and labour. If men will know what Romanism is, let them not learn it from the holiday phrases and scholastic sophisms of Oscott theses, or of Oxford tracts; but let them look at it in the face of Rome: let them mark it in the full exercise of its degrading influence in Belgium: let them gather it from the trash which the Jesuits sell, and the debasing doctrines which too many of the ecclesiastical dignitaries of France sanction. * Whilst Jesuitism strives for the mastery in France and Rome, and endeavours to resume her long lost power in England, Germany is seeking deliverance from the yoke under which she has for so many years groaned. Ronge, most unjustly deprived of his living, degraded and excommunicated, has appealed to the priesthood and the laity, and his appeal has found a responsive echo in many hearts. A movement, of which he is himself rather one of the effects than the cause, is taking place in that land which Rome will find it hard to coerce or to crush. Whole parishes have openly separated from Rome and the Pope, taking the title of "Christian Churches, Catholic but not Roman." They have published their profession of faith, and formally appealed to the Government for protection. The liberty to marry for the priest, the celebration of divine worship in the language of the country, and the ceasing from the invocation of saints, are loudly demanded. This movement is but another cry of humanity, longing for better forms of truth, greater light, and a larger sphere for the outgoings and affections of the heart, than Rome can yield. It is but another expression of that universal aspiration after something more excellent than is possessed, which is moving all men to break the trammels that have bound them into parties, that they may find some common ground for the exercise of Catholic affection, and the developement of Catholic doctrines and views. It would be well, if we, in our own land, could look upon the The chapter at Breslau elected to the bishopric of that city an aged man, beloved for his many virtues, his moderation, the gentleness of his character, and the largeness of his views. On the latter account he was not regarded with much favour at Rome, and the sending of the act of confirmation was deferred from time to time. After a delay of two years, Ronge wrote an anonymous letter, which appeared in a public journal, complaining of the injury done to the diocese by the quasi-suspension of its bishop, and the undeserved insult offered to a venerable and blameless old man. The author of this letter was discovered; and Ronge was deprived of his parish, without a hearing, and notwithstanding a memorial in his behalf, signed by forty of his parishioners, with all the authorities of the town at their head. Afterwards came the celebrated letter to the Bishop of Trèves, for which he was degraded and excommunicated by the chapter of Breslau, the decree of excommunication alleging against him, besides the offence of the letter, that "he wore his coat too short, and his beard too long."(Archives du Christianisme, Feb. 8, 1845). ecclesiastical condition of Christendom with a larger range of vision and a juster appreciation of the purpose of God, such as it is revealed to us in the Scripture. All that man requiresall that man can justly claim at the hand of his brother—all that he is fitted for his wants, his capacities, and his rights-is an extensive subject for contemplation: and for the want of comprehending all that it implies, classes and individuals are continually coming into collision. Selfishness is a sin fraught with misery to the man who indulges it, and suffering to all around him; and it becomes a very grave error, when carried into matters of conscience. To do what is right is one thing; but to seek to do what is right in such a manner as that the rights of others shall be infringed, or without regard to the weakness that is crushed by our strength, is not measuring rectitude by charity. In the struggle of the day, selfishness is an essential element it has found its way into the strifes of the Church, where men are more intent upon the maintainance of a personal standing, claims, or privileges, than of principles which ostensibly bring them into collision. This is a sin in which we, the clergy, have borne our part, and for which it becomes us deeply to mourn. The laity have been, in too many instances, goaded into unrighteous opposition; and if we would restore them to the paths from which they have departed, we must set them the example of meekness, and learn to remember that, though the honour of God is to be maintained, it must be maintained in the spirit of him who suffered even unto death, reproaching none and condemning none, that he might uphold it. Every man should expect to learn something from his brother. Every man has something to impart for which there is a need in the condition, and a place for the acceptance, in those around him. Moreover, there are truths to be gathered even from the errors and the failings of the Church herself. If Rome, in her actual estate, is apostate from God: if the exaggerated and mistaken estimates that are formed of her claims and authority render it sometimes necessary to set her actual condition before men, lest they be ensnared with fiction, it must not be forgotten that her errors are, many of them, perversions of truths which the Church should ever hold. Every division and party in Christendom at large, and in the Anglican Church in particular, has some abstract truth which it is good to hold in an unity and in harmony together, though pernicious to practice in separateness: even dissent and schism, in the causes which provoke them, teach us a lesson and a warning. We want, for these days, an eye of faith, which can range beyond the limits of individualities; which can gaze, not alone upon parties and sects, but upon the Church, such as God would have it-embracing all within the holy sphere of its sacraments, and finding a place and an opportunity for the sanctified exercise of every faculty which he has given to man. We need a hope, untiring and unfading, in the promise and mighty purpose of God, as to the Catholic work and final glory of that spiritual temple, the body mystical of Christ, the several stones of which shall be quarried from every portion of Christendom; and the light of which shall shine for all, without the darkening media of party view, lest we be utterly disheartened, and led into despondency, by the contemplation of the evils and divisions that surround us. ART. III.-A History of the Church of Russia. By A. N. MOURAVIEFF. Translated by the Rev. R. W. BLACKMORE, B.A., of Merton College, Oxford. Parker. 1842. 2. Kritische Geschichte der Neugriechischen und der Russischen Kirche mit besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer Verfassung in der Form einer Permanenten Synode. VON HERRMANN JOSEPH SCHMITT. Mainz. 1840. (A Critical History of the Modern Greek and of the Russian Church, with especial Reference to their Form of Government under a Permanent Synod. By HERRMANN JOSEPH SCHMITT, Mentz. 1840). 3. Τελετεργία ἴερα συνταχθεῖσα καὶ προεκδοθεισα παρὰ τε Πανιερωτάτε καὶ σοφωτατδε εν ἵεραρχαις Κυρίε Γαβριήλ (The Complete Holy Service, set in order, and edited by the Most Holy and wise Hierarch, LORD GABRIEL, Metropolitan of Great Novogorod and St. Petersburgh. St. Petersburgh). 4. Συλλογη διαφορων προρησεων εκδοθείσα παρα του ιατρου Λευκάδιοι. Αθηναι. Aonvai. 1838. (A Collection of Various Oracles. by the PHYSICIAN LEUCADIUS. Athens. 1838). 5 Συνταγμα πνευματικον. Εν. Ερμουπολει. lume. Hermopolis. 1838). Edited (The Spiritual Vo THERE are few branches of literature more calculated to give pain to an intelligent and right-minded man than that of Ecclesiastical History: for the history of man is always, more or less, a history of weaknesses and failures; while the more grand and striking events are often of the tragic character, and spring from evil passions and crimes. When these weaknesses and evil passions connect themselves with a doctrine and constitution which are divine, and when we are called to contemplate the way in which they have defaced those holy things, or hindered them from being a blessing to mankind, that sentiment of pain with which we regard them, even in secular history, is increased tenfold. The Eastern Church was early so led aside from simplicity, by her taste for abstractions, and for rhetorical and showy qualities; she was afterwards so oppressed by the Mahomedan arms, and she ultimately fell into such disfavour with both Romanists and Protestants, by a certain meanness and mutability of character, which her long struggle for bare existence had suffered to creep upon her by degrees, that very little attention has been paid to her by modern writers. The late revival of Greece, as a nation, and the discussions which attended her assumption to ecclesiastical in dependence of Constantinople, and still more, the prominent place which Russia politically occupies, have tended somewhat to awaken an interest as to the state of Christianity in those countries. The character of Russia is evidently a most momentous element of the coming history of Europe. The form, therefore, and position of the Church in that country, the amount of place and power which it enjoys, and the influence which it is likely to exercise upon the development of the national character, are points highly deserving of investigation. Hitherto, however, they have been little touched upon. Indeed, after all that has yet been written concerning it, Russia remains, to most of our readers, a terra incognita. It is difficult to enter that vast country, at any point, under favourable auspices: it is difficult, even for those who have crossed the border, to learn anything distinctly and satisfactorily. The higher clergy are too much occupied to give themselves to a stranger: by the rest the French, German, and English are rarely spoken; and those who can converse with foreigners are not open and communicative. A combination of kindness and of rude inquisitiveness, with which every Russian meets the traveller, flatters and disarms, and turns an enquirer from his purpose. The way of meeting the stranger is the same to this day as it was in the time of Theodore. To such of our readers as have lately been perusing the amusing and most faithful sketches of Russian character which are contained in the works of Kohl and others, and still more to those who have had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with it in the country itself, we present the following extract, to show how truly one the Russian race has remained from early times. In the sixteenth century the patriarch of Constantinople, Jeremiah, visited Moscow, and consecrated a patriarch for Russia: he came through Galicia, Poland, and Lithuania, and was first welcomed to Russia at Smolensko. So soon as the Czar Theodore heard of his arrival, be sent him all messages of welcome, and ordered every honour and respect to be paid to him by both clergy and laity, and directed that his further jour ney should be made easy to him by every means which a czar could provide: "But while Theodore thus showed his piety, in the joyful reception of the great prelate, he did not the less, as a prudent ruler, think it right to take certain necessary measures of political precaution. In the answer which he wrote to the Voivodes, he expressed displeasure; for did they (asked he) only know of the coming of the patriarch when he had actually arrived where they were? Had he travelled from the frontiers of Lithuania seventy versts as if he had been in a foreign territory, without meeting anywhere with any watch or guard; a thing which had never before occurred? And then, had they not asked him how he had passed through Lithuania?-and whether it was by the decision of all the patriarchs that he had left Constantinople? Also, of the particulars of the meeting itself, they had sent no information; but that now, however, to ask the patriarch such questions would no longer be becoming; but only, in future, they should be more cantious; and they should send to the Government-office an inventory of all the wares and goods which were with him, or the people of his train.' The czar also gave his commissioner a memorandum of the manner in which he was to receive the patriarch, and attend on him during the journey with all possible care and respect; also that he was to endeavour to learn privately on the road, from his monks and attendants, what was the purpose of the most holy Jeremiah's visit to him?—and whether he had any communication for him from the other patriarchs? :+ Who had taken his place at Constantinople and where was Theo- ! leptus, who had been patriarch before him?and which of the two would be patriarch upon his return? He ordered him also to make enquiries whether any army of the Turkish Sultan had been sent in any direction? Whether he was at war with the e Shah of Persia ?—or at pence with the kings of France and Spain, and with the emperor? Also, how the patriarch had passed through Lithuania? Whether he had seen the king?and who was king there?—and whether he had ́ ́ been at the sessions of the nobles? Whether he brought any newsfrom Lithuania, or had any natives of that country in his suite? Hell was to send and inform the czar exactly of all these particulars, after leaving Mojaisk; and he was to send again from the last place at which he would have to halt near Moscow, and there he was to remain till he received permission to enter the city. (Mouravieff, parmi nem: pp. 293, 294). Who ever entered the dominions of the czar without being made breathless by a similar shower of questions? Or, who has ever been able to encounter a spirit of such minute interro 3913 |