EDUCATION AMONG THE GREEKS AND BULGARIANS.
The Turkish Conquest and Greek Schools—Monasteries
almost the sole Preservers of Letters—Movement of
the last Half-Century—Athenian Teaching and Its
Influence on Turkey—Education of the Greeks at
Constantinople—Μνημόσυνα—Salonika Girls’ Schools—Boys’
Schools—A Greek School based upon Mr. Herbert Spencer—The Past
and the Present of the Greeks—_Bulgarian_ Ignorance—Birth
of a Desire for Knowledge—A Report from a Bulgarian Young
Lady—The First Bulgarian Book—Bulgarian Authors—Schools—Church
Supervision—Loyalty to the Sultan—Bulgarian
Language—Schoolmasters and their Reforming Influence—Bulgarian
Intelligence—American Missionaries.
It was not to be expected that the immense progress made by Greece
during the past half century in education would exercise no influence
upon the Greeks in Turkey. The people of the kingdom of Greece, secure
of their own freedom, released from that servile condition to which
centuries of oppressive misrule had reduced them, and become citizens of
a liberty-loving country, have for the past twenty years been using every
effort to promote the cause of liberty by the spread of education among
their brethren still in subjection to the Porte. When the Turks conquered
the Greek provinces, they did their best to extinguish education among
their Christian subjects: the Greek schools were suppressed, new ones
prohibited, and the Greek children had to be taught during the night.[36]
But the monasteries, nests of ignorance and vice as they were, were the
principal refuges of letters. Scattered all over the empire, they enjoyed
the privileges drawn from the special liberty and favor granted by the
wise Sultan to the Greek clergy. This was done by the Sultan with the
view of acquiring unlimited control over the Greek rayahs, by giving
a just sufficient amount of power to a small but influential body of
men, to induce them to support his designs. Mount Athos, one of these
privileged asylums, became a famous resort of the retired clergy. A
college of some merit was also established on this monastic spot for
affording secular instruction to Greek youths. At Phanar, the secluded
refuge of the Greek noblesse, in right of their privileges, education
among the higher classes was promoted. For a long time this was the only
place Constantinople could boast as supplying men of letters, some of
whom, being conversant with foreign languages, were employed in European
embassies as interpreters. Within the last fifty years the educational
movement among the Greeks of Turkey has altered its course. Some schools
established in the country afforded elementary instruction to the
children, but, for the most part, they were now sent to Athens and Syra
to complete their studies, where numerous schools and colleges afforded
them the means of acquiring a perfect knowledge of their own language
and a tolerably good general education. This migration, perseveringly
continued for nearly thirty years, increased the number of these Athenian
and Syraote establishments, and the pecuniary benefit they derived from
it enabled them to perfect their organization. Politics and learning
were two essential elements of education, which the modern Greeks uphold
with a tenacity worthy of final success. The young Greek rayah, sent
to Athens, returns to his home a scholar and a staunch Philhellene,
burning with an all-absorbing desire to instil his ideas and feelings
into the minds of his fellow rayahs. Such currents flow slowly but surely
among a population that, debased as it may be by a foreign yoke, has a
history and literature of its own to look back to. The first students
returning from Greece were the pioneers of the immense progress that
education has lately made among the Greeks in Turkey. None can realize
and testify to this better than those who have watched its introduction
and development in the interior. As I stated in another part of this
work, even the élite of the Greek society of Broussa thirty years ago
had lost the use of their mother-tongue, replacing it by broken Turkish.
Since then, the introduction of schools has been the means of restoring
the use of their own language to the great majority of the people, though
one portion of the town is still ignorant of it, in consequence of the
profitable occupation the silk factories afford to girls, who are sent
there from a very early age, instead of going to school. The inhabitants
of the surrounding villages, in all of which Greek schools have now been
established, have learnt their national language—a proof that although
the general attention of the Greeks has naturally first been directed to
promoting education in Thessaly, Macedonia, and Epirus, the scattered
colonies left on the Asiatic side have not been altogether forgotten or
neglected; they have now good colleges in Smyrna, and schools in less
important towns and villages.
The Greek village of Demerdesh, between Broussa and the seaport Moudania,
merits special praise for the wonderful progress, both mental and
material, it has made. It is refreshing to see the intelligent features
of the inhabitants of this village, and their independent and patriotic
disposition. One thinks involuntarily of some of the ancient Greek
colonies that from small beginnings rose to great power and created for
themselves a noble history.
At Constantinople the Greeks possess several rapidly improving
educational establishments for both sexes. The Syllogus, too, a literary
association for the promotion of learning, has been lately instituted
in all the large towns of Turkey. Some years ago I was travelling with
the head mistress of the girls’ school at Epibatæ, in the district
of Silivri, near Constantinople—an institution which owes its origin
and maintenance to the generosity and philanthropy of Doctor Sarente
Archegenes, a native of the place, who, having acquired just reputation
and wealth in the capital, did not forget his native village, but
furnished the means for building and maintaining a school for girls in
1796. This mistress was a clever and well-educated lady from Athens, and
she described to me her pleasure at the quickness displayed by these
peasant girls in their studies. The only drawback, she remarked, to this
work of progress is the absence of a similar establishment for the boys,
who, all charcoal-burners by trade, ignorant and uncouth, are rejected
as husbands by the more privileged sex. I believe since then the evil
has been removed by the establishment of a boys’ school. How much more
beneficial to humanity was the establishment of these institutions than
that of the one founded by Mehemet Ali Pasha of Egypt at Cavalla, his
native place. Desiring to benefit his country with some of the wealth
acquired in Egypt, he requested the people of Cavalla to choose between a
school and a charitable establishment or _Imaret_: the former was meant
to impart light and civilization among them, the latter to furnish an
abode for fanatical Softas, and daily rations of pilaf and bread for
three hundred individuals. The Cavalla Turks did not hesitate between the
mental and material food; and shortly after a substantial edifice was
erected, its perpetual income helping to maintain a number of indolent
persons within its walls, and feed the refuse of the population that
lazily lounged about outside, waiting for the ready food that rendered
labor unnecessary.
The wealthy Greek families at Constantinople are now giving special
attention to the education of their children; the girls appear, more
especially, to have profited by it, for the Greek ladies, as a class,
are clever, well-informed, and good linguists, well bred and extremely
pleasant in the intimacy of their social circles. Most of them are
musicians, as the phrase is, some even attaining to excellence. A French
lady told me she had heard a French ambassador state as his opinion that
the best and most enlightened society in the capital was the Greek; but
it was so exclusive that an easy admission into it was a privilege not to
be enjoyed even by an ambassador. I may state that my personal experience
allows me to coincide with this view. The men, absorbed in business, and
perhaps still bearing the _cachet_ of some of those faults that prejudice
is ever ready to seize upon and exaggerate, are less refined and
agreeable in society than the women. Gifted men, however, and men of a
high standard of moral integrity and good faith, are not rare among them;
and the munificence of such men as Messrs Zarifi, Christaki, Zographo,
Baron Sina, and many others, in encouraging the advancement of education,
and helping in the relief of the poor in time of want and distress, has
entitled them to the gratitude of their nation.
Some time ago I was invited to attend the μνημόσυνα, an anniversary at
the girls’ school at Salonika, in remembrance of its chief benefactress
Kyria Castrio. A large cake, iced and decorated with various devices,
was placed on a table facing the portrait of this lady, which, garlanded
with flowers, appeared to look on smilingly and contentedly, encircled
by a ring of young girls. The room was densely crowded with guests and
the relatives of the children. Presently a great bustle was heard, and
the crowd opened to give passage to the dignified, intellectual-looking
Bishop, accompanied by his clergy, who quietly walked up to the cake,
and read mass over it for the benefit of the soul of the departed lady.
This ceremony concluded, he amiably shook hands with some of the company
nearest to him, and took his seat at the rostrum used for lectures. It
was now the turn of the young girls to express their gratitude to the
memory of her to whose kind thought and generosity they owed in great
part the education they were receiving. This was conveyed in a hymn
composed for the occasion, and rendered with much feeling and expression,
under the able direction of a young German master, who, for the love
of the art in general, and the Greek nation in particular, had kindly
undertaken to give free lessons in vocal music to the girls. Some of the
elder girls looked very pretty, and all seemed bright and intelligent.
The little ones, mustering in a company of two hundred, were next marched
up in a double row, clasping each other round the waist. It was a pretty
sight to see these little mites assembled round the chair of the paternal
Bishop, keeping time with their feet to the tune, and singing their
little hymn. This interesting ceremony was concluded by a long lecture,
from one of the masters of the establishment, delivered in Greek. The
profound attention with which all listened to it was a proof that it was
understood and appreciated. These Mnemosyné are held annually in many
towns, and even in secluded villages, in memory of charitable persons who
have founded or largely endowed their schools.
While on the subject of the Salonika girls’ school, I may as well go on
with it, and describe its organization, the course of studies followed
in it, and the immense benefit it has proved to the community. Tedious
as such a description is, it may be useful in giving an idea of the
many other similar institutions scattered throughout the country. The
building, formerly I believe a Turkish Konak, is in itself rather
dilapidated: it consists of two spacious halls, into which open a number
of class-rooms.
I inspected the classes, and was much pleased to find that the teachers
ably and conscientiously fulfilled their duties, and that the pupils
apparently did them great credit. The following is a list of the subjects
taught by a lady principal and two professors:
UPPER DIVISION.
I. Greek.—Translations of ancient Greek authors and poets, with
explanations, grammatical analysis, and composition.
II. Catechism, with due theological instruction.
III. History of Greece.
IV. Mathematics, including mathematical and geometrical
geography.
V. Psychology.
VI. Παιδαγωγία.
VII. Plain and fancy needlework.
VIII. Vocal music.
IX. Physics.
MIDDLE DIVISION.
(Taught by lady principal, one mistress, and one professor.)
I. Greek and Greek writers.
II. Sacred history, and explanations of the Gospels.
III. Mathematics.
IV. Natural history.
V. Political and physical geography.
VI. Universal history.
VII. Calligraphy.
VIII. Needlework and vocal music.
LOWER DIVISION.
(Taught by six mistresses and four pupil teachers.)
I. Greek.—Reading, writing, modern Greek grammar, with
explanations of modern Greek authors.
II. Sacred history and catechism.
III. Greek history.
IV. Arithmetic.
V. Natural history.
VI. Political geography, needlework, and calligraphy.
The infant schools contained two hundred scholars, who were seated on a
gallery; four pupil teachers, two on each side, were keeping order, and
the mistress was giving the lesson of the day, illustrating it by one
of the many colored pictures that decorated the walls of the apartment.
The lesson, explained by the teacher, is repeated by the children in
chorus, who are afterwards questioned. The system followed in this school
appears to me the most successful and appropriate way of teaching young
children, whose minds, impressed by the object-lessons, and diverted by
the variety of the exercises they are made to perform, are better able to
understand and retain the knowledge imparted to them. A lady, recently
arrived from Europe, who takes a great interest in schools, told me that
few establishments of this kind in Europe could boast of better success.
The rudiments of the following lessons are taught: Reading; elementary
geography; history; moral lessons; object-lessons; infantile songs and
games.
During our visit to the girls’ school we stopped before each class,
and a few girls were called out and examined by the master or mistress
presiding over their studies. All these girls were intelligent in
appearance, seemed well conversant with the subject in question, and were
ready with their answers. Arithmetic and mathematics generally were the
only branches of study in which they appeared deficient; but on the whole
the instruction (unfortunately limited to the Greek language for want of
funds) is excellent. The needlework, both plain and ornamental, is copied
from models brought from Paris, and the girls show as much skill in this
department as they do aptitude for study in others.
I questioned the directress on the general conduct and morality of
the girls, and she gave me the best account of both. No distinction
is made between the rich and poor; they sit side by side in the same
class, a custom which, in countries where education is more developed,
would be intolerable, but which, for the present, in a place where
class distinctions are not so great, tends to improve the manners of
the lower without prejudice to those of the upper. The opinion of the
schoolmistress was, that the girls of Salonika, whilst more docile and
more easily managed, were not less intelligent than the Athenian girls,
whose more independent spirit often occasioned trouble in the schools.
From this establishment has been formed a training school for girls
who wish to become school-mistresses; six professors instruct in the
following subjects:
I. Greek.
II. Universal history.
III. Mathematics (including arithmetic and geometry).
IV. Physics, geology, and anthropology.
V. Philosophy, psychology, παιδαγωγία.
VI. Vocal, instrumental, and theoretical music.
VII. Gymnastics and calligraphy.
VIII. Explanations of the Gospels.
Seven female students obtained their diplomas this year (1877), and were
sent into the interior, where in their turn they will be called upon to
impart light and knowledge to the girls of some little town or village.
During my travels I have often come across these provincial schools,
and found much pleasure in conversing with the ladylike, modest young
Athenian women, who had left home and country to give their teaching
and example to their less-favored sisters in Turkey. I remember feeling
a special interest in two of these, whom I found established in a
flourishing Greek village in a mountainous district of Macedonia.
I was invited into their little parlor, adjoining the school. It was
plain but very neat, and the scantiness of the furniture was more than
atoned for by the quantity of flowers and the many specimens of their
clever handiwork. The Chorbadji’s wives, some of them wealthy, doted upon
these girls, who were generally looked up to and called Kyria (lady);
each wife vying with the other in copying the dresses and manners of
these phenomenal beings transplanted into their mountain soil. The
children, too, seemed devoted to their teachers, and delighted in the
instruction given them, while the men of the village showed them all
respect, and seemed to pride themselves on the future benefit their
daughters and sisters would derive from the teachings and good influence
of these ladies.
Having sufficiently enlarged upon the education of the girls of Salonika,
I will now pass on to that of the boys, which is far more advanced.
The highest school for boys is called the Gymnasium. It contains four
classes, in which six professors teach the following subjects:
I. Greek: translation of Greek poetry and prose, with analysis
and commentary, grammatical and geographical, historical,
archæological, etc.
II. Latin: translations from Latin authors and poets, with
analysis.
III. Scripture lessons: catechism, with theological analysis
and explanations.
IV. Mathematics: theoretical arithmetic, geometry, algebra, and
trigonometry.
V. Natural science, comprising the study of geology,
anthropology, physiology, and cosmography.
VI. History: universal, and more especially Greek.
VII. Philosophy, psychology, and logic.
VIII. French grammar, exercises and translations from the best
French authors.
The next Greek school contains three classes, in which three masters
teach the following lessons:
I. Greek, in all its branches.
II. Sacred lessons, history, and catechism.
III. Mathematics, practical arithmetic, and geometry.
IV. Natural history.
V. Political geography.
VI. Universal history.
In the middle school of this same town there are four classes, each
subdivided into two; five masters teach the following lessons:
I. Greek: reading, writing, modern Greek grammar; and
explanations of modern Greek authors.
II. Sacred history and catechism.
III. History of Greece.
IV. Mathematics and practical arithmetic.
V. Natural history.
VI. Political geography.
VII. Vocal music and gymnastics.
How often, when witnessing the perseverance and energy displayed in
promoting education among the Greeks and Bulgarians, have I heartily
wished that some more of the funds given by our philanthropists for the
purposes of conversion could find their way into the educational channel,
and help to stimulate its progress!
Conversing on this subject with an intelligent American missionary,
settled amongst the Bulgarians, I was told that the missionaries found
it hard to work upon the ignorant and prejudiced, who distrust them and
do not listen willingly to their teaching. The schoolmasters, the most
enlightened among the people, alone comprehend and appreciate their
object. He said, “Could we help these people to help themselves through
their own schools by contributing to their support, our work would
prosper far better. Education, destroying prejudice and superstition,
would pave the way to a simpler form of worship; and those who really
wish to benefit ignorant humanity in a sensible and effective manner
ought to direct their efforts towards the propagation of education,
which would finally lead to the end they have in view.”
I also visited another Greek school at Salonika, which was under the
direction of a Greek gentleman educated in Germany, who has designed a
new educational system which, having had a fair trial, will eventually be
adopted in all the educational establishments of the Greeks. The origin
of this institution does not date further back than two years, and of
all the schools I have visited here and elsewhere, this certainly struck
me as being the best and the most perfect of its kind. The children
were divided into classes, each of which was examined by the master,
the result of which greatly surprised myself and some friends who were
present. The director, who justly took great pride in his work, assured
us that all these boys under his care (whose ages did not exceed eleven)
in consequence of the quickness, facility, and ability with which they
received his instructions, had learnt in one year what he had been unable
to teach in double that space of time to children in Germany. He added
that he was constantly called upon to answer a shower of questions and
remarks made by the pupils upon the theme of the lesson, which, having
explained, he allows them time and liberty to discuss the difficult
points, until they had quite mastered them. On their first entrance
they appear listless and uninterested, but as the love of knowledge is
developed and grows upon them, they often, when school time is up, beg
permission to remain an hour longer in class.
The youngest were first examined in reading. They read fluently from
Homer, and translated into modern Greek from chance pages left for
us to choose. While the director was dwelling on some meteorological
subject, one little mite of six lifted up its finger and said, “I noticed
that the sky was very cloudy yesterday, and yet it did not rain, may I
explain why?” Permission was at once given, and he enlightened us on the
subject. All the questions put to the senior boys in mathematics and
natural science were responded to with great promptitude and with a clear
knowledge of what they referred to. The dog was the subject chosen for
the lesson on zoology. The answers to the questions put on the variety of
the species, and the different characteristics that distinguished them,
were given with an exactness that showed how well the subject had been
explained and understood. Scenes from Greek mythology, orally taught, had
been learnt by heart, and were well retained by the pupils, who are said
to display great interest in the classic selections, which they act in
an admirable manner; the piece chosen for recital in our presence was a
selection from the Iphigenia in Tauris of Euripides.
In answer to our inquiries on the conduct and natural disposition of his
pupils, the master said both were good, although not free from faults,
which he however felt confident would in time be eradicated by proper
care and attention. When they first come they are apt to be untruthful:
a vice I suppose they acquire, together with other bad habits, in the
streets, where they are unfortunately allowed to associate with children
who have received no education. Very much pleased with all I had seen and
heard in this establishment, I begged the director to let me have one
of the class-books containing the routine of teaching. He replied that
he had no special work on the subject to abide by, and that the routine
of the lessons, left to his own judgment, had been combined by him
partly from the system he had studied in Germany, and partly from ideas
suggested to him by reading the philosophical works of Herbert Spencer,
for which he appeared to have a great admiration.
Few subjects, I think, are more worthy of attention than the march of
progress among nations which, perhaps from causes beyond their own
control, have long remained stationary. I asked a Greek gentleman, a
short time since, what was the difference between the present and the
last generation; what were the distinguishing characteristics of each,
and what the advantages of the actual over the two preceding it. He
replied that the first was ignorant and despotic; fortune, rather than
merit, establishing the personal influence of the individual. When
this influence was due to official favoritism, it was seldom honestly
acquired, and rarely beneficial to others. The fortunes, too, if made in
the country, would not stand very close inspection, for the system of
money-making in Turkey is of so elastic a nature that it has to be pulled
many ways, drawn and quartered, before the honest capitalist can call
the money his own. The ladies of the past generation, though good and
matronly, had received no education, and consequently could not afford
to their children the moral support that the children of the present day
are beginning to enjoy. The mothers taught their daughters to be pious
and honest, and instructed them in household management and needlework,
giving them at the same time a very limited supply of elementary
teaching; any further education, up to a recent date, was considered
a superfluous accomplishment for girls. The fathers had begun to pay
more attention to the education of their sons, but this education was
of a peculiar character; some of these boys, when even sent to foreign
colleges to complete their studies, on returning home, were allowed
neither the liberty of action nor the freedom of thought that they were
entitled to by their superior education.
When these studies opened no particular career to them, the youths were
generally called upon to follow the father’s trade or profession in a
monotonous routine often distasteful to the more spirited young men,
who could not break through the restraint without rebelling against the
paternal authority. This check often led to disobedience and desertion.
The independent youth would seek elsewhere a calling more adapted to his
taste; many of these young men, starting with no resources but their
brains, have been known to realize great fortunes. The rest of them,
married to wives generally chosen for them by their parents, continue to
live docilely under the paternal roof, showing every mark of deference to
their father’s will,—the absolute law of the house.
All that is now changed; the present generation is far more active and
free-thinking. Those who have had the advantages of education are no
longer the dreaded despots of their homes, but the companions of their
wives and the friends of their children, who, thanks to the privileges
they enjoy in this respect, find their way to a free exchange of ideas
and feelings with their parents. Many openings are now afforded to
youths, who are consulted on the subject, and are free to follow the
career they may choose. Should this be commercial, they are no longer, as
formerly, the employés of their fathers, but partners with them, sharing
the responsibilities and the profits of the business.
Good principles and morality are said to have made great progress among
the rising generation, which in all respects is considered by careful
observers to be far superior to, and promising to wipe away some of the
faults of, their ancestors in modern times. Dishonesty is one of the
evils generally attributed to the Greek character. Considering the long
experience I have had of this country, the close contact into which I
have been brought with all degrees of the Greek community, I cannot in
justice admit this to be the rule. In my dealings with tradespeople,
I have never found them worse than their neighbors belonging to other
nationalities, nor can I say that I have often detected dishonesty in
Greek servants, whilst to their devotion and good services I owe much of
the comfort of a well-served house.
The nation of the Greeks is earnestly taken up with remodelling itself
through the salutary means of education; it has made great progress, and
cannot fail to fit itself for the prominent part it has to play in the
destinies of South-eastern Europe.
At no epoch of the history of the Bulgarians does their dormant intellect
appear to have produced any works of art or genius. This conclusion
is arrived at by the absence of any proof of an anterior Bulgarian
civilization in the form of literature or monuments. Without personal
traditions, they know nothing of their past; and to learn something
of it, are forced to consult the Byzantine and Slavonic authors. What
civilization they possessed was also borrowed from the Slavs and
Byzantines, with whom they lived in close contact. In comparing the
national songs, their only literature, with those of the above-mentioned
nations, we are led to conclude that the Bulgarians remained equally
impervious to the softer and more elevating influence of the Greeks,
and to the warlike and independent spirit of the Servians and other
Slav populations, by whom they were surrounded. Having imbibed only to
a slight extent the civilization of their time, they must, after the
Ottoman conquest, through oppression and neglect, have forgotten the
little they once possessed, and submitted to the life of perpetual toil
and hardship which they have for centuries endured.
These peacefully disposed and hard-working peasants, however, though
devoid of learning, deprived of national history, and cut off from the
means of improvement, lack neither intelligence, perseverance, nor
desire for instruction. We find the indications of this tendency in some
of their somewhat disconnected and often uncouth national songs and
ballads, which breathe a true love of country life, and illustrate the
slow progress of their art, by eulogizing the slight innovations in their
agricultural implements. Many of their ballads set forth the brave deeds
of their few heroes, illustrate the past glory of their kingdom, lament
its downfall, or endeavor to account for its misfortunes.[37]
These timid utterances of an undeveloped people are simple narratives
of past incidents, whose relation is heightened neither by the spirit
of revenge for wrongs, nor yet by hope for a brighter future. These,
the only heritage of their ancestors, the Bulgarians treasure in their
hearts, and at moments of joy and exhilaration or suffering, chant them
to the accompaniment of the _guzla_, an instrument of three chords, whose
monotonous sounds harmonize well with the shrill or plaintive airs in
which utterance is given to their sentiments.
The blow aimed at the Bulgarian Church a little more than a century ago
fell with equal weight upon the schools, which, though neither numerous
nor effective, were nevertheless most valuable to the people, as the last
depositories of their national tongue. These establishments, though the
use of the Bulgarian language was formally abolished in them by the Greek
Patriarch, still remained scattered all over Bulgaria, and, directed by
the priests, enabled the Bulgarians, during the revival of the Church
question, to make use of them as foundations for the more important
and solid erections that have subsequently risen over them. The sudden
manifestation of a desire for instruction and national improvement in
Bulgaria is one of the most extraordinary phenomena I have had occasion
to notice in the East.
Education at the time of the commencement of this movement was a
privilege possessed by the very small section of the nation who were able
to seek it in foreign countries. The townspeople studied but little,
and the teaching in their schools comprised the Greek language, together
with a few general notions: while the bulk of the population in the rural
districts were left in entire ignorance. Those who wished for a more
complete education, without leaving their country, had recourse to the
higher Greek schools, in spite of the antipathy that existed between the
two races.
I had written to a Bulgarian gentleman requesting some information upon
the state of education in his country, but, unfortunately, the time
at which I made this request did not allow him to meet my demand, and
his daughter, a clever and accomplished young lady, undertook the task
instead. The following is part of her first letter on the subject:
“CHÈRE MADAME: Mon père m’a dit que vous désiriez avoir
quelques renseignements relativement à l’instruction en
Bulgarie: une statistique des écoles, je crois. Comme il est
très-occupé dans ce moment, il m’a chargé de vous fournir le
peu de renseignements que nous possédons à ce sujet. J’ai
donc recueilli tout ce qui a été publié jusqu’à présent par
rapport aux écoles; mais malheureusement tout cela n’est que
fort incomplet. Je me suis donc adressée aux evêques, espérant
obtenir d’eux des informations plus exactes, et surtout plus
complètes, et quelques uns d’eux m’ont promis de m’envoyer des
statistiques des écoles dans leurs éparchies. Quant à l’origine
de ce mouvement de la nation Bulgare vers la lumière, on n’en
sait pas grand’chose. Tout ce que je pourrais vous dire à ce
sujet n’est que les premières manifestations, faisant présager
le reveil de cette nation à la vie, datent du commencement de
ce siècle. Déjà en 1806 apparait le premier livre publié en
langue Bulgare; l’année 1819 on voit paraître deux autres, et
depuis ce temps chaque année apporte son contingent, quoique
bien maigre encore, à ce petit trésor, qui s’amasse goutte
à goutte. Quel rêve avait fait tressaillir ce peuple dans
cette torpeur où il était plongé et qui avait toutes les
apparences d’une léthargie devant durer éternellement? Etait-ce
un souvenir instantané du passé? Une espérance subite d’un
avenir moins sombre? Car, l’époque est assez loin encore où
cette agglomeration de peuples, dont il fait partie, va venir
en contact avec l’Europe civilisée et en subir l’influence.
Quelque intéressante que serait l’explication de ce phénomène,
on est obligé néanmoins de se contenter de conjectures. La
tâche de l’historien qui essayerait d’élaircir ce point est
tout aussi difficile que celle du philosophe qui cherche à
de décrire le travail operé dans l’âme de l’enfant avançant
progressivement à la lumière des nouvelles notions. Dans tous
les deux cas, l’individu, dans lequel s’opére ce travail et
qui pourtant est le plus à même d’en observer la marche,
est, par sa faiblesse même, incapable d’en juger; il subit
passivement, et c’est tout. Cependant cette période si obscure
de notre vie nationale nous a légué trois noms bien brillants.
Je veux parler du père Paisiy, qui, vers la fin du dernier
siècle écrivait une histoire de la Bulgarie et quelques
autres ouvrages; de Stoiko Vladislavoff (1739-1815), plus
tard connu sous le nom de Sofraniy, qui écrivit près d’une
vingtaine d’ouvrages dont quelques uns n’existent plus; et
enfin de Néophite Bogvely, dont un des ouvrages, intitulé ‘Mati
Bolgaria’ (Mère Bulgarie), est d’une actualité si frappante
qu’on le croirait écrit hier. C’est un dialogue entre une mère
et son fils dans lequel ils déplorent l’état de la patrie et
recherchent les causes de ses malheurs. La mère se demande
comment, malgré les immunités accordées aux Chrétiens et la
promulgation de tant de bonnes lois, le sort de ces derniers
ne se trouve pas amélioré; alors le fils la fait attention à
la manière dont les lois sont appliquées. On ne parlerait pas
autrement aujourd’hui! Observons en outre que tous les trois
parlent du joug phanariote comme d’une des principales causes
des malheurs de la Bulgarie. Ceci montre que reveil de l’esprit
national chez les Bulgares n’est point, comme quelques uns
aiment à le faire croire, un mouvèment factice dû à quelques
individus. C’est dans l’histoire de ces trois hommes, qui, dans
des circonstances plus favorables auraient infailliblement été
de veritables flambeaux pour leur nation et peut-être pour
l’humanité—c’est dans leur histoire, dis-je, qu’il faudrait
chercher une partie des causes de la régénération de la nation
Bulgare.
“Vous voudriez savoir l’époque à laquelle la première école
fut fondée en Bulgarie. Il semble que de tout temps de petites
aient existé où le prêtre enseignait aux enfants à lui, et
où la limite suprême de la science était atteinte quand on
parvenait à griffoner son nom. Mais la première école un peu
plus digne de ce nom a été fondée à Gabrova vers l’an 1835.
Kopriochtitza, Kalofer, Bazardjik, Sopote, suivirent bientôt
cet exemple. La première école Bulgare à Philippopolis fut
fondée en 1867. Je pourrais vous envoyer avec les statistiques
les programmes de quelques unes des principales écoles....”
I regret to say that subsequent events unfortunately prevented my
obtaining all the hoped-for information on this subject. I can therefore
only present an incomplete description of the work of education in
Bulgaria.
The schools opened at Gabrova, Kalofer, Sapote, and subsequently at
Philippopolis, were the precursors of those that by degrees spread
in all directions, entering every nook where a Bulgarian settlement
existed; ten years were sufficient to augment the small number of
original establishments to the following number that existed in Bulgaria
previously to the desolation that befell that unfortunate country.
In the province of Philippopolis there were 305 primary schools, 15
superior schools, with 356 teachers and 12,400 scholars; 27 girls’
schools, with 37 teachers and 2265 pupils. The Tuna vilayet, equally
endowed, was also in a fair way of improvement, and the Bulgarian youth
there, though less advanced than in the district of Philippopolis, were
beginning to rival their brethren on the other side of the Balkans.
The lessons taught in the gymnasium at Philippopolis comprise the
Turkish, Greek, and French languages, elementary mathematics, geography,
Bulgarian and Turkish history, mental and moral philosophy, religious and
moral instruction, and church music.
All these larger establishments, most of which I visited, were fine
spacious edifices; some of them were formerly large old mansions, others
were specially erected for schools.
Up to the year 1860 the schools in Bulgaria owed their creation and
maintenance to voluntary subscriptions and to funds bequeathed by
charitable individuals. But these funds were small compared with the
demand made by the people for the extension and development of their
educational institutions. At the separation of their Church from that of
Constantinople, they reappropriated the revenues, which were placed under
the direction of a number of men chosen from each district, and a part
of them was set aside for the purposes of education. These first steps
towards a systematic organization of the Church and schools were followed
by the appointment of a mixed commission of clerical and lay members,
annually elected in each district, charged with the immediate direction
of the local ecclesiastical department. Each commission acts separately
and independently of the other, but is answerable to the community at
large for the supervision and advancement of public instruction. A
further innovation in the shape of supplying funds for the increasing
demand for schools of a higher class was made by the Bulgarians of
Philippopolis by contriving to persuade the authorities of that place
to allow a tax to be levied on each male Bulgarian of 52 paras (about
2½_d._), by means of which they are enabled to improve and maintain
their excellent _gymnasium_. When I visited these establishments, most
of them were in their infancy. Bulgarian fathers, with genuine pride and
joy, gladly led their sons to the new national schools, telling them to
become good men, remain devoted to their nation, and pray for the Sultan.
Exaggerated and unnatural as this feeling may appear in the face of
late events, it was nevertheless genuine among the Bulgarians in those
days. Russian influence had not made itself felt at that time, nor were
the intellects of the poor ignorant Bulgarians sufficiently developed
to enable them to entertain revolutionary notions or plot in the dark
to raise the standard of rebellion. Entirely absorbed at that moment in
the idea of obtaining the independence of their Church and promoting
education, they were grateful to their masters for the liberty allowed
them to do more than they had presumed to expect.
During the reign of Sultan Abdul-Aziz the sentiment of loyalty of the
subject races towards their ruler diverged into two widely distinct
paths. Among the Bulgarians this devotion originated in the intense
ignorance and debasement to which centuries of bondage had reduced them:
with the Greeks, after the creation of free Hellas, there existed a
well-grounded confidence in themselves, a clear insight into the future,
and the patience to keep quiet and wait for their opportunity. The
Bulgarians were loyal because they knew no better; the Greeks because
their time was not yet come. They knew the truth, “Tout vient à point à
qui sait attendre.” If the minds of the Bulgarians subsequently became
more alive to their actual situation and they listened to revolutionary
suggestions, it was due to the teaching they had obtained from their
schools and from the national ideas instilled into their minds by the
priests and schoolmasters. This teaching was not always derived from
books, for these were rare and precious objects not easy to obtain.
Moreover, the difference between the written and spoken language is so
great that the former can scarcely be understood by the bulk of the
population. The original Hunnish tongue, absorbed by the Slavonic dialect
that succeeded it, has preserved but little of the primitive unwritten
idiom; and even the adopted one that replaced it gradually took in so
great a number of Turkish, Greek, Servian, and other foreign words as to
make the Bulgarian vernacular scarcely analogous with the more polished
language now taught in the schools. Even in Philippopolis some years
ago the Bulgarian ladies had great difficulty in understanding the
conversation of the ladies belonging to the American mission, who had
learnt the written language and spoke it with great purity. The modern
Bulgarian is based upon the Slav, and although differing considerably
from the Russian Slav language, the two nations have no great difficulty,
after a little practice, in comprehending each other. No less than seven
Bulgarian grammars are in existence, all written during the last fifteen
years; but they agree neither in the general principles nor in the
details. Some entirely disregard the popular idiom, and impose the rules
of modern Russian or Servian on the language. Others attempt to reduce to
rules the vernacular, which is variable, vague, and imperfect.
The schoolmasters are, generally speaking, young, ardent, and
enthusiastic; if educated abroad, they are fully versed in all the usual
branches of study, earnest in their work, as if pressed forwards by the
impetus of their desire for inculcating into the minds of their ignorant
but by no means unintelligent brethren all the views and sentiments that
engross their own. The priests of the towns and villages become their
confidants and co-workers; and thus the two bodies that had obtained
self-existence at the same time, and had the same object in view,
served later on as organs for instilling into the people some notions of
personal independence and the wish for national liberty.
As a rule the Bulgarian is neither bright nor intelligent in appearance.
His timid look, reserved and awkward manner, and his obstinate doggedness
when he cannot or will not understand, give the peasant an air of
impenetrability often amounting to brute stupidity. But those who have
well studied the capacity and disposition of the Bulgarian consider this
due rather to an incapability of comprehending at the first glance the
object or subject presented to his attention, and a dogged obstinacy that
will not allow him to yield readily to the proofs offered him.
This defect is so prominent in the Bulgarians that they have received
from the Greeks the cognomen of χονδροκεφάλους (thick-heads), and a
Turk, wishing to denote a person of an obstinate character, will use
the expression of “Bulgar Kaphalu,” while the Bulgarian himself makes a
joke of it, and, striking his head, or that of his neighbor, exclaims,
“Bulgarski glava” (Bulgarian head). These heads, however, when put to the
proof, by their capacity for study, their patience, and perseverance,
gain complete mastery of the subject they interest themselves in, giving
evidence of intelligence, which requires only time and opportunity to
develop into maturity.
The rivalry between this nation and the Greeks is also doing much to
promote education. But another and more friendly and effective stimulant
exists in the untiring efforts of the American missionaries who have
chosen this promising field of labor. Their civilizing influence has
taken an unassuming but well-rooted foundation in all the places in which
they have established themselves, and gradually develops and makes itself
evident in more than one way. Indefatigable in their work of promoting
religious enlightenment and education, these missionaries went about in
their respective districts, preaching the Gospel and distributing tracts
and Bibles among the people, who, in some places, received them gladly
with kindness and confidence, while in others they were regarded with
distrust. Frequently, however, a stray sheep or two would be found, in
even the most ignorant and benighted parts, willing to be led away from
his natural shepherd, ready to listen to and accept the teaching that
spoke to his better feelings and his judgment. If wholesale conversion to
Protestantism (of which I am no advocate, unless it be based upon real
intellectual progress and moral development) does not follow, much good
is done in promoting a spirit of inquiry, which can be satisfied by the
cheap and excellent religious books furnished by the Bible societies.
The purity and devotion that characterize the lives of these worthy
people, who abandon a home in their own land to undertake a toilsome
occupation among an ignorant and often hostile population, form another
moral argument which cannot fail in the end to tell upon the people.
Nor has their work of charity amidst death, cold, and starvation, after
the massacres, often at the risk of their own lives, tended to lessen
the general esteem and regard in which they are held by all classes and
creeds of the population by which they are surrounded.
The Bulgarian student, whether in his own national schools or in those
of foreign nations, is hard-working and steady; grave and temperate by
disposition, he seldom exposes himself to correction or to the infliction
of punishment. The scarcity of teachers was at first a great hindrance
to the propagation of knowledge; this difficulty was by degrees removed
by sending youths to study in foreign countries, who, on their return,
fulfilled the functions of schoolmasters. In former times Russia was a
great resort for these students, but lately, notwithstanding the great
facilities, financial and otherwise, afforded them in that country, they
now prefer the schools of France and Germany, together with the College
of the American Mission at Bebek, and the training schools that have been
lately established in the country, which are now capable of supplying
the teachers necessary for the village schools. Recent events have, to a
great extent, disorganized this excellent system: had it been allowed ten
years longer to work, a transformed Bulgarian nation might have occupied
the world’s attention.
The girls’ schools, also formed by the active American ladies, deserve
our attention. Their principal object is to bestow sound Christian
instruction upon the rising female population, and their efforts have met
with deserved yet unexpected success, not only in developing knowledge
among their own people, but in stimulating the Bulgarian communities
to display a greater interest in the education of their daughters and
found schools of a similar character. These establishments have produced
a number of excellent scholars, who have done honor to them by their
attainments and general good character.
The agents of the Roman Catholic Propaganda have schools in the
principal towns, and are actively employed; but their efforts are more
particularly directed to proselytism than to instruction, and their
work has consequently met with less success than that of the Protestant
missionaries.