The Washington herald., 1907-08-11

.
! pendent in all but name, and regarded as
factor of no small importance in the
military situation Of Southeastern Europe.
speaks volumes for the eleverness of its
ruler. Should the rumors prove we'll
/ founded, according to which he is to sig
nalize the twentieth anniversary Of his
! accession Dy the assumption Of the title
of king. there will be few disposed to
denly that he has won it by statecraft Of
an altogether exceptional order. The most
amazing feature Of the celebration Of
this week by Bulgaria will be the fact
that Ferdinand is stfil alive For there
/ is no ruler In Europe. NOT even the Gar.
] whose life has been more frequently
threatened, who has been the object Of
so many regicidal conspiracies. and who
may be said to have walked during the
| past twenty years almost continuously
/ in the shadow OF death. Although Ferdi-
nand is. through MS mother. Bourbon
a grandson Of King Louis Philippe-yet
! he offers many strong points Of resem-
blance 70 Napoleon III Like the latter,
! he is not scrupulous IN matters Of honor.
and he has held his plghted word Of 1T
| tie account in cases Of political exigency.
Like Napoleon, too, he possesses a pos
/ tive genius for political intrigue, and
though quite the reverse of hero, never
theiess is imbued with the same sort Of
courage, OF a fatalist order, which dis
tingushed the last French Emperor. Ma
poleCn preJudiced many OF the leading
statesmen OF Europe against Rim, not
only on the continent, but also in Eng
land, in the third and fourth decades OF
the nineteenth century. by returning from
America and making at BOulogne an
other attempt 10 start a BOnapartist in
surrecti0n IN France, IN spite Of the sol
emn promise which he had given 10 re-
main on this side Of the Atlantic, and on
the strength of which he had been re-
leased by King Louis Philippe from prison
after the hascO OF his coup at Stras-
bourg. In fact, when he was living in
England shortly before becoming Presi-
dent Of the French republic, after the
revolution Of 1913. a number of English
men Of note. including several cabinet
mipisters and political leaders. declined to
si@ke hands with him, On the ground that
he had forfeited his claim 10 consider
alton as a man Of honor. The debut Of
the reign Of Prince Ferdinand as ruler
Of Bulgaria was Of a somewhat analogous
character in this respect, and extremely
inaUspicious. In fact, his acceptance Of
the Bulgarian crown constituted quite as
gross breach Of faith as any Of which
Napoleon rendered himself guilty.
When the throne was first rendered TO
Ferdinand Of Coburg, by Stambouloff az
Vienna, after having been offered in VAN
TO almost every other prince in Europe.
he. Of his own accord, drove 10 the Rus
sian embassy and asked the late Prince
Lebanon, who was Muscoyite ambassa-
dor in the Austrian capital at the time.
to telegraph TO Emperor Alexander III.
and to ask whether HIS majesty would
sanction his acceptance OF the sovereign
y thus placed at his disposal. There WAS
no absolute necessity for Ferdlnand's do
ing this, and his action in the matter
was a piece Of courtesy. and OF respect
toward the Car. which the latter re-
ceived as such, with feelings OF manifest
qualification. For Alexander III regard
ed himself as the liberator OF Bulgaria
from Turkish thraldom, and as the author
Of its existence as an autonomous state,
and as its principal protector and god
father In fact, he claimed TO exercise a
species Of suzerainty over the principal
/ ity. which was resented by the BulgariaEs
and which Alexander of Battenherg
found so intolerable that he preferred 10
abandon the Bulgarian throne rather
than to submit TO it. On the night follow
ing the receipt by the late Gar OF the
message from Ferdinand the latter was
dining at the Russian embassy at Wen
na, and while still at the table the EN-
perOr's reply was received. 1t was to
the effect that he was deeply touched by
the conduct Of the prince. that hs en-
treated him. for the present. 10 decline
the prOffered crown. and that If Ferdi-
nand would oblige him in the matter, he
would make it his business to look after
his welfare and fortune for the remain
der Of his life. as if he had been his Own
son. Ferdinand expressed himself much
moved by the paternal kindness Of the
Gar. and then and there sat down at
the table In the library OF Prince Lo-
banoff and wrote on the spur Of the mo-
ment a letter 10 his majesty thanking
him warmly and voluntarily pledging on
paper his most sacred word Of honor as
prince and as a gentleman that under
no clrcums s5ances whatsoever would he
accept the throne Of Bulgaria unless he
received the Cars consent
Yet. forty-eight hours later, without a
word of explanation either 10 Prince Lo-
banoff or TO Emperor Alexander, Ferdi-
nand secretly left Vienna, in disguise
and although he was but a mere half
pay lieutenant of hussarS in the Aus
trian service. and had never seen any
campaigning in his lice. he made his en-
try a couple Of days afterward into So
fla, arrayed in the gaudy uniform Of a
Bulgarian general-a uniform which had
been made by a Viennese tailor, and
which. as subsequently was discovered,
lie had tried on and fitted on the very
night Of his dinner at the Russian en-
bassy, barely an hour after penning his
letter 10 the Car II is difficult 70 de-
scribe the indignation Of Alexander on
learning of this gross breach of faith
and as long as he lived he declined to
held any intercourse with Ferdinand, d.
rectly or indirectly, and refused to give
that consent TO his election which, ac-
cording to the terms of the treaty Of Ber.
lin. was indispensable TO his recognl-
tion by the powers as ruler Of Bulgaria.
For the next nine years Ferdinand found
himself. in consequence thereof, in
most anomalous position. Russia, in or
der to show that her quarrel was merely
with the prince, and not with the Bull
garian people, maintained her legation az
Sofia. where the Muscovite envoy, how
ever, restricted his dealings and his in
tercourse TO the ministers, and declined to
cross the Threshold Of the palace, or
even to doh his hat to the prince when
he met him in the street. England, Ger
many. Austria, and Italy, that is TO say,
the other great powers which had taken