RECORD OF THE FIRST MEETING OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE LAND OF THEBLUE MOUNTAINS, HELD AT PLAZAC ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, 1907, TOCONSIDER THE ADOPTION OF A NEW CONSTITUTION, AND TO GIVE PERMANENT EFFECTTO THE SAME IF, AND WHEN, DECIDED UPON.
(_Kept by the Monk Cristoferos_, _Scribe to the National Council_.)
The adjourned meeting duly took place as arranged. There was a fullattendance of Members of the Council, together with the Vladika, theArchbishop, the Archimandrites of Spazac, of Ispazar, of Domitan, andAstrag; the Chancellor; the Lord of the Exchequer; the President of theHigh Court of National Law; the President of the Council of Justice; andsuch other high officials as it is customary to summon to meetings of theNational Council on occasions of great importance. The names of allpresent will be found in the full report, wherein are given the ipsissimaverba of the various utterances made during the consideration of thequestions discussed, the same having been taken down in shorthand by thehumble scribe of this precis, which has been made for the convenience ofMembers of the Council and others.
The Voivode Peter Vissarion, obedient to the request of the Council, wasin attendance at the State House, waiting in the "Chamber of the HighOfficers" until such time as he should be asked to come before theCouncil.
The President put before the National Council the matter of the newConstitution, outlining the headings of it as drawn up by the High Courtof National Law, and the Constitution having been formally accepted _nem.con._ by the National Council on behalf of the people, he proposed thatthe Crown should be offered to the Voivode Peter Vissarion, withremainder to the "Gospodar Rupert" (legally, Rupert Sent Leger), husbandof his only child, the Voivodin Teuta. This also was received withenthusiasm, and passed _nem. con._
Thereupon the President of Council, the Archbishop, and the Vladika,acting together as a deputation, went to pray the attention of theVoivode Peter Vassarion.
When the Voivode entered, the whole Council and officials stood up, andfor a few seconds waited in respectful silence with heads bowed down.Then, as if by a common impulse--for no word was spoken nor any signalgiven--they all drew their handjars, and stood to attention--with pointsraised and edges of the handjars to the front.
The Voivode stood very still. He seemed much moved, but controlledhimself admirably. The only time when be seemed to lose his self-controlwas when, once again with a strange simultaneity, all present raisedtheir handjars on high, and shouted: "Hail, Peter, King!" Then loweringtheir points till these almost touched the ground, they once again stoodwith bowed heads.
When he had quite mastered himself, the Voivode Peter Vissarion spoke:
"How can I, my brothers, sufficiently thank you, and, through you, thepeople of the Blue Mountains, for the honour done to me this day? Invery truth it is not possible, and therefore I pray you to consider it asdone, measuring my gratitude in the greatness of your own hearts. Suchhonour as you offer to me is not contemplated by any man in whose mind awholesome sanity rules, nor is it even the dream of fervent imagination.So great is it, that I pray you, men with hearts and minds like my own,to extend to me, as a further measure of your generosity, a little timeto think it over. I shall not want long, for even already, with theblaze of honour fresh upon me, I see the cool shadow of Duty, though hissubstance is yet hardly visible. Give me but an hour of solitude--anhour at most--if it do not prolong this your session unduly. It may bethat a lesser time will serve, but in any case I promise you that, when Ican see a just and fitting issue to my thought, I shall at once return."
The President of the Council looked around him, and, seeing everywherethe bowing heads of acquiescence, spoke with a reverent gravity:
"We shall wait in patience whatsoever time you will, and may the God whorules all worthy hearts guide you to His Will!"
And so in silence the Voivode passed out of the hall.
From my seat near a window I could watch him go, as with measured stepshe passed up the hill which rises behind the State House, and disappearedinto the shadow of the forest. Then my work claimed me, for I wished torecord the proceedings so far whilst all was fresh in my mind. Insilence, as of the dead, the Council waited, no man challenging opinionof his neighbour even by a glance.
Almost a full hour had elapsed when the Voivode came again to theCouncil, moving with slow and stately gravity, as has always been hiswont since age began to hamper the movement which in youth had been sonotable. The Members of the Council all stood up uncovered, and soremained while he made announcement of his conclusion. He spoke slowly;and as his answer was to be a valued record of this Land and its Race, Iwrote down every word as uttered, leaving here and there space fordescription or comment, which spaces I have since then filled in.
"Lords of the National Council, Archbishop, Vladika, Lords of the Councilof Justice and of National Law, Archimandrites, and my brothers all, Ihave, since I left you, held in the solitude of the forest counsel withmyself--and with God; and He, in His gracious wisdom, has led my thinkingto that conclusion which was from the first moment of knowledge of yourintent presaged in my heart. Brothers, you know--or else a long life hasbeen spent in vain--that my heart and mind are all for the nation--myexperience, my life, my handjar. And when all is for her, why should Ishrink to exercise on her behalf my riper judgment though the same shouldhave to combat my own ambition? For ten centuries my race has not failedin its duty. Ages ago the men of that time trusted in the hands of myancestors the Kingship, even as now you, their children, trust me. Butto me it would be base to betray that trust, even by the smallest tittle.That would I do were I to take the honour of the crown which you havetendered to me, so long as there is another more worthy to wear it. Werethere none other, I should place myself in your hands, and yield myselfover to blind obedience of your desires. But such an one there is; dearto you already by his own deeds, now doubly dear to me, since he is myson by my daughter's love. He is young, whereas I am old. He is strongand brave and true; but my days of the usefulness of strength and braveryare over. For myself, I have long contemplated as the crown of my lateryears a quiet life in one of our monasteries, where I can still watch thewhirl of the world around us on your behalf, and be a counsellor ofyounger men of more active minds. Brothers, we are entering on stirringtimes. I can see the signs of their coming all around us. North andSouth--the Old Order and the New, are about to clash, and we lie betweenthe opposing forces. True it is that the Turk, after warring for athousand years, is fading into insignificance. But from the North whereconquests spring, have crept towards our Balkans the men of a mightiercomposite Power. Their march has been steady; and as they came, theyfortified every step of the way. Now they are hard upon us, and arealready beginning to swallow up the regions that we have helped to winfrom the dominion of Mahound. The Austrian is at our very gates. Beatenback by the Irredentists of Italy, she has so enmeshed herself with theGreat Powers of Europe that she seems for the moment to be impregnable toa foe of our stature. There is but one hope for us--the uniting of theBalkan forces to turn a masterly front to North and West as well as toSouth and East. Is that a task for old hands to undertake? No; thehands must be young and supple; and the brain subtle, as well as theheart be strong, of whomsoever would dare such an accomplishment. ShouldI accept the crown, it would only postpone the doing of that which mustultimately be done. What avail would it be if, when the darkness closesover me, my daughter should be Queen Consort to the first King of a newdynasty? You know this man, and from your record I learn that you arealready willing to have him as King to follow me. Why not begin withhim? He comes of a great nation, wherein the principle of freedom is avital principle that quickens all things. That nation has more than onceshown to us its friendliness; and doubtless the very fact that anEnglishman would become our King, and could carry into our Government thespirit and customs which have made his own country great, would do muchto restore the old friendship, and even to create a new one, which wouldin times of trouble bring British fleets to our
waters, and Britishbayonets to support our own handjars. It is within my own knowledge,though as yet unannounced to you, that Rupert Sent Leger has alreadyobtained a patent, signed by the King of England himself, allowing him tobe denaturalized in England, so that he can at once apply fornaturalization here. I know also that he has brought hither a vastfortune, by aid of which he is beginning to strengthen our hands for war,in case that sad eventuality should arise. Witness his late ordering tobe built nine other warships of the class that has already done sucheffective service in overthrowing the Turk--or the pirate, whichever hemay have been. He has undertaken the defence of the Blue Mouth at hisown cost in a way which will make it stronger than Gibraltar, and secureus against whatever use to which the Austrian may apply the vast forcesalready gathered in the Bocche di Cattaro. He is already founding aerialstations on our highest peaks for use of the war aeroplanes which arebeing built for him. It is such a man as this who makes a nation great;and right sure I am that in his hands this splendid land and our noble,freedom-loving people will flourish and become a power in the world.Then, brothers, let me, as one to whom this nation and its history andits future are dear, ask you to give to the husband of my daughter thehonour which you would confer on me. For her I can speak as well as formyself. She shall suffer nothing in dignity either. Were I indeed King,she, as my daughter, would be a Princess of the world. As it will be,she shall be companion and Queen of a great King, and her race, which ismine, shall flourish in all the lustre of the new Dynasty.
"Therefore on all accounts, my brothers, for the sake of our dear Land ofthe Blue Mountains, make the Gospodar Rupert, who has so proved himself,your King. And make me happy in my retirement to the cloister."
When the Voivode ceased to speak, all still remained silent and standing.But there was no mistaking their acquiescence in his most generousprayer. The President of the Council well interpreted the general wishwhen he said:
"Lords of the National Council, Archbishop, Vladika, Lords of theCouncils of Justice and National Law, Archimandrites, and all who arepresent, is it agreed that we prepare at leisure a fitting reply to theVoivode Peter of the historic House of Vissarion, stating our agreementwith his wish?"
To which there was a unanimous answer:
"It is." He went on:
"Further. Shall we ask the Gospodar Rupert of the House of Sent Leger,allied through his marriage to the Voivodin Teuta, daughter and onlychild of the Voivode Peter of Vissarion, to come hither to-morrow? Andthat, when he is amongst us, we confer on him the Crown and Kingship ofthe Land of the Blue Mountains?"
Again came the answer: "It is."
But this time it rang out like the sound of a gigantic trumpet, and thehandjars flashed.
Whereupon the session was adjourned for the space of a day.