ir passions had been excited to such a degree that
much more harm was done than good. It is said that he had promised
Messrs. Lloyd George and Clemenceau that he would not publish his letter
for three hours, but that--pride of authorship triumphing over
prudence--it was circulated to the Press two hours before this time was
up, and a compromise which had been worked out by Mr. Lloyd George had
perforce to be abandoned. This was one of the occasions when the
President's impulsiveness burst out through his cold exterior, when his
strength of purpose, his grim determination to fight for justice were
undermined by his egotism.

ITALIAN HOPES IN MONTENEGRO

For months the Italians had been consoling themselves with the thought
that such a hybrid affair as Yugoslavia would never really come into
existence. Some visionaries might attempt to join the Serbs and Croats
and Slovenes, yet these must be as rare as Blake, who testified that
"when others see but the dawn coming over the hill, I see the sons of
God shouting for joy." One only had to listen, one could hear already
how they were growling, how they were quarrelling, how they were killing
each other. In Montenegro, for example, and Albania the Italians were
greatly interested--not always as spectators. If you tell a hungry
Montenegrin peasant in the winter that there is a chance of his
obtaining flour and--well, that he may have to fight for it, but he will
get good booty at Cetinje, he will go there. In January 1919 there was a
battle. "The Montenegrin people rose in rebellion against the Serbians
to recover their independence," said an Italian writer, one Dr. Attilio
Tamaro in a weekly paper called _Modern Italy_, which was published in
London. "This intensely popular revolt, animated by the heroically
patriotic spirit of the Montenegrins, was relentlessly suffocated in
blood. In the little city of Cetinje alone, where there are but a few
thousand inhabitants, over 400 were killed and wounded. The Serbians and
the French together accomplished this sanguinary repression. We repeat,
it is painful to see the French lend their men, their blood and their
glorious arms to the carrying out of the low intrigues of Balkan
politics." The money and the arms that were found on the dead and
captured rebels were Italian. If the schemes of the Italians had not
been upset by the timely arrival of the Yugoslav forces, with the few
Frenchmen, they would have occupied Cetinje and restor