the group, that we knew must be the Vladika. He was distinguished by
position and by dress, but more decidedly by nature. His gigantic
proportions would have humbled the largest horse-guard in our three
regiments; and when he dismounted we agreed that he must be upwards of
seven feet in stockings. This was our judgment, subsequently and
deliberately. Captain ---- was of stature exceeding six feet, and
standing close alongside of Monseigneur reached about up to his
shoulders. His frame seems enormously strong and well proportioned,
except that his hand is perhaps too small for the laws of a just
symmetry. This, by the by, we afterwards perceived to be a cherished
vanity with the Vladika, who constantly wears gloves, even in the house.
His appearance bore not the least trace of the clerical; his very
moustache had a military, instead of an ecclesiastical air; and though
he wore something of a beard, it was entirely cheated of episcopal
honours. It was merely an exaggeration of the imperial. His garments
were splendid, and of the world, partly Turkish, and partly _ad
libitum_. The ordinary fez adorned his head, and his trousers were
Turkish. The other particulars were very splendid, but I suppose hardly
to be classed among the recognised fashions of any country. One might
imagine that a huge person, and enormous strength, when fortified with
supreme power among a wild tribe, would produce savageness of manner.
But the Vladika is decidedly one of nature's gentlemen. His manners are
such as men generally acquire only by long custom of the best society.
His voice had the blandest tones, and the reception that he gave us
might have beseemed the most graceful of princes. He was attended more
immediately by a youth some eighteen years of age, his destined
successor, and by another whom we learned to be his cousin. The rest of
the group were well dressed and armed, and, indeed, a respectable troop.
The Vladika himself bore no arms.
We did not waste much time in ceremony, though during the short interval
of colloquy we must have afforded a fine subject had an artist been
leisurely observant. All dismounted and formed about the two chiefs of
our respective parties, and made mutual recognisances. The confusion was
considerable, and the continual noise of guns gave our poor beasts, who
were not proof to fire, no quiet. The men, who were now about us in
numbers sufficient to afford a fair sample of the stock, were most of
them, at a guess, upwards of six feet high--some considerably so; and a
wild set they seemed, though they looked kindly upon us. We were
formally presented by our captain to the prince, and received the
welcome of his smiles. His polite attention had provided a fresh and
fiery charger for our chief, and the two headed the cavalcade, which in
order dashed forward to the royal city. It was a grand progress that we
made through a line of the people, who turned out to watch and honour
our entry. The discharge of muskets was sustained almost uninterruptedly
throughout the line. It was not long before the city of ZettiniA(C) opened
to our view, situated in an extensive valley, quite amphitheatrical in
character. As we turned the corner of the defile leading into the
valley, a salute was opened from a tower near the palace, which mounts
some respectable guns. We rode at a great pace into the town, and dashed
into the inclosure that surrounds the palace, amidst a grand flourish of
three or four trumpets reserved for the climax.
To a bad rider like myself it was the occupation of the first few
minutes to assure myself that I had passed unscathed through such a
scene of kicking and plunging; one's first sensation was that of
security in treading once more the solid earth. When I looked up I saw
the Vladika in separate conference with the A. D. C., and then he passed
into the building. His hospitable will was signified to us by this
functionary. The captain was invited to sojourn in the palace; we, whose
rank did not qualify for such a distinction, were to be bestowed in two
locandas; and all were bidden to dinner in the evening. Meanwhile the
localities were open to our investigation.
One of the first curiosities was the locanda itself; curious as existing
in such a place, and expected by us to be something quite out of the
general way of such establishments. We proceeded to inspect our
quarters, and to our astonishment found two houses of a most
satisfactory kind. The rooms were neat, and perfectly clean, far
superior in this respect to many inns of much higher pretensions. An
honourable particular (almost exception) in their favour, is, that the
beds contain no vermin. This virtue will be appreciated by any one who
has travelled in Greece. The hostesses were not of the aborigines, they
were importations from Cattaro. One was a widow, tearful under the
recent stroke; the other was a talkative woman, delighted with the visit
of civilised strangers. The fare to be obtained at these places is
exceedingly good, and the solids are relieved by champagne, no less--and
excellent champagne too. We were much surprised at the discovery of
these places, so distinct from the popular rudeness, and puzzled to
conceive who were the guests to support the establishments. Besides
these two we did not observe any cafA(C)s or wine-shops, so probably they
flourish the rather that their custom, such as it is, is subject but to
one division. The good-will of the landladies was not the least
admirable part of their economy. Though our numbers might have alarmed
them, they with the best grace made up beds for us on the floor, and
supplied us with such helps to the toilette as occurred.
We soon were scattered over the place, each to collect some contribution
to the general fund of observation. But one object, conspicuous, and
portentous of horrid barbarism, attracted us all at first. It was the
round white tower from which the salute had been fired at our entrance.
A solitary hillock rises in the plain, on the top of which, clearly
defined, stands this tower. We had heard something of a custom among the
Montenegrini of cutting off, and exposing the heads of vanquished
enemies; but the story was one of so many coloured with blood, that it
made no distinct impression. As we had ridden into the plain, this tower
had attracted our observation, and we had perceived its walls to be
garnished with some things that, in the distance, looked like large
drum-sticks--that is to say, we saw poles each with some thing round at
its end. These things we were told were human heads, and our eyes were
now to behold the fact. And we did, indeed, look upon this spectacle,
such as Europe, except in these wilds, would abhor. There were heads of
all ages, and of all dates, and of many expressions; but from all
streamed the single lock that marks the follower of Mahomet. Some were
entire in feature, and looked even placid--others were advanced in
decomposition. Of some only fragments remained, the exterior bones
having fallen away, and left only a few teeth grinning through impaled
jaws. The ground beneath was strewed with fragments of humanity, and the
air was tainted with the breath of decomposition. It was truly a savage
sight, unworthy of Christians; and, doubtless, such an exhibition tends
to maintain the thirst of blood in which it originated. This hillock is
a good point of view for the survey of the place. It looks immediately
upon the palace, and over it upon the town. Near it stand the church and
monastery; and that monastery affords the only specimen of a priest in
priest's garments that I saw here. The palace is really a commodious,
well-built house, of considerable extent. Its site occupies three sides
of a parallelogram, and it is completely enclosed by a wall, furnished
at the four angles of its square with towers. The part of this inclosure
that is towards the front of the palace is kept clear, as a sort of
parade. In its centre are some dismounted guns of small calibre. On the
opposite side of the building are the royal kitchen gardens; neither
large nor well-looking. The interior of the building is superior to its
outside pretence. The rooms into which we were more immediately
introduced, may be supposed to be kept as show-rooms. At any rate they
were worthy of such appliance--lofty, well built, and highly picturesque
in their appointments. But I went also into some of the more remote
parts of the building, the room, for instance, of the A. D. C., and that
was equally unexceptionable. It is to be presumed that they gave our
captain one of their best bedrooms--and it might have been a best
bedroom in London or Paris. Indeed, in so civilized fashion was the
place furnished, that it heightened, by contrast, the horrors of the
scene outside. Barren rocks, savage caverns, naked barbarian, should
have been associated with the spectacle on the white tower. It was
caricaturing refinement to practise it in such a neighbourhood; the
transition was too abrupt from the urbanities within to the bloody
spectacle that met you if you put your head out of the window.
The City of ZettiniA(C)--it has a double title to the name, from its bishop
and its prince--consists of little more than two rows of houses, not
disposed in a street, but angularly. Besides these there are a few
scattered buildings. The palace, the monastery, and church, are at the
upper end of the plain. The valley is level to a considerable extent,
and not without cultivation. It has no artificial fortification, being
abundantly protected by nature. The hills that shut in the valley
terminate somewhat abruptly, and impart an air of seclusion. The houses
are far more comfortable than might be expected. The occupations of the
people, so nearly entirely warlike, are not among the higher branches of
domestic economy. What industry they exhibit at home is only by favour
of occasional leisure, and at intervals. Yet they are not without their
manufactures, rude though they be. Specimens were exhibited to us of
their doings in the way of coarse cloth. They manufacture the cloth of
which their large scarfs or rugs are made, and fashion the same stuff
into large bags for provisions; a useful article to those who are so
constantly on the march. We also procured one of the large girdles worn
by their women, to astonish therewith the eyes of ladies, as, indeed,
they might well astonish any body. They brought to us, also, some of the
elaborately wrought pipe-bowls peculiar to them. They are ornamented
with fine studs of brass, in a manner really ingenious; and so highly
esteemed that a single bowl costs more than a couple of beautiful
Turkish sticks elsewhere. These articles are the sum of our experience
in their manufactures.
The monastery and church are of considerable antiquity, and contrast
pleasingly with the general fierceness. It cannot be said that the
priests generally exhibit much of the reverential in their appearance.
They follow the example of their warlike chief, being mostly clad in gay
colours, and armed to the teeth. But in the monastery we found one
reverend in aspect. He kindly exhibited to us the treasures of the
sanctuary. They may claim at least one mark of primitive institution,
which is poverty. Their shrine displays no show of silver and gold, yet
it is not without valued treasure. A precious relic exists in the
defunct body of the late Vladika, to which they seem to attach the full
measure of credence prescribed in such cases. He is exhibited in his
robes, and preserves a marvellously lifelike appearance. According to
their account, he has conferred signal benefit on them since his
departure, and well merited his canonisation. His claims ought to be
unusual, since, in his instance, the salutary rule which requires the
lapse of a considerable interval between death and canonisation, that
the frailties of the man may be forgotten in the memory of the saint,
has been superseded. The part of the monastery which we inspected,
little more than the gallery however, was kept quite clean--an obvious
departure from the mode of Oriental monasteries generally, than which
few things can be more piggish.
The Vladika pays great attention to education, both for his people and
himself. It is much to his praise that he has acquired the ready use of
the French language, which he speaks fluently and well. He entertains
masters in different subjects, with whom he daily studies. His tutor in
Italian is a runaway Austrian, whose previous bad character does not
prevent his honourable entertainment. For his people he has a school
well attended, and taught by an intelligent master. It was not easy to
proceed to actual examination when we had no common language; but it was
pleasing to find here a school, and apparent studiousness. They not only
read books, but print them; and a specimen of their typography was among
the memorials of our visit that we carried away with us; unhappily we
could not guess at its subject. The Vladika is a great reader, though
his books must be procured with difficulty. He reads, too, the
ubiquitous _Galignani_, and thus keeps himself _au fait_ to the doings
of the world. We were astonished at the extent and particularity of his
information, when dinner afforded opportunity for small talk. This was
the grand occasion to which we looked forward as opportune to personal
conclusions; his conversation and his _cuisine_ would both afford
_indicia_ of his social grade.
But when this time arrived, it found us under considerable
self-reproach. We had found our host to be a much more polished person
than we had expected. In this calculation we had perhaps, only
vindicated our John Bullism, which assigns to semi-barbarism all the
world beyond the sound of Bow Bells, and of which feeling, be it
observed, the exhibition so often renders John Bull ridiculous. The
Austrian officers had come in proper uniform; the English had brought
with them only undress coats, without epaulettes or swords, thinking
such measure of ceremony would be quite satisfactory. We now found that
the intelligence of the Vladika, and the usage of his reception,
demanded a more observant respect. But this same intelligence accepted,
and even suggested, our excuses, and, in spite of deficiencies we were
welcomed with gracious smiles. The strange mixture of the respectable
with the disrespectable, was, however, maintained in our eyes to the
last. The messenger sent to summon us to the banquet could hardly be
esteemed worthy of so honourable an office. "See that man," said the
grave Austrian to me, "he is a scamp of the first water--a deserter from
my regiment, a man of education, and an officer reduced for misconduct
to the ranks--one who, for numerous acts of misbehaviour and dishonesty,
was repeatedly punished. He at last deserted, fled over the border, and
now beards me to my face." He nevertheless proved a good herald, and led
us to an excellent and most welcome dinner.
The table was perfectly well spread, somewhat in the modern style, which
eschews the exhibition of dishes, and presents fruits and flowers. Some
lighter provision was there, in the shape of plates of sliced sausages
and so forth, but the dishes of resistance were in reserve. There was an
unexceptionable array of plate, and crockery, and _neatness_. The
dining-room was worthy of the occasion. It is a large and lofty
apartment, containing little more furniture than a few convenient
couches and chairs. The walls are profusely ornamented with arms of
various kinds, hung round tastefully, so that it has the air of a tent
or guard-room. There is a small apartment leading into it, which
contains a really valuable and curious collection of arms, trophies of
victory, and associated with strange legends. It contains many guns,
with beautifully inlaid stocks, and several rare and valuable swords of
the most costly kind, such as you might seek in vain in the Bezenstein
of Constantinople. Among others was one assumed to be the sword of
Scanderbeg: strange if the sword, once so fatal to the Turks in
political rebellion, should be pursuing its work no less truculently now
in religious strife! Our host was seated, waiting our arrival, having
adapted his dress to the civilities of life, by rejecting his hussar
pelisse, and assuming another vest: he still retained his kid gloves.
The waiters were a most formidable group, and such as could hardly have
been expected to condescend to a servile office. They were chosen from
among his body guard, and were conspicuous for their stature. They wore,
even in this hour of security and presumed relaxation, their weighty
cuirasses, formed of steel plates that shone brilliantly. Their presence
must secure the Vladika against the treachery to which the banquets of
the great have been sometimes exposed.
One little trait of the ecclesiastic peeped out in the disposition of
the table, which showed that our host had not quite lost the _esprit du
corps_: a clergyman who was of our party, and who had been introduced as
a churchman, was placed in the second place of honour after our captain.
The party generally arranged themselves at will, and throughout the
affair, though there was all due observance, we were not oppressed with
ceremony. The dinner went off like most dinners, and our host did the
honours with unexceptionable grace. The cookery was in the Turkish
style, both as to composition and quantity--and we all voted his wines
very good. Champagne flowed abundantly, and unexpectedly. The Vladika
talked in a gentle manner of the most ungentle subject. War was the
subject on which he descanted with pleasure and judgment, and on which
those who sat near him endeavoured to draw him out. But he also proved
himself conversant with several subjects, and inquisitive on European
affairs. His hostility to the Turks was obviously a matter of deep
reality--his hatred was evident in the description which he gave of them
as bad, wicked men, who observed no faith, and with whom terms were
impossible. The Albanians especially were marked by his animadversions.
Our clergyman nearly produced an explosion by an ill-timed remark. As he
listened open-mouthed to the right reverend lecturer on war, he was
betrayed into an expression of his sense of the incongruity. The brow of
the Bishop was for a moment darkened, and his lip curled in contempt, of
which, perhaps, the social blunder was not undeserving. "And would not
you fight," said he, "if you were attacked by pirates?" The wrath of
such a man was to be deprecated. It would have been awkward to see the
head of our companion decorating the fatal white tower, and a nod to one
of the martial waiters would have done the business. We changed the
subject, and asked what was the Montenegro flag? "The cross," said he,
"as befits; what else should Christians carry against infidels?" We
ventured to inquire whether he, on occasion, wore the robes, and
executed the office of bishop, as we had seen a portrait of him in the
episcopal robes. "Very seldom," he told us: "and that only of
necessity." He excused the practice of exposing the heads on the tower
by the plea of necessity. It was necessary for the people, who were
accustomed to the spectacle, and whose zeal demanded and was enlivened
by the visible incentive. He gave us the account of a visit paid to him
by the only lady who has penetrated thus far. He was at the time in the
field, engaged in active operations against the enemy, and the lady, for
the sake of an interview, ventured even within range of the Turkish
battery. He expressed his astonishment that a lady should venture into
such a scene, and asked her what could have induced her so to peril her
life. "Curiosity," said the lady: "I am an Englishwoman;" and this fact
of her nationality seems quite to have satisfied him. She farther won
his admiration by partaking of lunch coolly, under only partial shelter
from the surrounding danger.
The most picturesque part of our day's experience was the evening
assembly. Between the lights we sallied forth, headed by the chief, to
look about us. For our amusement he made the people exhibit their
prowess in jumping, which was something marvellous. The wonder was
enhanced by the comparison of Frank activity which our Italian friend
insisted on affording. But Bacchus, who inspirited to the attempt, could
not invigorate to the execution; and the good-natured barbarians were
amused at the puny effort which set off their own achievements. After
showing us the neighbouring lands, the Vladika conducted us back to the
palace, where we were promised the spectacle of a Montenegro soirA(C)e. It
seems that custom has established a public reception of evenings, and
that any person may at this time attend without invitation. The whole
thing put one in mind of Donald Bean Lean's cavern, or rather, perhaps,
of Ali Baba. The picturesque ornaments of the walls waxed romantic in
the lamp-light; and costumes of many sorts were moving about, or grouped
in the chamber. We were invited to play at different games that were
going on, but preferred to remain quiet in corners, where we enjoyed
pipes and coffee, and observed the group. Among the servants was a
Greek, for whom it might have been supposed that his own country would
have been sufficiently lawless. The body-guard who, during dinner, had
acted as servants, were now gentlemen; and very splendid gentlemen they
made. The universal passion of gaming is not without a place here; it
occupied the greater part of the company. The Vladika sat smoking,
overlooking the noisy group, and talking with our captain. There were
some who did not lay aside their arms even in this hour and place--one
big fellow was pointed out to me who would not stir from one room to
another unarmed; so ever present to his fancy was the idea of the Turks.
Our host throughout the evening maintained the character of a hospitable
and dignified entertainer; comporting himself with that due admixture of
conscious dignity and affability, which seems necessary to the courtesy
of princes. He occasionally addressed himself to one or other of us, and
always seemed to answer with pleasure the questions that we ventured to
put to him. It was with reluctance that we took our leave. The night
passed comfortably at our several locandas, and not one of us had to
speak in the morning of those wretched vermin that plague the
Mediterranean. A capital breakfast put us in condition for an early
start, and the hospitable spirit of the Vladika was manifested in the
refusal of the landladies to produce any bill. With difficulty we
managed to press on them a present. The Vladika, attended by his former
suite, accompanied our departure, which was honoured with the ceremonies
that had marked our entrance. He did not leave us till arrived at the
spot where the day before we had met him.
As we halted here, and dismounted for a moment, the Vladika took from an
attendant a specimen of their guns, with inlaid stocks, and with
graceful action presented it to the captain as a memorial of his visit.
The whole party remounted. The Vladika waved to us his parting salute.
"Farewell, gentlemen; remember Montenegro!"
FOOTNOTE:
[3] Methodius and Cyril, who were sent missionaries to the Sclavonians
in the ninth century.
ELINOR TRAVIS.
A TALE IN THREE CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER THE LAST.
I RESOLVED to seek Rupert Sinclair no more, and I kept my word with
cruel fidelity. But what could I do? Had I not seen him with my own
eyes--had I not passed within a few feet of him, and beheld him, to my
indignation and bitter regret, avoiding his house, sneaking basely from
it, and retreating into the next street, because that house contained
his wife and her paramour? Yes--_paramour!_ I disbelieved the world no
longer. There could be no doubt of the fact. True, it was
incomprehensible--as incomprehensible as terrible! Rupert Sinclair,
pure, sensitive, high-minded, and incorrupt, was incapable of any act
branded by dishonour, and yet no amount of dishonour could be greater
than that attached to the conduct which I had heard of and then
witnessed. So it was--a frightful anomaly! a hideous discrepancy! Such
as we hear of from time to time, and are found within the experience of
every man, unhinging his belief, giving the lie to virtue, staggering
the fixed notions of the confiding young, and confirming the dark
conclusions of cold and incredulous age.
I hated London. The very air impure with the weight of the wickedness
which I knew it to contain; and I resolved to quit the scene without
delay. As for the mansion in Grosvenor Square, and its aristocratic
inhabitants, I had never visited then with my own free will, or for my
own profit and advantage: I forsook them without a sigh. For Rupert's
sake I had submitted to insult from the overbearing lackeys of Railton
House, and suffered the arrogance of the proud and imbecile lord
himself. Much more I could have borne gladly and cheerfully to have
secured his happiness, and to have felt that he was still as pure as I
had known him in his youth.