in. An attempt by the
Russian Generals Soboleff and Kaulbars to kidnap the Prince by night
failed, owing to the loyalty of Lieutenant Martinoff, then on duty at
his palace; the two ministerial plotters forthwith left Bulgaria[190].

[Footnote 190: J.G.C. Minchin, _The Growth of Freedom in the Balkan
Peninsula_ (1886) p. 237. The author, Consul-General for Servia in
London, had earlier contributed many articles to the _Times_ and
_Morning Advertiser_ on Balkan affairs.]

Even now the scales did not fall from the eyes of the Emperor Alexander
III. Bismarck was once questioned by the faithful Busch as to the
character of that potentate. The German Boswell remarked that he had
heard Alexander III. described as "stupid, exceedingly stupid";
whereupon the Chancellor replied: "In a general way that is saying too
much[191]." Leaving to posterity the task of deciding that question, we
may here point out that Muscovite policy in the years 1878-85 achieved a
truly remarkable feat in uniting all the liberated races of the Balkan
Peninsula against their liberators. By the terms of the Treaty of San
Stefano, Russia had alienated the Roumanians, Servians, and Greeks; so
that when the Princes of those two Slav Principalities decided to take
the kingly title (as they did in the spring of 1881 and 1882
respectively), it was after visits to Berlin and Vienna, whereby they
tacitly signified their friendliness to the Central Powers.

[Footnote 191: _Bismarck: Some Secret Pages of his History_, by Dr. M.
Busch (Note of January 5, 1886), vol. iii. p. 150 (English edition).]

In the case of Servia this went to the length of alliance. On June 25,
1881, the Foreign Minister, M. Mijatovich, concluded with
Austria-Hungary a secret convention, whereby Servia agreed to
discourage any movement among the Slavs of Bosnia, while the Dual
Monarchy promised to refrain from any action detrimental to Servian
hopes for what is known as old Servia. The agreement was for eight
years; but it was not renewed in 1889[192]. The fact, however, that such
a compact could be framed within three years of the Berlin Congress,
shows how keen was the resentment of the Servian Government at the
neglect of its interests by Russia, both there and at San Stefano.

[Footnote 192: The treaty has not been published; for this general
description of it I am indebted to the kindness of M. Mijatovich
himself.]

The gulf between Bulgaria and Russia widened more slowly, but with