The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-04

gan Of American Methodism, spranR to hi
feet with a molten that the Bulgarian mis-
sion be abandoned, ard proceeded to give
some facts about IL. He declared that .
mission which, in the years Of its existeRce
had cost the American church s979,o0O,
hal already been costly enough, and that
more mcAey had been appropriated for il
than could I've justified by The results. lie
| doubted many Of the statements made in
the Conference by the superintenien Of the
Bulgarian mission, ard was ready to pre-
sent ut a closed session = detailed account
Of The mi~manegemcnt 81 The mission ard
the inccLlpetency Of its administration The
accuser was at hand ard SO were the charges.
He als5 spoke Of the untrustworthy cnarac.
ter q the native Bulgarian preachers i've
lcrging ~ the mission.
The words Of the Rev. Dr. BrCKLEY,
whose missionary zeal is unquestione,l
created a sensation In the Conference but
his motion that the Bulgarian field I've given
up by tine Metho1ists was at once seconded
by the Rev. Dr. EARL CRANsrON, another
perseverinR advocate OF the propagation Of
the Gospel il foreign parts.
Bishop WALDEN took the side of the mis-
sion. saying it could not I've abandoned with.
ont shame. Bishop JoYCE said it ought to
have another chance. Bishop MERRILL ex-
pressed the same opinion after he had told
Of the persecution of the Methodist mission
aries in Bulgaria, a country which he de
scribed as the storm centre OF Europe"
The Rev DR.. HCNr desired the continuance
Of the mission, and remarked that il would
cost between $l2,OO aud $4,000 to bring
the missionaries back to the United States.
The venerable Bishop .IoHS p. NEWMAN
defended the Bulgarian superintendent,
a man incapable Of prevarication, who has
sworn by the Holy Cross that he will stay
in Bulgaria" Other speakers defended or
assailed the mission. II was a day OF hot
debate and extraordinary accusations.
Upon the second day OF the debate. the
friends and foes of the Bulgarian mission
were again ready for the encounter. The
Rev. DIR. Hunt declared that. in his judg-
ment. the mission had been q failure. and
he made the remarkable statement thai;
two-thirds of the converts belonged to one
family. Bishop GoODsELL opposed the vot-
ing OF any more money for Bulgaria. Bishop
VINCENT doubted the advisability Of CON
tinuing the mission work there; but"
said he, let the Gospel I've preached to the
Bulgarians." Other Bishops who took part
in the days debate were GOODsELL, Foss,
FOWLER. and Hurst. and other ministers
who took part in it were CRAWFORD, GRAN
sTON. DAY, LEONARD, and BUCKLEY. The
last NAMED speaker repeated a remark he had
previously made, that, 80 long as DIR. DAVIS
was the head of the mission. there was no
hope for Methodism in Bulgaria.
The division Of sentiment in the Confer
ence was 30 strongly marked and fixed that
a compromise upon the subject had to be
brought about. \ sum of money. less than
half that desired by the superintendent OF
the Bulgarian mission. was finally appro-
for its support in 1895, but the com-
mittee was directed to procure all possible
information about IT,. and make report at
next years Conference.
II is probable that this was the most fit
ting disposition of the case, II the very
large American fund expended for the prop
of the Methodist faith in Bulgaria
has produced advantages so slight as those de
scribed by the Rev. DIR. BUCKLEY and others. |
then we guess that most American Method
will agree with us in the belief that the
money could be better expended otherwise
and elsewhere.
The population Of the principality OF Bull
garia is. in round numbers. 1900. 900, aud
more than three fourths OF them belong to
the Orthodox Greek Church. The Others
are Turks, and Roman Catholics, and Jews,
and gypsies.