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i9ii] RECONCILIATION WITH RUSSIA
Prince. Ferdinand felt that the dictatorship of
Stam-boulov could not last long, that the country was tired of
it, that plots would multiply, and that if he himself did
not forsake the dictator in good time, the downfall of
the latter would inevitably entail his own, and
perhaps even involve him and his family in a sanguinary
catastrophe.
At this moment the change of regime in Russia,
followed by the appointment of Prince Lobanoff as
Minister for Foreign Affairs, opened up to Ferdinand
vistas of salvation. By the interposition of Serge
Tatischeff, a publicist of great talent and an ex-diplomat,
confidential conferences took place between Lobanoff
and the Prince of Bulgaria. They led to startling
events : the resignation of Stamboulov ; the reception of
the eldest son and heir of the Prince—who had been
baptised as a Catholic—into the pale of the Orthodox
Church; and the reconciliation of the Prince with
Russia. There is an old fairy-tale in which an
unnatural lady in a castle, in order to preserve her youth
and beauty for ever, allows a horrible witch to plunge
her child at midnight into water which has been cursed,
and to turn him thereby into a were-wolf. Those who
are acquainted with the feelings of the old Catholic
families of Austria and Italy can readily understand that
to all Ferdinand’s relations—and especially to his wife—
the deed which he had committed with regard to his
child was almost equivalent to the infernal baptism in
the fairy-tale. He was selling the soul of his innocent
child in order to keep his throne. He himself was for
ever after haunted by feelings of shame and superstitious
terror; and he never forgave Russia for this sacrifice
which he had been obliged to make to our political and
religious exigencies.
Ferdinand has never been beloved by his people,
whom he hated and despised. He allowed this contempt
to be apparent to foreigners, especially to the members
of the diplomatic corps in Sofia. (" Countess, allow me
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