A rumor having been spread that the Serbians were going to resume their attack, all the troops were taken out of Sofia and sent away toward the frontier. Then a regiment, on which the conspirators, the Russian agents and some Bulgarian officers whom they had bribed, felt they could count, was smuggled into the capital. At two o'clock in the morning on August 21, 1886, the Bulgarian officers in the pay of the conspirators rushed into the palace, forced the prince at the point of a revolver to sign his own abdication, then kidnapped him in a carriage, taking him off to the Danube, where he was put on board of a boat under heavy guard and taken to Russia.

Meanwhile the conspirators, among whom was the metropolitan of the Bulgarian Church, Clement, issued a proclamation establishing themselves as the provisional government, and assuring the people that it would have the hearty support of the "Little White Father" in St. Petersburg.

This proclamation had hardly been launched when Stambuloff, the Speaker of the National Assembly, issued another proclamation, in his official capacity, in which he declared the metropolitan, Clement, and the other known conspirators outlaws, and appealed to the Bulgarian people to defend the independence of their Government. And the people did rise to his support, all over the country, so decidedly and with so much enthusiasm that the members of the provisional government fled. Thereupon Stambuloff and two other officials of the National Assembly assumed control of the Government until the prince could be found. Telegrams were sent all over Europe, and finally the Russian authorities were obliged to set the prince free, whereupon he reappeared in Lemberg, whence he returned to Bulgaria.

But the experience had apparently thoroughly frightened the prince. On landing at Rustchuk on the Danube, he sent a telegram to the czar, saying: "Russia gave me my crown; I am ready to return it to her sovereign." So on September 7, in spite of the protests of Stambuloff and the other members of the Government, he abdicated in earnest and next day he left Bulgaria forever.[Back to Contents]

CHAPTER XV

WORK OF STAMBULOFF

A delegation was then sent wandering around Europe for another sovereign, and after much difficulty the final choice fell on Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, whose mother, Princess Clementine, was the granddaughter of King Louis Philippe, his father being an Austrian nobleman of large means. On August 14, 1887, he took the oath and was installed on the throne which he still occupies, though now as king. He immediately did what made him ever afterward bitterly hated by the Russian Government, namely, requested Stambuloff, he who had uncovered Russia's latest intrigue and conspiracy, to become prime minister, a post which he occupied for the next seven years, constantly fighting Russian influence.

Stephen Stambuloff, the son of an innkeeper, born in 1854, and one of the early revolutionary agitators among his own people, has often been referred to as the "Bismarck of the Balkans." He was, undoubtedly, the biggest statesman that the Balkans has yet produced, unless time shall decide that Venizelos is another such as he.

In the hands of Stambuloff Prince Ferdinand was nothing but a puppet, and so he continued for some years, until he became acquainted with the language, customs, and mental qualities of his people. Then the two fell out. But to the end Stambuloff was the real ruler, and under his guidance Bulgaria made that progress, both in military organization and in education, which was the surprise of the world when the First Balkan War broke out. It now dawned on Russia that it was Bulgaria herself that was opposed to her intrigues and not the princes who happened to occupy her throne. And the leader of the Bulgarians was undoubtedly Stambuloff, a peasant himself and the son of a peasant. His downfall must be brought about.

From the very beginning of his reign Ferdinand had not been recognized by the Russian Government. As he began to feel himself more secure in his throne he began to work for this recognition, as well as for the favor of all the reigning monarchs of Europe. With this end in view he began intriguing, and as an intriguer, Ferdinand is the cleverest of all the Balkan monarchs. Thus it was that he finally dismissed Stambuloff from office on May 31, 1894, an act which he found all the easier because Stambuloff had made many enemies among his own people by his brusque, almost brutal, ways. But in spite of the wave of unpopularity that happened to be sweeping over him at the time, there could be no doubt that a man of Stambuloff's abilities would again rise to power. Only one thing could prevent that. And that one thing was brought to pass by his enemies. In the evening of July 15, 1895, as he was driving home from his club, three men sprang up on his carriage and literally hacked him to pieces. Thus ended the comparatively short career of the man who had most to do with defeating Russian intrigues in Bulgaria. His murderers, though identified, were never arrested or punished, and found safe refuge in Russia.