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. Circumstances 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
_Institute of Ecclesiastical History_, vol. ii.
In the year 924, Simeon, the Bulgarian monarch, compelled the
Byzantine Emperor, Romanus 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 Ambassadors, 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 God 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 tithe of the grass. 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
unsurpassed 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 destitute
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, coarse, strong, whole, and clean. The
unembarrassed, 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 assistant. 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 associated 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 principal schools they had
spacious buildings, that would grace a New England town. The
teachers were gentlemenly men, and enthusiastic in their work. This
class 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 class 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 membership. Pastor Apraham, already known to the reader
in connection with the church at Rodosto, came by invitation, with
one of his deacons, to assist in its formation; as also did the
missionaries from Eski Zagra.
Mr. Meriam at the close of 1861, stated as the results of
observations in his recent tours, that in villages and towns where
colporters had penetrated with the Word of Life, the people were no
longer afraid of Protestants, but respected and confided in them;
while they venerated and clung to their own form of religion; and
that the obvious way to benefit the people, spiritually and
temporally, most thoroughly and speedily, was to have suitable
native helpers quietly settled in such villages. His account of some
of the incidents on these tours will prepare the reader to
sympathize with this excellent missionary, and his estimable wife,
in the sad events soon to be narrated.
"On reaching Tatar Bazarjik, the family of one of our boarding
scholars would not permit me to go to a public khan, but insisted
that I should go to their house. I accepted the kind invitation, and
while with them, at their request, conducted family worship, morning
and evening. Visited a dozen families and was cordially welcomed by
all. In walking the street, one morning, I heard a voice from a shop
inviting me to come in, and on entering found a company of
Bulgarians, with their faces all aglow with the questions they had
to ask. A number of persons collected from other shops, and after an
hour, all seemed still unwilling that the conversation should be
broken off. Their questions showed an intelligent desire for light
on the true way of salvation."
"Early Sabbath morning, a number of Bulgarians came to our room at
the khan (at Otluk-Keuy), and began to ask questions about Christ,
the Virgin Mary, the New Testament, Popery, Protestantism, the
ceremonies of the Greek Church, etc., etc. The number of persons
increased until we had an audience of forty. They gave us no time to
eat until nightfall; and in the evening nine more came, and seemed
convinced of the truth. We spent a week in this village. Wine is
drank largely, and most of the young men are very wild, but we found
some whose conversation encouraged us much. For example, there are
three who hold regular meetings for the study of the New Testament
on Sabbaths and fast days. Such questions as they cannot solve for
themselves they reserve, until some one who can, passes through
their village. They have become fully aware, by their study of the
New Testament, that the Greek Church is not the one established by
the Apostles. One of their earnest questions was, 'Can we find
salvation in the Greek Church?' We found one enlightened priest in
this village, and spent a half day conversing with him. He informed
us that he was endeavoring to have the church service in the vulgar
tongue, so that all might understand. He quotes Scripture readily,
and is doing much good. All the other priests are miserable wine
drinkers. On my refusing the invitation of one of these to drink
with him, he exclaimed in astonishment, 'What! are you not a
Christian'?"