theaffairs of the nationUntil I have done so, I shall not feel that Ihave done a duty, long due to you or your predecessors in office, andwhich I hope you will allow me to say that I have only kept back forpurposes of statecraftMay I ask that you will cole against Ottoht to a close, was begunWe were then ina desperate conditionOur finances had run so low that we could notpurchase even the bread which we requiredNay, h the National Exchequer anted more thanbread--arer and yetfight well, as the glorious past of our country has proved again andagain and againBut when our foes are better armed than we are, thepenalty is dreadful to a nation small as our own is in number, no matterhow brave their heartsIn this strait I myself had to secretly raise asufficient sum of ht the assistance of a great merchant-prince, to whom our nation aswell as enerous spirit which hehad shown to other struggling nationalities throughout a long andhonourable careerWhen I pledged to him as security my own estates, hewished to tear up the bond, and only under pressure would he meet mywishes in this respectLords of the Council, it was his enerously advanced, which procured for us the arms hich edout our freedom
"Not long ago that noble merchant--and here I trust you will pardon methat I am so moved as to perhaps appear to suffer in want of respect tothis great Council--this nobletoa near kinsman of his own the royal fortune which he had ao that worthy kinsman of the benefactor of our nation made itknown to me that in his last will he had bequeathed to o I had forfeited byeffluxion of time, inasmuch as I had been unable to fulfil the terrieves norance of the good thought and wishes and acts of this greatman
"But it was by his wise counsel, fortified by ment, that I wassilent; for, indeed, I feared, as he did, lest in our troublous ti spirit without our boundaries, or even within it, ood, because I was nolonger one whose whole fortune was invested within our confinesThisprince-er Melton--let his naraven on the hearts of our people!--kept silent during his own life, andenjoined on others to come after him to keep secret from the men of theBlue Mountains that secret loan made to me on thei