The Government, however, is not unnaturally annoyed at the obstinacy with which Russia deprives the country of the official status to which she is fairly entitled. I confess I can see little force in the argument, frequently employed by the partisans of recognition, that, Bulgaria being an independent State, the Powers who signed the Treaty of Berlin had no power to place any restriction on her right of independence. As Bulgaria could not have become autonomous unless the signatories of the Treaty of Berlin had been able to agree as to the terms upon which autonomy should be granted to her, it seems to me illogical for the Bulgarians to complain because they are expected to observe the terms prescribed in the Treaty.

A more valid argument in favour of recognition is that Russia, of her own free will and pleasure, has decided to place an interpretation upon these terms which the Treaty was never intended to bear, and cannot fairly be said to bear. The clause of the Treaty on the strength of which Russia bases her refusal to recognize the Saxe- Coburg dynasty of Bulgaria runs as follows:—" The Prince of Bulgaria shall be freely elected by the population of the country, and his election shall be confirmed by the Sublime Porte after the assent of the Powers who took part in the Congress of Berlin. No member of any of the reigning dynasties of the great European Powers may be elected Prince of Bulgaria.

In case of a vacancy in the reigning dynasty" (which at the time the treaty was concluded was that of Prince Alexander of Batten- burg), "the election of the new Prince shall take place under the same conditions and with the same forms." The contention of Russia is, that in this clause consent must be construed as signifying unanimous consent, and that, therefore, the refusal of any one of the seven Powers who signed the treaty to approve the choice of the Bulgarian National Assembly, is of itself a fatal bar to the Prince elected by the Sobranje ascending the throne.

According to this contention, if England, Austria, Germany, France, Turkey, and Russia were unanimous in approving the selection of a prince freely chosen by the Grand Sobranje, while Greece did not approve, the Porte would not be justified in confirming the election, and the election itself would be absolutely null and void; a deduction which, in the words of Euclid, is an absurdity.

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