BULGARIA. 



67 



under the exclusive jurisdiction of Turkey. 

 The British Government made strenuous ob- 

 jections to the provisions of the treaty respect- 

 ing Bulgaria, which were briefly stated in a 

 circular addressed by Lord Salisbury to the 

 Powers, which was published on March 30th. 

 It recited, as among the most important conse- 

 quences to which the treaty practically led, 

 that by the articles erecting the New Bulgaria 

 a strong Slavic state would be created under 

 the auspices and control of Russia, possessing 

 important harbors on the Black Sea and the 

 Archipelago, and conferring upon that power 

 a predominating influence over both political 

 and commercial relations in those seas. The 

 state would be so constituted as to merge in 

 the dominant Slavic majority a considerable 

 mass of population which is Greek in race and 

 sympathy, and which views with alarm the 

 prospect of absorption into a community alien 

 to it not only in nationality but in political 

 tendency and religious allegiance. The pro- 

 visions by which this new state would be sub- 

 jected to a ruler whom Russia would practically 

 choose, its administration framed by a Russian 

 commissary, and the first working of its in- 

 stitutions commenced under the control of a 

 Russian army, sufficiently indicated the politi- 

 cal system of which in future it was to form 

 a part. Stipulations, the dispatch continued, 

 were added which would extend this influence 

 even beyond the boundaries of the New Bul- 

 garia. 



Objection was made by the Greek inhabitants 

 of the southern territory against the extension 

 of the new Slavic state over communities of 

 predominantly Grecian nationality, which found 

 expression in protests and in the participa- 

 tion of the Greeks in the insurrections with 

 which the districts around the Rhodope Moun- 

 tains were convulsed during the spring and the 

 early summer. It had not been the original 

 intention of the Russian Government to make 

 the Bulgarian state so large ; for Count Shou- 

 valoff, the Russian Ambassador to Great Brit- 

 ain, had assured Earl Derby on June 8, 1877, 

 that if the Porte should sue for peace before 

 the Russian armies crossed the Balkans, they 

 would not pass that line, but the Emperor 

 would insist upon the autonomy of Bulgaria as 

 a vassal province under the guarantee of Eu- 

 rope, and would ask the Powers to assure to 

 that part of the country south of the Balkans, 

 as well as to the other Christian provinces ot 

 Turkey, the best possible guarantees for a reg- 

 ular administration. But, at a subsequent in- 

 terview, the Count informed Earl Derby that 

 his Government had decided that separation 

 into two provinces would be impracticable, 

 tor "local information proved that Bulgaria 

 must remain a single province, otherwise the 

 most laborious and intelligent part of the Bul- 

 garian population, and notably that which had 

 most suffered from Turkish maladministration, 

 would remain excluded from the autonomous 

 institutions," and that the terms of peace to 



be demanded would be modified in accordance 

 with this view. 



Previous to the meeting of the Congress at 

 Berlin, on the 30th of May, the British and Rus- 

 sian Governments came to an agreement re- 

 specting the terms of adjustment which they 

 would accept from the Congress. This agree- 

 ment provided that Bulgaria should be di- 

 vided into two provinces: one north of the 

 Balkans, to be endowed with a political au- 

 tonomy under a prince; the other south of 

 the Balkans, but not to touch the ^Egean Sea, 

 and to have a Christian governor and a gov- 

 ernment similar to that of an English colony. 

 Further, the British Government reserved, 

 among other things, the right to demand of 

 the Congress the participation of Europe in 

 the administrative organization of the two 

 Bulgarian provinces, and to discuss the dura- 

 tion and nature of the Russian occupation of 

 Bulgaria. The Bulgarian question was the 

 first topic considered by the Congress, and the 

 first to be settled. The final decision of it 

 was made substantially on the basis of the 

 Anglo-Russian agreement, and established the 

 principality of Bulgaria, to be bounded on the 

 south by the Balkans, and to include Varna on 

 the east and Sophia on the west, the state to 

 own all the fortresses; the territory south of 

 the Balkans to be erected into an autonomous 

 province, to be called Eastern Roumelia, and 

 to be governed by a Christian hospodar, nomi- 

 nated by the Sultan and the Powers, who 

 should be aided by a local elective Parliament, 

 and supported by a local militia, the higher 

 officers of which must be approved by the 

 Sultan. The Turkish Government was given 

 the full and entire right to occupy and cover 

 the line of frontier separating Bulgaria from 

 Eastern Roumelia, by whatever number of 

 troops it might deem necessary for the se- 

 curity of its borders ; but it was expressly un- 

 derstood that these troops should be composed 

 entirely of regulars, should not on any pre- 

 text be cantoned among the inhabitants, and 

 should be used exclusively for frontier service. 

 It was stipulated that the principality of Bul- 

 garia should have a Christian government and 

 a national militia ; that the Prince should be 

 elected by the people and confirmed by the 

 Porte and the great Powers ; that the rights 

 of all the nationalities should be taken into 

 account in whatever relates to the election or 

 the government, and that distinction of re- 

 ligious belief or confession should not operate 

 against any one as a reason of exclusion or in- 

 capacity in what concerns enjoyment of po- 

 litical rights, admission to public employment, 

 functions, or honors, or the exercise of the dif- 

 ferent professions and industries. Liberty of 

 public profession of all creeds was assured to all 

 the returned population as well as to stran- 

 gers. Until a permanent organization shall 

 be completed, for which nine months are al- 

 lowed, Bulgaria will be governed by a provi- 

 sional organization, directed by Russian com- 



