!■ >l.i li;. 1). W . I i' 1 



BULGARIAN gypsies: RUSTCHUK MARKET 



3' Keystone View Co. 



schism and the consequences of excom- 

 munication in the world to come, has 

 refrained from adhering to the new na- 

 tional church. 



The acquisition of ecclesiastical au- 

 tonomy gave a fresh impulse to the edu- 

 cational activity which has done so much 

 for the consolidation of Bulgarian na- 

 tionality. During the prolonged struggle 

 wath the Patriarchate various revolu- 

 tionary chiefs endeavored to incite the 

 people to revolt against the Turks, but 

 without success. The Bulgarian move- 

 ment, hitherto conducted by pacific 

 means, now underwent the influence of 

 the Panslavist propaganda, of which 

 General Ignatiefif was the leading spirit : 

 a secret organization spread its ramifica- 

 tions throughout the Slavonic provinces 

 of Turkey, and the population, already 



exasperated by the severities of Midhat 

 Pasha, who administered the "vilayet of 

 the Danube" from 1864 to 1868, were 

 ripe for revolt when the insurrection in 

 the Herzegovina and Bosnia (1875) pre- 

 cipitated the catastrophe. 



The Bulgarian rising, which took place 

 prematurely in the districts of the Sredna 

 Gora and the neighborhood of Philipp- 

 opolis (May, 1876), was prompted by the 

 fear of a general massacre, which was 

 only too well founded. It is unnecessary 

 to describe the horrors which followed. 

 Shefket Pasha, the Turkish commander, 

 was apparently given a "free hand" by 

 the Sultan, bashi-buzuks and Circassians 

 were let loose upon the villages, and 

 within a few weeks some 25,000 to 30,- 

 000 men. women, and children were 

 massacred. For these exploits Shefket 



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