on
the watch to embarrass its great Slavonic rival; English statesmen were
too anxious to humour Liberal sentiment as expressed at popular
meetings; Russian agents on the spot committed indiscretions; Russian
opinion at home suspected that Bulgaria was receiving encouragement
elsewhere, and the air was full of rumours of war.

Across this unquiet stage may be seen to pass, in the lively letters
which Morier sent home, the figures of potential and actual princes of
Bulgaria, of whom only two deserve mention to-day. The first, Alexander
of Battenberg, member of a family which enjoyed Queen Victoria's special
favour, had been put forward at the Berlin Congress, and justified his
choice in 1885 by repelling the Serbian Army and winning a victory at
Slivnitza. He had won the attachment of his subjects but had incurred
the hatred of the Tsar, and the tone of his speeches in 1886 offended
Russian sentiment. Two years after Slivnitza, in face of intrigues and
violence, he abandoned the contest and abdicated. The second is
Ferdinand of Coburg, whose tortuous career, begun in 1887, only ended
with the collapse of the Central Powers in 1918. He was put forward by
Austria and supported by Stambuloff, the dictatorial chief of the
Bulgarian ministry. For years the Russian Government refused to
recognize him, and it was not till 1896 that he came to heel, at the
bidding of Prince Lobanoff, and made public submission to the Tsar. But,
first and last, he was only an astute adventurer of no little vanity and
of colossal egotism, and such sympathies as he had for others beside
himself went to Austria-Hungary, where he owned landed property, and had
served in the army. He was also displeasing to orthodox Russia as a
Roman Catholic, and in Morier's letters we see clearly the mistrust and
contempt which Russians felt for him.

With an autocrat like Alexander III, secretive and obstinate, these
personal questions became very serious. Ambitious generals might
anticipate his wishes, Russian regiments might be on the march before
the Ministers knew anything, and Europe might awake to find itself over
the edge of the precipice.

Morier's own attitude can best be judged from the letters which he
exchanged with Sir William White, our able ambassador to the Porte, who
was frankly anti-Russian in his views. At first he put his trust in
strict observance of the Treaty of Berlin, and wished that Prince
Alexander would consent to restore the _status