PART II BULGARIA

IX RECENT HISTORY AND POLITICS

In the early days, at the time of that great soldier, Philip of Macedon, the name of Thrace was applied to the whole district south of the Danube. It was inhabited by a savage race, which Philip and his successor, Alexander, brought under subjection and incorporated into their empire. Early in the Christian era the Emperor Vespasian conquered the country, and it became a Roman province, and remained such until the horde of eastern barbarians swept up the valley of the Danube about the beginning of the third century. Among them were the Bulgari, an Asiatic clan, who remained in possession of the Balkan Mountain region and gave it their name. During subsequent centuries they founded the great Bulgarian Empire, which attained the zenith of its power during the reign of the Czar Simeon (893-927 A.D.), but fell under Byzantine rule in the eleventh century.

The first appearance of Russia in the affairs of Bulgaria was a most important event, for it has affected the politics of the country until this very day. One August morning in the year 967 A.D. 10,000 men landed from a Russian fleet at the mouth of the Danube. They were led by a valiant and hardy warrior named Sviatoslav, whose food was horseflesh and whose bed was a bearskin laid upon the ground. Since then the Russians, by reason of racial and religious relationship, have claimed the right to interfere in the affairs of the country, and no nation has shown greater sympathy with the unhappy people who have suffered so much from Turkish oppression.

The balance of power in Europe prevents the annexation of the Balkan States to the Russian Empire. Austria and Germany will not permit the Czar to extend his boundaries to the Mediterranean, but no power has yet been able to counteract the Russian influence in Bulgarian politics or prevent the Bulgarians from appealing to the Great White Bear when they are in danger or distress. Russian influence is paramount in Bulgaria to-day, not only because of affection, but for two other reasons: In the first place, the people are not strong enough to resist it, and in the second place, it is important for the Bulgarians to cultivate the friendship of their powerful neighbor in anticipation of events which may occur at any time. To no other source can they look for assistance.

In the twelfth century occurred the second Russian invasion of Bulgaria, which was so general as to cause a fusion of races and the adoption of the Slav language and religion, which has been used by Russia as a pretext for exercising a protectorate over southeastern Europe. In the fourteenth century the Turks drove the Russians out, and in 1389 the country was brought completely under Ottoman rule, which continued until the close of the Russo-Turkish war in 1877-78. The pretext for that war was the protection of the members of the Greek Church against the cruelties and persecutions of the Turkish officials, and Mr. Gladstone, although out of power at the time in England, undoubtedly did more to bring it about than any other influence, by the publication of a pamphlet entitled “The Bulgarian Atrocities.” With fervid eloquence he described the sufferings of the Christians, and Eugene Schuyler, then United States consul-general at Constantinople, prepared a report which furnished the facts to sustain the appeal of Mr. Gladstone in awakening sympathy and indignation throughout the civilized world. The state of public feeling justified Alexander II. of Russia in undertaking to protect and avenge the victims of Moslem cruelty, who professed the same religion and spoke almost the same language as himself. While the motives of the Russian government may not have been entirely disinterested, the crusade was so just that public opinion overlooked the fact that it had been striving several hundred years to annex European Turkey to its own great empire and make Constantinople its southern capital.

Alexander II. was a humane man. He emancipated 40,000,000 of serfs, and, if his life had been spared a few years longer, he would have given the Russian people a liberal allowance of self-government and transformed an autocratic despotism into a constitutional monarchy. The Bulgarians worship his memory. They have erected a monument in his honor, and have called their principal park by his name. His portrait may be seen in the cabins of the peasants as well as in the palace of the reigning prince. At every stationer’s and news-stand, in every shop where postage stamps are sold, postal cards bearing his picture over the title “Liberator of Bulgaria” may be purchased. More of them are sold than of any other variety and this devotion and gratitude has continued for nearly a quarter of a century. One of the principal streets of Sofia is named in honor of Mr. Gladstone, and his portrait is also printed on postal cards, although I saw no recognition of Mr. Schuyler’s services to that country.

The blood that was spilled in behalf of Bulgaria in the siege of Plevna and in the defense of Shipka Pass was not shed in vain; and, as the price of peace, Russia demanded and Turkey consented in the Treaty of San Stefano that Bulgaria and Macedonia, known on the map as Rumelia, should be independent of the Sultan’s authority. But the other jealous Powers of Europe unfortunately interfered with this arrangement, and, at a conference in Berlin, created a new nation called Bulgaria, defining its limits as they appear upon current maps, but leaving out Macedonia and providing that it should be under “the direct political and military authority of the Sultan” with a Christian governor-general. It was also stipulated that religious freedom and tolerance should be guaranteed by the Turks, and that the people of the various provinces should have the privilege of electing their own magistrates and enacting their own laws, subject to the general approval of the imperial authorities at Constantinople. Various other important reforms were also promised by the Sultan affecting taxation, the protection of personal and property rights, and the general welfare of the people. If these pledges and stipulations had been carried out according to the letter of the treaty, Rumelia would be a happy, prosperous and peaceful country to-day, but the Powers at Berlin must have known that the Sultan of Turkey never kept a promise, and probably never will, and the childlike faith with which they accepted his profuse assurances of reform is the most astonishing phenomenon in political history.

When the great Powers met at Berlin after the close of the Russo-Turkish war, they told the people of Bulgaria that they might thereafter manage their own affairs and select their own king, subject to the approval of the Sultan. They were required to pay him annual tribute in lieu of the taxes which he used to collect in Bulgaria, but the amount was not definitely fixed, and the financial relations of the two countries are in a hopeless muddle, and will some time require an international commission to adjust them. Bulgaria was also held responsible for a share of the Turkish national debt, but it has never been definitely apportioned. As soon as their neighbors had decided what the Bulgarians must do, an election was ordered, and a legislative assembly chosen under the supervision of Russian soldiers, who interfered more or less at the polls, and endeavored to influence the voting by bulldozing, moral suasion, gilded promises and other inducements. A curious constitution was also prepared by a shrewd Russian politician and adopted by the people, although very few of them were able to comprehend it. In fact, nobody pretends to understand the document, and it was evidently intended to be ambiguous.

After a good deal of conferring and correspondence the national assembly selected as their sovereign Prince Alexander of Battenberg, a man of twenty-four, then holding a commission as lieutenant upon the staff of his great-uncle, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, and stationed at Potsdam. Alexander was directly or indirectly connected with several of the reigning families of Europe, and was therefore believed to be impartial. He was a nephew of the Czar of Russia, and his brother Henry was the husband of Queen Victoria’s daughter Beatrice. He was a great favorite with everybody, because of his amiable disposition, his frank and brave nature and his sterling integrity. The people of Bulgaria gave him a cordial welcome, and he commenced a series of reforms, said to have been recommended by Prince Bismarck, who took great interest in his career. He proved to be a good king, unselfish, warm-hearted, patriotic and ambitious to promote the welfare of the people whose destiny he was selected to control. But he was too frank and honest to cope with the conspirators by whom he was surrounded. The Bulgarians had been under Turkish bondage for five centuries, and were unfitted to govern themselves, like all people who have been subject to tyranny. They were even worse than the Cubans or the Filipinos. Bismarck said they “had been put into the saddle before they learned to ride.” The situation was aggravated by the jealousy of the surrounding nations--Germany, Austria, Russia, Turkey and Greece--which were inclined to use Bulgaria as a football in their political games. Russia was disappointed and vindictive because the other Powers had not permitted her to enjoy the fruits of her victory over the Turks and was determined to recover control of Bulgaria by intrigue, which has been done.

The lack of educated natives in Bulgaria made it necessary to fill nearly all of the important military and civil offices with foreigners, and the Russians obtained the most influential places. Clever men were sent from St. Petersburg to cultivate public sentiment and by mercenary and other means to influence the elections. The parliament, or _Sobranje_, as it is called, consists of a single chamber, elected by the votes of all citizens who can read and write. The ministry are absolutely independent of the chamber, and no parliamentary action can upset them. They are responsible only to the ruling prince, who also has entire authority to appoint and dismiss the officers of the army and the civil service. The only way the _Sobranje_ can control him is by withholding appropriations, and in case of a deadlock with the sovereign there is no one to decide.

Bulgaria, without the slightest experience or preparation, was suddenly transformed into an independent state, with the machinery of the government entirely in the hands of foreigners, who were not only jealous, but hostile towards each other.

People say that Alexander lacked judgment and discretion; that he talked too much; that he was no diplomatist; that he quarreled with his advisers; that he was lamentably deficient in the arts of the politician, and was too liberal and lenient to govern a country which had never known any ruler but a despot. This is probably true. If Alexander could have had a sagacious and experienced statesman to guide him, he might have had a different fate. But, under his brief administration, Bulgaria made extraordinary progress, and if he had been allowed to remain upon the throne, by this time it would have advanced to a gratifying position among nations. When he came to Sofia the entire country was in a state of anarchy, a hundred times worse than Cuba after the Spanish war. The people had been suffering horrors that shocked the civilized world, and had been oppressed by cruelty that cannot be described. Being exasperated into resistance, their oppressors punished them with sword and torch. The number of victims is unknown. The British minister, who made an investigation, declared that not less than 12,000 persons were massacred in a single month by the Turks. Eugene Schuyler, the American consul then at Constantinople, put the number at 15,000. The country had been in a state of chronic revolution for several years and the theater of a war between two powerful nations whose armies foraged upon the farms, burned the cities and left desolate a large portion of the territory. Most of the population had fled to the mountains from their burning homes, and many of them were too poor and discouraged to repair damages when peace was restored.

In attempting to regenerate this distracted nation, Alexander of Battenberg undertook a task more difficult than was attempted by any other man of his generation. He endeavored to build up a new nation out of heterogeneous materials, and had little assistance but much interference from the Powers that had intrusted him with the work. He is one of the most romantic figures in modern European history. His frank and cheerful nature, his social charms, his personal courage upon the field of battle and his heroic attempts to overcome the impossible won for him the enduring affection of the common people and all patriotic spirits in Bulgaria, who recognized that he had no motive but their good. The same qualities, however, made him bitter and relentless enemies. He was surrounded by ambitious and avaricious adventurers and corrupt officials whom he dismissed the moment he discovered their misconduct. He was a poor judge of a rascal. He was so honest and candid himself that he could not detect the insincerity of others. He might have overcome these obstacles and defeated the conspiracies that were constantly formed against him if Alexander II. of Russia, whose assassination was a sad blow to Bulgaria as well as to his own people, had lived. He had great confidence in his nephew, Prince Alexander, loved him like his own son and supported him in every direction, even against the intrigues of Russian politicians who had been sent to Sofia to control the government. The people of Bulgaria loved him and still call him their “Liberator.”

Alexander III., for some reason or other, never liked his cousin of Battenberg, and soon after ascending the throne called him to account for his anti-Russian policy in Bulgaria. The explanation was unsatisfactory. Alexander said he was endeavoring to administer affairs for the best interests of the people themselves without regard to foreign complications. His liberality was too great to please the Czar. He was a Protestant and encouraged education to an extent that was not appreciated by the clergy of the Greek Church. He granted freedom to the press, which encouraged the democratic spirit of the people and strengthened the Liberal party in politics, which was anti-Russian in its tendencies and even advocated a republican form of government. Failing to meet the requirements of the Czar, Alexander found he was no longer allowed to be master in his own house, and that the Russian officials who surrounded him were taking their orders from St. Petersburg rather than from their own sovereign. He attempted to dismiss them and asserted his independence by filling their positions with native Liberals upon whom he could rely. The Russians retaliated by one of the most scandalous and shameful conspiracies that has ever occurred in political history. It might have happened in the Middle Ages, in the days of the robber barons and the Medicis, but there is nothing to compare with it in modern times.

At two o’clock on the morning of August 21, 1886, Prince Alexander was aroused from his slumbers by his valet, who thrust a revolver into his hand and begged him to flee through an open window. But the prince was a man to face danger, and, partially dressing himself, stepped into an ante-room where he found a crowd of Russian officers, some of whom he had recently dismissed from their positions, and others still in the employment of the government. They coolly informed him that he had the option to choose between death and abdication. A Russian officer tore a blank page out of the visitors’ book that lay upon the table and attempted to write an abdication, but he was too drunk to do so. A young cadet from the military academy took the pen and wrote a few incoherent words at his dictation. With five revolvers pointing at his head, Alexander calmly read the document and remarked sarcastically:

“Gentlemen, you shall have your way,” and wrote in German the words, “God protect Bulgaria. Alexander.”

A few moments later he was hustled into a carriage and, guarded by an escort of Russian officers and cadets from the military academy, which was in their charge, he was driven at a gallop seventeen miles to a monastery, where, after a few hours’ rest, an exchange of horses was made and he was hurried over the Balkan Mountains to the Danube River and placed upon a yacht.

The conspirators at Sofia, with the aid of the Metropolitan, or archbishop, of the Greek Church, proclaimed a provisional government; but Stambouloff, the young president of the parliament, who was equal to the emergency, declared them to be outlaws, appealed to the Bulgarians to defend the throne against the Russian conspirators, and persuaded the parliament to appoint him regent until Prince Alexander could be restored. It was several days before the latter could be found. In the meantime he was concealed upon the yacht on the Danube River. When the facts became known throughout Europe the Russians were compelled by public sentiment to surrender him, and the Czar made desperate efforts to exculpate himself from the responsibility. Nevertheless, not one of the Russian officials who were engaged in the plot was ever punished or even censured.

Prince Alexander returned to Sofia in triumph, and was enthusiastically welcomed by the people; but, with characteristic frankness, immediately telegraphed the Czar:

“I received my crown from Russia. I am ready to return it to the hands of her sovereign whenever it is demanded.”

The Czar at once replied, as might have been expected, expressing disapproval of the return of Alexander to Bulgaria and censuring his administration of affairs. In vain Stambouloff and other Bulgarians implored their prince to remain and defy Russia, and even threatened to prevent him by force from abdication, but Alexander declared that his usefulness was ended, and that it was the only wise course for him to retire and save the country from a war with Russia. Before doing so, however, he exacted a pledge from the Czar that he would permit the Bulgarians to manage their own affairs without interference--a pledge that was violated within the next thirty days, and has never been kept in any respect. Then, appointing a regency, Alexander formally abdicated authority and left the country with the affection and confidence of the people. He went to Austria, where he remained in retirement, under the title of Count Hartenau, until his death in 1893.

When Alexander abdicated it was necessary for the Bulgarians to choose another king, and they selected Prince Waldemar of Denmark, a brother of the Queen of Great Britain, the dowager Czarina of Russia and the King of Greece; but, rather than risk a quarrel with his big brother-in-law at St. Petersburg, who had compelled Alexander to throw down the crown, Waldemar declined the honor, and a committee was sent from Sofia to the various capitals of Europe to find a proper man. In the meantime Stambouloff, president of the _Sobranje_, or parliament, ruled the country as regent, and his policy was openly and defiantly anti-Russian. The Czar sent down two commissioners to take the state in hand. Stambouloff treated them respectfully, but declined to obey their orders. Two Russian men-of-war soon after appeared in the harbor of Varna, the principal seaport of Bulgaria, but even that did not intimidate Stambouloff, and the Russians, becoming disgusted, recalled all of their countrymen who were holding official and military positions, and even their minister and consuls, leaving Bulgaria to its fate. What Alexander III. expected to happen it is difficult to determine. He probably believed that anarchy would follow and furnish him an excuse for occupying Bulgaria with an army, but the country remained at peace. Stambouloff proved to be not only an able but a satisfactory ruler, and he carried out the policy of the deposed Alexander of Battenberg in an able and enlightened manner.

Stepan Stambouloff was undoubtedly the ablest man that has appeared upon the Balkan Peninsula for several centuries, and one of the most extraordinary characters of his generation. Although his faults were conspicuous, his patriotism was never questioned. His integrity of purpose shines out like a planet among the vacillating and cowardly politicians who surrounded him. He was born at the little town of Tirnovo, the son of a humble innkeeper, and was educated at an ordinary country school. He came into prominence during the revolution against Turkish authority previous to the Russo-Turkish war, and, although barely of age, emerged from that struggle one of the most conspicuous and influential of the Bulgarian patriots. Although the new constitution required a man to be thirty years old to be eligible to the _Sobranje_, he was an active member of that body before he was twenty-three, and its president before he was twenty-five, and he occupied that position continuously until he became prime minister in 1887 at the age of thirty-three years. He was remarkable for his courage, firmness and determination; he was a natural ruler of men and always exercised a remarkable influence over every person who came in contact with him. It used to be said that his enemies were always his friends so long as they remained in his presence. He was gifted with the highest degree of skill as a politician, and would have been a political dictator if he had lived in a republic. Among the ignorant and inexperienced population of Bulgaria he was able to exercise an influence that was absolute, and the _Sobranje_ was almost unanimous in his support. No doubt Stambouloff’s methods were often questionable. He believed that the end justified the means, and never hesitated to employ any measures he thought necessary to accomplish a purpose. He was arbitrary, cruel and vindictive. The savage nature of the Bulgarian mountaineers, from whom he came, frequently appeared in his manners and disposition. He lacked polish and was indifferent to suffering; but his entire career is an example of unselfish integrity. He devoted his life and his talents to promoting the welfare of his fellow countrymen, and never asked an advantage for himself. He died poorer than he was born, although for seven years he was in absolute control of the Bulgarian finances and for ten years previous was able to command anything in the way of remuneration that he desired.

Recognizing that public sentiment in Europe would not approve an empty throne in Bulgaria, Stambouloff dispatched a deputation to find a king. They made advances to several cadets of the royal houses, but found it very difficult to select a man of proper qualifications who was not so involved by ties of relationship as to excite jealousy among the great Powers. The story goes that they were on their way back to Bulgaria when they met an acquaintance in a beer garden at Vienna. Learning their business, he remarked:

“That young officer sitting at the table yonder is just the man you want. He is Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, grandson of Louis Philippe of France, and a cousin of every crowned head in Europe. He is a favorite of the Emperor of Austria and the Emperor of Russia and a man of great wealth.”

At that time Ferdinand held a commission in the Austrian army and was stationed in Vienna. The committee accepted the suggestion eagerly, conferred with the prime minister of Austria the next morning, communicated with Stambouloff at Sofia by telegraph, and within forty-eight hours offered the throne of Bulgaria to the young prince, who was not yet twenty-four years of age. The selection was approved by all the European Powers except Russia. Czar Alexander III. had no personal objection to the prince, but his policy was to boycott Bulgaria as long as Stambouloff and the Liberal party, then in power, continued to defy him.

The regents resigned, Prince Ferdinand ascended the throne, and appointed Stambouloff to the post of prime minister, which he occupied continuously until May, 1894. During that time he absolutely controlled the policy of the government and the opinions of the prince. For the first three or four years the two got on without friction, and Ferdinand was a willing agent of his minister; but as he grew older, particularly after his marriage in 1893, he became restless under the yoke, showed signs of independence, and, probably through the influence of his wife, began to yearn for the social and official recognition of Russia, which up to that time had absolutely ignored him. If Stambouloff had shown more tact in dealing with his sovereign and more deference towards the bride the latter had brought to Bulgaria, he might have continued at the head of the government indefinitely, but he made no effort to conceal, either from the public or the court, the fact that the prince was merely his puppet, and when the latter showed signs of self-assertion drew the curb even more firmly upon him. The Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon, daughter of the Duke of Parma, whom Ferdinand married in 1893, first aroused his pride and stimulated his independence, and finally acquired sufficient influence over her husband to persuade him to resist Stambouloff.

Both she and Ferdinand were ambitious to advance their position and power. Instead of being registered in the almanacs as “princes” they wanted to be called king and queen, and actually had crowns made at Munich in anticipation of a favorable vote in the _Sobranje_. But Stambouloff, who despised pomp and pretensions like the true democrat that he was, and looked forward to a time when Bulgaria should have a republican form of government, opposed the aspirations of his sovereigns, and a quarrel occurred which ended with his retirement from the ministry and the selection of Mr. Stoiloff, his bitterest enemy, as his successor. Stambouloff might have weathered the storm but for his own arrogance and a domestic scandal in which his most trusted subordinate was involved. In a moment of pique and anger he wrote a hasty letter, resigning the office of prime minister, which the prince, under the influence of his wife, was only too glad to receive and promptly accept.

Immediately after, following the example of his great prototype, the Bulgarian Bismarck unbosomed himself to a sympathetic friend who happened to be correspondent of a German newspaper, and in most sarcastic and disrespectful terms discussed the weaknesses of his sovereign and the Princess Marie, and grossly violated confidence by relating several amusing and rather humiliating incidents that had occurred during his experience with them. This indiscretion was the ruin of Stambouloff. The interview was republished with unfavorable comments in every city of Europe and in all the Bulgarian papers; even those that had formerly given him a cordial support. The public was disgusted and the indignation of the royal household knew no bounds. Prince Ferdinand actually went into court with a suit for defamation of character against his former prime minister; he discharged from office every man who was suspected of being a sympathizer of Stambouloff; ordered the arrest of several of the ex-minister’s confidential associates for malfeasance; revoked pensions that he had granted to those who had served their country faithfully under Stambouloff’s direction; confiscated the property of several of his supporters and by other means terrified almost every man in Bulgaria who had been loyal to Stambouloff. The Bulgarians are a fickle people, and within a few weeks were ready to stone their former idol. His fall was complete. Even the parliament, which he had absolutely controlled so long, passed a law confiscating his property, although it was almost worthless. Stambouloff attempted to escape from the storm, but, by order of the prince, the police forbade him to leave the country.

Russia took advantage of the situation to encourage Ferdinand’s spirit of independence, and immediately after the dismissal of Stambouloff removed the boycott that had been declared against Bulgaria seven years before. The Czar Nicholas recognized Ferdinand in a formal manner and sent a diplomatic agent to Sofia, who has gradually acquired an influence over the prince and a control over the government that are now almost absolute. Ferdinand might as well be the governor of a Russian province.

Although the recognition from Russia which he yearned for was finally obtained, Prince Ferdinand has entirely forfeited the respect of Europe and the confidence of the other Powers, because of certain events that have occurred in Sofia since the change of ministry. One night in July, 1895, a little more than a year after his retirement, and when he was beginning to show signs of recovering his political influence, Stambouloff was cruelly assassinated while walking home from his club. One of the assassins was identified without the slightest difficulty by Stambouloff himself, by a friend who accompanied him and by a servant who was following them. Three men were engaged in the crime. Their leader was a political adventurer named Michael Stavreff, or Michael Malieu as he is usually called, who had been identified with the Russian party in Sofia and had frequently been employed by the Russian minister on confidential missions.

It was firmly believed by the friends of Stambouloff and the members of the anti-Russian element from the beginning that Stavreff was hired to commit the murder, and the fact that the assassin was permitted to remain unpunished, and was not even arrested was assumed to be evidence that the government sympathized with the crime. The indifference of Prince Ferdinand excited unfavorable comment throughout Europe, and he has never recovered the respect of the courts or the people. Stavreff was a familiar object of interest about Sofia, a habitué of the cafés, and an active participant in political affairs, being frequently pointed out to strangers as the man who assassinated Stambouloff, the prime minister; and while he never acknowledged his guilt, seemed to enjoy his notoriety. His source of revenue was a matter of some curiosity, and it was the popular opinion that he was drawing a pension from the government or from some person in power.

As his intemperate habits grew upon him he lost control of his tongue, and frequently uttered mysterious hints of secrets which he might disclose if certain prominent officials did not treat him with greater consideration. He became reckless in gambling as well as dissipation, and his losses made him bolder and less discreet in his allusions, until in October 24, 1902, he was arrested, secretly tried in prison with great haste, and condemned to death for the assassination of Stambouloff more than seven years previous. It was officially announced that he had made a full confession of his guilt.

Shortly after this announcement there appeared upon the streets of Sofia lithographed facsimiles of letters in the handwriting of Mr. Ludskanoff, the minister of the interior, who had ordered the arrest and execution of Stavreff, showing conclusively that he had employed that desperado to murder not only Stambouloff, but also Mr. Vulkovitch, who, until his death in 1892, in ability and influence was second only to Stambouloff in the anti-Russian party. At that time Ludskanoff was the leader of the pro-Russian faction, and fled from the country to escape arrest for complicity in the assassination of Vulkovitch. Stambouloff issued a decree of perpetual banishment against him, and he did not return to Bulgaria until a proclamation of universal amnesty was issued after Stambouloff’s death. Upon his return Ludskanoff, who is a man of force and ability, resumed his former prominence in politics, entered the parliament, and for several years has been a member of the ministry, and an obedient tool of Russian influence.

The publication of the incriminating letters naturally created a profound sensation, especially as they were followed, in a few days, by several others of similar character, and caused a dissolution of the cabinet. It was immediately reorganized, however, and Ludskanoff was reappointed to the ministry of the interior; the prime minister, Mr. Kavachoff, explaining that the proclamation of amnesty was a full pardon for any offenses with which his colleagues might have been connected, which seems to have been satisfactory to the Russian sympathizers.

The police were not able to ascertain the source of the mysterious publications, but it was the popular opinion that the letters were intrusted by Stavreff to loyal friends to be used for his protection in an emergency. They appear to have served their purpose, for at this writing Stavreff has not been executed, although he still remains in solitary confinement under sentence of death.

In 1900 Prince Ferdinand was guilty of another act of an entirely different character, which brought down upon him the undisguised condemnation of every Catholic country and civilization generally. Upon his marriage with Marie Louise of Orleans, Ferdinand made a vow that their children should be baptized and educated in the Roman Catholic Church. This was one of the stipulations insisted upon by the father and family of the bride. Ferdinand is himself a Roman Catholic by birth and baptism. He has erected a chapel in the palace, has a Roman Catholic chaplain, and attends mass each morning at seven o’clock. While making his annual visits to an Austrian watering-place he never fails to attend mass daily at a public church, and has otherwise shown a devout and consistent spirit. But no sooner was his wife buried in 1899 than he placed his eldest son, the Crown Prince Boris, a child five years old and the future king of Bulgaria, in charge of a Russian priest of the Greek Church, who secretly baptized and is now educating the boy in that faith. This is said to have been done at the suggestion of Russia, but no one believes that the Czar thinks any better of him for it, while the Emperor of Austria, the King of Italy, the German Emperor and other sovereigns of Europe have publicly expressed their disapproval of the proceeding. The other children are being brought up in the faith of their parents.

Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria spends very little time at his capital. There is not much there to attract his interest. The affairs of state are carefully looked after by Mr. Bakhmeteff, the Russian representative, and the members of the ministry; social and intellectual diversions are almost unknown, and the prince has a hobby which he can pursue with greater satisfaction at Varna, where he has a country palace on the shores of the Black Sea. He is an accomplished naturalist, and spends much of his time hunting and classifying insects, plants and other phenomena of animate and inanimate nature. He has catalogued nearly all the flora and fauna of Bulgaria and has established in Sofia a very respectable zoölogical garden at his own expense.

Although a grandson of Louis Philippe, the prince has the nose of Louis Napoleon, and is said to bear a singular resemblance to the last emperor of France, both in disposition and character. His nose is a gratification to the caricaturists. It is so conspicuous that it answers for a trade-mark, and they are able to play upon it with great ingenuity. He is altogether a clever and accomplished gentleman, a skillful politician with an accommodating conscience, and very different from his predecessor, Alexander of Battenberg. He has inherited the manners of his French ancestors, as well as their insincerity, and can wriggle out of a tight place, they say, more gracefully than any other prince in Europe. Alexander was a Lutheran and encouraged Protestant missionary work. Ferdinand does not object to the missionary invasion, because the constitution guarantees free worship and the police protect the Protestants in case of disturbance.

Prince Ferdinand had a brief but happy married life. Marie Louise lived about six years after marriage and had four children--Boris, born January 30, 1894; Cyril, born November 17, 1895; Eudoxie, born January 17, 1898, and Madeja, born January 30, 1899. The late Queen died on the day following the birth of her youngest child. They are all interesting children, and are being carefully trained after European methods.

The patron saint of Bulgaria is St. John of Ryle, although Christianity was introduced into the country by St. Methodias. Originally a shepherd, John of Ryle became a monk and ascetic, and lived for twenty years in the hollow of an oak tree in the mountains that divide Bulgaria and Macedonia, which are now called by his name. He then removed to an inaccessible rock, under which was afterwards built in his honor what is known as the Ryle Monastery. It is an extensive building of medieval architecture and one of the most picturesque objects in Bulgaria. It lies in the midst of beautiful mountain scenery two days’ journey south of Sofia, and is frequently visited by tourists, who are hospitably entertained by the monks.

The old monastery has come to considerable notoriety recently, because of a report that Miss Stone was concealed within its walls, and the building was thoroughly searched by the soldiers under orders from the government at Sofia. This invasion and profanation of the holy place caused great indignation among members of the Greek Church throughout Bulgaria, who blamed the American missionaries and threatened reprisals. The hostility of the monks against missionary proselyting is much more bitter and vindictive than is shown by the regular parish clergy, because the latter as a rule are better educated. They mingle with the world, and therefore are more liberal in their views on all subjects.

It is not altogether certain that the monks of St. Ryle were blameless of complicity in Miss Stone’s abduction, but there is no proof that they had any share in or knowledge of the outrage. The suspicion is based upon knowledge of previous circumstances. Their relation with the brigands has always been friendly, and in olden times the secluded situation of the monastery made it a convenient rendezvous for enterprising gentlemen who ordinarily pursued peaceful vocations in the fields and pastures, but took to the road whenever tempted by favorable opportunities or pressed by necessity. They are said to have given liberally of their booty to the monks and to have brought to their table much game and other food supplies from the mountains. In return for this generosity the monks often afforded them an asylum when they were pressed by the police, gave them shelter in stormy weather, concealed their arms and ammunition, and permitted them to use the monastery as a meeting place before and after their raids. It would be perfectly natural for the bandits who captured Miss Stone to take their captives to St. Ryle for the night or for a longer period if they happened to be in that locality, and, acting upon this knowledge of their habits, the government ordered the place to be searched. The monastery has withstood many a siege, and has been the scene of slaughter and suffering as well as devotion during every epoch of Bulgarian history. The fanaticism of the Moslems is recorded upon the frescoes that represent Christian saints and legends, by numerous gashes made by scimiters and punctures by yataghans. The cells are damp and narrow and without creature comforts, but the holy fathers seem to be contented, and judging from their appearance have not entirely denied themselves carnal pleasures.

John of Ryle lived in the tenth century and died in the year 976. St. Methodias lived from 852 to 888. The monastery was originally built in the eleventh century. In those days Bulgaria was a powerful nation, and its opulence and the magnificence of its court were the wonder of the world. The ruins of the palaces of the Bulgarian czars at Tirnova, the ancient capital, are extensive and still show evidences of their original splendor. The walls were decorated with gold and inlaid with mosaics of gilded glass. The pillars were of polished marble, and much bronze was used in ornamentation. In the early chronicles we catch a glimpse of the czar who sat upon a throne of ivory ornamented with gold, silver and precious stones, in an audience chamber of marble. His robe was trimmed with pearls, his girdle glistened with diamonds, his armor tinkled with the chains of gold coin that hung about his neck and shoulders. The bracelets, anklets and collars which he wore were embossed with jewels of great price, and his scepter was set with rubies, diamonds, sapphires and other precious stones, like those that can now be seen among the relics of early Russian history in the Kremlin at Moscow.

Tirnova, the ancient capital, still stands, a picturesque study, upon the rocky walls of a rapid river. Its streets run up and down the slopes of the hills; its houses are perched upon rocks. Ingenious warriors in olden times utilized the limestone cliffs which surround it and rise to altitudes of seven or eight hundred feet, for fortifications, partly natural and partly artificial. Among them appear groups of gayly painted houses separated by the heavy foliage of the venerable trees and luxurious gardens. The domes of the Greek churches, the minarets of the mosques, the clock towers, steeples and the French roofs of modern buildings form a curious architectural medley. The East and West meet in this romantic little place, where nature seems to have forbidden a city to be built.

In the center of the town, upon the longest street, is a natural bridge of stone spanning a deep chasm, through which the river Jantra flows. It is not so high nor so wide by half as the natural bridge of Virginia, but is equally curious, and being in the center of a city is, of course, of greater interest. Some historians assert that both the causeway and the chasm were cut by human hands as a protection to the citadel which stands upon the other side. If this is true it was an ingenious device, and before the days of gunpowder and heavy artillery the place must have been impregnable.

Ancient history occasionally appears in a most startling manner, and it is often difficult to realize that you are actually gazing upon buildings and scenes that are identified with the most romantic episodes of human history. Here, in the tower of this picturesque castle, Baldwin, the Frank crusader who accompanied Richard the Lion-Hearted and became Emperor of Constantinople, was confined as a prisoner. He was defeated at Adrianople by the Bulgarian army under the Czar Kalojan, and brought to Tirnova, where he was imprisoned for several years, and is said to have been buried alive. They call it “Baldwin’s Tower,” and although partially ruined it is still sufficiently preserved to give one an idea of its original appearance, and its walls and windows look out upon one of the most beautiful views in the world.

Attached to the palace of the Bulgarian czars were gardens filled with fruit trees and flowering plants whose traces still remain until the present day. Wherever the earth is turned or a cellar is dug for a new building, vestiges of former grandeur and sometimes relics of the Roman occupation are disclosed. Lying by the roadside are mutilated remains of marble pillars and pedestals; capitals with bulls’ heads and wreaths exquisitely carved; discs of glazed pottery and gilded glass; pieces of molding with bronze still clinging to them; quartz enameled with colors and gold, and sometimes fragments of plaster still retaining the colors of a fresco.

X THE PEOPLE OF BULGARIA

Bulgaria is about as big as Pennsylvania, has a similar shape, and reminds one very much of that State, because of the resemblance in topography and other physical features. The forests and the rivers watering rich valleys, the mountain ranges, the rocky ledges, and the landscape generally are very much like the Quaker State. The population is about thirty per cent less. The Danube River forms the northern boundary of Bulgaria, and much of the produce of the state goes out, and much of its imported merchandise comes in upon enormous barges towed in strings from Budapest and from Vienna. Austria monopolizes the trade in manufactured merchandise. During the summer season the passenger steamers on the Danube offer a very pleasant voyage through Hungary, Servia, Bulgaria and Roumania to the Black Sea, but in the dry season in the fall the water is low, fogs are frequent and the air is too cool to sit on the deck, hence a trip by train is more agreeable. You can go to Sofia from Vienna by rail in twenty-four hours in comfortable sleeping-cars and good dining-cars, in which _table d’hôte_ meals are served at city prices, but the fares are very high.

The Orient Express, which is the great railway train of Europe, and runs from Calais and Ostend through Germany and France to Constantinople three times a week, is a pretentious humbug when judged by American standards. The distance between Vienna and Sofia is about the same as between Philadelphia and Pittsburg, but it takes twice as long to make the journey, and the fare is about four times as much. The extra fare, or supplement, as they call it, demanded for the privilege of riding upon this famous train, is forty-four francs between those two cities, or $8.40, which is about full fare between Philadelphia and Pittsburg, and instead of getting a wide berth in a Pullman sleeper for $2 you have to pay $3.80 for a night’s lodging in a stuffy little closet. The beds are comfortable, but the space is so narrow that it is scarcely safe to roll over, and the only way to ventilate the compartment is to open a window directly over your head. The ordinary trains are only two hours slower than the Orient Express; they are equally well equipped, run every day and the charge is only about one-half as much.

Bulgaria has several railroads, running to the Black Sea, to Bucharest and to Salonika on the Mediterranean, in addition to the trunk line to Constantinople. They belong to the government, and seem to be well managed, although they make very slow time. The Orient Express sometimes works up a speed of twenty miles an hour, but averages about eighteen, and that is considered remarkable. The entire railway system aggregates nine hundred and nine miles, with one hundred and thirty miles of new track under construction. Telephone and telegraph wires, belonging to the government, are stretched all over the country, the telephone service being a great improvement upon that of Germany, which, however, is the worst I have ever found--so bad that foreigners will not use a telephone if they can possibly avoid it. I have often thought that perhaps some of the German parts of speech are too big to send over an ordinary wire, that perhaps the wear and tear of the telephone instruments is too great for them to endure; but an eminent professor in the University of Berlin, to whom I suggested this one evening, thought I was in earnest and punished my impudence by holding me up in a corner for half an hour while he demonstrated the absurdity of the proposition. Moral--Never try to joke with German professors.

The eastern boundary of Bulgaria is the Black Sea; on the west is the Kingdom of Servia, and on the south the Rhodope chain of mountains divides it from the Turkish province of Eastern Rumelia, or Macedonia, as that portion situated south of Bulgaria is commonly called. The Balkan Mountains, like the Alleghanies in Pennsylvania, bisect the country and divide it into two provinces. In some parts we find beautiful undulating landscapes and at intervals long expanses of elevated plateaus varying from twelve hundred to two thousand feet above the sea, which lie between the mountain ranges. These plains are irrigated and drained by several important streams, the most interesting being the Jantra, which winds among the mountains through high limestone gorges, and furnishes a picturesque feature to the topography. There are no large cities in Bulgaria, but several important towns, each of which has its marked peculiarities:

POPULATION Sofia 46,593 Rustchuk 37,174 Tirnova 25,295 Shumla 23,517 Plevna 23,178 Razgrad 21,551 Orehovo 20,054 Philippopolis 41,068 Varna 28,174 Orehovitsa 25,013 Slivno 23,210 Tatar Pazarjik 22,056 Vidin 29,044

There are several other towns of less than twenty thousand and more than ten thousand population, but three-fourths of the inhabitants are engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, most of them being small farmers, cultivating from one to six acres, and having large flocks and herds which graze at large. Theoretically, the state owns all the land, and the people are tenants with perpetual leases, descending from generation to generation, who pay one-tenth of all their products to the state, usually in kind, in lieu of rental and taxes. The pasture land is free, and is held in common by unwritten and unrecorded titles by those who occupy it with their flocks and herds. The forests have also been free until recently, and anyone who chose to do so was at liberty to cut whatever timber he needed for his own use without payment, but the police exercised a supervisory authority to prevent the wholesale destruction of the trees for commercial purposes. Forty-seven per cent of the entire territory is in pasture, and sheep, goats, cattle, horses and pigs are raised in large numbers. The wool product of Bulgaria is the greatest source of wealth, and is sent to Austria and Germany. The exports of hides and skins are next in value, not less than five million sheep pelts being shipped annually. The principal agricultural product is wheat, which goes to Germany and Turkey, and a very important and profitable industry is the distillation of attar of roses, which is carried on in the provinces bordering on the Black Sea.

The Bulgarians have a language of their own, a sort of dialect of the Russian, which bears the same relation to that language as the Scotch bears to the English. There are Greek letters in their alphabet and Greek words in their vocabulary, but the language is Slavonic. No Bulgarian could understand a Greek, and vice versa, and a Russian peasant could not converse with a Bulgarian peasant any more readily than a Highlander could talk with a costermonger from Whitechapel, because each has his local idioms; but educated Russians and Bulgarians can understand each other even if each talks in his own language. Russians can read Bulgarian newspapers very readily. Philologists are of the opinion that the Bulgarian language is quite as close to the old Slav tongue as the Russian, and it is a curious fact that many words may be traced to the old Thracian and Illyrian tongues. The Slavs drove the original population into the mountains and seized their lands on the plains, but in the second half of the seventh century a horde of uncouth warriors crossed the Danube and subjugated the Slavs, and their descendants have since occupied the territory which bears their name. The Bulgarians are of mysterious origin. The source from which they came has never been satisfactorily determined. Some ethnologists argue that they were Finns, others believe they were Tartars, but the greatest weight of evidence seems to fix their former residence on the banks of the Volga River. They were without a history, which is a singular thing for so vigorous, progressive and intelligent a race. It is a curious coincidence that the Bulgarians lost their language but kept their name, while the Slavs, whom they subdued, lost their name but kept their language.

Sofia, the capital and commercial center, is situated in the southwestern corner of Bulgaria on an elevated plain, at the base of Mount Vitosch, a beautiful peak seven thousand eight hundred feet high. Its head is usually clothed in the clouds, and perpetual snow lies in the wrinkles upon its face. The cloud movements and other atmospheric effects add greatly to its picturesqueness, and in autumn the forests which cover its breast are vivid with scarlet and yellow foliage, which reaches to the snow line and affords a striking and lovely contrast. The base of the mountain is only a few miles from the city, and excursions to it are one of the few amusements in which foreigners can indulge in warm weather. They have very little diversion. There are no theaters--only one little vaudeville show--no concerts, except occasionally by a military band attached to the palace, and only a limited amount of social entertainment. The foreign colony must therefore find its fun in driving, riding, picnicking and playing tennis. Golf has not been introduced, for the natives take little interest in such sports. The foreign colony is small, and limited almost entirely to the diplomatic representatives of the European countries. A few Austrians and Germans are engaged in business affairs, several Belgian engineers run the electric-light and street-car lines, and there are one Englishman and two or three Americans, mostly missionary teachers.

The city covers a considerable area, and looks as if a building boom had been suddenly checked, which is true. Prince Alexander was a great promoter. Under his administration Bulgaria made extraordinary progress, and Sofia started upon a promising career. Stambouloff took up the work where Alexander left it at his abdication, and carried out many of his schemes, but since the “Bulgarian Bismarck” was relieved as prime minister, little has been done in the way of public or private improvement. The stagnation is said to be due in a measure to a lack of confidence in the stability of the present government, and to the fact that Prince Ferdinand is interested in other things. One must infer that he takes little pride in the appearance of his capital and does not encourage the expenditure of money upon public works.

Shortly before he retired, Stambouloff purchased an entire block of ground opposite the palace, upon which he intended to erect a magnificent building for the offices of the government. The plans were drawn by an Austrian architect, excavations were made for the foundation and cellars, and a large quantity of cut stone was delivered by the contractors. A few days after Stambouloff’s retirement work was suspended and has never been resumed. Several train loads of granite lie scattered over the ground; the cellar is half-filled with water during the wet season and overgrown with weeds during the dry months. Every stranger who comes to Sofia instinctively asks an explanation, but Prince Ferdinand, who always has this reproachful panorama before him, seems to be entirely indifferent to it. The palace is a fine building in French style, surrounded by pleasant grounds, and facing a public park that is well laid out with foliage plants and fountains, and is a pleasure ground for the people.

The old city, or the Turkish quarter, as it is called, resembles a patch of Constantinople, and has the low adobe walls, the heavy tiled roofs, the deep windows and the narrow streets of all oriental cities, with long blocks of bazaars kept by Turks and Jews, who have most of their wares displayed upon the sidewalks. This is by far the most interesting section of the town to strangers. The shops are open, so that the visitor is enabled to watch the artisans at their work. The trades seem to be grouped together--the shoemakers in one bunch, the tailors in another, the butchers, bakers, brassworkers, tinsmiths and other people in the same trade occupying adjoining houses.

Most of the natives wear unshorn sheepskin clothing, with the wool next to the body, the leather side being tanned to a soft white, velvety appearance like buckskin; and the most interesting occupation is that of the tailors, who make all sorts of queer-looking garments from sheepskins. Many of the men wear short jackets of the Eton pattern, but as the weather grows colder they change them for warmer garments, and some have long ulsters with wide skirts which reach to their heels. The rest of their clothing is the natural color of the wool woven into heavy fabrics; their headgear is made of lamb’s wool curled like the skating caps sometimes worn in the United States. They are called _kalpaks_.

In the new part of the city the streets are wide, and in the business portion are lined with fine buildings of stuccoed brick, ornamented with elaborate moldings similar to those of Germany and Austria. The residence portion is only partially built up, there being wide gaps between the houses, showing the town lots that have been held for speculative purposes and where building schemes have been abandoned. If Sofia were as closely built as the ordinary European city it could accommodate three times its present population. Occasionally a stately residence rises from behind a forbidding wall. The foliage around it indicates a garden, but Bulgarian civilization has not passed the period when it is prudent to omit any means of protection. The streets and sidewalks are in a horrible condition. In the business portion of the city the roadways are paved with cobblestones and the sidewalks are well laid with flags, tiles and bricks. Each householder in the residence portion is expected to lay the sidewalk in front of his premises, but many of them neglect to do so.

Several imposing buildings were erected for government purposes during the reign of Prince Alexander, usually of French architecture, and among other things a Protestant church (he was a Lutheran), which Ferdinand has converted into a riding-school. The military barracks, schoolhouses, the public printing office, a technical school and other public buildings are creditable, but lose much of their dignity by being scattered over the city, with unsightly spaces of open ground and half-finished buildings that have been abandoned between them. Several former Turkish mosques have been converted to secular uses and are now occupied as prisons, markets, warehouses and arsenals. The largest mosque, in the center of the city, and only a stone’s throw from the palace, was recently fitted up for a national museum.

Although Sofia is still primitive in many respects, modern ideas are rapidly growing in favor and there is nothing in the new part of the town to recall the recent Turkish occupation. The citizens very generally wear modern European clothing. The only place one can see the native costume is at the market in the early morning, where the country people bring vegetables and dairy products for sale. There are two hotels with comfortable rooms and excellent tables, a club that would be an ornament to any city in Europe, and other features of modern civilization quite as advanced as are to be found in Austria or Germany. The streets, public buildings, hotels and many private houses are lighted by electricity. Electric street-cars run in every direction, owned and managed by a Belgian company. The fare is three cents for first-class passengers and two cents for second-class. The cars are divided in the middle by a partition, and the only difference between the two classes is that one sits upon red-plush cushions and the other upon wooden benches. The conductors change the cushions from one part of the car to the other at each end of the trip.

The Bulgarian army is composed of thirty thousand men, well drilled, equipped in the German style, and organized by Russian officers upon the Russian system. Every man between the ages of twenty and twenty-four years is obliged to do military duty for four years, although Mohammedans may escape service by the payment of a special tax. Persons exempted on account of infirmities are also required to pay special taxes. On an average forty thousand young men become of military age annually, but, as the government does not need and cannot pay so many, about one-third of this number are drawn by lot for service, so that the actual time spent in the army is two years instead of five as required by law. The reserves, numbering about 200,000, can be called into service upon a few days’ notice, provided there is money in the treasury to meet the expense. There is a military academy at Sofia at which officers are educated, and to enter that institution and graduate with a commission in the army is the highest ambition of every Bulgarian youth. The officers about town are a handsome lot of fellows, with pleasant manners, fine physique, intelligent faces and soldierly carriage. The natives are all natural horsemen, and a squadron of Bulgarian cavalry is a worthy object of admiration. The uniforms are similar to those of Germany. None but an expert could distinguish the difference, and the garrison of Sofia must be very large, because uniformed men are so numerous in the streets. The army is kept up to a high degree of efficiency because trouble with Turkey is always anticipated, and may occur at any moment. The Bulgarians have dedicated themselves as a nation to the emancipation of their neighbors and relatives in Macedonia, and are only waiting a favorable opportunity to strike. Their great difficulty is money. Their treasury is empty and their national credit is exhausted, but they will seize every opportunity that is offered for a _coup d’état_. Politics seems to monopolize the attention of everybody, and the entire Bulgarian population is involved in a perpetual intrigue with the freedom of the Macedonians as its object.

The native horses are small, but nervy and enduring. Domesticated buffaloes of the Asiatic species are used for draft animals. They are not so noble in appearance as the great American bison. Their necks are not shaggy, their heads are smaller and more like that of ordinary oxen. Their coats are smooth and sleek, and the only resemblance to the bison which formerly roamed over our prairies is the horns.

There are several excellent schools in Sofia. The technical school at the foot of the mountain in the suburbs of the city is a model institution, and one of the most interesting and complete of its kind I have ever visited. It gives a practical training in the trades and applied sciences to one hundred or more young men. The standard of education is not high, but that is not needed in Bulgaria. What the country requires is a practical training of its mechanics in the different trades, as the people are generally devoted to agriculture and most of the artisans are foreigners.

The working classes are comparatively well off. There is no lack of employment for all those who are willing to work, and there is a growing demand for skilled mechanics, who receive much higher wages than in Germany and Austria. Masons, carpenters, cabinet-makers, painters, stone-cutters and other skilled laborers earn from $1.25 to $2.50 a day, and ordinary laborers earn from forty to eighty cents a day, which is nearly double the average earnings of people of the same classes in other European countries.

Meat and vegetables are cheap, and the diet of the laboring people is much more nourishing than is usual throughout Europe. The family of a Bulgarian laborer is quite as well fed as are their brethren in the United States. Except in the large cities the peasantry live upon their own produce and dress in garments of sheepskin, cotton or wool, that are made by themselves. Taxes are moderate, compared with Germany and France; they are no greater than in Norway and Sweden, although the peasants complain bitterly of the extravagance of Prince Ferdinand and the amount of money spent for military purposes. The working classes are ardent politicians and are devoted to the cause of Macedonian freedom. They contribute their money as liberally and as patiently as the servant girls in the United States to the Irish cause, and their faith is not weakened by the knowledge that the funds are often squandered in dissipation by their leaders.

The administration of justice is mild, the police system is purely political, and, while the management of the courts is perhaps not as perfect as in more highly civilized countries, I am told that bribery is unknown. Political influence, and particularly the “pull” of the Macedonian Committee, is all-powerful, however. It is practically out of the question to convict of crime any man who has been active or conspicuous in this patriotic movement. It appears possible for any disreputable fellow to violate all the ten commandments with impunity so long as he goes about the cafés shouting the battle cry of freedom for Macedonia.

The Jewish population of the Bulgarian cities is quite large and practically monopolizes the banking and mercantile business. They are the descendants of the large colony of Jews who were expelled from Spain during the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella and Philip II. and found their way by the Mediterranean to the Balkan Provinces. The Spanish language is still spoken in their intercourse among themselves. While the Jews are not persecuted in Bulgaria as in Roumania, they are ostracized and subjected to much injustice. It is not considered dishonest to swindle a Jew if such a thing is possible, and they are contemptuously and roughly treated; but, on the other hand, they are in a great measure to blame for the prejudice against them because of their sharp practices and extortionate methods in business affairs. They have no mercy upon a Christian if he once gets into their power, and the spirit of retaliation seems quite as strong with them as with their enemies.

Generally speaking, Bulgaria has no manufactories, although mechanical industries of various sorts are being introduced upon a small scale. There is plenty of convenient water-power and raw material. The mineral wealth of the country is mythical. There are stories of deposits of coal and ores in the mountains, but they are unexplored. Ninety-five per cent of the population are engaged in agriculture, and the peasants are in a fairly prosperous condition. They are ingenious as well as industrious, but show little tendency to make use of modern improvements and foreign merchandise, or to depart from the habits of thrift so characteristic of their race. It pays them well to produce and export cattle, sheep, hides, wool, wheat, corn, tobacco, the oil of roses, fruits and vegetables, and to supply their own wants by the work of their own hands as far as possible. Most of their clothing is of wool, grown and sheared upon their own farms, spun and woven in their own cabins, cut and made by the members of their own household. Formerly large quantities of cotton goods were imported from England and Germany, but they have learned that cotton will grow in Bulgaria, and a little patch is now found beside nearly every cabin, which is ginned, spun and woven by the women, like the wool.

Their taste is artistic. The women do beautiful embroidery, and their cotton garments are often handsomely decorated. It is difficult to buy these embroideries, because the work is home-made and intended for home use. The peasants are well-to-do. Their wealth is not only apparent in the flocks and herds which they have accumulated since the emancipation from Turkish tyranny twenty-three years ago, but it is believed that they have large sums of money concealed about their premises. Their experience with avaricious Turkish officials taught them great caution, for in the old days no man could accumulate property without endangering his liberty and usually his life. Nor have they yet acquired faith in banks. Few investments are available for them, and for these reasons they bury their surplus money in the ground. One of the strongest evidences of this practice is the continual disappearance of Bulgarian coin from circulation. Nobody seems to know what becomes of it. It cannot be shipped to foreign countries, because the balance of trade is in favor of Bulgaria; and it is not used in the arts and industries. Yet it disappears almost as fast as it is coined, and the only explanation offered is the prosperity and the secretive habits of the peasants.

An Englishman who traveled through the country and saw much of peasant life says that when he asked a man one day why they hid their money in the ground he answered with surprise:

“Where do the English peasants hide theirs?”

The peasants have the characteristics of the other oriental races, and, in their eagerness to acquire wealth and anxiety to get the best of a bargain, they are not surpassed by the Armenian, Arab, Turk, Greek, or Jew. They are very sharp traders, economical and thrifty in their habits, shrewd in negotiation, and never miss an opportunity to make a penny. The impression there, as in other parts of Europe, is that all Americans are rich and reckless with their money. The hotels, the shopkeepers, hackmen, guides, curio-dealers and everyone else with whom strangers come in contact has a special price for Americans, from twenty to fifty per cent higher than is paid by other people. The waiters and porters expect bigger fees, and the whole community, in fact, considers an American traveler a pigeon to be plucked.

The peasants are industrious, ingenious and intelligent. Both men and women are of fine physique, capable of great endurance, and very few of them are idle or vicious. I noticed but three or four beggars during my visit to Bulgaria, and every one was a cripple. The women do their share of the work on the farms, and seem never to be idle a moment. Holding the distaff in their hands, they spin as they walk along the highway and as they sit behind piles of vegetables in the market waiting for customers. They are so accustomed to it that the work is done unconsciously. They also care for the flocks and herds. Most of the shepherds you see from the highways or the railway trains are children from eight years old and upward, who follow the cattle, sheep and goats over the ranges. The large herds in the mountains far from the towns are kept by men and well-grown boys, and often young women are found among them, who sleep in the open air with sheepskins wrapped around them during the entire winter season.

The hospitality of the peasants is always commented upon by travelers. Whenever you enter a cottage you are cordially welcomed. The oriental laws of hospitality prevail everywhere in Bulgaria and among all classes. No stranger is ever turned from the door if he comes in peace, and the poorest peasant will share his blanket and his bread without the asking, and at the poorest cottage a glass of water or milk, or a bunch of grapes is invariably offered the visitor. Nearly every peasant has a farm of from five to fifteen acres. The cottages of the owners are grouped together in a little village, and the cultivated lands, as in France, usually lie at some distance. There are no fences, and to a stranger the landmarks are obscure. Every family has at least one pair of oxen and forty or fifty sheep, besides cattle, goats, pigs, geese and chickens, all of which are allowed to graze upon the _mera_, or common pasture, which belongs to the government, but has been held by the community from time immemorial. A peasant of one community is not allowed to use the pasture belonging to another unless he owns a hut or garden spot there to give him a title, but there is no limit to the extent of pasture. He may have only ten sheep or cows, or he may have a thousand--they are all entitled to their share of the common range. If a man wishes to sell his place his next-door neighbor has the option. No stranger is permitted to acquire property that any member of the community desires to purchase, and public opinion will regulate the price.

Fruit is plentiful, and in the valleys there is a succession of vineyards which produce an excellent wine. All ordinary vegetables known to the temperate zone are cultivated, and tobacco and cotton grow well. Although the soil has been producing for more than twenty centuries, no fertilizers are used. The revenue from the manufacture of attar of roses amounts to more than $1,000,000 annually. You can buy it in little gilded glass flagons at shops where Turkish goods are sold. The town of Shipka, where was fought the decisive battle of the Russo-Turkish war on the 7th of July, 1877, is the center of the rose gardens. Upon the battlefield are many memorials of that great struggle in the form of monuments, crucifixes, pyramids of cannon balls, cannons and crosses, scattered over a large area, erected by the survivors of different regiments that were engaged in the battle, in memory of their officers and comrades, and many of them mark the burial places of officers and men who distinguished themselves in the fight. In the center of the field is an imposing obelisk erected by Alexander II. of Russia to commemorate the victory of General Gourko, who commanded his troops. It bears an appropriate inscription upon the pedestal, and upon the shaft is engraved a representation of the Russian coat of arms, with crossed rifles and flags beneath it. Upon the top of the shaft is a spear and a cross.

The climate and soil of that part of Bulgaria are unusually favorable for rose culture, and for miles around the fields are full of the most luxuriant roses, which are cultivated like the grapevines in the valleys and on the mountain slopes farther west. The rose fields cover altogether many thousand acres. The bushes are carefully pruned, so that all the strength of the sap may go into the flowers, and from the middle of June until the last of October women with bags hanging over their shoulders go through them daily plucking the flowers that have reached maturity. At night they take their harvests home, where the petals are carefully removed, placed in kettles similar to an ordinary still, and the oil extracted by steam. Thousands of tons of rose leaves are thus gathered annually, and the oil produced is worth at the distillery from $50 to $75 a pound. A single drop will perfume a two-ounce bottle of alcohol. Much of the product is sent to Paris and Vienna, the remainder to Constantinople.

Philippopolis, the second city in population and importance in Bulgaria, is a famous old town, founded by Philip of Macedon about the year 350 B.C., and its history has been both romantic and exciting. It is picturesquely situated upon three hills of granite and has several fine buildings and churches of every religious denomination. The Alexander Gymnasium, for boys, established by the late prince, is perhaps the most progressive educational institution in the whole country and has exerted a wide influence. There is a government school for the higher education of girls also, which has done much towards the advancement of women. In the market place at Philippopolis you see all sorts of costumes, for nearly every oriental race is represented in the population. The Bulgarian is distinguished by the _kalpak_, a headdress of lamb’s wool, and the Turk by his fez. The Turkish women wrap their faces in muslin veils or shawls, but the Bulgarian women follow the European custom and do not attempt to conceal their features.

According to the census of 1893, and there has been very little change since, the population of Bulgaria is 3,310,713, and is composed of 2,505,326 Bulgarians, 569,728 Turks, 58,518 Greeks, 13,260 gypsies, 27,531 Spanish-speaking Jews, 16,298 Tartars and representatives of nearly every other race on earth. The national faith is that of the Orthodox Greek Church, although in 1870 the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated the entire Bulgarian people in consequence of their persistent demands for religious independence and autonomy. Since then the church has been governed by a synod of twelve bishops, and is under the care of the minister of education, the clergy being paid by the government. In 1893 the members of the Orthodox Greek Church numbered 2,606,786, the Mohammedans 643,258, the Roman Catholics 22,617, and the Protestants about 3,500.

Protestant missionaries from the United States have been at work in Bulgaria ever since the establishment of an independent government, the field being divided between the Methodists, who have the territory north of the Balkan Mountains, and the American Board of Foreign Missions, who are engaged in the southern part and in Eastern Rumelia.

The Bulgarians generally commend the missionaries and tell of the great good that they have done. The newspapers speak well of them, and the government officials have nothing but commendation for their educational and charitable work, although their evangelical labors are not encouraged. The government is willing that they should educate the people, take care of them when they are sick, feed them when they are hungry and clothe them when they are naked, but naturally does not approve of the efforts to convert them from the Greek to the Protestant faith. The Greek clergy are generally bitter and at times fanatical in their opposition, except in the large cities, where there is a cosmopolitan spirit. The Turks have very little to say in Bulgaria, but treat Protestants much more amiably than they treat the Greeks, and are particularly friendly with the missionaries. The American colony very seldom has any difficulties with the Turks. The Russians, whose influence in Bulgaria is greater than that of any other foreign people, and who control the policy of the government, are even more opposed to the evangelical work of the missionaries than the natives, because of their connection with the Greek Church and their hereditary disapproval of the education of the common people. Personally, however, missionaries are often friendly with the Russian residents. That depends, however, largely upon their individuality. Miss Stone, for example, is a great favorite among them, as she is everywhere, and the greatest degree of anxiety was shown by the Russian colony for her rescue.

The Methodists in northern Bulgaria have eight houses of worship, valued at $31,500. Most of them have parsonages attached. There are eleven American and native missionaries, four hundred and thirty-four communicants, forty-three probationers, thirteen schools and three hundred and twenty-eight pupils.

The American Board of Foreign Missions has been at work in that country since 1858, when the first mission station was established at Adrianople. It has three stations in Bulgaria. At Philippopolis there is a church of two hundred and fifty native members under the care of Rev. George L. Marsh, a veteran who has just completed the finest Protestant house of worship in the East, and dedicated it in November, 1901. At Sofia there is a self-supporting church of three hundred members under the care of Rev. Marko Popoff, and a large school at Samakov, under the direction of Messrs. Haskell, Clark and Baird. The work in Rumelia is under the direction of Rev. John Henry House, who resides at Salonika, where there is a flourishing church. There is another station at Monastir. Altogether the American Board has nine missionaries in Bulgaria and East Rumelia, seven American lady teachers, three established schools for the higher education of both men and women, and one kindergarten. Its last reports show fifteen organized churches with regular preaching, fifty places with irregular preaching, twelve houses of worship, about fifteen hundred communicants, and an annual average attendance in 1901 of nine hundred and fifty-six at worship and eight hundred and forty-two at the Sunday-school. There is a large church at Bansko, the place Miss Stone started to visit on the morning of her capture, which has one hundred and fifty members and a house of worship which cost $6,000.

American mission work in Bulgaria and Macedonia is divided into three departments--publication, education and evangelical. There is a Bulgarian publication society for both secular and religious literature which maintains a printing office, a bookstore and a well-patronized free public reading-room at Sofia. It has circulated thousands of copies of the best American literature translated into the Bulgarian language, and formerly published a weekly newspaper, which has been revived in Philippopolis recently with a native Bulgarian editor. The Bible was translated into Bulgarian in 1872 by the late Dr. Riggs and Dr. Long, and thousands of copies are sold annually. The Methodists are also circulating both religious and secular literature with great energy, and find that it awakens an interest among the natives to learn more, stimulates their ambition, broadens their ideas, and encourages them to improve their own schools and extend the facilities for the education of the coming generation. If the missionaries in Bulgaria had done nothing else than create this public sentiment their labors in Bulgaria would have been well repaid. They have been the pioneers of a general-education system, in which the government has recently shown a decided interest; they have inspired a temperance movement, they have broken the bonds that restrained the women of the country, and wherever their influence extends may be found a radical change from the social, educational and moral conditions which existed when independence was established twenty-four years ago.

The schools at Samakov for the education of teachers and preachers have compelled the government to establish similar institutions to satisfy the demands of the public; and a model kindergarten, maintained by Miss Clark at Sofia, is being imitated under the direction of the minister of education. Miss Clark is a great favorite in Sofia. She is a daughter of Rev. Mr. Clark, one of the missionaries in charge of the schools at Samakov, and she is assisted by two graduates of those institutions. We visited her kindergarten one morning and found twenty-eight black-eyed urchins engaged in making baskets and building barns with blocks. They are the children of the best families in Sofia--bankers, merchants, professional men and government officials, who patronize the missionary kindergarten from self-interest and not because they belong to the Protestant Church. The popularity and success of Miss Clark’s kindergarten has been recognized throughout the entire kingdom, and before long kindergarten work will be recognized as a necessary part of the system of public education.

The Protestants in Bulgaria are trying to raise money to endow the schools at Samakov and want help from America. They recognize that the influence of those schools is wider and more permanent than that of any other branch of work in which they are engaged, because the chief object is to train teachers for the native schools. There is a great demand for teachers, which, with the rapid development of the educational system, far exceeds the supply, and the graduates of the missionary schools at Samakov command the highest positions and do the greatest amount of good. It is not necessary that they should profess the Protestant faith. That is a matter of minor importance, and the missionaries feel that if they can thoroughly educate the people their object will be attained.

The government has recently passed a law providing for compulsory education and requiring the attendance at school of all children between the ages of eight and twelve years. The schools are free to the peasants, but those who can afford to pay are taxed $4 a year for the elementary branches and a corresponding amount for the higher schools. Two-thirds of the cost of the free schools is paid by the general government, the remainder by the municipalities and village authorities. The appropriation in 1901 for education was about $1,500,000, which supported 4,589 primary schools with 7,998 teachers and 336,000 pupils, one hundred and seventy high schools with 1,477 teachers and 33,700 pupils, forty-five technical schools with 255 teachers and 4,640 pupils, and seventeen preparatory schools with 569 teachers and 13,892 pupils.

There is a university at Sofia with three faculties--law, medicine and science--forty-two professors and lecturers and four hundred and nine students. At present it is occupying a temporary building, but is doing good work and promises increased influence.

It is gratifying to find in this far-off country ladies and gentlemen who have been educated in the United States and are familiar with American institutions. The most influential woman in Bulgaria is Mrs. Ivan B. Kassuroff, who was a pupil of Miss Stone. She is notable for having been the first Bulgarian woman to engage in active mercantile business. She violated the customs and traditions of the country and for a time created considerable stir, but Mme. Kassuroff’s character and abilities have not only carried her through a trying ordeal, but have gained for her the respect, confidence and admiration of the entire population, and she now has many imitators. She opened the field of business for women. Although the native citizens, with their oriental conservatism, had a hereditary prejudice against women engaging in business enterprises, they now lift their hats to Mme. Kassuroff when they meet her in the street.

Mme. Kassuroff’s business career, however, was not entirely voluntary. Her husband was proprietor of the principal bookstore in Sofia, and in 1874 died, leaving no one to carry on his profitable business. Rather than make a sacrifice, his widow assumed the responsibility, has since taken personal charge of it, has developed remarkable capacity, and, as I have said, is honored and admired by all classes. She supplies the government with books and stationery, and her shop is known as the “Court Book Store.” It stands upon the opposite side of the public square from the palace. She is a typical example of what an American education and American ideas introduced by the missionaries can do for a Bulgarian woman, and illustrates the advancement women have made in the East under missionary influence.

Mrs. Popoff, wife of the pastor of the Protestant church in Sofia, is also a graduate of the Painesville (Ohio) Seminary, and has done much to bring American ideas into the family circles of Bulgaria and develop the ambition and independence of Bulgarian women. Her husband, Rev. Marko N. Popoff, is a graduate of Hamilton College, was prepared at Fredonia, New York, and took a course in theology at Auburn Seminary. Altogether he spent about eleven years in America, is a fine all-round scholar, an orator of ability, and exercises a large and growing influence. His church is always crowded and he is a popular lecturer.

Another American product is Stoyan Kristoff Vatralsky, a son of a Bulgarian shepherd, who graduated at Harvard in 1894, was class poet, and was engaged in literary work and on the lecture platform in the United States until recently, preparing himself for educational and literary work in his own country. Mr. Vatralsky is a graduate of the missionary school at Samakov, where he was inspired with an ambition to go to the United States and prepare himself for greater usefulness to his fellow countrymen.

The supreme representative of Russia in Bulgaria to-day is Mr. Bakhmeteff, a diplomatist of great talent, learning and long experience, who disguises his cleverness under an air of cynical indifference. He is well known in the United States, for he has spent much time in Washington, his wife being a daughter of the late General Edward F. Beale, who was General Grant’s roommate at West Point and his most intimate friend for a lifetime. Mme. Bakhmeteff is as clever as her husband, and although she naturally sympathizes with his efforts to keep Bulgaria within the Russian “sphere of influence,” she is thoroughly American in her habits and sympathies. To her benevolent spirit is due the establishment of several much needed charities in Bulgaria. She organized a free hospital and interested in her work the Czarina, who at her own expense sent to Sofia a staff of nurses from a Russian religious sisterhood. Mme. Bakhmeteff also introduced the Red Cross Society into Bulgaria, has interested herself in the improvements of the schools, and as the social leader of the capital has made charitable work fashionable among the Bulgarian women. She has also started a school for trained nurses, in which other ladies of high position take an active interest.

While his wife is engaged in charitable work Mr. Bakhmeteff keeps the government straight. The prime minister never does anything of importance without consulting him, and his advice is equivalent to an order from the Czar.

XI THE KIDNAPING OF MISS STONE

The capture and detention for five months and twenty days--from the 3d of September, 1901, to the 23d of February, 1902--of Miss Ellen M. Stone, a representative of the American Board of Foreign Missions, and her companion, Mrs. Katarina Stephanova Tsilka, wife of the Rev. Gregory Tsilka, has excited much interest in Bulgarian affairs and the cause of Macedonian liberty, but failed to provoke intervention on the part of the United States or the European nations, as the conspirators hoped it might do. That was undoubtedly their chief purpose, and it was successful only so far as it attracted public attention to the condition of anarchy that prevails in Rumelia and the dangers with which missionaries and other foreigners are surrounded.

Miss Stone is well known in Sofia and throughout all the Balkan Provinces. She has been engaged in missionary work in that region ever since the independence of Bulgaria was established at the close of the Russo-Turkish war. Her headquarters have been at Salonika, a Turkish port on the Mediterranean, which was formerly known as Thessalonica. St. Paul addressed his Epistle to the Thessalonians to its inhabitants, and the city is otherwise identified with important events in the history of Christianity. Rev. John H. House of Painesville, Ohio, whose influence and usefulness extend beyond the borders of Bulgaria, where he was a pioneer in missionary work, has charge of the headquarters at Salonika, and Miss Stone has been associated with him for many years. Her especial duties have been to supervise the educational work, and it has been her habit to travel on horseback throughout the country, opening schools, establishing native teachers and looking after their work. In this way she has acquired a wide acquaintance and is universally respected and beloved, not only by the Protestant converts, but by all classes. In her own personal narrative she says:

“During the frequent missionary tours which I have made in Macedonia during the last twenty years and more, I have often been conscious of danger from the brigands who have long infested that country. Thrice before my capture I had come into personal contact with them. Once I spent the night in the common room of a khan or inn with a brigand sleeping on the other side of the fire; once two horses were stolen from the party with which I was traveling; and the third time two bandits stopped us on the road, but hesitated as to what manner of people we were, and so let us pass. On our journey in September, however, we had no thought of fear. Only three weeks before, I had come to Bansko by way of Strumitza and Djumia with two Bulgarian ladies, teachers in our village schools, accompanied only by a muleteer and a young native boy. We had ridden through a wild and rugged country, spending four days on the road, sleeping one night in a native house, and two in khans, all without molestation. I had, indeed, traversed the road on which we were finally captured many times before, and, knowing the people and their ways, I was conscious of all the safety of long familiarity.”

Mr. Tsilka is an Albanian by birth, from the province adjoining Macedonia on the west, was educated in the missionary schools at Monastir and Samakov, and afterwards took a course in Union Theological Seminary, New York City. He is pastor of a native church at Kortcha, Albania, and for several years, with the assistance of his wife, has conducted a school there. Mrs. Tsilka, a Bulgarian, and a native of Bansko, was visiting her parents in that town for several weeks before her capture. Like her husband, she is a graduate of the mission school at Samakov, completed her education at Northfield, Massachusetts, and afterwards graduated from the Presbyterian Training School for nurses in New York City.

They had been attending a summer school for teachers at Bansko, and, with several members of the class, started on horseback for their respective homes on the 3d of September, 1901. Miss Stone’s journey led her towards the railway which runs from Budapest to Salonika. Mr. and Mrs. Tsilka and Mr. Dimitsoff, her father, were on their way to Albania, and the rest of the party expected to leave them at various stations on the road which crosses the Perion range of the Balkan Mountains. Seven of the party were men, but only one of them was armed. Upon a rough mountain trail between Bansko and Djumia, after three hours’ journey, they sat down under the forest trees to eat their luncheon and feed their animals, when they were captured by a band of alleged brigands variously estimated from twelve to forty. Miss Stone says:

“They were of various ages--some bearded, fierce of face and wild of dress; some younger, but all athletic and heavily armed. Some wore suits of brown homespun, some Turkish uniforms with red or white fezzes, while others were in strange and nondescript attire. One had his face so bound up in a red handkerchief as to be unrecognizable; others with faces horribly blackened and disguised with what looked like rags bobbing over their foreheads--the knotted corners of their handkerchiefs, as we afterwards learned.

“Their rifles and accouterments seemed fresh and new, and they also carried revolvers and daggers in their belts, with a plentiful and evident supply of cartridges. They had undoubtedly intended to fill us with terror at the sight of them--and truly horrible they looked.

“Mr. Tsilka had given his wife his watch and money; the latter she secreted in her mouth, and tucked the watch under her belt, as she supposed, but it slipped below and showed. One of the brigands called her attention to it, sarcastically remarking that she had better put it away more securely. He could not have alarmed her more; if the brigands did not want our money and watches, what could be their purpose!”

The brigands seemed to be on friendly terms with George Toderoff, the guide of Miss Stone’s party, who had been employed at Bansko, and was afterwards arrested as an accomplice, but was released by the Bulgarian government without trial or examination and against the protest of the diplomatic agent of the United States. They showed no disposition to rob or injure any member of the party, although they promptly and in cold blood murdered an unarmed Turk who happened to be passing along the trail, and who, they no doubt feared, might communicate their movements to the authorities. As soon as a convenient place was reached, the brigands instructed the party to go into camp, and repeatedly assured them that they need fear no harm. No threats of violence were made and no insults offered, as is customary when Turks encounter Christians. No Christian woman can expect to escape insult and seldom injury if she meets a Turkish soldier in Macedonia; but Miss Stone, being an American of strong character and past middle age, has usually been treated with respect. If her captors had been Turks the proceedings would have been entirely different from what actually occurred, and the three young women teachers, especially, would have had an entirely different experience. This circumstance is the strongest kind of evidence that their captors were Bulgarians. The party went into camp, and during the evening the brigands disappeared, taking with them Miss Stone and Mrs. Tsilka and two horses. If they had been Turks their captives would have been stripped of everything valuable and their animals would have been stolen, but not an article was missing. The luggage was undisturbed and the brigands did not even help themselves to the food supplies provided for the journey.

During the remainder of the fall and the succeeding winter, until February 23, 1902, the captives were kept moving from place to place in the mountains, suffering considerable privation and discomfort, but, as both Miss Stone and Mrs. Tsilka testify, they were treated with invariable respect and kindness, and were as well supplied with the necessaries of life as was possible in that primitive country. They seemed to appreciate the value of their captives and took a great deal of care and trouble to protect them from exposure and injury, and in November, when Mrs. Tsilka’s child was born, they brought an old woman from some unknown quarter to assist as a nurse.

In the meantime there was great excitement in Sofia and other parts of Bulgaria. In the United States public meetings were held in many places and liberal contributions made towards a fund to ransom Miss Stone and her companion, and the secretary of state ordered Mr. Charles M. Dickinson, the American consul-general at Constantinople, to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, with instructions to use his best efforts to secure the release of the captives.

On the morning of September 4, after the disappearance of their captors with Miss Stone and Mrs. Tsilka, that lady’s husband and father, with the other men in the party, made a careful examination of the country around them, but could find no trace of the women or the brigands except their trail, which led over the mountains back towards Bulgaria. The entire day was spent in the search. The husband and the father of Mrs. Tsilka, almost overcome with grief and consternation, pursued their fruitless search through the next night, and as there were no further signs of the brigands decided to return to Bansko and give an alarm. Messengers had already been sent there, and to notify the missionary colony at Samakov, but, strange to say, the news of the capture preceded them and was whispered about the streets by Cyril Vaciloff and other Macedonian revolutionists, who appeared to know all about it. They also predicted the amount of ransom that would be demanded before anything had been heard from the brigands. The demand, which was contained in a letter written by Miss Stone in the Bulgarian language to the treasurer of the missionary board, was dictated by some person of intelligence. The language and the forms of expression used were very unlike her literary style. There was no doubt, however, of the penmanship. That letter was thrown into the window of the house of missionary Haskell at Samakov during the night, and his daughter identified Vaciloff in the moonlight while trying to open the window. A local newspaper friendly to the Macedonian cause published the important part of the contents of the letter before they were made known by the missionaries, including the amount of ransom demanded.

This and other circumstances make it very clear that Vaciloff intended or expected to be the medium of negotiation for Miss Stone’s release, and his failure was undoubtedly due to his arrest, which frightened him and induced him to deny all knowledge of the affair. The missionaries and the United States consul-general were not allowed to question him or communicate with him while he was in jail. He was released by the order of the authorities at Sofia upon the pretext that no evidence had been offered against him, although no one had been invited to present evidence. No attempt was made by anybody to secure evidence. The missionaries and Consul-general Dickinson were not informed of the decision to release him, and they did not know of his release until they saw the announcement in the newspapers. The only inference to be drawn from this unusual procedure was that the officials and the managers of the Macedonian Revolutionary Committee realized the complications that might ensue with the United States, the damage their cause would suffer before the world and the odium they would be compelled to endure if Vaciloff’s plans were carried out.

Cyril Vaciloff is a young adventurer, who had been acting as president of the Macedonian Committee at Samakov, a small town near the border, about fifty miles south of Sofia, in the foothills of the Balkan Mountains. That is the missionaries’ headquarters, where a large school for young men and women has been conducted ever since Bulgarian independence. Its graduates may be found occupying important positions in every part of the country, and the good it has accomplished directly and indirectly is incalculable. Cyril Vaciloff was educated at this school. His father was formerly a man of some importance, but intemperance ruined him. His mother was a good woman and was quite intimate with the missionary families up to her death. Although she remained a member of the Greek Church, she frequently attended Protestant worship and sent her children to the Protestant school. Young Vaciloff was a bright scholar and a fluent speaker, with considerable literary talent, but was always wild and restless, fond of notoriety and unreliable in character. He never earned a dollar in his life, but went into politics while a mere boy, and for several years lived off the contributions for Macedonian freedom. He is a popular café orator, writes pamphlets in support of the Macedonian cause, and is an active, eloquent and effective agitator. In the spring of 1901, after the reorganization of the Macedonian Committee, he called upon Mr. Clark, superintendent of the mission at Samakov, and requested a contribution for the Macedonian cause. Mr. Clark explained that while his sympathies were with the Macedonians in their struggle for liberty, it would be impolitic and unwise for foreigners, and especially for missionaries, to subscribe to political funds. They were working in Turkey, as well as in Bulgaria, and must keep on terms with the Sultan. Vaciloff was not satisfied with this explanation, and shortly after his visit Mr. Clark received a written warning that unless a prompt contribution was made to the Macedonian cause the missionaries would regret it. This threat was followed by an incendiary fire and the destruction of the barn attached to the mission establishment. Mr. Clark then received another letter from Vaciloff saying that the barn caught fire from an electric spark, and that another would soon fall in the same neighborhood unless $2,500 were immediately forthcoming. No notice was taken of this threat except to solicit police protection, and nothing happened.

During the summer of 1901 the missionaries frequently heard of threats made by him and by others associated with the Macedonian cause, and Vaciloff frequently remarked that the Protestants would soon be compelled to pay a large sum into the treasury whether they wanted to or not. He was the first to learn of the capture of Miss Stone; he was the first to announce that $110,000 was the sum fixed for her ransom, and as I have said, he was identified as the man who threw the letter from Miss Stone into the window of Mr. Haskell’s residence.

It is believed that the actual leader of the bandits who captured Miss Stone was Ivan Zandanski, formerly keeper of the Bulgaria penitentiary, who resides at Dubnitza, a little town near the scene of the incident. He is also active in connection with the Macedonian movement, is associated with Vaciloff, and is a notorious desperado. He is known to have followed Miss Stone during the summer on several of her journeys, and usually appeared wherever she was. This was noticed and commented upon, without suspicion at the time, but is remembered as of significance since the outrage. Shortly before the kidnaping Zandanski started ostensibly upon an expedition to visit and organize the Bulgarian sympathizers on the Turkish side of the boundary in the Balkan Mountains, and took with him twenty or more guns from the arsenal of the Macedonian Committee at Samakov. He returned on the 11th of October, surrendered the guns to their proper custodian, and reported that he had met with great success. It is current gossip among the peasants in that part of the country that he was the leader of the band, and he was actually identified by several of Miss Stone’s companions. He was arrested and released for want of evidence, without consulting the missionaries or the United States consul-general.

George Toderoff, the mule driver who was in charge of the animals used by Miss Stone’s party, and acted as their guide, is believed to be implicated. Upon his return from the mountains he told several conflicting stories concerning the event, which caused his arrest, but he also was released by order of the government at Sofia because of supposed threats from Macedonian patriots. It is established by abundant evidence that a number of members of the local Macedonian organization around Samakov disappeared the last of August, shortly before the capture, gradually returning to their homes during September. They claimed to have been engaged, like Zandanski, in organizing revolutionary bands in Macedonia, but the natives generally believe that they were members of the party.

The presence of a military force which was sent to the neighborhood, ostensibly to capture the brigands and rescue Miss Stone, also aided to defeat that purpose, because it prevented people who might have furnished valuable information from communicating with the missionaries or lending them aid. Every man who showed signs of knowledge was arrested, imprisoned for a few days, and then released without any opportunity having been offered to the friends of Miss Stone to communicate with him. These proceedings terrorized the neighborhood, and balked every effort made by the missionaries. Another reason for the delay to open communication was the refusal of the missionaries to offer money as ransom or for information. The inhabitants of that part of the country are very poor, they are naturally avaricious, and some of them might have been persuaded by the judicious use of money to defy the authorities and furnish information and assistance. The missionaries, however, were exceedingly scrupulous in refusing to appeal to mercenary motives. At the beginning they declared that no ransom would be paid, and all offers to them and to Consul-general Dickinson involving payments of money were promptly rejected. The wisdom of this policy was seriously questioned by those who know the Bulgarian character and the customs of the country, and it afterwards proved to be a mistake and was abandoned. Natives and foreigners in the neighboring country are in the habit of paying blackmail and ransom. Custom has overcome their scruples on this point, and in several of the Turkish provinces brigandage is regarded as a legitimate occupation. It is, of course, impossible to say what might have happened if the customs of the country had been followed at the start in this respect, but the missionaries took the same high ground as the merchants of New York in 1775, when they declared that they would pay “millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.”

There have been a large number of kidnaping cases in the Turkish provinces during the last few years. People in this country have heard very little about them because the means of communication are limited and we seldom have newspaper letters or dispatches from that part of the world. Miss Stone’s case was exceptional in this respect, because of the missionary colonies that communicated with their friends at home and the interest taken in the matter by the American public. The following is a partial list of the persons kidnaped and the amount of ransom paid for their release, since 1880. There have been other cases, but I have not been able to obtain the facts:

1880, Colonel Singe, ransomed for $50,000. 1881, Henry Suter, ransomed for $60,000. 1884, Richard Dussi, $6,000 paid. 1885, Mrs. Giovenov, $35,000 demanded, $2,000 paid. 1885, Fritz Charmand, $8,000 demanded, $1,500 paid. 1887, R. C. H. Wilkins, $30,000 demanded, $8,000 paid. 1890, Gray Hill, $100,000 demanded, amount paid unknown. 1890, Mr. Landler, $15,000 paid. 1891, M. Rayneud, $5,000 paid. 1891, M. Michele, $2,000 paid. 1894, M. Provost, $3,000 paid. 1896, Captain Marriott, $15,000 demanded, $120 paid. 1896, M. Waligrski, $4,000 paid. 1896, Mme. Branzian, $50,000 demanded, $10,000 paid. 1898, James Whithall, $500 paid. 1899, M. Chevalier, $15,000 paid. 1900, Gerasim Kirias, $2,000 paid. 1901, M. Alphonse, $5,000 demanded, $1,000 paid. 1901, Miss Stone, $125,000 demanded, $65,000 paid.

The missionaries almost unanimously opposed the payment of ransom. They abhor blackmail as a matter of principle, and argued that submission in the Stone case would establish a precedent that would be disastrous to the cause of missions not only in Turkey but in all semi-civilized countries. They feared that it would result in a new industry; that all the idle desperadoes would engage in the business of kidnaping missionaries, and one good man went so far as to declare that “God would prefer Miss Stone to perish of hunger in the mountains than endanger the lives of his servants elsewhere.”

The latest foreigner kidnaped before Miss Stone was Gerasim Kirias, an Albanian Protestant preacher, a naturalized subject of Great Britain and agent for the British Bible Society. He was captured under circumstances similar to those of Miss Stone and carried into the mountains, where he was kept for three months, while negotiations were conducted by the British consul-general. He was finally released upon the payment of 500 Turkish pounds, which is equivalent to about $2,000. The exposure and privation cost him his life. He became ill of rheumatism while in the hands of the bandits and never recovered.

Mr. Landler, engineer-in-chief of the railroad which runs through Bulgaria to Constantinople, was seized by brigands and carried into the mountains several years ago. The Austrian government, backed by Italy and Germany, attempted to force Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria to secure his release, but as with Miss Stone the government made no attempt to capture the brigands or rescue the prisoner, although it was not shown that the Macedonian Committee or any other political organization was involved in the outrage. Austria finally paid $15,000 ransom, Mr. Landler was released, and the Bulgarian government was compelled to refund the money and pay a handsome indemnity. Other men of prominence and wealth have been kidnaped and the government has refused to intervene. I cannot ascertain that any brigand has been punished in Bulgaria since the retirement of Stambouloff, late prime minister.

Mr. Dickinson, agent of the United States, assuming that the government of Bulgaria was responsible for the safety of foreigners within its jurisdiction, and for the good behavior of its subjects, undertook to compel its authorities to compel the Macedonian Committee to compel the Samakov local committee to compel the conspirators to call in the brigands and release Miss Stone, but his efforts were useless because the Macedonian Committee was determined to avoid the odium of the kidnaping, and is much more powerful than the government. It was not believed then, or now, by those who are well informed, that the present managers of the Macedonian movement had any part in or knowledge of the conspiracy, but there was abundant circumstantial evidence that the plot was arranged and carried out by the former leaders, “the old committee,” as it is called, of which a desperate adventurer named Boris Sarafoff was the chairman and leader. Sarafoff was removed as head of the central committee because he was indicted for murder and gambled away the funds in the treasury. He was also engaged in several blackmailing conspiracies which brought discredit upon the cause. Nevertheless he is one of the most popular heroes in Bulgaria and has more influence with the people than any official of the government or any respectable member of the community.

Sarafoff was suspected of complicity with the conspiracy as soon as Miss Stone’s abduction was reported. The British minister, acting in behalf of the United States, because we have no official representative at Sofia, notified the Bulgarian minister of foreign relations of his suspicions that Sarafoff was implicated and demanded officially that he either be arrested and locked up or placed under surveillance, so that he could not leave the country until an investigation could be made. The government did not touch him, and probably did not dare to do so. Sarafoff left Sofia within a few days and went to Budapest. He was afterwards reported to be in Paris. The police knew his whereabouts, but were more afraid of him than he was of them.

Mr. Dickinson is a gentleman of ability and integrity, and has the entire confidence of the American colony in Constantinople, but from the beginning of the negotiations in behalf of Miss Stone he adopted a policy which was calculated to prevent instead of secure her release. He seems to have imagined that diplomacy could solve the problem, and instead of dealing with the brigands he endeavored to compel the Bulgarian government to interfere, when he should have known that it was absolutely powerless to do so. After two months had passed, and having fully demonstrated his inability to deal with the case, Mr. Dickinson was recalled from Bulgaria and Mr. Leishman, the United States minister at Constantinople, who had been on leave, was ordered back to his post of duty. He arrived at Constantinople about the 1st of January, and, after informing himself as to the situation, proceeded to undertake Miss Stone’s release by the application of business methods and common sense. He abandoned the diplomatic controversy, and, recognizing that the officials of the Bulgarian government were impotent, endeavored to open communication directly with the brigands. He appointed a committee consisting of Mr. Gargiulo, chief dragoman and interpreter of the United States legation at Constantinople; Rev. John Henry House, D.D., formerly of Painesville, Ohio, and for twenty-five years in charge of the mission work of the American Board in Macedonia, with headquarters at Salonika; and W. W. Peet, treasurer of the Bible Society and Missionary Board at Constantinople. These gentlemen managed the business with great skill and tact.

Dr. Peet was the custodian of the fund contributed by citizens of the United States for the ransom, and it amounted to $65,000. Rev. Dr. House commands the confidence of the people of Macedonia to a degree beyond that of any other American, and for that reason Mr. Leishman selected him to negotiate with the brigands. Mr. Gargiulo is more familiar with the methods and habits of the natives of Turkey than any other man whose services could be obtained. He is also upon familiar terms with the officials and knows how to deal with both classes.

Mr. Leishman invited these three gentlemen to take charge of the case, and they went directly to the scene of Miss Stone’s capture.

On the 18th of January Dr. House succeeded in opening communication with Miss Stone from a town called Razlog. She wrote that she was well and kindly treated, and that the alarming reports about Mrs. Tsilka and herself were unfounded. But the brigands would not release her except upon the payment of $65,000, which they were aware had been contributed for the ransom, and was in the hands of the missionaries at Constantinople. They knew to a dollar the extent of the funds raised, and would not listen to any proposition except the payment of the full amount. They had been in constant communication with friends at Sofia and elsewhere, who kept them advised of all the movements of our government and of Mr. Dickinson, and were familiar with the newspaper publications concerning the case in the United States. They declined to surrender Miss Stone in advance of payment and insisted that the money should be paid first.

Mr. Leishman investigated the precedents and found that this had always been customary and that in every case on record the brigands had acted honorably and carried out their part of the agreement. In the case of Colonel Singe, an Englishman who was kidnaped some years ago, his captors not only demanded $60,000 ransom money in advance, but required that his wife and daughter should be delivered as hostages and detained until they had been given twenty-four hours to escape. The money and the women were delivered to a representative of the bandits at a place agreed upon. The hostages remained in absolute seclusion until the following day, when, at the hour appointed, they left the cabin in which they had been placed and returned to their home. If they had attempted to leave before or to communicate with anybody during that time they undoubtedly would have been shot, but they submitted to the exactions of the bandits, and on the following day Colonel Singe was released.

Mme. Branzian, a French lady who was kidnaped in 1896, was released under similar conditions. Her captors demanded £10,000 in advance and three days’ time in which to escape with the money. If they were molested in the meantime they gave notice that she would be killed. Ten thousand dollars was paid as agreed and the conditions were complied with, but at the end of the three days soldiers started in pursuit, four of the brigands were captured and $8,000 of the money recovered.

In every other case that Mr. Leishman could hear of the conditions were the same, and, upon the advice of Dr. House, he decided to accept the terms and authorized the payment of the ransom. There was a little difficulty at first as to the place and the manner in which the money was to be delivered, but in this, as in every other particular, the committee was compelled to submit to the demands of the brigands. The result justified their confidence, and Miss Stone and her companion were surrendered according to the stipulation. On October 25 Dr. Haskell and Dr. Baird, of the Congregational mission at Samakov, had an interview with one of the so-called brigands, and he knew everything that Consul-general Dickinson had done up to that date, as well as the exact amount of the ransom fund that had been contributed in the United States. Rev. Dr. House met three of them by appointment January 22. Two days later Messrs. House, Peet and Gargiulo met several others, discussed the matter of ransom as business men usually discuss commercial transactions, and arranged for the payment of the money on the following day, January 25. The brigands demanded payment in gold coin, and swore the Americans to perpetual secrecy concerning their individuality, the place where the ransom was paid and other circumstances connected with the case. They insisted that the place of payment should remain a secret for fear the people in the neighborhood might be suspected of complicity and be punished by the Turks. The unexpected appearance of a company of Turkish soldiers, who were always on the alert to watch the movements of the rescue committee, prevented the payment of the ransom until the 13th of February. Three men were waiting around the place of rendezvous all this time for a chance to receive the money safely; and, in order to throw the Turkish soldiers off the scent, the missionaries removed the gold from the packages in which it had been brought from Constantinople, filled the packages with stones and sent them back under guard to the railway station.

This ruse proved successful. The Turkish officials and detectives who were watching the missionaries supposed that they had failed to connect with the brigands and had shipped the money to Constantinople. Their vigilance was, therefore, relaxed, and on February 13 the rescue committee paid over $65,000 in gold coin to four brigands, who insisted upon counting it piece by piece, to be sure that they received the full amount demanded. Twelve other brigands were in the immediate neighborhood, within call and on guard, and several of them are known to the missionaries.

Two days later, in a cabin in the mountains, Miss Stone received a letter from Dr. House, brought in by the brigands, containing the welcome news that the ransom had been paid, and was informed by her captors that she would be released as soon as their safety would permit. After several days of impatient waiting the bandits started upon a journey with their captives. They traveled through the mountains two nights and part of three days, and about dusk on the evening of the third day, February 23, Miss Stone, Mrs. Tsilka and her baby were left in the woods and were told that they were free to go their way, and would find a village within five minutes’ walk. The women thanked their captors for their kindness, expressed the natural degree of relief at the end of their captivity and soon found themselves in the village of Gradshortsky, where the natives received them hospitably and notified the governor of the town of Stronmitza, only a few miles away.

On the following morning Miss Stone and Mrs. Tsilka were taken to Stronmitza, where the governor received them with considerable ceremony and notified the missionaries. Dr. House, Mr. Peet and Mr. Gargiulo, who had been patiently waiting for this news, soon joined the ladies and conducted them to Salonika, where Dr. House lives. From there, after a few days of rest, they went to Constantinople.

There is a decided difference of opinion among the European colony and the missionaries as to the moral effect of the transaction, but the proceedings of the American minister and his committee are generally approved. It is also the almost unanimous sentiment that the same methods should have been adopted at once after Miss Stone’s capture. A few members of the missionary colony still insist that it would have been better to sacrifice Miss Stone’s life than to “compromise with wrong,” as they term it. They predict that the lives and liberty of American missionaries will be imperiled from this time on and that it will be unsafe for any foreigner to travel without an armed escort. The people of the United States, having shown their willingness to pay a large sum of money to ransom one missionary, will be called upon frequently hereafter to pay blackmail to protect others, and they argue that the establishment of such a precedent is not only fatal as a matter of policy but a shameful surrender of the dignity of a powerful Christian nation.

No demand has been made upon Turkey for indemnity or other reparation because it is clear that the crime was committed by Bulgarians, and not by Turks, although upon Turkish soil, and in Turkish disguises; and it is equally clear that the conspirators desired and intended to involve Turkey in complications with the United States. No demand has been made upon Bulgaria since the release of Miss Stone because she declines to make a complaint or furnish any clues to the identity of her captors or any evidence upon which a claim can be based. She intends to return to her mission field in Macedonia and Bulgaria, and therefore does not wish to impair her popularity or usefulness among the people of those countries. She is intensely sympathetic with the Macedonian cause, notwithstanding her sufferings at the hands of its advocates, and she is evidently under pledges to her captors not to do or say anything that might interfere with their peace of mind or pursuit of happiness, for she has declined, or at least neglected, to furnish the department of state any information concerning them. She is also so confident that her deliverance is due to the intercession of Providence, in answer to her prayers, that she has entirely overlooked all the human agencies that were engaged in her behalf.

Mrs. Tsilka made a brief statement at the request of Mr. Leishman, the United States minister at Constantinople, but it furnishes little information, and it is of no value whatever for official purposes. The United States government intended to make some sort of a demonstration in order to assert its dignity and show its disapproval of the liberties the brigands of Bulgaria have taken with American citizens, but it cannot do very much unless the parties of the first part make complaint or furnish some ground for action, which they both seem disinclined to do.

To those who are familiar with the facts and the situation in Macedonia, Miss Stone’s narrative in McClure’s Magazine is more remarkable for what she omits than for what she tells. It is very clear that she is determined to furnish no clew to her captors, for with great care and skill she avoids giving any information that may reveal their identity or disclose the places in which she and Mrs. Tsilka were detained during their captivity.

Nevertheless, she makes one or two slips, evidently unconscious of their significance. For example, she expresses her relief at finding that her captors were not “black shirts” or regular brigands. She says that their arms and equipments were all new; that they were in communication with friends in Sofia and received regular and prompt information from that city. She speaks well of them, appreciates their kindness and courtesy, and in her letters to Dr. House and others certifies that they are “entirely trustworthy.” Dr. House, Dr. Peet and Mr. Gargiulo, who had several interviews with her captors, testify that they were “neither shepherds nor husbandmen, but men of education and some polish,” especially the chief, who knew some English.

Mr. Gargiulo calls attention to a singular circumstance. He says that it is the custom for brigands to give their captives a liberal contribution from the ransom paid for their release. He mentions that when Colonel Singe, an Englishman, was ransomed in 1880, each brigand in the band gave him a handful of gold, from £20 to £25 sterling, before leaving him. In other cases of abduction by regular brigands the same practice has been followed, but in Miss Stone’s case her captors were not so generous. They gave her no money whatever, which, Mr. Gargiulo argues, indicates that they are unfamiliar with the etiquette of brigandage; that it was new business for them, and therefore they are not regular brigands. This confirms the belief that they are members of the Macedonian Committee.

Assuming that the conspiracy to kidnap Miss Stone was hatched and carried out by the Macedonian Committee, the motives are easily understood:

(1) The Macedonian Committee, having an empty treasury, needed money for arms and ammunition.

(2) They desired to terrify the American missionaries into coöperation with them in their efforts to secure the emancipation of Macedonia from Turkish rule. While the sympathies of the missionaries have always been with the Macedonian patriots, they have carefully abstained from doing anything to excite the criticism or provoke the hostility of the Turks.

(3) The Macedonian Committee desired to attract the attention of Europe to the misgovernment of the Macedonian province by Turkish officials and to the condition of anarchy that prevails there, hoping to secure the intervention of the great Powers and compel the Sultan to carry into effect the pledges he made to the international conference at Berlin, when Macedonia was restored to his authority in 1878. The members of the Macedonian Committee have proclaimed boldly, both before Miss Stone’s abduction and since, that they will make it so unsafe for foreigners in Macedonia that the Powers will be compelled to intervene for the protection of their own subjects.

(4) The committee hoped to provoke war, or at least serious complications, between Turkey and the United States by kidnaping an American citizen while upon Turkish soil, and thus involve the government of the United States in what is known as the Eastern question. Hitherto we have always held aloof from that perplexing problem.

There is strong ground for the belief that there was a quarrel between the old and new Macedonian Committees, although the facts are not known. Miss Stone was captured by the old committee, which, as I have already said, was composed of desperate and disreputable adventurers. The new committee is composed of respectable and honorable men, who did not approve of the abduction and were very anxious lest it should injure the cause of Macedonian freedom among the Christian people of Europe. Miss Stone, in her narrative in McClure’s Magazine, tells of a fight between her captors and another band of brigands who, she thinks, were trying to recapture Mrs. Tsilka and herself for the sake of securing the ransom. Private information from Sofia, which was not credited at the time, referred to such an attempt upon the part of the new committee, but it has never been made clear whether they intended to release the prisoners, if captured, or whether they intended to demand the ransom for themselves instead of allowing it to be collected by the members of the old committee.

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