abour was introduced--every man to do his share in
producing the daily bread."
So Bulgaria has met the peace. She was our enemy. But her money is at
least worth more than that of one of our Allies, and compares
favourably with that of another. The cost of living is low. Wages
have gone up to a considerable extent, and the able-bodied working-man
has enough for himself and his family. One saw how much more stable is
an agricultural state than an industrial one. If our Europe goes down
in economic ruin it does not at all follow that little states like
Bulgaria will be engulfed. On the contrary, Bulgaria as she is
constituted to-day would almost certainly survive. It is industrialism
and large business upon which our Western superstructures depend, not
on the tilling of the soil.
"Humanity, however, first depends on bread," said a Bulgarian in a
restaurant. "If civilization falls, it does not follow that humanity
will fall."
There was plenty of bread on the table in front of us.
"Well, thanks for the bread. But you know the text. There are some of
us who still want to live by the Word."
LETTERS OF TRAVEL
V. FROM BELGRADE (I)
A personal friendship with Bishop Nicholas of Zicca brought the gift of
his rooms in the Patriarchia, opposite the Cathedral. Nicholas, better
known during the war years as Father Nicholas Velimirovic, being on a
mission to the United States, his simple white-walled rooms hung with
bright-coloured ikons were free, and could be a home for a wanderer in
an over-crowded city. Kostya Lukovic, who during the war graduated at
Cambridge, treated me as if I were the England to whom he could repay
the gratitude he owed for our hospitality to him. Dr. Yannic, also
known to us in England, then a priest, now temporarily secretary to the
Constituent Assembly, was also very kind. A recommendation from
Balugdic, the Minister at Athens, opened many doors and obtained a
separate carriage for me at night on some wild trains. Archimandrites
and Abbots entertained me lavishly at the shrines of the Frushta Gora.
It can therefore be said that the Serbs know how to treat an Englishman
well when he passes through their country. Salutations therefore, and
thanks! They fought like lions, and they suffered as none others
suffered in Europe's terrible ordeal. A Serbian spark at Sarajevo
fired the arsenal of European militarism, and a common ungenerous
thought sometimes blames the spark ins
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