Sent Leger's words and acts. When I resumed my seat, Mr. Sent Leger described how, just before the
time fixed by the "pirate Captain"--so he designated him, as did every
speaker thereafter--the warship met with some under-sea accident, which
had a destructive effect on all on board her. Then he added certain
words, which I give verbatim, as I am sure that others will some time
wish to remember them in their exactness:

"By the way, President and Lords of the Council, I trust I may ask you to
confirm Captain Rooke, of the armoured yacht _The Lady_, to be Admiral of
the Squadron of the Land of the Blue Mountains, and also Captain
(tentatively) Desmond, late First-Lieutenant of _The Lady_, to the
command of the second warship of our fleet--the as yet unnamed vessel,
whose former Captain threatened to bombard Ilsin. My Lords, Admiral
Rooke has done great service to the Land of the Blue Mountains, and
deserves well at your hands. You will have in him, I am sure, a great
official. One who will till his last breath give you good and loyal
service." He had sat down, the President put to the Council resolutions, which were
passed by acclamation. Admiral Rooke was given command of the navy, and
Captain Desmond confirmed in his appointment to the captaincy of the new
ship, which was, by a further resolution, named _The Gospodar Rupert_. In thanking the Council for acceding to his request, and for the great
honour done him in the naming of the ship, Mr. Sent Leger said:

"May I ask that the armoured yacht _The Lady_ be accepted by you, the
National Council, on behalf of the nation, as a gift on behalf of the
cause of freedom from the Voivodin Teuta?" In response to the mighty cheer of the Council with which the splendid
gift was accepted the Gospodar Rupert--Mr. Sent Leger--bowed, and went
quietly out of the room. As no agenda of the meeting had been prepared, there was for a time, not
silence, but much individual conversation. In the midst of it the
Voivode rose up, whereupon there was a strict silence. All listened with
an intensity of eagerness whilst he spoke. "President and Lords of the Council, Archbishop, and Vladika, I should
but ill show my respect did I hesitate to tell you at this the first
opportunity I have had of certain matters personal primarily to myself,
but which, in the progress of recent events, have come to impinge on the
affairs of the nation. Until I have done so, I shall not feel that I
have done a duty, long due to you or your predecessors in office, and
which I hope you will allow me to say that I have only kept back for
purposes of statecraft. May I ask that you will come back with me in
memory to the year 1890, when our struggle against Ottoman aggression,
later on so successfully brought to a close, was begun. We were then in
a desperate condition. Our finances had run so low that we could not
purchase even the bread which we required. Nay, more, we could not
procure through the National Exchequer what we wanted more than
bread--arms of modern effectiveness; for men may endure hunger and yet
fight well, as the glorious past of our country has proved again and
again and again. But when our foes are better armed than we are, the
penalty is dreadful to a nation small as our own is in number, no matter
how brave their hearts. In this strait I myself had to secretly raise a
sufficient sum of money to procure the weapons we needed. To this end I
sought the assistance of a great merchant-prince, to whom our nation as
well as myself was known. He met me in the same generous spirit which he
had shown to other struggling nationalities throughout a long and
honourable career. When I pledged to him as security my own estates, he
wished to tear up the bond, and only under pressure would he meet my
wishes in this respect. Lords of the Council, it was his money, thus
generously advanced, which procured for us the arms with which we hewed
out our freedom. "Not long ago that noble merchant--and here I trust you will pardon me
that I am so moved as to perhaps appear to suffer in want of respect to
this great Council--this noble merchant passed to his account--leaving to
a near kinsman of his own the royal fortune which he had amassed. Only a
few hours ago that worthy kinsman of the benefactor of our nation made it
known to me that in his last will he had bequeathed to me, by secret
trust, the whole of those estates which long ago I had forfeited by
effluxion of time, inasmuch as I had been unable to fulfil the terms of
my voluntary bond. It grieves me to think that I have had to keep you so
long in ignorance of the good thought and wishes and acts of this great
man. "But it was by his wise counsel, fortified by my own judgment, that I was
silent; for, indeed, I feared, as he did, lest in our troublous times
some doubting spirit without our boundaries, or even within it, might
mistrust the honesty of my purposes for public good, because I was no
longer one whose whole fortune was invested within our confines. This
prince-merchant, the great English Roger Melton--let his name be for ever
graven on the hearts of our people!--kept silent during his own life, and
enjoined on others to come after him to keep secret from the men of the
Blue Mountains that secret loan made to me on their behalf, lest in their
eyes I, who had striven to be their friend and helper, should suffer
wrong repute. But, happily, he has left me free to clear myself in your
eyes. Moreover, by arranging to have--under certain contingencies, which
have come to pass--the estates which were originally my own retransferred
to me, I have no longer the honour of having given what I could to the
national cause. All such now belongs to him; for it was his money--and
his only--which purchased our national armament. "His worthy kinsman you already know, for he has not only been amongst
you for many months, but has already done you good service in his own
person. He it was who, as a mighty warrior, answered the summons of the
Vladika when misfortune came upon my house in the capture by enemies of
my dear daughter, the Voivodin Teuta, whom you hold in your hearts; who,
with a chosen band of our brothers, pursued the marauders, and himself,
by a deed of daring and prowess, of which poets shall hereafter sing,
saved her, when hope itself seemed to be dead, from their ruthless hands,
and brought her back to us; who administered condign punishment to the
miscreants who had dared to so wrong her. He it was who later took me,
your servant, out of the prison wherein another band of Turkish
miscreants held me captive; rescued me, with the help of my dear
daughter, whom he had already freed, whilst I had on my person the
documents of international secrecy of which I have already advised
you--rescued me whilst I had been as yet unsubjected to the indignity of
search.