It looks very much as if a man had turned
up in the Balkan Peninsula. At midnight, on the 13th inst., the King of Servia, either obeying some impulse from without, or determined to profit by the preoccupation of Prince Alexander, declared war on Bulgaria ; and on the evening of the 14th his forces occupied Tsaribrod. The object was to turn the Dragoman Pass and occupy Sofia, where King Milan proposed to halt, and ask permission of Europe to retain his conquests. At first, this programme seemed sure to be carried out, for the Bulgarian volunteers, though tenacious, were unused to war, and receded still fighting on all sides. On the 16th, however, Prince Alexander arrived with some Regular troops, defeated a Servian column at Slivnitza with great loss, and is believed to have forced the whole army back by incessant attacks, in which he personally distinguished himself. No details are known, and the telegrams from Belgrade, and in a less degree from Sofia, are obviously cooked ; but on Friday the officials in Belgrade publicly admitted that King Milan had retreated to Pirot on his own territory, and that the Servian invasion, considered as a coup de main, had failed. It could not be renewed yet, " on account of the weather." Should this prove true, the situation will be strained, for with- out Austrian support, King Milan, who is condemned by all Europe, will lose his throne ; and if Austria moves, the war may assume wider proportions, while Prince Alexander attains a wholly different position. He has proved himself a General.
