g nations wearied by war, and alarmed at the
apparition of the red spectre of revolution in their midst, told by no
means unfavourably on the fortunes of the Balkan States. The dominant
facts of the situation were, firstly, that Russia no longer had a free
hand in the Balkan Peninsula in face of the compact between the three
Emperors ratified at Skiernewice in the previous autumn (see Chapter
XII.); and, secondly, that the traditional friendship between England
and the Porte had been replaced by something like hostility. Seeing that
the Sultan had estranged the British Government by his very suspicious
action during the revolts of Arabi Pasha and of the Mahdi, even those
who had loudly proclaimed the need of propping up his authority as
essential to the stability of our Eastern Empire now began to revise
their prejudices.

Thus, when Lord Salisbury came to office, if not precisely to power, in
June 1885, he found affairs in the East rapidly ripening for a change of
British policy--a change which is known to have corresponded with his
own convictions. Finally, the marriage of Princess Beatrice to Prince
Henry of Battenberg, on July 23, 1885, added that touch of personal
interest which enabled Court circles to break with the traditions of the
past and to face the new situation with equanimity. Accordingly the
power of Britain, which in 1876-78 had been used to thwart the growth of
freedom in the Balkan Peninsula, was now put forth to safeguard the
union of Bulgaria. During these critical months Sir William White acted
as ambassador at Constantinople, and used his great knowledge of the
Balkan peoples with telling effect for this salutary purpose.

Lord Salisbury advised the Sultan not to send troops into Southern
Bulgaria; and the warning chimed in with the note of timorous cunning
which formed the undertone of that monarch's thought and policy.
Distracted by the news of the warlike preparations of Servia and Greece,
Abdul Hamid looked on Russia's advice in a contrary sense as a piece of
Muscovite treachery. About the same time, too, there were rumours of
palace plots at Constantinople; and the capricious recluse of Yildiz
finally decided to keep his best troops near at hand. It appears, then,
that Nihilism in Russia and the spectre of conspiracy always haunting
the brain of Abdul Hamid played their part in assuring the liberties
of Bulgaria.

Meanwhile the Powers directed their ambassadors at Constantinople to
hold a