They both asserted, to my knowledge, that the advantages of recognition would be far more than counterbalanced by the fact that, upon recognition, Russia would have a Minister at Sofia and Consuls all over the country, and that both the Legation and the Consulates would inevitably become centres of intrigue against the existing rigime. The Prince naturally enough did not share this opinion, and the divergence of view between himself and the Ministry on this subject was, I am convinced, one of the main causes of the crisis which ended in M. Stambouloffs resignation.

Provinces of The Peasant State

Rustschuk

Politically, Romania may be the friend of Bulgaria; but the friendship is one of common interests, not of common sympathies. The two countries are utterly different, and though so near each other in distance, are separated by fundamental differences of race, language, and religion. Given the degree of civilization that the two States, separated by the Danube, have respectively attained, the contrast between them, both in their moral and material aspects, is as great as that which marks the transit from England into France. If a foreigner wishes to hear an unfavorable opinion of the Bulgarians, he has only got to speak on the subject to the first Romanian he may happen to meet.

He is certain to be told that the Bulgars are ignorant, stupid, and brutal, and that they have no pretensions to be called civilized. If you cite the rapid development of Sofia as a proof of the remarkable progress that Bulgaria has already made, you are met with the remark that Sofia is only an artificial product of the Court, and that, outside the Capital, Bulgaria remains the same as she was in the old Turkish days.

I have heard similar assertions made in Bulgaria by persons who, for one cause or another, were hostile to the new order of things; and therefore I was anxious to judge for myself what progress was visible in the chief and provincial towns of the Principality, which lie completely outside the influence of the metropolis. Though, counted by miles, the actual distances between these towns are small, yet, counted by the time and difficulties of transit, these distances are infinitely greater than those which separate the Land's End from John o Groat's. Whatever progress the provincial towns of Bulgaria have made has, in consequence, been due far more to their own initiative than to any action of the central Government

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