History Of The Missions Of The American Board Of Commissioners For Foreign Missions Volume II Part 9

Manual labor schools and hospitals for the Jews, employing converts merely for the sake of giving them employment; boarding-schools to serve as houses of refuge for the children of converts; expenses incurred for s.h.i.+elding converts from persecution or for teaching them trades; were not regarded as within the range of missionary work; but the converts were, in general, to be left, as the Apostles left them, to meet the consequences of their conversion upon their persons, their families, and their business, as G.o.d in his providence and by his grace should enable them.

Mr. Maynard was removed by death from his labors within five months after his arrival. In company with a New England clerical friend, he made a tour into the delightful region of Thessaly for relaxation and health. Unconsciously they exposed themselves to malaria, and both took the same fever; of which Mr. Maynard died at Salonica, and his friend at Athens. Mrs. Maynard soon afterwards returned home.

The place thus early vacated was filled, in the following summer, by the Rev. Justin W. Parsons, who was accompanied by his wife.

The Salonica Jews had scarcely more than the shadow of education. A school taught in the princ.i.p.al synagogue contained about a thousand pupils, but with the least possible intellectual value in the instruction. Half as many more were in private schools, where Hebrew and Hebrew-Spanish were taught, but nothing like Grammar, Geography, or History. In a small select school, supported by rich Jews, Italian (the commercial language) and French were taught.

Familiarity with the Talmud was regarded as the perfection of knowledge, so that a man needed to know nothing else. "Oh," said a beardless youth to a missionary, "if you had only read our Talmud, you would throw all your books into the fire." Salonica was famous for its books, but they were servile imitations of the Talmud. The spoken language was essentially Spanish, but, with a deficient vocabulary, and greatly corrupted with Turkish and Hebrew words, while subject to constant change. Consequently the many books and tracts in Hebrew-Spanish, which were published by the English missionaries in Smyrna, were comparatively useless at Salonica, because of the difficulty of understanding them. These Jews therefore needed missionary schools.

The excessive self-righteousness of this people, as described by Mr.

Dodd, disclosed a serious obstacle to missionary success among them.

"Two thousand years of punishment," he says, "have not destroyed the feeling, that they are the beloved of heaven. They pray, morning, noon, and night, and that too in the holy language. They always ask a blessing on their food. They neither eat nor touch any unclean thing. Except they wash their hands oft, they eat not. When they fast, it is by entire abstinence from food. They read the Word of G.o.d almost continually. In pa.s.sing through the bazaars, you may see the shop-keepers taking up the Bible to read in their leisure hours; and if a visitor has to wait for you a few minutes, with a Bible within reach, you will certainly find him reading it, though it be in an unknown tongue; and once a year they sit up all night to read through the law. Their recognition of Providence is excessive. Every event is referred to G.o.d. He is thanked for every good; submission to his will is expressed in every trial. Every hope is uttered conditionally, in dependence on him; and his aid is invoked in trouble as frequently, and with as little meaning, as many Christians speak of fortune, or luck. As to the outward semblance of piety and devotion, I do not think another such people can be found.

Like their fathers, they seek G.o.d daily, and delight to know his ways. As a nation, they take delight in approaching G.o.d. 'Is not the Lord among us?' 'No evil shall come upon us.' Talk to them of G.o.d's glory, and they will answer by quoting some beautiful Psalm of David. Talk of man's sinfulness, and they will repeat Psalm 51st, with seeming penitential devotion. Speak of G.o.d's wrath against sin; they will a.s.sent readily, but add, that he is pitiful, remembering that we are dust. Thus the missionary is baffled. Let him search the Word of G.o.d to find expressions that shall penetrate to their consciences; the Jew is familiar with them all, and repeats them every day in his prayers. They either mean nothing, or through a talmudic gloss, aided by self-righteous blindness, they foster his confidence in the mercy of the G.o.d who is his peculiar friend, and loves him more than he loves the Gentile world, or even his own justice and truth."

Mr. Parsons also says, after a visit to Seres, a city fifteen miles northwest of Salonica: "The Jews of Seres have the same blind submission to the rabbis, the same prejudices, the same evasions of the truth. Gold is their G.o.d, and traffic is their religion,--one would say, who should meet them only in their fair. But in their prayers, and their Sabbath observance, the deceiver makes them appear to themselves the holy favorites of heaven, separate from the nations."

Mr. Schauffler had now printed his Hebrew grammar, and commenced the printing of his Hebrew lexicon. The edition of the Pentateuch was nearly exhausted.

The Rev. Homer B. Morgan and wife reached Salonica in February, 1852. The brethren were of the opinion, that while for two thirds of the year the climate of that city was tolerably healthy, the low portions, where the Jews and Greeks chiefly resided, were subject to malaria. The missionaries, therefore, would have resided in the more elevated parts occupied by the Turks, but could neither hire nor purchase houses in that quarter. The best they could do was to live in the upper stories of their houses. Mr. Dodd suffered from a bronchial affection, and sought to recruit his health by an excursion into Thessaly, where he enjoyed some excellent opportunities for preaching the gospel, both to Jews and Gentiles.[1] Mr. Parsons visited the part of Macedonia, which lies northwest of Salonica, and then extended his journey to Sophia, the capital of Bulgaria.[2]

[1] _Missionary Herald_ for 1852, pp. 235-238.

[2] _Ibid_. pp. 78-83.

The health of Mr. Dodd did not improve, and he repaired first to Malta, and then, with the consent of the Committee, to the United States. In August, 1852, a mouth after his departure, Mr. and Mrs.

Parsons, and Mr. and Mrs. Morgan were all prostrated by intermittent fever. Mrs. Morgan did not yield to the disease, till she had exhausted her strength in caring for the others; and then, after a short illness, during most of which she was unconscious, she was removed to her heavenly home. Mr. Parsons was at one time very low; and the three survivors were subjected to such frequent returns of fever during the winter, that they were advised by physicians to spend the spring and summer on the Bosphorus. They left the station in charge of native helpers, and removed to Constantinople. Until sickness came, their labors had been uninterrupted. Their circle of acquaintance was constantly increasing, and they were generally regarded by the Jews as their sincere friends. They were expected in their visits to declare and make personal applications of gospel truths. A little volume upon the inspiration of the Old and New Testaments, by Mr. Dodd, was favorably received by many of the Jews.

It was not deemed expedient for the brethren to resume their residence in Salonica. Mr. Morgan and Mr. and Mrs. Parsons removed to Smyrna, where they shared with their English brethren in labors among the Jews. They hoped to continue to occupy Salonica through Armenian native helpers, and to visit it themselves in the healthy season. Mr. Morgan was married to Mrs. Sutphen, of the Armenian mission, at the close of 1853, and on the return of Mr. and Mrs.

Dodd to Smyrna in the autumn of 1854, they went to Salonica, expecting to remain there during nine months, and then to retire before the miasma of summer. Mr. Morgan was welcomed by his Jewish acquaintance, and found that the spirit of inquiry had spread, and that there was greater boldness on the part of a few. But whatever their secret conviction of the truth, none confessed the Saviour openly. The first fruits ripened elsewhere. A family of three fled to Malta, and were baptized there; another, a converted rabbi, came to Smyrna, and became a teacher. There had been a considerable advance in female education, since Mrs. Dodd had, with great difficulty, persuaded a Jewish girl to encounter the odium of learning to read. Some prominent rabbis were teaching their daughters, and the tide seemed evidently turning.

The Jews of Smyrna were found to be more worldly, and less given to religious thought, than the Jews of Salonica. But an avowedly Christian school of near twenty pupils was sustained during the year 1854, and taught by the converted rabbi above mentioned. The teacher was known to be a proselyte. The New Testament was read daily, and biblical instruction occupied a large place. It was hopeful that Jews were found willing to place their children in such an atmosphere. A boarding-school was opened for a few of the more promising boys belonging to the day-school. The parents of five actually signed a contract binding them to the missionaries for three years. This they did after the most explicit declarations, that while the boys would be trained for the highest usefulness and happiness in this world, they would be carefully instructed in the way of salvation through Jesus of Nazareth. The experiment could not proceed without opposition. The chief rabbi interposed. The eldest boy in the school manifested an inclination to embrace the Christian religion, and was beaten, dragged to the synagogue, and compelled to go through the form of wors.h.i.+p. He was then put in irons procured from the mad-house. He afterwards fled to Constantinople, where he was baptized by one of the Scotch missionaries. The teacher was also thrown into prison, on a false accusation. A young Jewish physician appeared fully to embrace the truth, and was not moved by the most cruel threats, or flattering promises. Mr. Parsons was greatly encouraged.

The instruction of inquirers at Constantinople had pa.s.sed mostly into the hands of English and Scotch missionaries to the Jews, while Mr. Schauffler's labors were chiefly literary. He was preparing a new translation of the Psalms into Hebrew-Spanish, in a more popular style; but could hardly expect entire success, owing to the peculiarities of the language as spoken by the common people in different places. His translation of the Old Testament into Hebrew-German, after revision by Mr. Koenig, of the Scotch Free Church Mission, was printed by the American Bible Society. He was able to preach in various languages, and did not neglect employing his talent in that direction. The printing of his Hebrew Lexicon was completed in 1854.

The reader will scarcely be prepared for the relinquishment of this mission, which took place early in 1856, though not in consequence of failing success. The Armenian and Jewish missions, at their united annual meeting in the spring of 1855, recommended that the Board relinquish to some other society the Jewish stations of Salonica and Smyrna. Constantinople, as such a station, had been practically relinquished some time before. At a conference of missionaries in Constantinople in November of that year, on occasion of a visit from the Foreign Secretary of the Board, the subject was carefully considered, and the question was decided according to the personal convictions of the brethren in the Jewish mission. The result was in favor of relinquis.h.i.+ng the Jewish field to the English and Scotch Societies; and of the younger members of the mission devoting their strength to the Armenian field, the exclusive right to which had been conceded to American missionaries by the general consent, as it were, of Protestant Christendom. It had become certain that the Board could not command laborers enough to do anything like justice to both fields; while the English and Scotch churches manifested a special interest in laboring for the conversion of the ancient people of G.o.d; and there were both English and Scotch missionaries in Constantinople, and English missionaries in Smyrna; and others from the Established Church of Scotland were ready to occupy Salonica.

Mr. Schauffler subsequently devoted himself to labors for the Moslems, many of whom were becoming interested in the spiritual form of Christianity presented in the Protestant Armenian communities, that were springing up throughout the empire.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

THE BULGARIANS OF EUROPEAN TURKEY.

1857-1862.

The geographical position of European Turkey brings it directly in contact with European civilization. Its interior may easily be reached from the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora, the Dardanelles, the Grecian Archipelago, the Adriatic Sea, and from the Danube flowing down from the heart of Europe. The Mohammedan population is estimated at four millions, and three fourths of these are supposed to be of Christian origin, and less firmly wedded to the Moslem faith than the remaining million of Osmanly Turks. And even these, born and educated on the borders of Europe, in the midst of divers Christian races, must form a character different from that of the Asiatic Turks in other parts of the empire.

Of the various races in European Turkey, the Bulgarians, properly so called, who are estimated at four millions, speaking the Bulgarian language, claim our first attention. They inhabit not only Bulgaria proper, extending from the Danube to the Balkan Mountains, but also an extensive region south of these mountains, reaching to the Bosphorus, the Marmora, and Albania; and embracing a good part of ancient Thrace, Albania, and Macedonia.[1]

[1] On the map, this country is called _Bulgaria_, _Roumelia_, and _Macedonia_. _Roumelia_, formerly called Moldavia and Wallachia, north of the Danube, is peopled by a race supposed to be descended from the old Roman military colonies. The language has an affinity to the Latin. _Servia_ is peopled by Slavs, who speak substantially the same language with the Bulgarians. The population of Roumania is estimated at 3,864,000, and that of Servia at 1,078,000.

The Bulgarians are of Slavonic origin, and their race is among the oldest in Europe. In the latter part of the fifth century they crossed the Danube, and gave their name to the country between that river and the Balkan Mountains. In subsequent ages they extended their conquests into Thrace and Macedonia, and, encamping before the walls of Constantinople, sought to drive the Byzantine emperors into Asia Minor. In 712, the Bulgarian troops defeated the armies of the Eastern Roman Empire, and laid siege to Constantinople. Three years later their king concluded a commercial treaty with the Emperor Theodosius III. which is said to have remained in force for a long time. In the year 814 the Bulgarians again invaded the Roman Empire, captured Adrianople, and carried a bishop named Manuel, with others of the citizens, into captivity. This person formed the companions of his captivity into a church, and they remained true to their faith, and labored earnestly for its spread. Having made proselytes among the Bulgarians, the bishop and many of the captives suffered martyrdom. Somewhat later, a captive monk, named Constantine Cypharas, endeavored to carry forward the work thus commenced; but the Greek empress, Theodora, for some special reasons, was led to redeem this monk, and procure his return to his native country. At this juncture, a sister of the Bulgarian king Bogoris was residing at Constantinople, whither she had been conveyed as a captive in early youth, and where she had been educated as a Christian, and the effort to secure the return of the monk resulted in her being sent back to her friends. She now labored to gain over the king, her brother, to the Christian faith. Circ.u.mstances at length favored her pious efforts, and she sent for Methodius of Thessalonica, a monk and a skilful painter. He was afterwards joined by his older brother Constantine, or Cyrill, surnamed the Philosopher, on account of his learning. Cyrill reduced the Slavonic language to writing, taught the barbarous nation the use of letters, and translated the Scriptures into that language. In the year 861 he baptized king Bogoris. The king undertook to force his people to change their religion and they revolted. He succeeded in suppressing the rebellion, and showed the superficial nature of his Christianity by the cruel revenge he took on the leaders of the revolt. Then the nation followed the lead of their king, and has ever since been nominally Christian. Neander says, that Cyrill was distinguished from all other missionaries of that period, by not yielding to the prejudice which regarded the languages of the rude nations as too profane to be employed for sacred uses, and by not shrinking from any toil which was necessary to master the language of the people among whom he labored.

The Bulgarians wavered for a time, according to the sway of their political interests, between the Greek and Latin Churches, until finally they decided wholly in favor of the former, and a Greek archbishop and bishops were set over them.[1]

[1] Neander's _Ecclesiastical History_, vol. iii. pp. 307-316, Torrey's Translation; and Dr. Murdock's Note to p. 51 of Mosheim's _Inst.i.tute of Ecclesiastical History_, vol. ii.

In the year 924, Simeon, the Bulgarian monarch, compelled the Byzantine Emperor, Roma.n.u.s I., to recognize the National Church of Bulgaria as wholly independent of the Greek Hierarchy. This independence, after about fifty years, was partially destroyed by a Greek Emperor; and in 1018, Basil II. restored the supremacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The kingdom was revived in the latter part of the twelfth century, but was again overthrown in 1393, by the Sultan Bajazet I. Mohammed II., when he subverted the Eastern Empire in 1453, made the religious chiefs of the Christian sects responsible, not only for the spiritual administration of their respective flocks, but also for that of a large share of their temporal affairs,--such as public education, civil suits, contracts, wills, and the like. The Bulgarians appear for a time not to have been formally recognized by the Turks as belonging to the Greek Church, and of course were not subject to its Patriarch; but the Fanariote Greeks succeeded at last in making the Porte believe that, being of the same religion with the Greeks, they should be placed under the direct authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople; and this was effected in the year 1767. Thus the Bulgarians lost their religious independence.

Since then, they have ever cherished an intense dislike of the Greek bishops, whose aim has always been to extinguish every remnant of national feeling, and obliterate all traces of their origin. They earnestly desired to have the Bible and the church-services in their own vernacular language, while the Greek Patriarch and his bishops insisted upon using only the ancient Greek. The people desired to have their children taught in the schools through the language of their own homes, while the bishops insisted that the instruction should be in the Greek language. They desired that their bishops and other ecclesiastics should be chosen from among themselves; but the Patriarch forced upon them Greek bishops, men of a foreign tongue, and foreign habits and sympathies, whose whole aim was to keep the people under the galling yoke of ecclesiastical tyranny.[1]

[1] _Missionary Herald_, 1858, p. 322.

What the Bulgarian people specially desired was ecclesiastical independence; and, in order to be freed from their forced dependence on the Greek Patriarchate, their leading men sometimes inclined to go over to the Pope. This of course was favored by the intrigues of the Jesuits, and politically by all the power of France. This awakened state of mind led many to examine the teachings of Scripture, and compare them with those of the Greek and Papal Churches; and some made inquiries of the missionaries at the several stations, as to Protestantism; and the question naturally arose, whether it would not be as well to become Protestants, as Roman Catholics.

The Greek Patriarch was decided and bold. In 1861, he summoned the Bulgarian bishops to appear and answer for themselves before his great ecclesiastical Council at Constantinople; but they refused, declaring that they owed him no allegiance. The summons was thrice repeated, but in vain; whereupon the bishops were anathematized, and it was resolved to banish them to Mount Sinai. This was prevented by the interference of the Protestant Amba.s.sadors, and the Bulgarians rallied to the defense of their bishops. Three thousand of them gathered at one time in one of their churches in the metropolis, and were prevented from proclaiming a Free Bulgarian Church only by the intervention of the Turkish government. Meanwhile the Bulgarian nation was agitated with the discussion of religious doctrines and ecclesiastical relations, and the Papists flooded the land with their publications. When the anathema against the bishops was sent to the Bulgarian towns, the people in some places would not allow it to be read, and publicly burnt it. They even caused a counter anathema to be read against the Greek Church. They doubtless regarded this matter as wholly a religious one; but, in an evangelical point of view, it was little more than a national movement for securing their rights. Sentiments were sometimes uttered, however, which strongly reminded one of the commencement of the Reformation in Germany. "The religion of the Greeks," says Mr.

Crane, "has been denounced as contrary to the Bible, and the Scriptures eulogized and recommended to the people. In their printed speeches we have seen no instance, in which they have called upon Mary and the saints for protection, but many in which they have called upon G.o.d to vindicate their cause."

Roumelia was partially explored in 1857 by Dr. Hamlin, accompanied by the Rev. Henry Jones, Secretary of the Turkish Missions Aid Society, then visiting our missions in Turkey. From Rodosto to Adrianople, a distance of seventy-two miles, they saw but few Bulgarian villages. Yet what came within their observation was of special interest, "Wherever we saw flocks, we saw Bulgarian shepherds; and wherever we saw cultivation, we saw Bulgarian laborers. They are indeed spread all over Roumelia, as laborers and shepherds, and the industry of the country is in their hands. The land is generally of excellent quality. It lies spread out in beautiful levels, and undulating, gently rising hills. In the neighborhood of villages it is covered with rich fields of grain, but elsewhere, for successive miles, it is roamed over by flocks of sheep, which, however, cannot crop a t.i.the of the gra.s.s. It is a beautiful region, waiting for the taste and intelligence of virtuous industry to make it a paradise."

We have also a charming view given us of the hundred miles of country between Adrianople and Philippopolis, as it presented itself to the travellers in the opening of spring. "The Greek race disappears entirely from the soil, and the predominant race is the Bulgarian. So entirely unconscious are the people of the Balkan's being the boundary, that when I spoke of Bulgaria, I was repeatedly corrected by the remark, 'You are now in Bulgaria.' The soil along our route is of the finest quality, and large villages were occasionally seen on our right and left, with magnificent views of cultivated lands and vast pastures, the snowy Balkan summits bounding the north, and lower ranges of hills the south. The fields, clothed in the brightest verdure of spring, gave promise of unsurpa.s.sed abundance; and in view of the inspiring scenes before us, we could not forbear exclaiming, with the Psalmist: 'Thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.'"

Dr. Hamlin speaks thus of the people: "In the midst of this fertility, we had only to cast the eye upon one of the villages in order to feel that cruel oppression and spiritual darkness are upon the people. In some of the Bulgarian villages we saw no window, nor even a place for one, in a single house. The country being dest.i.tute of forest trees, there is no timber, except what is brought from a great distance, and so they construct their dwellings of the lightest material possible. They are generally of wicker work, plastered within with mud. A large mud chimney and a door are the only openings. And yet the Bulgarians, in these miserable cottages, are the cleanliest people in the world. Excepting the rice cultivators, who dress expressly for their muddy work, we saw not a ragged Bulgarian between Adrianople and Philippopolis. Their clothes are of home manufacture, coa.r.s.e, strong, whole, and clean. The unembarra.s.sed, kind, respectful bearing of the people, men, women, and children, must impress the most cursory observer. An impudent laugh, an over-curious gaze, or a rude remark, we did not meet with from old or young. We could hardly say this after going ten steps into a Greek or Turkish village."

The favorable report made by Dr. Hamlin to his mission, awakened much interest, and it was resolved, "That the Bulgarian and other Slavonic races inhabiting European Turkey, call loudly for immediate and vigorous missionary efforts; and being providentially thrown upon the American churches as the chosen instrumentality for evangelizing them, are worthy of their most devoted patronage."

The mission was commenced with the understanding, that the operations of the American Board would be in the country south of the Balkan Mountains; while the missionaries of the American Methodist Episcopal Church were to occupy stations north of these mountains. The Methodist brethren desired the aid of one of the older missionaries at Constantinople in the selection of their first station, and Mr. E. E. Bliss accompanied them. They visited Varna, Shumla, Rasgrad, and Rustchuk, and decided upon occupying the first and second of these places. The acquaintance thus formed between the two missions was ever after a source of mutual pleasure and profit.

Mr. Bliss thus concludes a report of his visit:--

"This, my first acquaintance with the Bulgarians, has given me a very favorable opinion of them. Others have expressed a different opinion, but I should rank them before the Armenians in native intelligence and cultivation. Certainly a higher degree of civilization prevails among them, than among the Armenians of Asia Minor. They have better homes, better vehicles, better implements of husbandry. Wherever we went, we found much to remind us that we were in Europe, and not in Asia. Our road from Varna to Rustchuk was bordered by the posts and wires of the telegraph. Every town had its telegraphic station and corps of operators--French, English, and Polish gentlemen. More than once, through their unsolicited kindness, our approach to a stopping place was announced by the wire, and we found lodgings made ready against our coming. This, to me, was quite a strange feature of missionary travelling, very unlike my experience in Asia Minor."

The Rev. Charles F. Morse, who joined the Armenian mission in 1857, was appointed to commence the mission. Leaving his family at Constantinople until he had completed his arrangements, he proceeded to Adrianople in March, 1858, with Hagopos, a graduate of the Bebek Seminary, as an a.s.sistant. The population of Adrianople was then estimated at one hundred and forty thousand, of whom forty thousand were supposed to be Turks. The books in the Turkish language found in Mr. Morse's baggage, including a large number of New Testaments, were at first detained at the custom-house, under instructions from the Porte, but were released upon application of the American and English Consuls. His bookseller obtained a firman for the sale of books, and freely exposed the Turkish Testament, and Mr. Morse was himself allowed free access to the largest and finest of the mosques,--a favor not granted at the capital.

The most formidable opposition apprehended was from the Romish missionaries. They had been quick to see a double advantage in the disaffection of the Bulgarians with the Greek Church, and the fall of the Russian Protectorate, and had already erected a fine church.

The French residents, their consul, and even the English consular agent, were Catholics. An intelligent Bulgarian expressed the opinion that Protestant missions furnished the only possible safeguard against Rome in that country, and one of the best informed of the American missionaries declared his belief, that the greatest contest of Protestantism with Rome, since the era of the Reformation, would be in Turkey.

The Rev. Theodore L. Byington and wife joined the mission in 1858, and were stationed at Adrianople. In the next year, the mission was strengthened by the arrival of Rev. Messrs. William W. Meriam and James F. Clark and their wives, who commenced a station at Philippopolis, in ancient Thrace. The Rev. William F. Arms and wife arrived in 1860, and were a.s.sociated with Mr. Byington in a new station at Eski Zagra, seventy-five miles northwest from Adrianople, sixty northeast from Philippopolis, and twenty miles south of the Balkan Mountains. Mr. Oliver Crane was transferred from the Western Turkey Mission to Adrianople, in 1860. The population of Philippopolis was estimated at about sixty thousand, of whom twenty thousand were Bulgarians, sixteen thousand Mohammedans, fourteen thousand Greeks, and five thousand Jews. Surrounding the city, there were, within a circuit of thirty or forty miles, more than three hundred villages, including a large population, mostly Bulgarians.

These villages were easy of access, and some of them would afford a healthy retreat in summer. There were numerous mosques, and five Greek and three Bulgarian churches. The Romanists were building a large church edifice. The situation of Eski Zagra was at the northern extremity of a luxuriant and beautiful plain, and contained ten thousand Bulgarians and eight thousand Turks.

Mr. Byington found a remarkable zeal for education. There were in the town six Bulgarian schools for boys, with eight hundred scholars, and four for girls with one hundred and thirty-five scholars; and in the surrounding villages there were eleven schools, with three hundred pupils. For the two princ.i.p.al schools they had s.p.a.cious buildings, that would grace a New England town. The teachers were gentlemenly men, and enthusiastic in their work. This cla.s.s of teachers had generally received their education abroad, for the most part in Russia, where they could secure it without expense.

They were earnest in their efforts to introduce a higher civilization, and gave the missionaries a cordial reception. It was otherwise with the priests.

The readiness of the Bulgarians to receive the New Testament in their spoken language, is deserving of special note. An English gentleman, at one of the fairs in 1857, sold four hundred copies, which was all he had. Several editions were printed under the direction of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and were exhausted in 1859. At least fifteen thousand copies had been distributed, chiefly by sale, and the demand did not seem diminished. Mr. Byington reports at Eski Zagra in September, 1860, that, at the examination of one of the schools, each of twelve members of the most advanced cla.s.s was presented by the Trustees with a handsome copy of the Bible Society's edition of the New Testament. Subsequent experience tended somewhat to diminish the value of such facts.

A church was formed at Adrianople, on the first Sabbath in 1862, with a mixed members.h.i.+p. Pastor Apraham, already known to the reader in connection with the church at Rodosto, came by invitation, with one of his deacons, to a.s.sist in its formation; as also did the missionaries from Eski Zagra.