The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-11-02
FRIDAY NovEMBER 1884,

celebrated the four hpndredth anniver.
 sary of the founding Of the first slavon-
 ic press, there were representatives oi
 England at Cetinje. l like to know
 what the people of a great country like yours think of Montenegro"
 My country" he continued. 'is small,
 but my people are brave and loyal.
 and I believe you have found them hos
 pitable. Tn Montenegrin eyes, strang- CT is sacred"
 assured the prince that my own
 experience in traveling through his
 land had convinced me of the kindliness
 and friendliness of his warrior sub
 jects. The Montenegrin never stirs
 abroad without his revolver and goes
 armed about his daily work. But the
 custom is a survival of the olden days.
 when this mountain folk had to fight
 year in and year out for Its very ex-
 istence. To-day. with the exception Of
 an occasional brush with the Albanians.
 on the Turkish frontier, Montenegro Is
 as safe as Middlesex. More SO. some of its inhabitants seem to think, for
 the escape Of Jack the Ripper has made great impression on a people which
 rarely fails to catch its criminals be-
 fore they can reach the border.
 T am the seventh of my family who
 has reigned in Montenegro" the prince
 said, and two years hence my dynasty will celebrate its blcentenary. So you have heard in England that I have of- fered a prize for the best historical account of my house2"
 told his hlghness how much had been struck by the excellent carriage roads which I had found throughout the principality. Coming from Greece, where the highways are simple byways, I had noticed the contrast all the more distinctly, and remembered, too, that not many years ago 1t had been the pol icy of the Montenegrins to have no roads at all, because, as they said, "where carriages can come up, cannon could come up also" But the tact and influence of Prince Nicholas have changed all that. "Yes," he said, i've have been busy roadmaking, and we have not yet finished. I am at present negotiating with the Austrian govern ment for a carriage road from Niksic to Risano, on the Bocche di Cattaro. Risano, as you know, is the natural harbor of this place, and if such com munication were made 1t would be grand thing for the commerce of my country. I hear you are going to ride from here to Risano; you will find 1t long and rough journey; but if you come again in a few years time you will be able to drive all the way, just as you have done from Cetinje here"
 The prince, who takes the greatest interest in English politics, smiled when I had to confess to him that I was a wicked Unionist--for the ruler of the Black mountain, like his subjects, has the greatest admiration for MT. Glad stone, whose portrait I have seen in houses at such & remote place as Pod gorica-the Manchester (on a small scale) of Montenegro. But he appeared much pleased when I told him I had heard the ex-premier's last great speech in the Commons: Cynics assert that there is no such thing as political grati- tude. But Montenegro is an instance to the contrary. She has not yet for gotten that it was largely due to Eng land and the liberal ministry of 1880 that Dulcigno was given to her, and her people cherish an affectionate re- membrance of Mr. Gladstenes speeches on her behalf.
 Perhaps you may not share my polit- ical opinions" said Prince Nicholas, flor Montenegro has not a constitution like England. But traveled much in Europe and am anxious to introduce western ideas, while preserving the pa- triarchal character of my government" What had seen of his country con- vinced me that the princes paternal rule is appreciated by his subjects. An indefatigable worker, he is always tray cling about his principality, and has a residence in every town and in almost every village. He knows all his sub jects by sight, so they say at Cetinje, and acts as a court of appeal in the last resort, though his is no arbitrary system of justice, for it was at his ex- press instigation that the new code has been drawn up by the famous jur- ist, M. Bogosisch of Ragusa.
 Although he is no longer prince bish- op, or vladika, as his ancestors were for the spiritual and temporal power were separated on the accession of his predecessor, who, wished to marry Prince Nicholas takes the deepest in terest in ecclesiastical matters. "We have more churches" he said, fin Mon- tenegro, in proportion to population, than they have in Russia"
 Next to MT. Gladstone, Lord Tenny- son was his favorite Englishman, for he was greatly touched by the late Poet Laureate's apostrophe to the
 Smallest among peoples, rough rock-throne of Freedom! Warriors beating back the swarm of Turkish Is- lam for five hundred years, Great Tsernagora" sa. verses, which have become quite classi- cal in the Black mountain.
 But the time had come for me to leave. The prince was going out driy-; ing with his son-in-law, Prince Kara, georgevitoh, one of the claimants to the Servian throne, and celebrated in Mon- tenegro for his skill as an amateur photographer. So. with smother shake of the hand, he bade me farewell, and wished me a prosperous journey over his rugged mountains. 1
 As left his presence, his aide-de- camp pointed out the spot to me from which the prince had conducted the four months siege of Niksic in person 7llrfnr the last war with fhe Turlxs