SEROWE

[s. 682] : A town in Bechuanaland, South Africa, the principal center of the Bamangwato tribe, which formerly had its chief town at Shoshong, and later at Palapye. In 1902 the tribe suddenly decided to move to Serowe and did so, abandoning Palapye. The new town is on a high upland, about 40 miles N. W. of Palapye, and 32 miles W. by N. of the Palapye road railway station. Population, 26,000. Station of the (1862), with (1903) 1 mi ionary and his wife, 1 woman mi ionarj’, 9 native workers, 33 day schools, 25 Sunday schools, and 5,360 profe ed Christians, of whom 697 are communi- LMS cants SERVIA: A kingdom in Europe, bounded by Austria on the north, Rumania and Bulgaria on the east, Turkey on the south, and Bosnia on the west. In general, the surface is mountainous and covered with dense forests. The Danube and several other large rivers drain the country. Its total area is 18,85.5 square miles, of which over half is under cultivation. Cereals and grapes are the principal products. The independence of Servia was secured by the Treaty of Berlin (1878), and since January, 1889, it has been a kingdom. The legislative authority is exercised by the king, together with the national a embly, which is composed of deputies elected by the people, indirectly and by ballot. Personal liberty, liberty of the pre and conscience are guaranteed. Population in 1902, 2,600,000. The Servians, or Serbs, belong to the most spirited of the Slavonic races, and are noted for the love of freedom and bravery. Poverty is rarely seen, for even the poorest have some sort Thus 97 per cent, of the of freehold property. country population are engaged in agriculture. The Greek Church is the state religion of Servia, but in 1902 there were 9,000 Catholics and 1,200 Protestants. Education is conducted in elementary schools, maintained by the municipalities, and various technical schools and schools for highei education, which are supported entirely by the State. Attendance is compulsory, and no fees are required from the pupils. The main mi ion work in Servia is that which is carried on by the colporteurs of the BFBS Servians: The Servians form an important branch of the Eastern Slavs, or, as they are sometimes called, the South Slavs. They inhabit the kingdom of Servia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, and part of Hungary. They number about 4,000,000, and belong “to the Eastern or Orthodox Church, with the exception of about half a million Mohammedan Servians in Bosnia. The Servians settled in the first half of the 7th century in the Balkan Peninsula, and their settlements spread over an extensive tract of land, comprising the present Servia, Monte negro, Herzegovina, Bosnia, and the Dalmatian coast. These various communities were ruled over by 664 independent rulers called”Cans” or “Zhoopans,” who were under the nominal author”Great Zhoopan” residing at Ra a (Novi-Bazar), and all of whom originally were va als to the Byzantine Emperor. Christianity was first introduced among the Servians by the Roman Church in the middle of the 7th century,, but this first introduction did not succeed; and it was only in about 868-870 that the Orthodox Church was established by Greek ecclesiastics sent by the Emperor Basil. separate ity of the In the beginning of the 19th century the Servians revolted against the Sultan to regain their political independence, and after a great many vici itudes and strusgles they succeeded in establishing a semi-independent principality, under the suzerainty of the Sultan. The Servian Church is ruled over by a Metropolitan residing at Belgrade, and bearing the title of “Metropolitan of all Servia.” He is also the president of the Synod, who act as his councilors and advisers; but the power of the Metropolitan and the Synod does not extend beyond the limits of the Servian kingdom. Bosnia and Herzegovina are under the jurisdiction of bishops nominated by the Greek Patriarchate, subject to the approval of the Austrian Government. The Servians living in Austria-Hungary, and who also be long to the Orthodox Church, have a Patriarch residing at Carlovitz, who is chosen by a council and approved by the Austrian Government. He bears the title of Patriarch as an honoiable title in continuation of the Patriarchs of Ipek, who ruled over the Servians in former days. AU the Servians belonging to the Orthodox Church use the Church-Slavonic language in their churches and the alphabet invented by Cyril in their literature. Their language belongs to the Eastern branch of Slavic languages, and is akin to the Bulgarian, from which it differs, however, considerably in its vocal sounds. Many Turkish, Greek, and Albanian words have entered into the formation of the modern Servian language. Under the influence of their ecclesiastics and their ecclesiastical literature, the Servians in the beginning of the 19th century used in their literature a language called Slavonico-Servi.nn, a mixture of Church-Slavonic and Servian, with the elements of the former predominating. But, thanks to the genius and efforts of Verk Karadjitch, a self made man, the Servian alphabet was modified to a certain extent to suit the pronunciation of the spoken language of the people, which was raised to the dignity of a literary language. In this way the Servian orthography became the most phonetic of all Slavic orthographies, and, in spite of the opposition the reforms of Karadjitch met with, they were officially sanctioned by the government in 1868, and accepted by all thie Servianswho use the Cyrillian alphabet. Karadjitch translated also the New Testament into the common language of the people, while some years later Danitehitch, a well-known Servian philologian and a follower of Karadjitch, did the same thing for the Old Testament; and both these versions have been accepted and are used by the British and Foreign Bible Society. 682