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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



ing Bulgaria into modern civilization. 

 Graduates of Constantinople College are 

 now occupying themselves in editorial 

 work, in translating books desirable for 

 the Bulgarians to read, from English and 

 French into the vernacular, in teaching in 

 public gymnasia and private schools, and 

 in all branches of philanthropic, educa- 

 tional, and social work. 



sple;ndid work o]p wome;n 



In the Balkan war these Bulgarian 

 women have done splendid work in the 

 Red Cross Society and in the hospitals ; 

 indeed, hospital work and such institu- 

 tions as orphanages have been largely 

 under their control for some years. 



One Bulgarian woman wrote me re- 

 cently of the excellent nursing given to 

 the wounded soldiers in the hospitals and 

 of how some wounded Turks were taken 

 care of by these Bulgarian women nurses. 

 These m_en, entirely unaccustomed to the 

 ministrations of women, and charmed 

 with the pretty nurses who tended them, 

 evidently fancied they had been killed in 

 the war and were receiving the reward 

 of service by houris, for they exclaimed 

 in delight, "It is already the Paradise !" 



Our Bulgarian students are among the 

 best in college. Of good health, consid- 

 erable industry, ambition, and sometimes 

 real ability, they are a most interesting 

 group to teach, rewarding the teacher for 

 labor expended on them. They are good 

 linguists, as are most of the Orientals, 

 and in their keen interest in modern de- 

 velopments and their sense of a remote 

 past are very rapidly developing into en- 

 thusiastic students of history. 



There can be no question that if the 

 Bulgarian people are allowed to develop 

 their country and themselves — and they 

 will do so if the}^ can enjoy the advan- 

 tages of a long period of peace and satis- 

 factory commercial relations with their 

 neighbors near and far — that the rapid 

 progress of this people in every way will 

 astonish the world, and, to say the least, 

 disabuse the minds' of many who now 



think Bulgaria in a more or less semi- 

 savage state and peopled by a race who 

 would rather fight than not. This de- 

 velopment is especially true as regards 

 the Bulgarian women, who, being pos- 

 sessors of quick, alert minds, respond 

 rapidly to educational advantages, and I 

 am quite sure that their sisters through- 

 out the world will have no reason to be 

 ashamed of them. 



THE WORK OF ROBERT COLIvEGE 



Of course, some of the Bulgarian stu- 

 dents are stupid ; but there are enough 

 really fine intellects among them to make 

 teaching them a delight. One of their 

 accomplishments is acting. I well re- 

 member the delightful presentation our 

 Bulgarian society gave of a folk play of 

 Vasoff's, entitled "Tchorbadgee Alike- 

 lovsky," or "Michael's Son, the Soup 

 Dealer," and how well those girls took 

 the roles of the fat officials, the young 

 soldiers, and the girls of the play. One 

 of our Bulgarian students had a really 

 remarkable talent for acting, taking with 

 great skill such diverse parts as the title 

 roles in "he Malade Imaginaire" and 

 Grillparzer's noble "Sappho." 



Bulgarian students have gone to Buch- 

 arest, to Paris, to Germany, and to Swit- 

 zerland for their education. Many of 

 them go to Constantinople, both to 

 French schools and to the American col- 

 leges. When Bulgaria acquired her in- 

 dependence and needed statesmen and 

 parliamentarians, it was her men trained 

 in Robert College who came to the fore 

 and led in statesmanship. The American 

 mission schools in Bulgaria have done 

 much to educate Bulgarian youth, espe- 

 cially Protestant youth, and the two col- 

 leges in Constantinople have done a 

 wider work. Now Bulgaria has a good 

 school system of her own, culminating in 

 the coeducational university of Sofia ; but 

 she still needs all that we of the West 

 can do to help her in her struggle with 

 ignorance and barbarism and to lift her 

 into the hisfher life she desires. 



