r
the first time, burnt the monastery at Cetinje, wasted the land and
doubtless removed enough gear to pay the haratch [tax] which Danilo
had refused.

1715 is noteworthy as the date of Danilo's visit to Petersburg, when
he was given the first of the many subsidies which the Tsars have
bestowed till recently upon the Petrovitch family.

In a land which is rat-poor, the family which has wealth has power.
The Petrovitches had gained power and they kept it. Fighting almost
till the last, Danilo died full of years and fame, in 1735, and
named his nephew Sava, who had acted for some time as ecclesiastical
head, as his successor.

Sava had no ambition to be aught but a Churchman. He built the
monastery of Stanjevitch and retired to it, leaving his nephew
Vassili to govern.

Vassili, who was already in holy orders, had much of the quality of
Danilo. He organized the defence of the land and defeated more than
one attack upon it. Montenegro was now largely fighting against the
Moslem Serbs of Bosnia and the Herzegovina. In fact the "Turk" with
whom the Balkan Christian waged war was as often as not his
compatriot, turned Moslem.

Vassili and Sava further strengthened their alliance with Russia by
visiting Petersburg, where the Empress Elizabeth promised them a
yearly subsidy of 3,000 roubles and money for schools. Vassili died
in Russia in 1766 and Sava was left to manage alone.

He was quite unfit and his post was usurped by a remarkable imposter
who appeared suddenly in Montenegro and said he was Peter III of
Russia, who had been murdered in 1706. Russia was a name to conjure
with. He thrilled the credulous tribesmen with tales of his escape
and adventures. In the words of an old ballad: "He is known as
Stefan the Little. The nation turns to him as a child to its father.
They have dismissed their headmen, their Serdars, Knezhes and
Voyvodas. All eyes turn to him and hail him as Tsar." Sava returned
to his monastery and the imposter reigned. Even the Patriarch of
Ipek who was on the verge of dismissal, cried for the protection of
Stefan Mali, who set to work to govern with great energy. Venice,
alarmed by his popularity, joined with the Turks and attacked
Montenegro, but was repulsed. Russia, seeing her influence waning
with the departed Sava, sent an Envoy to denounce the impostor. But
"nothing succeeds like success." Stefan Mali had such a hold over
the ignorant tribesmen that Russia, seeing Sava was useless,
recogn