An incident has occurred in Bulgaria the meaning of which
is not yet clearly understood. On May 9th, the reigning Prince, Alexander, issued a proclamation declaring that " the Princi- pality was disorganised at home and discredited abroad," and summoning a National Assembly to revise the Constitution. The Prince will make certain proposals to the Assembly, and if they are not accepted, will resign his crown. In the mean- time, he has invested General Ehrenroth, a Russian, with dicta- torial power, and it is rumoured that the proposed reform will invest the Prince with a Dictatorship for five years. The cause of this extraordinary step, which has received the previous
approval of both Russia and Austria, is unknown ; but it is be- lieved that the Bulgarian Nationalists were getting out of hand, and had resolved to precipitate the Eastern Question too quickly. According to another rumour, however, the Russian Czar finds that the example of Bulgarian liberty is too infectious in his own dominions. There is great excitement in Sophia, but the body of the citizens are said, perhaps falsely, to be favourable to the Prince, who, they think, understands the situation better than the Liberal leaders.
