BULGARIA. 



107 



graphed copies of his note announcing the de- 

 mands of Russia among the people; but the 

 prefect of the city, Dimitroff, forbade their 

 circulation, and took measures to prevent it. 

 In a public meeting in Sofia a Russian agent 

 shouted, "Long live the Czar! Perish Bul- 

 garia ! " and was roughly handled by the citi- 

 zens. Gen. Kaulbars then appeared, and at- 

 tacked the Government in a violent speech, 

 but his words were drowned. Leaving Sofia 

 under instructions from the Czar to investigate 

 the state of feeling throughout Bulgaria and 

 Eastern Roumelia, he traveled through the 

 country, endeavoring by addresses and circu- 

 lars, and by secret incitement and bribery, to 

 foster among the people resistance to the de- 

 crees of the Government, and foment mutiny 

 in the army. He sent a letter to the comman- 

 dant of the garrison at Rustchuk, urging the 

 release of the officers held in custody there ; 

 but that officer replied that his demands should 

 be addressed to the Government. In every 

 garrison town he summoned the officers to a 

 consultation on his arrival ; but they declined 

 such interviews, as being inconsistent with their 

 duty. Three regimental commanders in Shum- 

 la sent a protest to Stambuloff, advising the 

 acceptance of the Russian demands; but, on 

 receiving a sharp reprimand, promised to ab- 

 stain from political discussions. The Govern- 

 ment used stern measures to insure obedience, 

 and to repress the agitation that Russian agents 

 sought to provoke. 



The rigorous application of military law of- 

 fended the people, but not so much as the un- 

 usually strict collection of the taxes that the 

 ministry ordered, in order to relieve the em- 

 barrassments of the treasury. The Zankoft 

 party spread the belief among the farming 

 class that under Russian rule taxes would not 

 be so rigorously collected, and that money 

 would flow into the country and be much 

 more plentiful. 



The Russian general was greatly disap- 

 pointed in the strength of the Russian party. 

 A small knot ot adherents of Zankoff met him 

 in each town, but nowhere did he receive the 

 semblance of a popular welcome, except from 

 some small deputations of peasants, and from 

 Macedonian and Russian supporters. Montene- 

 grins and Macedonian adventurers flocked to 

 the Russian consulates in the Orient, during 

 turbulent times, when money can be earned 

 by creating disturbances or organizing insur- 

 rectionary outbreaks. The Montenegrins are 

 engaged by the consuls as cavasses, and in- 

 spire fear and respect among the people by 

 their martial air and the many weapons that 

 they carry, in accordance with their national 

 custom. The demonstrations of peasants in 

 Rustchuk and other places, that Kaulbars rep- 

 resented as showing the true state of feeling 

 in Bulgaria, were arranged and conducted by 

 hired agents, none of whom were Bulgarian. 



The proceedings of Gen. Kaulbars were 

 viewed with wonderment throughout Europe. 



Lord Iddesleigh, the British Foreign Minister, 

 sent a circular note to the powers, asking them 

 to extend their moral support to the Bulgarian 

 Government. The ministry addressed a circu- 

 lar to the representatives of the powers, re- 

 monstrating against foreign interference with 

 the elections. Consul Nekliudoff, in Sofia, re- 

 fused to accept the note in the absence of his 

 chief, protesting against its import, and de- 

 clared a rupture of diplomatic intercourse. 



The Elections. The Opposition party was 

 given no opportunity to arrange an election 

 campaign. In the provinces the stc.te of siege 

 though nominally ended, was still practically 

 maintained. The Government party distrib- 

 uted everywhere a manifesto, appealing to the 

 electors to vote for men who were Bulgarians 

 first, and Slavs afterward ; who would choose 

 a prince willing to die for Bulgaria on the 

 battle-field, and was her hero-prince ; and thus 

 show that Bulgaria will live free and independ- 

 ent, and riot bend anew to the yoke. 



The elections passed off quietly, except for 

 attempts of Russian emissaries in various 

 places to create riots. In Sofia, Nekliudoff 

 arranged, or at least countenanced, a plot to 

 prevent the election. Forty or fifty peasants 

 were hired in the neighboring villages. They 

 made their rendezvous at the Russian consul- 

 ate, where they were joined by a band of 

 Montenegrin bravoes, who had been brought 

 direct from Montenegro. Nekliudoff made them 

 a speech, in which he said that the elections 

 were disapproved by the Czar, and would be 

 null and void. They were then marched by 

 their Macedonian and Montenegrin leaders to 

 the polling- place. There they stoned the peo- 

 ple, and attempted to burst in the door, and 

 destroy the urns ; but in the fight that fol- 

 lowed, they were put to flight by the citizens, 

 and took refuge in the yard of the Russian con- 

 sulate. A mob gathered about the gate and 

 jeered at the peasants. This led to the throw- 

 ing of sticks and stones, and, although the 

 police drove the people back, the peasants 

 soon began again to hurl fire- wood, and were 

 answered with a volley of bricks. The Mon- 

 tenegrins, who were claimed by the Russian 

 agent as regular cavasses of the consulate, then 

 fired off their revolvers, and the bullets went 

 into the German and English consulates oppo- 

 site. Soldiers then cleared the streets, and 

 conducted the peasants, whom the Russian con- 

 sul now ordered away, outside the town. In 

 "Widdin, a group of about fifty peasants, who 

 assembled before the Russian consulate, to pro- 

 test against the elections, were dispersed by 

 the police. In answer to the complaint of the 

 Russian consul, the prefect stated that they were 

 not Bulgarians, and had no right to assemble 

 on election- day. In Eski Sagra, a soldier of 

 the garrison named Baho Ivanoff, was arrested, 

 who confessed that Schachotin, the Russian 

 consul in Rustchuk, had employed a certain 

 Montenegrin voivode to organize bands that 

 were to set out on Oct. 17 and raise disturb- 



