SKETCH OF THE oof:T;::{j.ii!D:! mm tsorlh !mm Secllon JAN 19 ]2 EUROPEAN TURKEY MISSION OF THE AMERICAN BOARD Prepared by REV. J. F. CLARKE, d.d. PUBLISHED BY american ^oarlj of CommtSBionfra for Joretsn JHtseions Congregational House, Boston 1901 SKETCH OF THE EUROPEAN TURKEY MISSION. THE BULGARIANS. Are not all the people of Philippopolis, Greeks ? was asked of the Eng- lish consul in that city by a friend of his in Manchester, England, forty years ago. A careful census of the city a little later proved that there were but eleven purely Greek families, though many others were mixed and far more Hellenized, using the Greek language even in their homes. A Bulgarian teacher in Philippopolis told me that when he came to that city, about 1845, a leading Bulgarian said to him, " When you talk to us on the street, talk to us in Greek; but in our homes, in Bulgarian." Such has been the case, though decreasingly, throughout a large part of Macedonia. The people love the " mother tongue," but the ambitious Greeks for over a century had sought to increase the number of the followers claimed by their patriarchs by de- stroying Bulgarian books as well as in every other possible way. Throughout all the contests of the Bulgarians for ecclesiastical freedom,, many who were especially active in the movement have been accused by the Greeks as being traitors to the government and sent into distant exile or hung. So a noble people were almost unknown to the outer world until about the year 1850, when they began their efforts to throw off the Greek yoke, which culminated in 1870, when they secured the recognition by the sultan of their own exarch. A Slavic nation, having a language originating from the same source as did the languages of the Russians, Servians, and 4 Bohemians, it was freed by Russia from its five centuries of subjection to Turkey in 1877, and its boundary extended to tlie JEgean Sea, so as to include that portion of Macedonia in which the greater part of tlie popula- tion is Bulgarian. But by the action of the Powers in the Berlin Congress the Macedonian part was returned to the Turks. The population of Bulgaria is nearly three and a half millions, of whom about three fourths are Bul- garians. The total number of Bulgarians, including those in Macedonia and elsewhere, must be about five millions. Bulgarians still glory in their line of kings, Asparuch, Krum, Asen, Simeon, Boris, and others, who reigned between the seventh and fourteenth centuries, when their victorious arms carried them to the gates of Constanti- nople ; and with these they also extolled their first leaders, Boteff , Levski, and the little band of heroes who for days defended the pass of Shipka against a large Turkish army while the Russians were coming to their aid. After their five hundred years of subjection to the Turks, their first prince, Alexander, was loved because loving his people and seeking what seemed to him their best welfare, and this even after his abdication — a step he was led to take in order that his people might have the aid of Russia, which was opposed to him personally. King Boris accepted Christianity in 85 1 a.d., and from that time his people were called a Christian nation. Though the Bulgarians belong to the ■Greek Church, they never use the word Greek, but call themselves the Pravo- slavs (meaning orthodox) Church, a church similar to the Catholic, though their priests are allowed to marry once. The religion of the mass of the people has consisted in picture worship, especially that of the Virgin Mary, while even the »ame of Jesus was little known. Their faith has had but little influence upon their lives, yet before the coming of European influ- ences, especially infidelity, drunkenness and licentiousness, their morality was far higher than it now is. Doubtless their nominal Christianity has had an influence to keep them together as a separate nation. The destruction of books in their language by the Greeks led Bulga- rians to purchase eagerly the New Testament, first published in 1856, chiefly because it was in the sweet mother tongue heard in their homes from their infancy. Thousands of copies were sold in a few years in Bulgaria and Macedonia, and this great desire to purchase the Word of God led Christians in America to answer what seemed to them a Macedonian cry. MISSIONARY WORK. BEGUN. The Methodist Board commenced work north of the Balkan Mountains in 1857, and the American Board south of the same mountains in 1858. And these missions have been working in cordial sympathy with each other to the present time. At an early date it seemed best to open schools, that for young women in Eski Zaghra, and for young men in Philippopolis. A Bohemian exile from Austria brought his sister with him to Bulgaria, and she, having been taught in the home of a missionary, was ready when needed to enter into the work 5 of teaching. Her loving lieart drew her girls to her, and she led them to Christ. A revival followed, which was deep and lasting. The voice of prayer for their parents and friends was heard in many a strange but secret place aDout the premises. A young man said to a relative, •' You are deceived by these Protestants." But she answered, " When you have tasted of an apple do you ask if it is sweet ? We have tasted of this gospel and know its sweet- 6 ness." Persecution followed, but only served to lead closer to Christ. Marika was confined by her mother, but escaped through a window and returned to her teachers, nor was she frightened away by the mob of angry women who broke many of the windows of the school building. Elenka was turned out of her home with only the clothes which she was wearing, and never again entered it, though after years of efficient Christian work she returned to her native place to die. A young merchant, Nacho, was led to Christ by what he heard at the Sabbath services, and at once returned to his partner hundreds of dollars secretly overcharged in making purchases. The next day his partner called and said to a missionary, " What sort of people are you that you should lead my partner, in whom I had perfect confidence, to return me stolen money of which I knew nothing." The wife of Nacho returned to her father with her two children, and, as she utterly refused to come back to him, he entered the school to prepare himself for Christian work. All these three, after earnest, useful, saintly lives, were early called to heavenly service. Some of those converted about the same time in a revival in the boys' school have been among the most useful Christian workers. During the first years the missionaries were received with great cordiality in their tours among the villages, and one of them for a year taught singing in the Bulgarian school of the city. The people were grateful for the aid given them in education, and thousands of books, chiefly the tract primer, were used in their schools. But in God's providence a great change took place which the missionaries would not at that time have chosen, but it led to a deeper study of the Bible. A monk married, contrary to their ecclesias- tical laws, and was brought a prisoner to Philippopolis. He wrote a letter to the missionaries, saying that if they did not protect him he must become a Moslem. But before the letter was read he was in the home. Though legally, and according to the " capitulations," he could have been protected, his letter proved that he was not a Protestant, and he was given up to the authorities. ]!ut the action, which for hours it had seemed a duty to take, caused the people to exclude all evangelical books from their schools and, to a great extent, from their homes. A TYPICAL TOWN. The history of the work in Panagurishte is a sample of that of many places. A number of young men at first seemed to be sincere truth-seekers, but the case of the monk led to decided and bitter opposition on the part of the leaders. The store of a friendly young merchant was broken open, and all evangelical books left there for sale were taken and burned in the market place. An earnest colporter living in the place was called to the school- house and beaten by a mob led by the teachers. Many passing his house threw stones at the large gate in the high wall, which in Turkish times usu- ally surrounded the house and yards. A missionary went to the village one Friday. The highest official, the only Turk in the place, was absent. The Bulgarian second in authority called the missionary to the government ofitice. 7 -where were gathered the leading men of the wards, and said to him : " Your firman from the sultan gives you the right to travel but not to stay in a place. You have stayed here one night, and now if you go today you will go honor- ably ; if not " — violence was implied. He answered, " I came only on my local 'teskere.' as would any soap seller, and I intend to stay until Monday and you are responsible for me." During the Sabbath a guard prevented any one from coming to the room or talking with the missionary on the street. Monday, when ready to leave, a call to say farewell was made on the official 8 who had threatened him. This official asked, " Do you want a guard ? " " No," was answered. " Why not," was asked. " Because when you give a guard you say that we are sent away by force." " But something may happen to you," he said. " That is your responsibility," was the answer. The teacher of the school opposite the khan had let out his scholars to give a " not honor- able " send off, and on leaving the khan yard gate the missionary and his companion were saluted with the cry " Ouha," and a volley of perhaps fifty stones. But a protector ( ? ) had been sent by the official, who prevented fur- ther insult and went with the travelers to the edge of the town. Threats were made that the missionaries would be murdered among the wild, lonely mountains by the way, where scores of travelers hacf before been killed. At a subsequent visit, while walking up the steep mountain path behind his horse, the cheering words in Ephesians iii: 20: "able . . . exceed- ing abundantly above all ye can ask or think," etc., went to the heart and seemed a pledge of God's blessing. The crowd sitting in the market place saw him and his companions refused a place in the khan " because the leaders would not allow it," but the Turkish official cordially gave them good quar- ters. Boys came and asked for tracts, but when they went on the street the boys tore up the leaves and scattered them in the streets before them, calling to them as when throwing corn to their hogs. Threats were repeated, stones thrown, and only from one person was there a cheering word. The friend from whose store the books had been taken and burned in the market place, passing by in the evening, heard singing. He came in for a little and said, " You do well to keep coming here." Time has shown that this was so, for now opposition has ceased, and a neat white church stands in an elevated position near a much frequented locality,' an inviting , bell calls all who will to listen to the earnest preacher who pleads with them to come to Christ, and a small band of devoted Christians are witnessing and working for Jesus. A similar record might be given of the larger part of the fifty-one places where there is now stated preaching, and of not a few others, but the end has almost invariably been the same. God has given his blessing to feeble efforts, and little bands of Christians have been gathered to be lights to those around them. A REVOLUTION INTERVENES. Another unexpected form of work opened up to the missionaries. Young- men educated in Switzerland, France, Russia, and elsewhere planned to gain freedom for Bulgaria. The conspiracy was found out. The Turkish govern- ment was frightened and called out the Bashi-Bazouks, or irresponsible bands of marauders, gathered from all quarters to plunder and gratify their lusts. From the heights of Philippopolis, for weeks, burning villages could be seen m many directions. Panagurishte became the slaughter place of the people of eleven villages who had gathered there for safety. Nearly sixty places were wholly or partially destroyed. Batak, Klesura and Perushitsa were among the towns which suffered most. In the first about 1,500 of its 5,000 inhabitants were massacred, and many more subsequently perished from sick- 9 ness and want. The horrors of that carnage in Batak are too sickening to be told. In Klesura a well was pointed out where ten dead bodies from one family were thrown, the speaker being the only one left in that home. In Perushitsa a young man with his wife and child had fled, with many others, to the stone church. When hope of safety no longer remained, the man said ta his wife, " Rather than to fall into the hands of the Turks I will kill the baby,, then you, and then myself." After the massacres in the spring the work of death still continued. The writer saw some of the twenty-five Bulgarians who had been hung one night in the streets of Philippopolis, and afterwards some of the thirty who had been executed in Adrianople. Influential and! wealthy men were taken from their homes and killed. It was said by the Turks, " The Russians may take the garden, but they will find it without the trees." Help, chiefly from England, for the sufferers came through the mission- aries. By the aid of sixteen agents in different places about 30,000 pounds of wool were at first given, three hospitals were prepared, food distributed, 450 oxen and horses were rented, also agricultural implements furnished, ten saw mills built, and a number of rose oil stills rented. By the same agents was distributed a great amount of clothing sent them by Lady Strangford from Philippopolis. The sympathy given was often of more value than the material aid. In 1878, 10,000 persons, as reported by the English consul-general, fled to Bulgaria from massacres in Macedonia. Some 4,000 of these spent the winter in Djumaya. The rented oxen which remained were then sold for over $2,000, which, with some other aid, furnished soup for a month to 685 families, the government, under Russian control, giving on the same tickets the needful bread. For some days sixty refugee women were employed and over 2,500 articles of clothing and bedding were distributed. The total amount of aid so given to Bulgarian sufferers was about ^45,000. In 1896-7, aid from England to the amount of over $5,000 was given in Bourgas to many of the 3,000 Armenians who fled from the Turkish massacres in Constanti- nople. At the same time Miss Kate B. Frazer, of the Board's Mission at Van, with funds from three English sources, did a far greater work in Varna among the 14,000 refugees there, aiding in some way more than 6,000 of them, supporting two schools, employing 150 women in fancy work, and, for some time, the oversight of one hundred men in factories. Mrs. M. A. Allen, a Quakeress from England, in connection with her relief work in Bourgas also exerted a decided evangelical influence in the opening of the Christian work which is now so prosperous in that city. These efforts for the suffering, sometimes amid dangers and resulting in sickness, have shown to the people the hearty desire of the missionaries for their welfare. PERSECUTIONS. At different times missionaries and others have been exposed to perils and beaten. In returning from Constantinople in 1863, Mr. Merriam was lO murdered by Albanian brigands, and his wife's experiences at that time led to her death twenty-three days later. Another missionary has three times been in the power of robbers, once losing his own and his wife's watches, clothes, and the money taken for workers and for long tours. Christian fol- lowers, workers, and missionaries have also often met with violence from Bulgarian opposers, one missionary having twice been so beaten that it seemed best to secure a government physician's certificate of his wounds. But this violence has always led to greater openings for the gospel. When the Russian army came to Bulgaria many thought that all evan- gelical workers would be expelled from the country; but after a shameful persecution in Kailudere, a Russian oflficer who was in the vicinity beat the leaders of the mob, saying, " The Russians came here to free Bulgaria, not to change their faith." Some of the Russian officers were Protestants, and dur- ing all the Russian occupation Americans were treated with exceptional courtesy, cordiality and confidence. Hindrances and persecutions in various forms still continue. Though contrary to the constitution, a ministerial order, issued in subservience to ecclesiastical influences, prohibited the circulation of evangelical work, and according to this order, a missionary who had freely sold and given away books and tracts in the streets of Samokov was recently arrested for doing the same thing in a neighboring city and sent, with his books, to an ecclesi- astic for examination. Redress was secured through the English consul- general, and the matter opened the way for quite satisfactory conversations with those who had given and executed the order. The statistics of the European Turkey Mission for 1899 give four sta- tions ; fifty outstations ; twenty-four missionaries, male and female ; seventy- seven Bulgarian workers ; sixteen churches, to which have been received 1,998 members, of whom 1,270 are now living, of whom no were received in 1900; fifty-three places for regular worship, with an average of 2,847 attendants; fifty-three Sabbath schools, with 2,379 scholars, and twenty-three schools of diflierent grades, with 709 pupils. Native contributions for Christian work were $5,945.63. THE MISSION STATIONS. Constantinople. A brief reference to each station will give the locations of the missionaries and also some idea of their work. For some time Dr. Elias Riggs was the only member of the mission in Constantinople, where he carried on his work of translation and revision of the Bible, not only in Bulgarian, but also in Turkish and Armenian, prepared a commentary in Bulgarian on the whole of the New Testament, written or translated hun- dreds of hymns, and of late years has made annotations for use in some future revision of the Bulgarian Bible. His missionary life, which closed January 17, 1901, was the longest one in the history of the American Board, and few have equaled him in the uplifting influences he exerted in the work of Christ. II Philippopolis. In Philippopolis Mr. Marsh and nearly twenty Bulgarian fellow-workers are pushing forward the work in twenty-six places in this field, in all of which there are earnest followers of Christ. A new, substantial church edifice, which has for years cost much effort on the part of the mis- sionary and the people, is nearly completed. Samokov. At this station Messrs. Haskell, Thomson, and the Clarkes, father and son, with Misses Maltbie, Haskell, Baird, and capable Bulgarian associates have been earnestly seeking to give a Christian education to young men and women, efficiently using the press to widely scatter religious truth, and doing all in their power in evangelical work in the surrounding places. Monastir. In Monastir, Mr. Bond, Misses Cole and Matthews, and native workers are doing an efficient work for Christian education in a school which at times has girls of seven different nationalities in it, and have labored, as far as possible, in other places. A deep interest is felt in the Albanian work under their charge, especially in the girls' school in Kortcha. Salonica. Special notice is made of this station later on, but it may here be said that Messrs. House, Baird, Haskell and Miss Stone have abundantly utilized the three railroads spreading out through all Macedonia, and enabling them to do much for a population of two millions, among which they have twenty-one outstations. Their work in the city among different nationalities, and often among sailors of English fleets, will be much facilitated by a valu- able property they have recently secured on their personal responsibility, but without any appropriation from the American Board. Miss Stone's efficient efforts as an "elder sister" among the Bible workers, teachers, and the women in many places have been of much value. Some of her workers and others in Bulgaria are doing more for Christ than many of the preachers. They have been welcomed even in Turkish homes. A forward movement was made by the mission last year by sending Miss E. C. Clark, alone, to open kindergarten work in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The Bulgarian friends have given her a cordial place in their homes and hearts, and she is also beginning the work, so efficiently carried on in Samokov, of gathering street boys into the Sabbath school. Another long desired advance has been secured, of sending a missionary into Albania, and this missionary and another for the Collegiate and Theo- logical Institute will probably be designated soon. EDUCATIONAL WORK. The Girls' School in Eski Zaghra has now developed into one of thirty- six pupils in Monastir, another of forty pupils in Albania, and a third in Samokov of eighty-three pupils, besides the twenty in the kindergarten. In the last two places there is great need of more ample accommodations. The Boys' School in Philippopolis, after various changes, has become the Collegiate and Theological Institute in Samokov, with about sixty students. Two buildings and a missionary home are represented in the accompanying picture. The premises of the printing office and cabinet work of the indus- trial department and other buildings are in the rear. Of the work in this 12 institution a full account is given in the Missionary Herald for April, 1901. While most of the higher national schools are to a great degree full of skepti- cism and infidelity and other evil influences, it seems essential to the progress of evangelical work in Bulgaria and Macedonia that this institute be well supported and manned. It is needed not only to educate Christian preachers, but also to prepare Christian laymen for Sabbath school work, church officers and business men, who will have a positive influence among the mass of their own faithful people. The industrial department has done much to enable the students to support themselves and to develop in them habits of self- dependence, but it much needs an annual aid of from four to five hundred dollars in order to provide efficient overseers, whose support cannot be secured from the profits of the work. To enable this important institute to properly carry on its work an endowment of at least $100,000 seems needful. This would make it essentially independent of the Mission Board, and enable it to lay broad and deep foundations for this only evangelical Christian college in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Evangelical Society began the raising of such an endowment in 1897, but in their poverty they can do but little. The Prudential Committee of the American Board heartily endorse this efifort for this institute. The accompanying picture gives four missionaries and seventeen Bul- garian Christian workers, who gathered in Samokov for a summer school in August, i8g6. They hold positions of influence among their people. Space does not allow us to give, as we would wish, the locality of each one. ■ I ' NATIVE AGENCIES. From the beginning of the mission, colportage has been pressed as efficiently as possible. It has permeated to all towns and villages of the field, and often has opened the way for more permanent Christian laborers. In early years, when Greek opposers in Macedonia accused other Bulgarian booksellers of treasonable efforts, for which many were exiled or executed by the Turks, our workers were seldom molested, and the Christian truth they scattered in the Bulgarian language has had a great influence in leading Hellenized Bulgarians to return to the use of their mother tongue. A col- porter in Macedonia was called before the Turkish governor, that his books might be examined. The governor, turning to one who was present in whom he had much confidence, asked, " What object have these men in selling these books so cheaply ? " His friend had seen the influence of Christian truth elsewhere, and said, " They wish to make men better, to live as brothers." " Do you really mean what you say? " inquired the governor. " I certainly do," replied the other. " Then let him go and sell everywhere ! " exclaimed the official, and the colporter went his way to freely scatter the words of life. This work might be carried on to a much greater extent but for the lack of funds. Two Bulgarian agencies have done good work among their people. The Evangelical Society, formed in 1876, has its special field in the capital, Sofia, 13 and the surrounding region ; but its influence extends to all evangelical com- munities in the nation, and its widely scattered members gather to its annual meetings, which, in some respects, are like those of the American Board. Missionaries are members of this society on an equal footing with Bulgarians. By the support of preachers, the issues of the press, a central bookstore in the capital, and not least by the union of Christian hearts, this society has accom- plished much. For a building in the capital, to be a center for its work, a special effort was made by the Sofia pastor to secure a contribution from every individual, old and young, among the Protestant communities where there was a worker. Some would not contribute, but the result was 1,412 franks (about $281) from over 1,500 persons. Until the present year this society issued a monthly periodical,- the Home Friend, but it has been forced to give up this publication from lack of means, for which reason, also, the mission had before ceased to issue its weekly Morning Star, that for more than thirty years had visited many homes in Bulgaria and Macedonia. The Temperance Union, composed of fifteen societies, has done much to awaken and lead to efforts against intemperance. Over 300,000 pages of tracts have been issued in its name in the last few years, but this society has also been obliged to suspend its useful paper. It is strongly felt by Bulga- rians and missionaries that the Evangelical Society should issue a weekly newspaper, but to do this a salary for one or two workers must be supplied, at least for a time, from some external source. The preceding pages have been prepared to show the work of the Amer- ican Board in the European Turkey Mission. God has from the first blessed the labors put forth, at times abundantly. The 109 Christian workers in the fifty-one places for stated preaching, besides many more occasionally visited by colporters and others, are exerting a permanent influence throughout Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania, from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. Institutions for preparing workers, both male and female, are well begun and have borne good fruit. The Bulgarian Evangelical Society and the Temper- ance Union are accomplishing much. The Bulgarian communities are doing well in supporting their Christian work. The American Board has been called upon for aid in building but few of the church edifices, all of which are wholly under the control of the people. The opportunities and calls for enlargement are many. God seems to have prepared the way for an advance all along the line ; but there is great need of money for various purposes, especially an annual sum of about $1,000 for the issuing of a weekly Chris- tian newspaper and of some $500 for the industrial department. $100,000 are needed for an endowment of the Collegiate and Theological Institute, and $1,000 for building a church in Kustendil, on the borders of Macedonia, where an earnest, capable pastor and his wife are in a center of school and other influences on the borders of Macedonia. But more, far more than all these there is the need for the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all Chris- tian workers and all Christians, that, with a complete consecration of self and all they have, they shall go forward in the work of the gospel. 14 SALONICA. Of Salonica, the youngest station in tlie European Turkey Mission, occu- pied in 1894, a brief sltetcli can be given, prepared from accounts of its first missionaries, Messrs. House and Haskell. The main reason for clioosing tliis place as a mission station for Bulgarian work is the fact that Salonica is the THE ROTUNDA, OR ST. GEORGE'S MOSQUE, AT SALONICA. governmental center for a very large Bulgarian population, which can be easily reached by means of the three railroads which branch out from the place, one to Monastir on the west, a second to Scopia on the north, connecting with the whole system of European railways, and a third to Seres, extending also to Constantinople. To a Christian this city is of special interest, not because it was named by her husband, Cassandra, for Thessalonica, the sister of Alexander ; nor 15 that it was the camping place of Xerxes' large army on his way to Greece ; that Cicero was here banished and wrote ; that Octavius and Pom- pey here rested after their victory at Philippi and made it a free city ; nor that C o n s t a n t i n e the Great for a time resided here ; nor that it was captured by the Saracens in 904, by the Cicilian Normans in 1 185, and by the Turks in 1430, but because the humble Paul here walked and preached and gathered a church, which had a Christian influence in all that re- gion, and that all through the Christian centuries this city had a like in- fluence in all Macedonia. This city is also of interest to all who love Bulgaria, because it was the birthplace of the two great Slavic missionaiies, Cyril and Methodius, who gave up their lives to mis- sionary work among the Bulgarians and other Slavs, especially the Mo- ravians. Cyril also gave his name to the alphabet now used by Russians, Servians and Bulgarians. These two brothers are still honored among the Bulgarians as the patron saints of literature and education. The old Roman road. Via Egnatia, on i6 which Paul must have traveled from Philippi, passed through the city parallel to the sea, where now is the main business street, but excavations have shown that it was twelve feet below the present level. At the western entrance was an arch, recently destroyed to widen the street to the railroad station, under which Paul must have gone on his way to Berea (now called by the Turks, Karaferria, but by Bulgarians, Berea), which is now seen on the left of the railway to Monastir, on a spur of the mountain forty-three miles from Salonica. ARCH OF CONSTANTINE AT SALONICA. The arch of Constantine, given in the accompanying picture, is at the eastern entrance. On its bases are interesting bas-reliefs in stone of a Roman triumph. The view of the city given on page 15 will enable the reader to form a good idea of the place as it now is. The picturesque Genoese tower, which is seen at the left, reminds those who have visited Constantinople of similar towers in that city. The old walls, which are still in very good preservation on three sides of the city, have been pulled down to the seaward and to the southeast of the city, and so are not distinctly seen in the picture. The minaret with a ruined top, near the center, 'marks the site of the mosque of St. Sophia, which was greatly injured by a great fire that occurred a few years ago. It was formerly a Christian church, and was built in the reign of 17 Justinian by the same architect that built St. Sophia in Constantinople. The great square building that is seen a little farther to the right, but still near the center, is the fine new government building. The prominent round build- ing, with its minaret, at the left of the picture, is the Rotunda, or St. George's Mosque, as it is also called. This is supposed by some to have been built by Trajan after the pattern of the Pantheon at Rome. It was the old Metro- politan Church in which the Emperor Theodosius the Great was baptized. Turning the eye back again a little to the right, you will see the Mosque of St. Demetrius, who is more reverenced today in Salonica than Paul himself. The tomb of the martyr, for such he v/as, is still pointed out to the visitor, and is said to be honored even by the Turks, who open the mosque once a year to Christian pilgrims, who flock in great numbers to the shrine of the saint. There is a tradition that this mosque is built near the site of the syna- gogue where Paul preached. Between the rotunda and the sea one may still see the open space called the Hippodrome, where thousands of the city's inhabitants were massacred by order of Theodosius the Great, who, in consequence, was not allowed by Ambrose, of Milan, to partake of the communion for eight months. The premises bought in 1898 as a center for Christian work, for which plans were then made to fully complete the purchase in 1905, are very favor- ably situated on the edge of the Frank quarter, where it borders on the Bulgarian ward and between the Via Egnatia and the sea. The place must be in the direction of the rotunda, but toward the farther or western side of the city. ALBANIA. For some years past the European Turkey Mission has urged the carry- ing on of mission work in Albania. This year a missionary has, for the first time, been appointed to that work. Albania borders on the Adriatic, extending from the 39° to the 43° north latitude, and from about the 19° to 21° east longitude, which is from Monte- negro on the north, 300 miles to Greece on the south, and reaching fifty to a hundred miles in width from east to west. The country is mountainous, having three ranges parallel with the Adriatic. The population is about two millions, including colonies of Vlachs or Roumanians from north of the Danube. The Albanians are descendants of the ancient Pelasgi, who spread out from their own country, southward into Greece and eastward into Macedonia. They call themselves Skipetar (eagle people), but accept also the name Arnaouts. From Romans xv : 19 it seems that Paul preached in Albania, through which country he passed in going to Illyricum. Notwithstanding the effort of the Greeks to absorb and Hellenize them, the Pelasgi clung to each other and to their language and customs with invin- cible tenacity. Like their ancestors, the Albanians are now also found in Grecian territory and in Macedgnia, but speak a language entirely different from the Greek or the Bulgarian. In later years the men, and sometimes i8 whole families, have gone to Constantinople, where they number some 20,000 ; also to Salonica, Smyrna, Alexandria, Rustchuk, and are also found throughout Macedonia and Bulgaria. Many of these return to their homes for the winter, but others only after an absence of years. Since the country passed under the rule of the Turks many have pro- fessed Mohammedanism in order to enter into the army and rise to influential positions in the government. Some of these have become renowned, and, as a whole, the people are noted for their bravery and faithfulness. Rev. G. D. Kyrias, the first and only Albanian pastor, ordained in 1890, who in all his course of study in the Collegiate and Theological Institute in Samokov was among our most capable and exemplary students, sent to the writer the follow- ing words of Lord Byron as expressive of the character of his people : — " Fierce are Albania's children, yet they lack Not virtues, were those virtues more mature. Where is the foe that ever saw their back ? Who can so well the toil of war endure ? Their native fastnesses not more secure Than they in doubtful time of troublous need ; Their wrath how deadly ! but their friendship sure. When gratitude or valour bids them bleed, Unshaken, rushing on where'er their chief may lead." The Albanian language has two dialects — the Tosk and the Gheg. Dr. Hahn, who compiled an Albanian dictionary and grammar, thinks they used the Phoenician alphabet, enlarged to represent the copious sounds of their language. Since the people of the southern part are in the Greek church, Greek schools have, to some extent, been opened there, but the common people have received but little benefit from them, since, as in past years in Bulgaria and Macedonia, the children have preferred to use the mother language in their homes. In Yanina, however, which seems to be a Greek colony, there is a celebrated gymnasium, which has greatly promoted the study of the Greek language, but it does not reach the lower classes. Scutari and Prisrend in the nor.h are strongholds of the Roman Catholic Church, but no instruction is given which can satisfy the intellectual or moral wants of the people. But little effort has been made by the Turks to educate the people, whom they sometimes designate as the Kitabsis (bookless) Armaouts. In recent years all classes of Albanians have deeply felt the need of using their own language and having the same alphabet, in order that they may advance in civilization, and an influential committee has adopted such an alphabet. There is in Bucharest, Roumania, an Albanian society of wealthy men, which is seeking to print books and establish schools for the people, and in this work some in high positions in Constantinople take a deep interest. From what has been said it is plain that no religious forms have a stronghold upon the Albanians. Among the first evangelical efforts for Albania was the publication by the British and Foreign Bible Society of 2,000 copies of the Testament in 19 Tosk Albanian with Greek letters, and the translation of the same in modern Greek. This was mostly given away. In 1858 and 1879 ^^'^ fi''st edition was followed by different editions of the whole or parts of the New Testa- ment, which were readily sold. A Turkish bey bought thirty copies of parts of the New Testament for distribution, and a member of the Greek church 200 copies. Just after his ordination Rev. Mr. Kyrias began his work in Albania at Kortcha (Goritsa), where the first Sabbath after his arrival he, ia spite of the opposition of the Greek ecclesiastics, had an audience of 400 in the Albanian national schoolhouse, to which he was invited. In connection with his sister, Mr. Kyrias started a girls' school, the first that ever existed for Albanian females, which now contains forty pupils, all that can be received, and many have been turned away. It has since been a center of much Christian influence and favored by the people. Moham- medan Albanians are not allowed by the government to send their children to this school, but one of these beys has in his own konak a graduate of the school, a Christian girl, to teach some of their daughters. The Sabbath ser- vices in Kortcha are now well attended by a hopeful class of young people.