NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE week has been crowded with events of the highest moment. On Monday Prince Ferdinand assembled his Ministers at Tirnovo, the ancient capital of Bulgaria, and at the church of the " Forty Martyrs " proclaimed the independence of Bulgaria and assumed the title of King or Czar. On Wednesday the Emperor Francis Joseph issued a Proclamation to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina in effect annexing those provinces. The operative words are : " We extend the rights of our suzerainty to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it is our will that the order of succession of our House be applied to these lands also,"— a form of words which suggests Shakespeare's definition of larceny : "' Convey,' the wise it call." On the same day a tumultuary assembly of the inhabitants took place at Canea, in Crete, and the union of Crete and Greece was proclaimed amidst cheers and the discharge of firearms, the Greek flag being everywhere hoisted. On Wednesday also a Proclamation Was issued in Servia protesting against the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there were violent and foolish manifestations by the mob in Belgrade calling upon the Government to declare war on Austria-Hungary. The Prince of Montenegro, again on Wednesday, issued a Pro- clamation of protest, and declared that after such gross violations of the Treaty of Berlin, the provisions of that Treaty, and more especially Article XXIX., which restricts the freedom of Montenegro, could no longer be held binding on that State. Finally, there comes the rumour that trouble is brewing in Albania, and that the Albanians—a people never really conquered by the Turks, but who have enjoyed a kind of anarchic autonomy—have declared their independence. This news, however, requires confirmation.
