The Turk and his lost provinces

by William Eleroy Curtis

Russia took advantage of the situation to encourage Ferdinand’s spirit of independence, and immediately after the dismissal of Stambouloff removed the boycott that had been declared against Bulgaria seven years before. The Czar Nicholas recognized Ferdinand in a formal manner and sent a diplomatic agent to Sofia, who has gradually acquired an influence over the prince and a control over the government that are now almost absolute. Ferdinand might as well be the governor of a Russian province.

Although the recognition from Russia which he yearned for was finally obtained, Prince Ferdinand has entirely forfeited the respect of Europe and the confidence of the other Powers, because of certain events that have occurred in Sofia since the change of ministry. One night in July, 1895, a little more than a year after his retirement, and when he was beginning to show signs of recovering his political influence, Stambouloff was cruelly assassinated while walking home from his club. One of the assassins was identified without the slightest difficulty by Stambouloff himself, by a friend who accompanied him and by a servant who was following them. Three men were engaged in the crime. Their leader was a political adventurer named Michael Stavreff, or Michael Malieu as he is usually called, who had been identified with the Russian party in Sofia and had frequently been employed by the Russian minister on confidential missions.

It was firmly believed by the friends of Stambouloff and the members of the anti-Russian element from the beginning that Stavreff was hired to commit the murder, and the fact that the assassin was permitted to remain unpunished, and was not even arrested was assumed to be evidence that the government sympathized with the crime. The indifference of Prince Ferdinand excited unfavorable comment throughout Europe, and he has never recovered the respect of the courts or the people. Stavreff was a familiar object of interest about Sofia, a habitué of the cafés, and an active participant in political affairs, being frequently pointed out to strangers as the man who assassinated Stambouloff, the prime minister; and while he never acknowledged his guilt, seemed to enjoy his notoriety. His source of revenue was a matter of some curiosity, and it was the popular opinion that he was drawing a pension from the government or from some person in power.

As his intemperate habits grew upon him he lost control of his tongue, and frequently uttered mysterious hints of secrets which he might disclose if certain prominent officials did not treat him with greater consideration. He became reckless in gambling as well as dissipation, and his losses made him bolder and less discreet in his allusions, until in October 24, 1902, he was arrested, secretly tried in prison with great haste, and condemned to death for the assassination of Stambouloff more than seven years previous. It was officially announced that he had made a full confession of his guilt.

Shortly after this announcement there appeared upon the streets of Sofia lithographed facsimiles of letters in the handwriting of Mr. Ludskanoff, the minister of the interior, who had ordered the arrest and execution of Stavreff, showing conclusively that he had employed that desperado to murder not only Stambouloff, but also Mr. Vulkovitch, who, until his death in 1892, in ability and influence was second only to Stambouloff in the anti-Russian party. At that time Ludskanoff was the leader of the pro-Russian faction, and fled from the country to escape arrest for complicity in the assassination of Vulkovitch. Stambouloff issued a decree of perpetual banishment against him, and he did not return to Bulgaria until a proclamation of universal amnesty was issued after Stambouloff’s death. Upon his return Ludskanoff, who is a man of force and ability, resumed his former prominence in politics, entered the parliament, and for several years has been a member of the ministry, and an obedient tool of Russian influence.

The publication of the incriminating letters naturally created a profound sensation, especially as they were followed, in a few days, by several others of similar character, and caused a dissolution of the cabinet. It was immediately reorganized, however, and Ludskanoff was reappointed to the ministry of the interior; the prime minister, Mr. Kavachoff, explaining that the proclamation of amnesty was a full pardon for any offenses with which his colleagues might have been connected, which seems to have been satisfactory to the Russian sympathizers.

The police were not able to ascertain the source of the mysterious publications, but it was the popular opinion that the letters were intrusted by Stavreff to loyal friends to be used for his protection in an emergency. They appear to have served their purpose, for at this writing Stavreff has not been executed, although he still remains in solitary confinement under sentence of death.

In 1900 Prince Ferdinand was guilty of another act of an entirely different character, which brought down upon him the undisguised condemnation of every Catholic country and civilization generally. Upon his marriage with Marie Louise of Orleans, Ferdinand made a vow that their children should be baptized and educated in the Roman Catholic Church. This was one of the stipulations insisted upon by the father and family of the bride. Ferdinand is himself a Roman Catholic by birth and baptism. He has erected a chapel in the palace, has a Roman Catholic chaplain, and attends mass each morning at seven o’clock. While making his annual visits to an Austrian watering-place he never fails to attend mass daily at a public church, and has otherwise shown a devout and consistent spirit. But no sooner was his wife buried in 1899 than he placed his eldest son, the Crown Prince Boris, a child five years old and the future king of Bulgaria, in charge of a Russian priest of the Greek Church, who secretly baptized and is now educating the boy in that faith. This is said to have been done at the suggestion of Russia, but no one believes that the Czar thinks any better of him for it, while the Emperor of Austria, the King of Italy, the German Emperor and other sovereigns of Europe have publicly expressed their disapproval of the proceeding. The other children are being brought up in the faith of their parents.

Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria spends very little time at his capital. There is not much there to attract his interest. The affairs of state are carefully looked after by Mr. Bakhmeteff, the Russian representative, and the members of the ministry; social and intellectual diversions are almost unknown, and the prince has a hobby which he can pursue with greater satisfaction at Varna, where he has a country palace on the shores of the Black Sea. He is an accomplished naturalist, and spends much of his time hunting and classifying insects, plants and other phenomena of animate and inanimate nature. He has catalogued nearly all the flora and fauna of Bulgaria and has established in Sofia a very respectable zoölogical garden at his own expense.

Although a grandson of Louis Philippe, the prince has the nose of Louis Napoleon, and is said to bear a singular resemblance to the last emperor of France, both in disposition and character. His nose is a gratification to the caricaturists. It is so conspicuous that it answers for a trade-mark, and they are able to play upon it with great ingenuity. He is altogether a clever and accomplished gentleman, a skillful politician with an accommodating conscience, and very different from his predecessor, Alexander of Battenberg. He has inherited the manners of his French ancestors, as well as their insincerity, and can wriggle out of a tight place, they say, more gracefully than any other prince in Europe. Alexander was a Lutheran and encouraged Protestant missionary work. Ferdinand does not object to the missionary invasion, because the constitution guarantees free worship and the police protect the Protestants in case of disturbance.