Evening star., 1924-03-02

DR.. ktSStmon OF the state depart
ment tells me that the Bulgarian
peasant will make almost any sacri.
hce to keep his children In school.
and that he will even sell his farm in
order that they may start with a bet
ter mental equipment than his. Not
withstanding the losses Of the world
war, new schools are now being
started, and there are thirteen insti-
tutions for the training Of teachers.
asked DR.. Kissimon to give me
some of the characteristics OF the
Bulgarian. The doctor Is a man Of
fine education, a graduate Of Robert
College. a former representative OF
his country at Odessa and Moscow,
and q man OF wide experience in the
courts Of Europe. He knows his peo-
pie thoroughly and is patriotic Bull
garian from his heels to the scanty
thatch Of hair on his head. Said he:
II would like to have the United
States know the truth about the Bull
garian. He has good traits and has
bad ones. One OF the good ones Is
his great love Of education and his
desire to better himself and his fam
lily. He is careful and thrifty. He Is
q landholder, and he prides himself
on owning his farm. He Is not
ashamed of his condition, and he Is
independent and honest. More than
IS per cent Of our people belong to
the peasant class.
"On the other hand. the Bulgarian
IL very mistrustful Of Others" con-
tinued DR.. Kissimoff. His psychol-
osy Is due largely to his having been
for fve centuries under the Turks,
with the fear Of oppression and mas
sacre always at hand. This has made
hinl afraid Of the future. and no mat
ter how bright the sky Is today he
fears it will be dark tomorrow. II q
mother sees her children laughing
and having a good time. she begs
them not to enjoy themselves, for
fear something may happen. In fact,
the peasant looks upon life as a bur-
den, and his attitude is somewhat that
OF the hymn sung in your churches.
cannot quote 1t correctly, but it
goes somewhat like this:
"A little more trouble, a few more
fears,
A few moro sobs. and a few more tears.
We are almost home'"
The Bulgarians are essentially
pious. I visited a number Of their
churches. They are gorgeous beyond
description, and they are usually well
filled. These people belong to tho
great class Of orthodox. Christians, Of
whom ws know comparatively little.
There are In the world only about
SOC, 100000, or ons-third Of the whole
Of mankind, who actually are or pre-.
tend to be followers Of Jesus, and Of
these one in every four belongs to the
orthodox church. That means II you
could collect all the Christians to-
gsther and divide them up into fami-
lies. At least one member of every
family would be an orthodox Chris.
tian. The others would be Roman
Catholics and Protestants OF one kind
or another. The Protestants number
III. 100000 ana tho Catholics just
about 1o0.0oo,ooo more.
T HAVE not space to go into the de-
tails Of this great orthodox re-.
lision. It was long known as the
Greek Orthodox Cathelic Church, 30
named from the branch which broke
away from Roman Catholicism dur.
inS tho strife between the eastern and
western empires of Rome. These or
thodox people discarded the Pope Of
Rome. organized a new religion, and
decided to flock by themselves The
first split occurred more than 1000