St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-09-07

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them to see. Hence the missionaries
were looked upon as men who had come
to SOW discOrd among them,-tO break
up their nationality and if any man
became interested in reading the Bible,
and in seeking for faith that affected
the heart, he was regarded as a Protes-
tant, and consequently traitor to his
country.
The missionaries have labored to re-
move this impression, and by their ex-
pressiOns of sympathy and deeds of
kindness have convinced many of the
Bulgaridns that 'they are men who love
our nation, but still the opposition
arising from this source is the strongest
they are called upon to meet.
The aim of the missionaries has been
to present truths, not to attack errors !;
to teach the Bible, not creeds. They
believe that if mans heart accepts
the truth, the errors which he has been
taught to receive will drop off of them
selves; and the results in many cases
have proved the wisdom of their plan.
One result has been to awaken a more
general spirit of inquiry, and desire
to find out what the word of God con-
tains. The missionaries have tried to
convince the people that man may be
an evangelical Christian and yet a
patriot at the same time,-that he may
love his nation, without clinging to the
error of his nations church. Some of
the most efficient laborers have assured
the people that their object was not to
make them Protestants, but to teach
them the word of God and the truths of
Christianity as revealed therein.
1t was found, however, that man
could not accept the truths of the Bible
and follow its precepts, and remain in
the Bulgarian church SO new Or
ganization was necessary, and Bull
garian evangelical church was formed.
The work of enlightenment has been
slow, but the aggregate of results show
that the work has been far from lost.
The American Board has three Mis-
sion stations in Bulgaria, which in 1870
were organized as the European Turkey
Mission. They are at Eski Zaghra,
SamOkov, and Monastir; and Constan-
tinOple might also be added, as the
literary work of the Mission is done
here. There are at present, besides
numerous native pastors and helpers,
eight American missionaries with their
families, viz: Mr.. Byington at COnstan-
tinople; Messrs. Bond and Marsh at
Eski Zaghra Mcssrs. Clarke, House
and Locke at oamGkOv, and Messrs.
Baird and Jenney at Monastir. The
last named station is some 400 miles
west of Constantinople in the centre OF
Macedonia. SamOkov is i'll the heart
of the Balkans and ESki ZaghIa is about
100 miles farther to the east and south
The annual meeting of the European
Turkey Mission was held in CONSTANT
nople in May, and many of the facts
that l have gathered relating to the
various stations, were taken from re-
ports Iead at that time.
CONsTANTINOPLE.
There is not Il large Bulgarian popu-
lation i'll the capital. The Exarch, who
is the religious and political head o
the nation, lives here, and thele are
several thousand resident Bulgarians,
J merchants, gardeners and others. There
. lis no missionary whose special work i,
to labor among them, but Mr.. Bying
ton, with his assistant, Mr.. Tsarnotf
holds a service in Bulgarian every Sun
day morning, which is attended 10y
r about twenty-five.
The main strength of this station il
7 devoted to literary work. The nation
: is crying for books books! A nationa
, literature is yet to be made, and t,
2 meet this demand the Board has sta
} toned one man in Constantinople. TIL,
weekly newspaper, the ZerRitsa, Il semi
= religious journal, has reached circula
I tion of nearly 3,000,--a remarkable
g thing for a newspaper in Turkey, ant
e that, too, published under Protestan
/ auspices. Just at present the circula
f tion is stopped north of the Balkans OIL
account of the war, but though it wa
started only two years ago it has foun'
3 its way to every town OF Importance il
: Bulgaria.
r One page every week is devoted t.
3 sound religious reading, one to politica
e news, carefully sifted so as to pass tn
S critical eye of the Bureau de la PresSt
/ and the other two pages are taken u
: with miscellaneous reading, literary
f scientific, etc. 1t has met with yer
= great favor from all classes of Bulga
!, rians, from the Bishops and Exarc
Il down to the peasant. 1t is eagerl
= looked for, read and re-read, loaned an
borrowed, until every copy is read b
e from five to ten persons. In this wa
= a great amount of instruction is scat
t tered broad cast among the people, an
r seeds of truth sown that could not i
t any other way reach the people at large
e The missionaries have found it a yer
y great help in their work, and there al
/, many instances where young men hav
e received their first impulse to get a
b education from reading it.
+ In a country like our own wheI
l. DawsnanerS are so common one ca