An interesting character study of King Ferdinand of Bulgaria is
contributed by a correspondent of the TimeS in Wednesday's issue. In particular, the writer recalls a conversation with Baron Kffilay, the famous Hungarian administrator-dictator of Bosnia-Herzegovina in' the year
1903. Asked for his view of the situation—there was then talk of a Turco-Bulgarian war—M. de Ktillay said it all depended on Ferdinand, who was "not a hero,but very shrewd." In Bulgaria a ruler must either be braver or more crafty than his subjects. Bulgaria had had her hero— Alexander of Battenberg—and let him be carted to the frontier by a few officers. "Now they have—well, the other man ; and, unless I am mistaken, he will go much farther than the hero. The Bulger, who is a peasant, is much impressed by cunning greater than his own." He continued :— "We are here on the first floor. If I tell you that assassins are waiting for you with loaded pistols at the door of my room, and advise you to jump from the window at the risk of breaking your neck, you will hesitate ; but if you see a cart laden with straw passing under the window you will jump. So will Ferdinand, but not till he sees the cart coming."
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