Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-07-28


Society. Washington. d. ca
Little Montenegro, which was the
tiniest kingdom in Europe, has been
merged since the World war into the
big new kingdom of Jugo- Slavia. It's
well-loved king Is dead; it's capital
only the seat of a province. But half
a millennium of dearly bought indie
pendence and the most intense patriot
ism has made It's inhabitants not alto
gether willing to lose their Identity
so from time to time commissions ap-
pear to present Montenegro's case to
the world and to keep alive its mar
velous history and traditions
This little country, then smaller than
Delaware, and sometimes with no
more than 5000 fighting men within
its borders, has the distinction of be-
Ing the one patch Of land in the broad
expanse of the Balkan peninsula that
kept itself free from Turkish conquest
during the five and a half centuries
since the Turks crossed the Hellespont.
One after another, the regions that are
now Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Al
bania fell before the. excellent Turkish
fighting organizations, and settled
down for hundreds of years under
condition little better than slavery to
Moslem masters. Montenegro remained
free and was practically a Christian
island In sea of Mohammedanism
Only on Its western border was 1t in
contact during this long period with
other Christian territory, narrow
strip of Adriatic coast controlled by
Venice.
Upon the final overthrow Of the an
cient glory of the Serbs on the field OF
Kossovo, a few valiant souls retreatSsf
to the rocky Businesses of CernagOra
to seek asylum with the voivode of the
Zeta. A few years later, abandoned
by their ruler-whO preferred a life of
ease at venice-they turned to their
bishop, made him also their prince,
and with him retreated still deeper
into the hills and there set up that
long line Of the Vladlkas which did
not end until well into the last CEN
fury.
There they maintained their free
dom, with suffering indescribable and
with courage illimltable; and won
from Gladstone. the great English
apostle of Balkan freedom, those
words Of undying praise, in which he
gave 1t as his deliberate opinion"
that "the traditions OF Montenegro ex-
coed in glory those of Marathon and
Thermopylae and all the war tradi-
lions of the world"; and inspired in
Tennyson what he regarded as the
finest of his sonnets, inscribed to the
smallest among peoplesl rough
roek-throne
or freedom! warriors beating back the
swarm
OF Turkish Islam for Ave hundred years.
Great Cernagoral never since thine own
Black ridges drew the cloud -zd broke
Has breathed q race of mightier noun
taineers"
Within but stones throw of the
Adriatic sea, Montenegro was long cut
off from it until in the middle of the
Nineteenth century her arms won An
tivari from the Turks. Cattaro has al
ways been the logical port of the coun-
try and its natural gateway from the
West, yet 1t remained until the World
war in the hands of Austria. Now
Cattaro Is Jugo-Slavie and Is no longer
under control alien to that of Monte
negro.
In the days before the World war
the few diplomats and travellers who
visited Cetinje, the capital of Monte
! negro, considered the ride over the au-
tomobile road from Cattaro one Of the
grandest sccnically to be found In
Europe
Ascending the marvellous zIgzag road
which leads up from the port, one ap-
proaches the stern ard gloomy defile
which forms the portal to this historic
stronghold OF freedom In the Balkans
Splendid engineering is this road,
Built for post and military uses. 1t
clings to the face of the sheer rock
and weayes back and forth in multi
tude of "hairpin curves which the
chauffeurs Of the post automobile treat
with that contempt which familiarity
alone can breed.
Up and ever up. one goes. Below
! strnd forth the dusky cliffs which jut
into the southern ford; nesting be-
meath them, and hemmed In with the
: massive battlements Of those giants Of