re resolute nationalists. The son of an innkeeper of
Tirnova, he was sent away to be educated at Odessa; there he early
became imbued with Nihilist ideas, and on returning to the Danubian
lands, framed many plots for the expulsion of the Turks from Bulgaria.
His thick-set frame, his force of will, his eloquent, passionate speech,
and, above all, his burning patriotism, soon brought him to the front as
the leader of the national party; and he now strove with all his might
to prevent his land falling to the position of a mere satrapy of the
liberators. Better the puny autocracy of Prince Alexander than the very
real despotism of the nominees of the Emperor Alexander III.

The character of the new Czar will engage our attention in the following
chapter; here we need only say that the more his narrow, hard, and
overbearing nature asserted itself, the greater appeared the danger to
the liberties of the Principality. At last, when the situation became
unbearable, the Prince resolved to restore the Bulgarian constitution;
and he took this momentous step, on September 18, 1883, without
consulting the three Russian Ministers, who thereupon resigned[188].

[Footnote 188: For the scenes which then occurred, see _Le Prince
Alexandre de Battenberg en Bulgarie_, by A.G. Drandar, pp. 169 _et
seq_.; also A. Koch, _Fuerst Alexander von Bulgarien_, pp. 144-147.

For the secret aims of Russia, see _Documents secrets de la Politique
russe en Orient_, by R. Leonoff (Berlin, 1893), pp. 49-65. General
Soboleff, _Der erste Fuerst von Bulgarian_ (Leipzig, 1896), has given a
highly coloured Russian account of all these incidents.]

At once the Prince summoned Karaveloff, and said to him: "My dear
Karaveloff--For the second time I swear to thee that I will be entirely
submissive to the will of the people, and that I will govern in full
accordance with the constitution of Tirnova. Let us forget what passed
during the _coup d'etat_ [of 1881], and work together for the
prosperity of the country." He embraced him; and that embrace was the
pledge of a close union of hearts between him and his people[189].

[Footnote 189: See Laveleye's _The Balkan Peninsula_, pp. 259-262, for
an account of Karaveloff.]

The Czar forthwith showed his anger at this act of independence, and,
counting it a sign of defiance, allowed or encouraged his agents in
Bulgaria to undermine the power of the Prince, and procure his
deposition. For two years they struggled in va