development of art in Bulgaria, and striving to evolve
forms more in conformity with the contents of Bulgarian art.

About Bulgarian literature I can say nothing--lacking a guidance of a
competent critic or a knowledge of the language--except that it is
ambitious and aspiring. But it can hardly be expected that a language
which is, after all, but a dialect of Russian should ever produce a
great literature. The Bulgarian national pride is so strong that
probably there will never be a movement to make Russian the literary
language of the people; but in that would seem to be the best hope of a
Bulgarian literature.

CHAPTER XI

HOW BULGARIA IS GOVERNED

To attempt to describe how Bulgaria is governed is to enter inevitably
into the realms of controversy. In theory the system of government is
purely democratic: and many Bulgarians are confident that the practice
follows the theory closely. Personally I have my doubts. The working of
a fully democratic constitution seems to be tempered a great deal by the
aristocratic powers reserved to the King in Council at times of crisis:
and this tempering is probably necessary.

The ancient Bulgarian system of government was without a doubt the
despotic tribal system of nomads. Under Turkish rule, the territory of
Bulgaria was administered as the Vilayet of the Danube under a Turkish
Pasha; and not always badly administered as is proved by the fact that
Bulgarian industry and thrift was allowed to raise the province into
the most flourishing one of Turkey-in-Europe. But until the Treaty of
Paris in 1856, Turkey had no real political organisation. Being a
theocratic state, all her public institutions emanated from the
Kaliph, as the representative of Mohammed. The Koran took the place of
civil and criminal law, and the duty of its ministers was to punish
all those who broke its commandments. Every parish had a "cadi," who
was appointed by the spiritual chief. The cadi concentrated in his
hands all jurisdictions, judging without appeal cases, civil and
criminal, and observing no fixed rules of procedure in the application
of the few principles which the Koran contained on the subject of
civil relations. In certain special cases, the Sheik-ul-Islam of
Constantinople, the highest religious tribunal in Turkey, had the
right to revise the decisions of the cadis. At the Congress of Paris,
Turkey, as one of the participating parties, was admitted into the
concert of European