PAM, 
 TURK.£MI», 
 
 BULGARIA 
 
 AND 
 
 SALONICA IN MACEDONIA 
 
 American BoarlJ of Commtsstoners for jForetgn IHtsstons 
 
 1895. 
 
BULGARIA. ••- ^ 
 
 BY REV. JAMES F. CLARKE, D.D., OF SAMOKOV. 
 
 The story of Bulgaria is full of interest, both because of the character of the 
 people and the position in Europe which they occupy. The people are Sclaves, 
 as are also the Russians, Servians, Bohemians, etc. They have just reason to be 
 proud of their ancestors from the seventh to the fourteenth century, and they 
 love to repeat in their families the names of Asparuch, Krum, Simeon, and Boris, 
 each of whom had a glory of his own in war or the arts of peace. Five hundred 
 years of servitude to the Turks did not crush out their innate nobleness of 
 character, and in 1879 Alexander found a capable and patriotic race to welcome 
 him enthusiastically as their first prince for centuries. 
 
 This prince, though at first making serious mistakes, afterwards greatly endeared 
 himself to his people, whom he ardently loved. Afterwards, when he thought it 
 would be for the good of Bulgaria, he abdicated his throne and weeping crowds 
 filled the streets of his capital as he was leaving it. Prince Ferdinand, the suc- 
 cessor of Alexander, has not found his path wholly a pleasant one. 
 
 King Boris accepted Christianity in 862 a.d., and so his people have since 
 been a nominally Christian nation. Though members of the Greek church, they 
 hate the word Greek, because the ecclesiastics of that church have, to a great 
 degree, forced out the use of the Bulgarian language, requiring them to use the 
 Greek language in their churches and schools in order that in any future division 
 of the country Greece may secure the land. The city of Philippopolis, many 
 other places in Roumelia, and almost the whole of Macedonia were until recently 
 so controlled that anyone seeking to introduce the use of the Bulgarian language 
 in the schools or churches would be accused to the Turks of treason. 
 
 These circumstances led to the eager purchase of thousands of the Bulgarian 
 Testament, pubhshed about the year 1856. They were bought simply because 
 " they were in the mother tongue and sweet to the ear " of patriotic Bulgarians, 
 but this desire for the Testament led American Christians to think that there was 
 a call for prompt and efficient Christian work, and so the American Board, having 
 a mission station at Adrianople, invited the IVfethodist Board to join them in the 
 effort to preach the gospel in Bulgaria, and these two missions have continued 
 their work in essential harmony — the American Board at the south o f the Balkans 
 and the Methodists north of that range. About the year 1858 Miss Ann Mars- 
 ton, of England, gave ^300 to each Board for the education of Bulgarian boys 
 and girls. Mission schools were opened for the former in Philippopolis, and the 
 latter in Eski Zaghra. God, in his providence, seemed to have specially pre- 
 pared a capable, efficient, loving. Christian Bohemian lady to teach in the Girls' 
 School, and a wonderful revival brought many to Christ. Among those reached 
 was a little girl in the school to whom a young man said : " You don't understand 
 these Protestants ; they are deceiving you." Looking him full in the face with 
 her bright eyes, the girl answered : " When you have tasted an apple, do you ask 
 if it is sweet? We have tasted of this gospel and we know its sweetness," 
 Another girl, Marika, was confined in the house by her mother, but escaping 
 through a window, she returned to those who had led her to Jesus, nor did the 
 
4 
 
 mob of women, who broke many of the windows v/here she was, frighten her 
 away. Eleuka was told by her stepmother to leave the Protestants or her home. 
 She left her home and never again entered it. 
 
 Nacho, after attending the Sabbath services, was led to Christ, and at once 
 restored to his former partner |88o, — equal to the total property of many business 
 men in his city at that time, — money secretly overcharged and pocketed while 
 making purchases in Constantinople. The wife of Nacho also left him with his 
 two much loved children, and as he could not secure their return, he entered the 
 school to prepare himself for Christian work. All these three, after useful lives 
 of earnest, active piety, have passed on to heavenly service. From a similar 
 revival in the Boys' School in Philippopolis have come some of the best 
 Christian workers. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago both these institutions were transferred to Samokov, where 
 the Girls' School has had a wide influence, supplying Bible-women, teachers, and 
 wives of Christian workers and others. The Boys' School, now developed into 
 the Collegiate and Theological Institute, has furnished all but one of the 
 liberally educated preachers, and been second to no other agency, except the 
 direct preaching of the gospel, in spreading evangelical Christianity in Bulgaria. 
 
 An industrial department connected with this institution was started in 1871, 
 doing chiefly printing and cabinet work, which has enabled the trustees to reduce 
 the number receiving full stipends (^35 a year, nearly the cost of board) from 
 about thirty to five, thus saving missionary funds and developing personal self- 
 dependence. It is strongly felt that those not ready to help themselves will 
 not have a sincere desire to aid others in either temporal or spiritual things. 
 This department much needs a capable, trained overseer, who would not only 
 carry on the work more efficiently than is now possible, but would also relieve in 
 some good degree the missionaries from a form of labor for which they have had 
 no previous training. 
 
 In God's providence missionaries have been able to relieve much suffering in 
 times of war and massacres. In 1876, of over 11,000 houses in fifty-six places, 
 thirty-two of which were visited by a missionary, more than half were destroyed 
 by the Turks, and about 5,000 persons were killed. This does not include all in 
 Bulgaria or any from Macedonia. During the years 1876-78 missionaries, chiefly 
 with funds from England, aided many thousands of people, including the build- 
 ing of two hospitals and the distribution of food, clothing, and implements 
 needed to restore their homes and farms. Often the sympathy and encourage- 
 ment given were of more value than the material aid. In one case unwearied 
 eff'ort and exposures brought on repeated sickness, which at one time was 
 nearly fatal. 
 
 The annual statistics of the European Turkey Mission for 1894 give 24 
 American missionaries, male and female, 10 pastors and r3 other preachers, 
 besides 78 other Bulgarian workers, 42 regular preaching places, with an average 
 congregation of 2,278, and of Sabbath-school scholars, 1,886; a total church 
 membership, from the first, of 1,436, of whom 952 are now living, and contribu- 
 tions amounting to $t,/^6c,.ti, which, divided by the average attendance, gives 
 ^3.23 for each person, or, by the church membership, $7.84 each. 
 
 The preaching of the gospel has at times met with vigorous opposition. Mis- 
 
5 
 
 sionaries were at first everywhere received with cordiality, but when a monk 
 married and fled to the missionaries for protection, the steps they felt obliged to 
 take led to the exclusion of thousands of evangelical books from schools and 
 homes. It was a trying time, yet it resulted in a closer study of the Word of 
 God. In Yambul, boys stoned a building where a few determined followers were 
 worshipping, but they sat between the windows and continued their songs and 
 service. In Panagureshte missionaries and other workers were threatened, stoned, 
 and treated with all the contumely which seemed possible under the Turkish rule. 
 In both these villages there are now vigorous churches with earnest, capable 
 pastors, and the gospel has a positive influence throughout the place. 
 
 In Stope a priest was determined to prevent the increase of the little evangeli- 
 cal circle, and vigorously persecuted them. A missionary was three times 
 violently driven from the place, once being taken from his bed by his head and 
 heels and sent off in derision with a band and a bagpipe ; at another time he was 
 choked, thrown to the ground and kicked, and a third time ordered to leave the 
 place. But the governor, who had said to the missionary, " Go and do your work 
 and I will be answerable for you with my head," sent a policeman, who met 
 him near the viUage and went back with him to the head man and said : " The 
 governor sent me to tell you not only not to hinder this man but even to help 
 him." Last spring a Bible-woman went to this village, found her way freely to 
 the homes, was visited by many of the women and girls, the priest himself at 
 last coming for a long serious talk, and many wept when she was obliged to leave. 
 
 We give a brief sketch of the work at the different stations. 
 
 In Constantinople " Father Riggs," now eighty-five years of age, and Mr. 
 Thomson are connected with the publishing department, which has printed 
 thousands of copies of the Scriptures and millions of pages of books, tracts, and 
 of the weekly and monthly Morning Star, which have permeated Bulgaria 
 and Macedonia. 
 
 In Philippopolis Mr. Marsh is working fraternally and earnestly, with many 
 Bulgarian pastors in the city and elsewhere, to bring souls to Christ and build 
 them up in a vigorous Christian life, and is now seeking means to build a much 
 needed and larger church edifice. 
 
 In Samokov Messrs. Haskell, Kingsbury, and the Clarkes, father and son, with 
 a few capable Bulgarian associates, are actively pushing a positively Christian 
 education for young men and women, and at the same time reaching out as far 
 as possible in the regions about them with the gospel message. 
 
 In Monastir Messrs. Bond and Baird, with Miss Cole and others, are doing much 
 for the education of girls, but have been specially blessed in preaching the gospel 
 in other towns, where live and growing churches have been formed. They are 
 having a positive influence among a noble race in Albania. 
 
 Salonica, a former station of the American Board, now become an important 
 centre because of railroads recently built, was last fall reoccupied by Messrs. 
 House and E. B. Haskell. Soine fifteen out-stations from the Monastir and 
 Samokov fields have been transferred to this station, and by means of constant 
 tours, both of missionaries and Bulgarians, new places have been opened, and 
 there is a promising future. 
 
 Two other agencies should be mentioned in this connection. The Bulgarian 
 
6 
 
 Evangelical Society was formed twenty-one years ago, by Bulgarians, some of 
 whom had tasted the joy of giving for Christ during the revival in the Boys- 
 School, ten years before. From the capital, Sophia, it is extending its efforts in 
 all directions, and is uniting Christians in the work of Christ. The Temperance 
 Union, composed of fifteen societies, of which Professor Shopoff, commissioner 
 to the World's Fair, is now president, is doing a much needed and good work 
 against intemperance. 
 
 This brief outline of Christian work in Bulgaria implies a much broader 
 unseen influence. Parents, teachers, preachers, and other Christians are working 
 together for the saving of souls in many places. The 484 church members who 
 have died and the 952 now living would average well with those in our own land. 
 Many thousands besides, throughout Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania, are con- 
 vinced of the truth of Christianity. One high in office in Bulgaria said to a 
 friend : " Do you think me so foolish as not to see that the evangelical faith is 
 the true one? I would myself follow if my people would go with me." A 
 teacher in Macedonia said plainly to some of his older pupils : "The evangelical 
 religion is the true one. It is too hard for me, but I advise you to follow it if 
 you can." A Bulgarian bishop said to me : " We are afraid of the Greeks and 
 the Catholics, but not of the Protestants" ; and his conduct proved that he was 
 
 sincere. . . 
 
 While infidelity, licentiousness, intemperance, and fashion are undermining the 
 character of a noble race, many sincere patriots among them are looking to the 
 gospel of Christ for the uplifting of their people. In this work American mis- 
 sionaries have gained the confidence of the best of the leaders, and we earnestly 
 ask for all the workers the active sympathy of American Christians. 
 
7 
 
 SALONICA IN MACEDONIA. 
 
 BY REV. J. HENRY HOUSE, D.D., OF SALONICA. 
 
 Salonica, recently reoccupied by the American Board as a centre for work 
 among the Bulgarians of Macedonia, is the Thessalonica of the Acts of the 
 
 THE ROTUNDA, OR ST. GEORGE'S MOSQUE, AT SALONICA. 
 
 Apostles. It is a city of great antiquity and is interesting alike for the memo- 
 ries which it awakens of ancient Greece and Rome, and for what it recalls of the 
 history of the Apostle Paul and the Christian church since his day. 
 
 ITS ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 The view of the city given on a following page will enable the reader to form 
 a good idea of the city as it now is. The picturesque Genoese tower, which 
 
8 
 
 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 south- 
 east of the city, and so are not distinctly seen in the picture. The minaret with 
 a ruined top, near the centre, 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 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 centre, is the fine new 
 government building. The prominent round building, with its minaret, at the left 
 of the picture, is tiie 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 Metropolitan Church in which the Emperor 
 Theodosius the Great was baptized. Turning the eye back again a little to the 
 right, you will see the Mostiue of St. Demetrius, who is more reverenced to-day 
 in Salonica than Paul himself. The tomb of the martyr, for such he was, 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 synagogue where Paul preached. 
 
 The Rotunda, a picture of which is seen on the preceding page, is a building 
 of much historical interest. Its walls are twenty or twenty-two feet thick. It 
 contains some very curious mosaics of waterfowl which perhaps are very ancient, 
 and yet they are as bright and fresh to-day as though they were finished but 
 yesterday. Another mosque, called Eski Djuma, or " Old Friday," is probably 
 the most ancient building of the city. It was not only at one time a Christian 
 church, but before the Christian era it was a temple of Venus. Its very name, 
 " Old Friday," preserves this tradition, as Friday ( Vendi edi in the French) is the 
 Day of Venus. In this mosque there are some very ancient Ionic columns and 
 two fine rows of columns with Corinthian capitals. These shafts have been 
 painted dark green, and the capitals flesh color, perhaps in honor of a visit of 
 the Sultan to the city some years since ! All these columns doubtless belonged 
 to the temple of Venus. 
 
 This city was, until within a few years, the possessor of two triumphal arches 
 erected in the time of the Roman emperors. The oldest one, which spanned 
 the Via Egnatia at the western extremity of the city, without doubt existed in 
 Paul's time, and he probably passed under it in going out of the city to Berea. 
 Upon this column was the inscription referring to the "Politarchs," which is 
 exactly the name (a strange one to scholars) which Luke gives to the rulers of 
 the city in the Acts. This arch was pulled down to furnish materials for the 
 quay. The larger part of the stone upon which was found the inscription has 
 been placed in the British Museum. 
 
 The Arch of Constantine, of which we give a picture, still spans the Via 
 Egnatia at the eastern extremity of the city. Upon each of the bases are very 
 interesting sculptured bas-reliefs in stone, though somewhat injured by fires and 
 the hand of time. The figures represent a Roman triumph. Although the arch 
 goes by the name of Constantine, a Danish antiquarian, who spent a good deal 
 
of time in studying it, 
 believes it to belong to 
 the time of the Emperor 
 Galerius (305-311 a.d.). 
 
 Between the Rotunda 
 and the sea one may still 
 see the open space called 
 the Hippodrome, where 
 thousands of the city's in- 
 habitants were massacred 
 by order of Theodosius 
 the Great, who in conse- 
 quence was not allowed 
 by Ambrose of Milan to 
 partake of the commun- 
 ion for eight months. 
 
 ri'S HISTORY. 
 
 Salonica is still called 
 Thessalonica by the 
 Greeks. Its history, 
 which is of surpassing in- 
 terest to the scholar and 
 the Christian, seems to 
 reach back into the dim 
 ages of mythology. Op- 
 ]josite the city, and across 
 its beautiful bay, rises 
 among the clouds the 
 majestic Olympus, t h e 
 fabled home of the gods. 
 Of the city under its ear- 
 liest names of Emathia, 
 Holia, and Therma very 
 little is known. Cassan- 
 der, the husband of the 
 sister of Alexander the 
 Great, is said to have 
 rebuilt and beautified 
 Therma and to h a v e 
 changed its name to 
 Thessalonica, that of his 
 wife. We have time for 
 only a hint as to the his- 
 tory of the city. 
 
 Xerxes encamped here 
 with his great army on 
 
 9 
 
lO 
 
 his way to Greece. The great orator Cicero spent some time in banishment 
 here, and some of his letters were dated from this place. Anthony and Octavius 
 rested here after the battle of Philippi and made the place a " free city." But 
 to the Christian other memories are more precious than these. Here the great 
 missionary Paul walked, preached, and founded a Christian church. Twelve 
 feet below the present street at the Arch of Constantine was found the marble 
 pavement of the very same street upon which, doubtless, the apostle walked. 
 His repeated visits to the city, together with his sufferings here for Christ's sake, 
 entitle it to the name of the Apostolic City. The important work which the 
 Christians of that Apostolic church wrought in this whole district is understood 
 by what Paul says of them in i Thess. 1:7,8: "So that ye were ensamples to 
 all that beheve in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word 
 of the Lord not only in Macedonia and .Achaia, but also in every place your faith 
 to God-ward is spread abroad." All through the Christian ages this city has 
 held a commanding position with reference to the Christianity of the whole dis- 
 trict of Macedonia. One of its archbishops, Eustathius, was reputed to be the 
 most learned man of his age (twelfth century). 
 
 From a missionary point of view the city is of special interest to us in our 
 work for the Bulgarians, in the fact that it was the birthplace of the two great 
 Slavic missionaries, Cyril and Methodius. These two gifted brothers gave up 
 their lives to missionary work among the Bulgarians and other Slavs, especially 
 the Moravians. They were the authors of the Slavic translation of the Scriptures 
 (ninth century), and Cyril gave his name to the alphabet which is now used by 
 Russians, Servians, and Bulgarians, which is called the Cyrillic (or Kyrillic). 
 These two brothers are to-day the patron saints of literature and education 
 among the Bulgarians. They are supposed to have led the king of the Bulgarians 
 to the Christian faith about 865 a.d., and afterwards to have worked among the 
 Moravians. 
 
 THE AMERICAN BOARD'S MISSION. 
 
 Salonica was visited by Dr. William G. SchaulBer from Constantinople in 1847, 
 and it became a station of the American Board's Mission to the Jews in 1849. 
 Messrs. Maynard and Dodd, with their wives, landed here on April 2 of that 
 year. The station was reinforced by Mr. and Mrs. Parsons in 1850, and by 
 Mr. and Mrs. Morgan in 1852. The missionaries met with a great deal of 
 encouragement not tnly among the Jews but also among the Greeks and Bulga- 
 rians. The death, however, of Mr. Maynard soon after his arrival in September, 
 1849, and of Mrs. Morgan in September of 1852, and the prostration of Messrs. 
 Parsons and Morgan by intermittent fever, prevented the vigorous prosecution of 
 the work. Notwithstanding all this, tours were made as far north as Sofia. 
 However, in 1856, the station was given up, the work among the Jews having 
 been passed over to the missionaries of the Established Church of Scotland. 
 Work among the Greeks was first passed into the hands of the Southern Presby- 
 terian Church of the United States, but a few years ago its missionaries withdrew, 
 leaving the work in the hands of native Greek brethren, of whom the chief repre- 
 sentative is Dr. Kalopothakes, of Athens. 
 
 Salonica was reoccupied by the .American Board as a station of the European 
 
Turkey Mission, October 9, 1894, Rev. E. B. Haskell and.1 
 at that date. The writer of this article, with his family, jqi^ 
 November 7 of the same year. The reason for occupying tbe ; 
 Bulgarian work is the fact that Salonica is the governmen-ta^ 
 large Bulgarian population which can be more easily reached froil 
 from any other. Here three railways branch out, one towards IVf 
 west, a second towards Skopia and the north, a third toward Seres 
 and the latter is expected soon to connect this city with Constantino^ 
 
 g this city 
 m on 
 ntre-'for 
 very 
 than 
 the , 
 
 ARCH OF CONSTANTINE AT SALONICA. 
 
 In 1847 the English consul, Mr. Blunt, estimated the population of the city as 
 follows: 30,000 Jews, 20,000 Moslems, 13,000 Greeks, and 1,000 foreigners. 
 The most probable estimate to-day would be : 80,000 Jews, 15,000 Moslems, 
 15,000 Greeks, 5,000 Bulgarians, and 5,000 of other nationalities, making a total 
 of 'some 1 20,000 inhabitants. It will be seen from this it is largely a Jewish city ; 
 more people speak Hebrew- Spanish than those who speak any other language. 
 The villagers, however, to the north and west of the city are largely Bulgarian, 
 and already a very interesting work is opening up in the province in connection 
 with the new station. Quite a large work was passed over to this station from 
 Samokov station on the Razlog Plain in the northeast and from Monastir station 
 in the northwest, on the Strumitza and Radovich plains, so that we now have 
 
ioas, ;n one of which the work is entirely new and of a most 
 r. We have already received in the province thirty-six new 
 lurch since the first of January, and quite a number more are 
 /places to be received. We have reason to thank God for this 
 ning of our work, and we hope that we may have a place in the 
 rs of the home churches. 
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