The Days of a Man Cigu 



A scholars Qutiook, Atlantic, and Hibbert's, giving his study a 



^''^'^ distinctly American cast. Madame Vatralsky, a 



dainty little lady who spoke no English, expressed her 



friendliness with roses and cherries. Said Vatralsky: 



Bulgaria is far from being English, American, or Swiss, but 

 its people are much more tolerant than those of other Balkan 

 states. Democracy has never flourished outside of Protestant 

 lands; freedom in Bulgaria is due to an evangelical leaven,^ in 

 other words to Robert College, which is to say the same thing. 

 The American system has had a powerful influence in my coun- 

 try. There is nothing in Sofia or in old Bulgaria at present of 

 which Greek, Protestant, or Turk can complain. Of what hap- 

 pened in Macedonia and Thrace we know but little; but not 

 all oflacials are tolerant or humane. When the war commenced 

 we all thought with aching heart of the sufferings of Mace- 

 donia, and burned to liberate her. The division of Macedonia 

 at the Treaty of London brought our efforts to naught. In our 

 treaty with Serbia, the release of Macedonia as a unit had been 

 fully provided for notwithstanding the fact that Scopje (Uskub), 

 once the capital, was to be retained by Serbia though its popu- 

 lation was mainly Bulgarian. Bulgaria was of course to hold 

 Monastir and Ochrida, practically Bulgarian towns. In the war 

 we conquered Adrianople and most of Thrace, but our sole object 

 was to free Macedonia. So when, after the Treaty of London 

 which shut off Serbia from the sea, the Serbians refused to go out 

 of Macedonia, even the most peace-loving of Bulgarians felt out- 

 raged, for they had been taught from the cradle that Bulgaria 

 must some day rescue Macedonia. Our people then lost their 

 heads and failing to count the cost, rushed in to free Macedonia 

 by force. In so doing they forfeited everything. 



It is not true that Bulgaria aimed to be another Prussia. She 

 was maddened at the thought of having lost the child of her 

 heart, a wholly natural feeling. We could not think of having the 

 child cut in two, as in the story of King Solomon; we wanted to 



1 Speaking of the Bulgarian State Church, the " Exarchate," originally a 

 schism from the Greek communion or "Patriarchate," a leading Bulgarian 

 warned me that in his country the Church had "nothing to do with morals or 

 religion." Conditions elsewhere are similar. In Serbia, it is said, the Patriarchate 

 serves mainly as a political agency for the promotion of patriotism. 



n 584 n 



