The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-10-17

Is quite tho reverse Of genial in his
manner, .acks wit. repartee and all
sense Of humor and makes friends with
/ difficulty.
Naturally Sir Henry vas %unsucccss-
ful In his attempts to exercise any sort
Of influence upon a ruler so astute. SO
slippery and so utterly INSCRIPTIONS
in his M~achiavelllsm as Ferdinand. who
has justly been surnamed the Mephls-
topheles OF the Balkans. Ferdinand's
reputation for intrigue and for mis-
chief is so widespread throughout the
Old World that whenever he used to
start forth from Sofia on his numerous
foreign travels a warning would be
sent to the Governments and diplo-
matte ~chancelleries Of every capital In
Europe To the effect that Der Teufel
IL wieder los" tthe devil Is loose AGAIN..
With a man of his class a savan like
Bax-Ironside. who had been brought
into the diplomatic service by Lord
Rosebery an account of his successes
at oxford. had no chance.
Equally inefficient was the Russian
envoy, Councillor OF State Savinsky.
who anne to Sofia with a record OF
~ us wy 'bsts oHhhtcNu Wv
interests of his country at Stockholm.
II Is Of the utmost importance for Rus
STA to he on good terms with Sweden
owing to the virtual command enjoyed
by the latter OF the entrance to the
Baltic. Yet Savinsky conducted the
affairs Of his legation at Stockholm in
such fashion AZ to expose II to bitter
charges Of espionage which through
the indiscret!on Of his mission were
even extended to the beautiful Russian
wife Of Prince william Of Sweden
namely the Grand Duchess Marie
Paulovitch. SO unpleasant did the
situation become at Stockholm that
the Grand Duchess, finding life there
i~nto!erable. left both Sweden and her
husband, securing a dissolution OF her
marriage. while Savinsky and his
military attache were Withdrawn by
Russia on the demand of the Swedish
court and Government as no longer
personH CRATE.
From the Allies point II view it is
to he deplored that the Petrograd Gov.
did not see its way at the be.
ginning Of the war to despatch to Sofia
as special envoy her .Amha ssador al
Washington, George Bakhmetef. Tn.
latter spent many years as Muscovite
plenipotentiary In Bulgaria. has a pro.
found experience Of her affairs and OF
her public men Of every class, ant
above all used TO exercise so wonderful
an influence upon King Ferdinand
that his colleagues were wont &C
ascr!be it. half jokingly. half seriously
Il hypnotic power. In view Of the i'm.
p%ortance Of securing Bulgaria's co.
operation In the present war 1t wou!t
certainly have been worth while FOL
Russia TO have sent George Bakhme.
tef from his embassy on the banks o
the Potomac TO take charge once more
Of King Ferdinand at Sofia.
Germany and Austria. on the Other
hand, have had capable ENJOYS II
Bulgaria. The Kaiser's representa-
tive is Privy Councillor Michahelles
who in spite OF his bourgeois Origin
has by sheer cleverness raised him
self from a subordinate post in tn
German Consulate at Alexandria I,
the front rank Of the kaiser's diplo
matte service, Of which he is locke,
upon as II OF the ablest members
Austria has as hi" representative "A
Sofia Count Adam Tarnowski. at on,
time attached TO the Austrian En-
bassy at Washington, and who subse
quently became a great .avorite il
London. where both he and his bril-!
liant wife. a Princess Marie Swiato
polk-CzetwertynSka. became brigh
particular stars Of the late Kings Sc,
Edward VII, who was no mean judg,
OF chard'ter. entertained a very higl