Review of Reviews, lliUS. 



LEADING ARTICLES. 



171 



THE LETTERS OF A DOOMED SOVEREIGN. 



A high degree of personal courage 

 was required of Prince Alexander of 

 Battenberg to accept, in the face of 

 Turkish hostility and Bulgarian 

 anarchy, the perilous throne of Bul- 

 garia. The letters he wrote during that 

 time tells of the trials and difficulties 

 of his kingship. Mr. H. J. Darnton- 

 Fraser prints a selection in his article 

 in the Wesiiuinster Reviezv. 



THE RUMELIAN INSURRECTION. 

 With set resolution the Prince worked 

 at the regeneration of Bulgaria, meet- 

 ing, on the whole, with great success. 

 The administration was purified, and, 

 true to his German instincts, he paid the 

 most careful attention to his army. But 

 in September, 1885, came a bolt from 

 the blue. The following is one of the 

 Prince's most interesting letters: — 



The mine has exploded. I am in the midst 

 of a revolution, Avitli one and possihly two 

 wars looming ahead, and the Czar invoking 

 all the maledictions of heaven on my de- 

 voted head ! ! I was in Varna on the 15th, 

 when Ritsow and Kurtew, two leading Rnme- 

 lian agitators, came to see me and informed 

 me that they had fixed the 1st of OctoV)er for 

 the outbreak of a revolution in Rumelia 

 with a view, of course, of uniting with Bul- 

 garia. I did not take the thing very tragic- 

 ally, as I had lieard the same sort of thing 

 before on more than one occasion ; still I 

 argued the matter out with them, and per- 

 suaded them to put off tlie attempt till a 

 more convenient season. Unfortunately some 

 idiot had arranged to arrest Stojanow that 

 very day, and this proved the start of the 

 troivhle. I did not hear about it till midday 

 on the 18th, as something had gone wrong 

 with the telegrapli. My first movement was 

 to get the advice of the Premier, but no one 

 seemed to know where he had gone to. At 

 last he was run to earth at Tirnovo, m the 

 arms of a new damsel. His advice was sound, 

 thouo-h disagreeable; to throw myself heai-t 

 and 'soul into the popular movement. By 

 this time there was nothing else possible, bo 

 I have bu'-nt mv boats : the Czar is my sworn 

 enemy, and I am a sort of idol of the Bul- 

 garian people. It is truly a most ainazing 

 transformation. I am afraid I will have to 

 pav a heavv penalty for this by and by, hut 

 Bulgaria will liave benefited by it, and after 

 all a prince has no personality. I will keep 

 you informed as regularly as 1 can. Cod !»> 



with thee 



THE LAST PHRASE. 

 The Czar ordered all Russian officers 

 in Bulgarian service to return to Russia 

 immediately. This was meant 



cripple the young Bulgarian army, 

 whu h only possessed three officers who 

 had ever commanded more than a com- 

 pany. It succeeded, and with indomit- 

 able courage and energy the Prince set 

 to work to create a field arm\' within 

 the few da\'s or weeks that might be 

 granted him before the outbreak of war. 

 Suddenly a fresh eneni)' appeared on 

 Bulgaria's flank : Scrvia started to arm 

 with feverish haste, and a concerted 

 Press campaign against Bulgaria and 

 her Prince, fed with Russian, or rather 

 Pan-Slavist, gold, was engineered in the 

 Belgrade Press. The result of the brief 

 campaign and the Servian rout are 

 matters of history. The enmity of the 

 Czar and the revolt of the army were 

 what finally drove Prince Alexander 

 from Bulgaria. There is a pathetic ring 

 m the letter he wrote the day before he 

 left his capital : — 



This is my last day of kingship. It has 

 been a curious experience — one no man could 

 ever envy me for. I have tried to do my 

 duty; frankly, I don't know whether I luive 

 succeeded or failed to save Bulgaria. For 

 myself, I have had all the gambler's mad 

 sensations without the gambler's stake — and 

 I have lost ! ! I suppose I was doomed to be 

 thus from the first. I hope soon to see you. 

 Tliank God ! I am a mere man once more. 



WILL OF THE PRINCE 

 IMPERIAL. 



In a recent number of the 'Nonvelle 

 Revue M. Gilbert Stenger concludes his 

 article on the Prince Imperial. 



Before his departure for Zululand the 

 Prince made his will. It runs as fol- 

 lows : — - 



" I die in the Catholic, Apostolic, and 

 Roman religion in which I was born. 



^I desire that my body shall be laid 



to rest by that of my father until the 

 time comes to transport both to the 

 place where rests the founder of our 

 house amongst the French people, whom 



we have loved as he did. -bXx last 



thought shall be for my country ; it is 



for it that T should like to die. 



When I shall be no more I hope my 

 mother will keep me in the same affec- 

 tionate remembrance as that in which I 



have kejit her to my last moment. 



to May my own friends, ni)- servants, the 



