CHARACTER SKETCH. 



^41 



of Parma, he agreed that tlieir children 

 should be brought up in the faith ot 

 Rome. But when all else had failed to 

 placate Russia, he had his son Boris 

 " converted " to the Orthodox Church, 

 in spite of the scorn of the world and 

 the flight of his wife with her younger 

 son to escape the outrage to her faith. 

 " The West has pronounced its ana- 

 thema against me," he said, but he had 

 won his prize. Russia smiled on him, 

 recognised him, and with that recogni- 

 tion come the countenance of all the 

 Great Powers. The path to glory was 

 at last clear. 



STAMBULOFF v. FERDINAND. 

 But it was in the Stambuloff episode 

 that the falsity of his character was 

 most startlingly revealed. It is a dark 

 story. History could not show a more 

 dramatic contrast of personalities than 

 that provided by Ferdinand and the 

 Minister who made him Prince — the one 

 all artifice, the other all primitive 

 nature. Stambuloif was a ruthless man 

 set in ruthless circumstances. He had 

 one passion — love of his country. To 

 that passion he sacrificed everything 

 and everybody — most of all he sacri- 

 ficed himself. Turkey had been driven 

 out of his vineyard ; but the spies of 

 Russia were overrunning it. He was 

 alone in the midst of a web of plots and 



intrigues. 



He fought like a giant, mer- 



cilessly, cunningly. And all the time 

 he was consolidating the country, con- 

 structing railways, developing its re- 

 sources, giving it education, building up 

 its army, laying the foundations of that 

 power that is the admiration of the 

 world to-day. To him Ferdinand was 

 only a necessar}- instrument in his 

 scheme to defeat the machinations of 

 Russia and to establish the freedom of 

 his land. And he found him, instead, 

 anxious only to be aoproved by Russia 

 and the Powers. The liberty of his 

 Kingdom was threatened ; his very life 

 was in daily peril ; he lived on the 

 brink of a volcano, and his dreams were 

 the dreams of pomp and vanity. Two 

 such men could not run permanently in 

 harness. 



" GEY ILL TO LIVE Wl'. " 

 One may sympathise with the Prince, 

 for Stambuloff was " gey ill to live wi '." 



He had no reverence for princes, and a 

 mighty scorn for the shows of things. 

 He was fighting a tremendous battle, 

 and was apt to forget his manners. " I 

 cannot and will not be seen with }0u if 

 you don't take that frippery off," he is 

 said to have exclaimed when, his mind 

 full 6T fierce actualities, he found him- 

 self 111 the presence of his Prince, who 

 was clothed in a wonderful coronation 

 mantle of purple and ermine. " Some 

 people will think you are mad. There 

 are more urgent matters to be attended 

 to than coronation mantles. For in- 

 stance, your Highness might see that 



you get a more trustworthy bodyguard, 



"'1 " 



or else . 



An uncomfortable master — a master 



who would neither flatter him nor betray 



him. For Russia intimated that she 



would be Bulgaria's friend if only 



Stambuloff would surrender this usurper 



— if onl)' Ferdinand could be sent the 



way of Alexander. But Stambuloff 



knew that to surrender the Prince was 



to surrender Bulgaria. It was not the 



man he cared for, but the nationality of 



which he was the symbol. 



THE FALL OF STAMBULOFF. 

 But if the Minister would not betray 

 the Prince, the Prince could desert the 

 Minister. One clay, during his absence 

 abroad, Ferdinand wrote an official let- 

 ter forbidding Stambuloff to report to 

 him, and declaring that his conduct was 

 " in fame." Stambuloff resigned in a 

 letter in which he said, " Cela ne fait 

 honneur ni au peuple bulgare, ni a son 

 Prince, si I'activite d'un ministre bulgare 

 doit etre caracterisee par I'adjectif ' m- 

 ame. 

 Ferdinand was free. " Henceforth," 

 he said, " I mean to rule as well as to 

 reign." He has kept his word. But 

 while Stambuloff lived the shadow of 

 that terrible man hung over his path. 

 It was said that he was to be brought to 

 trial. It would have been well if he 

 had been There was plenty of crimes 

 against him, for he had dipped his 

 hands deep in the blood of those 

 enemies whom he believed to be the 

 enemies of his country. But he was not 

 tried. Instead, his house was sur- 

 rounded by spies ; his steps were 

 dogged wherever he went. He appealed 



