The Sultan, having confirmed the appointment of Bishop Anthimas, of Widdin, to be Exarch of Bulgaria, the Bulgarians thus virtually acquired their ecclesiastical independence, and so both their national spirit and their unwillingness to allow Protestantism to come in as an element of apprehended division, acquired strength. Few were yet able to see how one could be both a Bulgarian and a Protestant, and no general movement on the part of rulers and ecclesiastics towards Protestantism, was to be expected. But the Scriptures and evangelical publications were extensively circulated. Thoughtful minds were reached, and examples of what the Gospel could do to regenerate character and give peace to troubled spirits were beginning to attract attention. There was not such liberty to persecute as there had been in Asiatic Turkey. Truth was gaining a hold in cities and villages. The girls' school at Eski Zagra, under Miss Norcross, numbering twenty-six pupils, contained several who gave evidence of spiritual renewal, and applications for teachers had come from several towns and villages, accompanied by comparatively liberal subscriptions for their support. The hope, at Philippopolis, of getting helpers from the high school for young men, had been much disappointed, but some of its pupils were doing good. An influential merchant in Samokov was an active convert, and there was much to encourage in that region. Early in the autumn of 1870, Miss Norcross sickened, and on the 4th of November died, greatly to the grief of her pupils and of the whole mission.[1] Miss Maltbie arrived in less than a month after she had passed away. It was soon resolved to remove the school to Samokov, as a more healthful place, and more eligible on other accounts. A regular Sabbath service was held at this station, and a weekly prayer-meeting. The audiences were very small, and but five persons were deemed worthy to be received to church fellowship. At the out-stations, though there had been no striking success, there were everywhere signs of an advance. The native helper in the beautiful town of Bansko had a school of twenty-two pupils, and a congregation of sixty-five, and the little company contributed to Christian objects, during the year, nearly two hundred dollars, including the purchase of a site for a house of worship. The cause was greatly advanced by the labors of an earnest and devoted Bible-woman, whom the women of Bansko helped to support. [1] See _Missionary Herald_, 1871, p. 53.