MASTER NEGATIVE NO. 91-80076 MICROFILMED 1991 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES/NEW YORK as part of the "Foundations of Western Civilization Preservation Project" Funded by the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMAMTIES Reproductions may not be made without permission from Columbia University Librar}/ COPYRIGHT STATEMENT The copyright law of the United States - Title 17, United States Code - concerns the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material... Columbia University Librap/ reserves the right to refuse to accept a copy order if, in its judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright hiw. AUTHOR- GAGARIN, J. TITLE: THE RUSSIAN CLERGY. PLA CE : LONDON DATE: C1872 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DErAKTMi:-T BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORMTARGm: Master Negative # ai-30oi6r_L-.. Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record 947.03 G122 Le clerge russe. Eng. Makepeace, Gagarin, Ivaai Sergeevich, 1814-1882. The R\jssian clergy. Translated fran the French o£ Father Gagarin, S, J., by Ch. du Gard Makepeace, M. A, London, Burns ajid Gates, 1872. vi p., 1 1., 278 p. 19jcm, Contents,— Avtthor* 8 preface to the English edition. —^Translator • s preface • —Introduction* —The vhlte clergy,— The black clergy.— The ecclesiastical schools,— The bishops,— The synod, , . Restrictions on Use: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: _^^Z.m.^- REDUCTION RATIO:__. IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA ^^ JB HB ^^^^^^^_ n /? nATP FILMED- 6? -(a^J INITIALS__L2liJ2L RLMEDBY: i^fc;pXr>,h PU'BLir T-RoNS. INC WOODBRIDGE, CT ID-K IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ ■ SO ■ 90 2.8 3.2 3.6 4.0 1.4 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 150mm f/ PHOTOGRAPHIC SCIENCES CORPORATION 770 BASKET ROAD P.O. BOX 338 WEBSTER, NEW YORK 14580 (716) 265-1600 THE LIBRARIES THE RUSSIAN CLEHGY. STransIatei from l^c d^^^^^ °f FATHER GAGARIN, S.J. BY CH. DU GARD MAKEPEACE, M.A. • : : • • • :• : :••. t •. . « • ■> • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • •• • • • « • •• • " • • • • • • » • • • • • • • • • LONDON: BUENS AND OATES, 17, 18 Portman Street and 63 Paternoster Row. 1872. ^•^-"'*^— ^■' \ ■-&k .-'»•' LONDON : X AND SONS, PRINTERS. PANCRAS ROAD, N.W, 57505D • « • « • « • I • • , • « • I • • t « • • • • • . t • ... ••• ••• • • • ••«'• •• •••••• • • • • • .• •. • • • • •• •••• • • t • •• • • • •• • • • • • • • « • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • » • <. AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION Since the following pages were first written and pub- lished in French, many attempts have been made in Russia to effect reforms in the clergy, such as the abolition of caste, the improvement of schools, and the granting to bishops and priests a little more independence. We by no means call in question the good inten- tions that prompted these reforms ; but we must remark, that some have been decreed on paper with- out bringing about any sensible and real change, and the others leave untouched the foundations and roots of the evil we have sought to disclose. In every case, many years must elapse before any change can be felt as their result. After these reforms, the clergy is still a caste separated from the rest of the nation, and the Church is still in absolute dependence on the State. The causes of this situa- i. I I, IT author's preface, tion remain; we do not see what we have to con- sider as changed. That there may be in Eussia a certain tendency to move towards the separation of Church and State, we do not deny ; nor do we dispute that in time this tendency of men's minds may lead to radical changes in the mutual relations of the Russian Government and the official Church ; but, hitherto, nothing has been done in this direction, and this unfortunate Church, attacked on the one side by the Raskol, and on the other by mhilism, seems, notwithstanding all appearances of prosperity, des- tined speedily to perish. Strangely should we de- ceive ourselves if we failed to see that these twin plagues of the contemporaneous Russian Church have developed, and continue to develop themselves solely in consequence of the absorption of the Church by the State ; and until a remedy shall have been applied to this fundamental evil, reformers will have accomplished nothing. Paris, AprU 1872. I:. TKANSLATOR'S PREFACE. Having, at an esteemed friend's request, read the original of this work, Le Clerge Russe, I concurred in his opinion that the graphic picture it contained of Russian ecclesiastical life and organisation was so instructive, especially in the present transition state of ecclesiastical thought and feeling in England, that to unveil it to English eyes would render service, albeit but humble, to the sacred cause of truth and progress. Inasmuch as the Author, whose work I have trans- lated, is a living Catholic Father as well as an his- torical writer of repute, I, a Protestant, felt bound, especially after being favoured with the Author's consent to the translation, to allow him, by a very faithful rendering of the original, to speak not only as an historian, but also as a Catholic. Two works of merit have recently issued from the press in this country treating on subjects closely connected with that of this work ; and from the pens of writers whose careful observation and wide I I f: If .= % VI TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. research invest their works with interest and entitle them to authority. The one is, The Patriarch and the Tsar, — The Replies of the humble Xicon, by the mercy of God Patriarch (of Moscow). &c. (London, Triibner, 1871), in which the Author, W. Palmer, M.A., of Magda- len College, Oxford, specially vindicates the charac- ter of the most eminent among the sufferers for spiritual independence in Russia. The other, The Pope of Rome and the Popes of the Oriental Ortho- dox Church (London, Longmans, 1871), in which the Eev. Father Tondini, Barnabite, so conclu- sively demonstrates the enslavement of the Russian episcopate, and so clearly traces it to its source, the will of the autocrat, as surely to deter all x\n- glicans from looking for union eastwards. That, with these two, the present work, by widening the field of facts to the eye of the ob- serving, may contribute to correct errors inherited from the past, and to form universally sounder principles of ecclesiastical polity in the future, is the earnest wish doubtless of the Author, and cer- tainly of the Translator. London, April 3, 1872. CONTENTS. Author's Preface to the English Edition Translator's Preface Introduction CHAPTER I. The White Clergy .... CHAPTER 11. The Black Clergy CHAPTER III. The Ecclesiastical Schools CHAPTER IV. The Bishops CHAPTER V- The Synod . PAGE • • • lU V I lO 5<=> 100 155 T98 '/.i ^ -I f I I |41 Il i m ifii r.r m THE RUSSIAN CLERGY. INTEODUCTION. The accession of the Emperor Alexander II. to the throne of Kussia inaugurated a new era for that vast empire. Since that event the serfs have been emancipated; the introduction of trial by jury with an oral and public procedure has completely reorganised the administration of justice; and territorial institutions have laid the first foundations of self-government. With these important and salutary reforms, however, we have not to be occupied. We confine our- selves to a single observation. Those inveter- ate abuses could not be touched without the discovery of others, and reforms already effected could not but open the path to new ones. Among those yet to be accomplished, one of the most important concerns the clergy and the organisa- B n I r: •K m ;f in 2 Introduction, tion of the Eussian Church. During the reign of the Emperor [N'icholas public opinion was little interested in the situation of the clergy. In connection with it many abuses were known to exist, but their correction seemed to be a matter of little importance. For some thirty years M. Andre Mouravieff alone devoted his pen to this subject ; but his chief object was to throw a veil over disorders unfortunately too real: he denied the abuses, not combated them. It is not so now. The laity, through the press, are allowed to make frequent attacks more or less clear and direct against the Eus- sian clergy, and the latter reply. A consider- able number of journals and ecclesiastical re- views exist, the chief work of which is to defend the clergy, but which, however, from time to time call loudly for reform. This pub- licity is quite insufficient, because of the very narrow limits imposed on the liberty of the press. When a question arises of abuses exist- ing in the administrative order, a sufficiently gi-eat latitude is accorded to the journals. By the aid of rhetorical precautions they were re- cently able to make a breach in the funda- mental principles of Christianity and of social order; but were checked when their efforts were directed against the clergy and church organisation. Everything touching on matters Introduction. 3 of this kind being subjected to ecclesiastical censure, it is almost impossible to carry on discussion on this ground. In this embarrass- ment recourse was had to the foreign press. In 1858 a very remarkable pamphlet was pub- lished at Paris on the condition of the country clergy of Eussia.* It contained harrowing de- tails on the abuses existing in the administra- tion of the dioceses, and in the establishments for the education and formation of the clergy. This pamphlet produced in Eussia a prodigious effect. Although its author took care to con- ceal his name, it was soon known that he was a poor priest of the diocese of Tver, named Belustin. The Synod was much irritated, and about to make the unfortunate writer feel the weight of its anger, when the intervention of l^L Bajanoff, the Emperor's confessor, sheltered him from all persecution. It cannot be doubted that this pubHcation had some influence on a decision taken by the Synod at the beginning of 1859. By the organ of the Chief Procurator of the Synodf all the bishops were invited to send to this assembly their opinion on the condition of the ecclesiasti- cal schools, and the means of improving them. * Onncauie cciLcicaro ^Jxcbchctbu— pjccKiii sarpauirmbifi COopHHKi, iv. Paris, Frank, 1858. t See, for the functions of the Chief Procurator, farther on> chap. V. I'.^i h It, '^! ill Ml r 4 Introduction. The bishops requested the advice of the rectors and superiors of the seminaries : these con- sulted the directors and professors ; the result was a vast inquiry, which in a few months placed the Synod in possession of a voluminous correspondence. A special commission was ap- pointed to sift it, and to draw up a scheme of regulation for the seminaries. This was laid aside, we know not why, and replaced by an- other commission composed of two rectors, four secular priests, and two laymen, imder the presidency of a member of the episcopate. In 1862 this commission presented to the Synod its scheme, which was printed in 1863, with the objections made by the two laymen, the proces verbaux of the commission, and se- veral other papers. The whole work was sent to the bishops, who were obliged to open a new inquiiy. Meanwhile, there appeared at Leipsic anonymously another work, on the condition of the clerical schools in Eussia.* From day to day the ecclesiastical question filled a larger place in the attention of the public and of the government ; and on the 28th of June 1862 the Emperor caused a proposal to be made in the Synod for an inquiry as to the means of ameliorating the condition of the * 0<5t. ycTpoiicTBt ^yxoEHbixi yHn.inqi vh poccIh. Leipzig, Wag- ner, 1863. 8vo. m Intivduction. clergy. A new commission was appointed, under the presidency of the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg. It was composed of all the mem- bers of the Synod, the ministers of the Interior, of the Domains, and of Police, of the Chief Procurator of the Synod, and the Director-Ge- neral of the Ecclesiastical Schools, Prince Our- oussoff, to whom were joined Count de Tolstoy, the Chamberlain Batuchkoff, and M. Demon- tovig. On January I7th, 1863, a paper of ques- tions was addressed to the bishops. In April of the same year sub-commissions were formed in each diocese, composed of the diocesan, the Provincial Governor, and the Director of Do- mains. These sub-commissions addressed them- selves, it may be said, to everybody for infor- mation ; and the result was the creation in 1864 for each parish of a species of churchwarden committee, which were also bound to seek the means for improving the condition of the clergy, i.e. for augmenting their incomes. We will not examine if the wide scope given to this inquiry did not conceal the intent to mar the work of reform. It is quite cer- tain that this great question was set down in the orders for the day^ and the government itself allowed that something must be done. The Press was thereby encouraged, and set if , '^i ff -i. 'I ^ U n 6 Introduction. itself more vigorously to point out the abuses it noticed in the clergy and in their schoulb. To these attacks replies came from different quarters, but seem to have produced but little effect. If one compares the course adopted by the Eussian govemmentj when it took in hand the emancipation of the peasantry, and that which it pursues on the present question, there will be no difficulty in becoming convinced that this double inquiry into the situation of the clergy and the ecclesiastical schools, must ter- minate in results much more important than one would at first sight suppose. There is among the Eussian clergy such a mass of abuses, and these so interlaced one with an- other, that the subject cannot be touched with- out revealing the necessity of a radical reform, and of a new organisation in the Church itself. The first thing to be done is to establish the existence of the evil, then to find the remedy, and to apply it. "Without doubt this question bristles with difficulties far otherwise serious than all those which the government has hitherto undertaken to resolve: but on the other hand, the necessity of destroying the abuses and effecting reforms is so evident that it is impossible to draw back. It must there- fore be admitted that reform will take place ; I hitroduction. 7 but how, and by whom, will it be brought about ? Will the Eussian Church be left to achieve this great work herself, — will she be allowed to assemble in council, or rather, will the government take it in hand ? 'Tis very natural that the Eussian clergy should display little eagerness to allow them- selves to be reformed by the civil power, and it is not for us to reproach them ; but we must say that the resistance they can oppose is by no means formidable. The government, herein agreeing with public opinion, seems convinced that reform would not take place if the task of effecting it were abandoned to the clergy. The efforts which the Synod or the bishops would make to be intrusted with this task would be considered only as a means of shelving the question. Besides, the Eussian clergy have not strength enough to contend with the go- vernment. Long ago it renounced all power of originating action, and abdicated all inde- pendence. Of the numerous causes of its weak- ness there is one which it concerns us to point out. The Eussian clergy is divided; in its bosom are two parties hostile the one to the other; the secular, and the regular clergy. The latter body, which consists exclusively of the monks of St. Basil, is in Eussia vulgarly designated t 8 Introduction. i I n k the Black clergy* probably because it alone uniformly wears vestments of that colour. By opposition the secular clergy are called the White clenjy,^ These designations being short and expressive, we deem it expedient to adopt them. The history of the Catholic Church reveals traces of a rivalry between the secular and regular clergy; but this in its most lively manifestations cannot be compared with the profound hatred with which the secular clergy of Eussia regard the regular. This state of things is due to several causes. Let us first point to the publication of an important work which treats on this question ex professo. There has just appeared at Leipsic, in the Eussian language, a book entitled. Of the White and Black Clergy of Bussia.X The au- thor, who has not deemed it expedient to pub- lish his name, shows himself the violent enemy of the Black clergy. It is true that he is not very tender towards the White clergy; that he unveils many grave abuses, the reform of which he energetically demands. But in act- ing thus, he does not show himself the enemy of these, and indeed 'tis their cause he pro- ♦ 'lepHoe AJxoBeiicTBO. f ^*-^^ jjiobchctbo. J npaBOc.iaBHOMi 6t.iOMi n nepnoMi ^yxoBoncTBt bi pocciii. Leip- zig, Wagner, 186G. Introduction. 'J fesses to serve. The book is at once a rude attack on the Black clergy;, and a programme of the reforms wished 1>y the White. It is impossible for us to adopt the point of view of this anonymous writer ; but his work contains revelations so curious and important, it touches almost all sides of the question with so much vigour, that one reads it with the liveliest in- terest. The situation of the Eussian clergy being but imperfectly kno^vn out of Eussia, we have thought it expedient to profit by this publica- tion in calling the attention of our readers to this subject. Moreover, it seemed to us to belong to a Catholic pen to correct the errone- ous ideas of the author, to indicate the real causes of the abuses, and the path in which must be sought the solution of the problem. For the sake of order we will successively treat — 1st, of the White clergy; 2d, of the Black clergy ; 3d, of the Ecclesiastical Schools; 4th, of the Episcopate ; and 5th, of the Go- vernment of the Church. B ,5 ■• CHAPTEE I. :t THE WHITE CLERGY. Ix the Latin Church celibacy is obligatory on all clerks in Holy Orders, beginning with the subdeacons. In the East a less rigorous discipline has long prevailed. There, as in the Latin Church,* once let a man enter Holy OrdeiB, he can no longer marry ; the Sacrament of the Order is an impediment dirimant to maiTiagef in the East as well as in the West. But if a married man present himself for ordi- nation he is not rejected, and is permitted to keep his wife. This custom is so rooted in Eastern manners, that when Eastern Churches * The Orders of the Roman Church, unlike those of the Eng- lish, are divided into Major and Minor; the latter embracing the Acolytus, Ostiarius (the door-keeper), Lector (reader), and Exor- cista (exerciser). The Major include the subdeacon, deacon, and priest with bishop. These last form the different degrees of the Sacrament of Order, are called holy, and cannot be repeated. Obligatory celibacy applies from the subdeacon upwards. (Trans.) ' t The impedimenta to marriage are, in the language of the canon law, either impedientia or dirlmentia. The former are those circumstances that make the marriage unlawful, but which, when it has been contracted, do not affect its validity ; the latter are those which render the marriage not only unlawful, but invalid. Chap. I. TJie White Clergy. 11 have reentered the communion of the Catholic Church and recognised the authority of the Pope, the Holy See has not exacted from them co^formity to the ecclesiastical law of celibacy. It cannot be said that this condescension to ancient customs involves any serious incon- veniences. I have seen close at hand Mji'iiw nite priests, who are generally married ; it is not rare to find among them virtuous men, ex- cellent Christians, and even very good priests. But it is certain that the population of the Lebanon is found amid conditions quite ex- ceptional. The inhabitants of a Maronite vil- lage would not understand a cure not being chosen by themselves, and would have much difficulty in taking as cure a stranger to their village. When the cure is vacant, they as- semble, and make choice of some peasant, some good father of a family, a good Christian, who has probably never dreamt of being clothed with an ecclesiastical status. They present him to the bishop, and if the testimonies in his behalf are satisfactory, if he can read the Syriac characters, he is sent to pass three weeks in a convent. He there learns to say mass, to ad- The union of a Catholic with a non- Catholic Christian, without previous dispensation, is an instance of the former (impedientia) ; the union of persons within the second degree of consanguinity is an instance of the latter (dirlmentia), (Trans,) i S h ■I 12 The Wldte Clergy. Cbap. I. \-i I t minister the sacraments ; and when deemed just sufficiently instructed, is ordained, and returns to his village to take possession of his cure. Amid these populations, simple and full of faith, such an organisation is possible ; perhaps, considering the state of the country, it would be difficult to substitute a better. In other circumstances this Avould be manifestly dif- ferent. We shall presently see that the orga- nisation of the married clergy of Kussia has no resemblance whatever to that we have just sketched. Among the Maronites themselves circumstances are being modified, and in pro- portion as the people lose their simplicity, it becomes a necessity to reduce the number of married priests. The bishops, doubtless, some- times have trouble in resisting the pressing applications made to them ; but, in many cases, it is necessary to know how to oppose an un- shakeable firmness to all solicitation. From what we have just said, it results that, in given circumstances, priests being fathers of families can indeed administer the sacraments of baptism and marriage, conduct burials, celebrate the holy mass, chant the offices, and hear a certain number of confes- sions, especially at Easter. But it is not diffi- cult to understand that, absorbed by the care of their households, by the education and \ Chap. I. The White Clergy. X O settlement of their children, they do not bring to the exercise of their sacred ministry the same zeal, devotion, and self-denial as those priests who are free from such cares. Take, for example, the case of hearing the confession of a person dying of some contagious disease : the priest celibate will go, as a soldier goes to meet fire ; but the father of a family — will he always have the courage to expose the lives of his children ? Nay, we ought not to expect to find in a married priest the same disinter- estedness as in a celibate priest. A man will much more easily encounter privations when he alone will be the sufferer, than when he must impose them on all those who are dearest to him. To go no farther, it is evident that a Church with no other clergy than married priests would present a gap, and would not be in a normal condition. Even in all the Eastern Churches, side by side with the married are found unmarried clergy — the monks. It seems to be admitted in these countries that, with exceptions more or less frequent, a celibate priest, that he may not be exposed to deplor- able falls, needs to be surrounded by all the aids the religious life affords; we mean, the probation of the novitiate, the saliitar} ) oke of vows, the observance of rules, the monastic •1 ! } :»! is r 14 The White Clergy, Cliap. I. i i4fi I'M I! m p III life, the vigilance of superiors, and the most multiplied exercises of piety. There are, then, in the East, as in the West, two orders of clergy; the one secular, the other regular. In the Latin Church both are bound by the law of celibacy ; in the Oriental the secular clergy arc in general mamed, and with few excep- tions all the celibate priests make profession of the religious life at the same time. One very important consequence of this organisation is, that, in the East, most, if not all, of the bishops are drawn from the regular clergy. Following the discipline universally admitted in the Eastern as in the Western Church, the bishops are bound to celibacy. If, then, the clergy are married, the bishops must be taken from among the monks. It is easy to understand that this organisa- tion gives to the regular clergy in the Eastern Church a preponderating influence and author- ity ; by the very force of things, the secular clergy is, with regard to the regular, in an inferior and subordinate position. Let us not forget the fundamental cause — the root of their inferiority — their marriage. Let us return to the Eussian Church. In it the distinction between the two classes of clergy, the Black and the White (regular and secular), has always existed; but we do not m Chap. I. Tlie White Clergy, 15 see that in the past there has boon any strife between these classes. This fact is easily accounted for. The situation of the White clergy had formerly in Eussia more than one feature of resemblance to that of the Maronite clergy, as above sketched. All instruction, in- telligence, and vitality in the clergy belonged to the monks. The married clergy had no kind of study; the accomplishment of their functions, the care of their households, and the necessities of life, w^holly absorbed them ; it never even entered their minds to contest any matter with the monks, w^lio ruled every- wdiere. The anonymous author of the book On the White and Black Clergy has vainly la- boured to discover, before the creation of the Synod, traces of the hostility by which these two clerical classes are to-day mutually ani- mated. All he has been able to cite are one or two insignificant facts. But the condition of the Eussian Church is no longer what it was in the time of the old tsars. Peter I. did not confine himself to suppressing the Patriarchate and rei)lacing it by the Synod. He overturned the organisation of the Church to its foundations ; he eff'ected in it a true revolution.^ His successors have ♦ On the liability of the Russian Church to revolutions, see chap. iii. of Tondini's The Pope of Rome and the Popes, kQ, {lyans.^ I 1 - [t i ♦I I 16 The White Clergy. Cliap. I. continued his work ; the old canonical law has been swept away by the Spiritual Regulation* and the old customs by a multitude of ukases. Neither the government of the dioceses, nor the mode of collation to bishoprics and cures, nor the conditions of the monastic life, nor theological instruction,— nothing escaped the blind brusque rage for reform which planted more abuses than it uprooted. In the midst of so many subversions, the situation of the White clergy could not fail to be profoundly altered. So, indeed, it happened. It under- went a radical transformation. From all time there had been in Eussia priests who were married and had families ; but their children were perfectly free not to embrace the eccle- siastical state, and the clergy were recruited from all classes of society. To-day the son of a priest or deacon is destined by his birth to enter the clerical ranks; it is an obligation from which he is not permitted to withdraw himself. The son of a nobleman, of a mer- chant, of a citizen, of a peasant, who wished to be admitted to Holy Orders, would meet with insurmountable obstacles, t It is this strange and deplorable state of ♦ On the * Spiritual Regulation' an interesting analysis is given farther on, at chap. v. f This applies only to the White clergy. Chap. I. The White Clergy. 17 m things which the Moscow Gazette* lately desig- nated as ' Leviteism,' and which it pointed out as one of the plagues of the Eussian Church. Nothing is more true. Peter I. and his suc- cessors, with the complicity of the Synod, made of the clergy an hereditary and close corpora- tion — a caste. It is allowable to suppose that they did not propose to themselves such a re- sult ; but still it is necessary to see by what series of measures, by what chain of usurpa- tions and iniquities, they arrived at it. The creation of seminaries was the first cause of it. The ignorance of the clergy be- ing complained of, a decree was issued for the founding of ecclesiastical schools. These re- mained deserted. The clergy were then ordered to send their children there ; and as these did not go by any means willingly, they were taken there by force — sometimes even loaded with chains. Here we see an application of the prin- ciple of gratuitous and compulsory instruction. The ukases of Alexander I., pubKshed in 1808 and 1814, declare that all the children of clerks, from the age of six years to eight, are at the disposition of the Ecclesiastical ^ciiuui department.*!" * MocKCOBCKifl BtAOMOCTii (dally newspaper published at Moscow, the chief editor of which is the celebrated Mr. Katkoff). f npaooci. Ofe.i. ii 'lepn. ^yxoB, torn. ii. p. 355. ■ri ft- I * si 18 The White Clergrj. Chap. I. At the same period military colonies were organised, and the chikben of soldiers were incorporated with the army under the name of Cantonists. It was a veritable application of serfdom. If peasants were attached to the cultivation of the soil, the offspring of priests and deacons could well be so to the service of the altar. "When once the Synod or the State had been at the expense of the children's edu- cation, it seemed just that they should wish to be indemnified for it. The seminarists had no other prospect than that of entering the ecclesiastical state. In order to pursue any other career, they needed a special permission, which was very difficult to obtain, and almost always refused. When by this means a number of eccle- siastics in proportion to the disposable places was secured, it would seem that the prevail- ing rigour could have been relaxed. Nothing of the kind ; but, in order to put the children of the clergy in safety from an unpleasant competition, obstacles were multiplied to other classes of society gaining access to the sanc- tuary. In this way the creation of an here- ditary clergy was in a very short time suc- cessful. The sovereigns decreed these things, their ministers proposed them, the members of the Synod sanctioned them, and the bishops h Chap. I. The White Clergy, |3| 19 Hitherto we have met with nothing witnessed them, but said nothing. We should be glad to find in history any trace of a pro- test, to catch the cry of one indignant con- science, of the sort. This is not all : marriage before ordination was licensed ; it was now made obligatory. It seems, at least, that the seminarist, obliged to be married before receiving Holy Orders, must be free to choose his companion. But priests and deacons have daughters for whom settle- ments must be found : hence arose a prohi- bition from marrying out of the caste. There are some bishops who even do not tolerate their clergy marrying out of their diocesan clergy. The principle of inheritance once laid down, its consequences flow spontaneously. For ex- ample, here is a country cure who has built a house on land belonging to the Church. He dies. His successor wishes to take possession of the parsonage ; but the son or daughter of the deceased claims the house, which form.s part of his inheritance, and a law-suit follows. The case has presented itself more than once ; the legislator has interfered ; and, to reconcile the interests in conflict, an ukase of January 22d, 1768, permitted the diocesan authority to assure the vacant cure to him who shall 20 The WJtite Clergy. Cliap. I. i espouse the hairess of the deceased priest, or to reserve it for the son yet under age. iiere, then, is inheritance as applied to the collation to cures ; here is seen how the body of legis- lative enactments issued by Catherine II. and Alexander 1. ended in making of the clergy an actual close corporation, an hereditary caste. Can one, after this, speak of a vocation ? Can one expect that, in a clergy recruited in this fashion, thero will be many priests penetrated with the sacredness of their status, acquitting themselves of their duties with devotion, zeal, and self-denial? It is a trade, and, more- over, a trade which has not been freely chosen. Good reason has M. Katkoff to ask for the destruction of Leviteism ! There is in Eussia a sect called I^'ihilists, who deny everything and believe nothing. The existence of God, the immortality of the soul, the future state, the fundamental bases of so- ciety, marriage, property — they reject every- thing. Nihilism is rapidly spreading in the universities ; but if we may believe the 3foS' cow Gazette^ it has committed still greater rav- ages in the seminaries. Can any one figure to himself a Nihilist clothed with the sacerdotal character? We well know that these gentle- men have a profound aversion to the ecclesias- tical state, and that in presence of their ener- Chap. I. The White Clergy, 21 getic remonstrances it is absolutely necessary to allow them to embrace another profession. Crowds of young persons are also now seen deserting the seminaries and academies for the benches of universities, or to enter on the career of instruction. But is not this fact it- self a clear proof of something vicious in the hereditary organisation of the Eussian clergy ^ The hatred of the IJTiite clergy for the Black dates from the day when it became a caste. The frequenting the seminaries con- tributed much of it ; but this feeling was de- veloped 2)ari passu with their esi^rit de corps. Besides the diocesan seminaries, there are in the Eussian Church at Petersburg, Moscow, Kieff, and Kasan, what are called ecclesiastical academies. These are houses for high studies, kinds of Faculties of Theology. Hither are sent the best scholars from all the seminaries, and hence issue forth the elite of the whole clergy. Usually, the youths arrive there with- out having taken on themselves any engage- ment ; but, in the course of their studies, and especially in the last year, there are a certain number of them who adopt the religious habit. These see the path to ecclesiastical honours open at once before them. On leaving the academy, they rarely fail to be at once nomi- nated prefects of studies in a seminary ; they 22 The White Clergy. Cliap. I. afterwards become superiors, rectors, priors, archimandrites, bishops. Those of their fel- low-students who preferred to marry and re- main among the secular clergy, can aspire to no such advancement. They have before them no other future than the hope of obtaining a cure, or rather of becoming embassy chaplains. The number of these latter, however, is very limited. It remains, then, that, with very rare ex- ceptions, power, fortune, honourable distinc- tions, are on the side of the monastic habit. The pupils of the academy who have preferred to be married soon find themselves burdened with a numerous family ; their incomes are in- sufficient, and they have little hope of improv- ing their position. On the other hand, the diocesan government in Eussia is, it is true, confided to the bishops ; but these exercise their authority only through the medium of a venal and teasing bureaucijiicy, from which the cures have much to suffer. It is, there- fore, not at all astonishing that the rivalry begun on the benches at school should do naught but grow. It is not only rivalry and jealousy which separate the two classes of the clergy; there is a sufficiently great difference in their modes of viewing things. Chap. I. The White Clergy. 23 If one said that the White clergy have Protestant tendencies, and the Black clergy Eoman, he would not express himself exactly ; but, in comparing the Eussian Church to the Anglican, one would say that the White clergy somewhat resemble the low- church, and the Black the high-church party. The former has a Presbyterian cast, whilst the latter defends the rights of the hierarchy. What we have just advanced can give an idea of the war these two classes are waging. The Black clergy seems master of all the im- portant positions ; people do not forget to cry aloud that it is all-powerful, that it oppresses the White clergy. In fact, the bishops and the monks are reduced to defend themselves, and do so ill enough ; whilst their adversaries have boldly taken the offensive, and will doubt- less stop only when they shall have reduced the Black clergy to nothing. They have al- ready won impoi;tant positions. The embassv chaplains were, down to the beginning of the present century, taken from among the monks, a practice affording great advantages. To-day all, or nearly all, are secular priests. It is the same with the military chaplains. The Emperor's confessor is a married priest, and a member of the Synod, as also the Chaplain- in-chief of the Army and Navy. Hence the i I :i; 24 . The White Clergy. Chap. I. i I White clergy are assured of two voices in the bosom of the assembly which governs the Rus- sian Church — two very influential voices, be- fore which the majority is often compelled to bow. These conquests do not satisfy its am- bition, nor will it think it has gained anything until admitted to the ranks of the Episcopate. This is the aim of all its eftbrts ; but it is a point not easily carried. Never have married bishops been seen in the Eussian Church. To introduce such an innovation, it were neces- sary to trample under foot all tradition, the popular sentiment, the canons of the Church ; but nothing can stay the prosecution of the / White clergy's designs, and it is possible it may ultimately reach the goal. To accustom the mind to such a result, permission is be- ginning to be given to some married priests to wear the mitre. It adorns the brow of two members of the Synod, of M. Wassilieff*, ex- chaplain to the Eussian Embassy at Paris, and of three or four others. At the head of this party public opinion places M. Bajanoff*, the Emperor's confessor. The opposite party was headed by the late Mgr. Fil- aret, Metropolitan of Moscow,* whose old age * Born in 1782, Filaret died November 18th, 1867. See Bio- graphie Universelle of Didot (Paris). His death was accompanied with mournful incidents, which may be found in contemporary correspondence. Chay. 1. Tlie White Clergy. or was attended by the universal esteem of the whole empire, and whose personal iuhuence in the Church whilst living was undeniable. But he once dead, the Black clergy found itself deprived of its firmest supporter in the resist- ance it is opposing to the enterprises of the White. It is the Bajanoff party which has broug] if to light the works we cited above. They are published abroad, because the ecclesiastical cen- sorship exercised by the monks would by no means permit them to pass. But the govern- ment has no motive to hinder their circula- tion, and we can believe they regard them without displeasure. Generally, it may be said that, in the con- flict it is waging with the Black clergy, the W^iite has on its side the government, the opinion of people (ever increasing in number) who have lost all religious conviction, and the majority of the journals. The great strength of the opposite party is in the people, and in the fear that exists that the ranks of the Staro- veres'^ would thicken, should too flagrant in- novations be attempted. * Staroveres (CiapoB-fepu), literally n to be doubted; but so strongly rooted is fbo contrary custom, that in the whole 1 Church not a single bishop would be found to imitate Mgr. Filaret's example. We have not heard that this prelate has himself followed his own lead, and made a second ordination in the same circumstances. However, it cannot ho doubted that among the young men who finish 30 Tlie White Clergy. Chap. I. Chap. I. The White Clergy, 31 their theological studies in the ecclesiastical academies, there are some who would ask no- thing better than to be ordained while remain- ing unmarried, and making no profession of the monastic life. By what right is it required of them to clothe themselves with the bonds of marriage ? This is one more question ask- ing for immediate settlement, which can be only on the side of liberty. How can one help seeing the immense ad- vantages of creating a secular celibate clei^jy^ holding a middle place between the married and the regular ? We would not begin Iby giv- ing to such priests country cures. Why not em- ploy them in seminaries and in the academies? Let some of these establishments be confided to monks — there is no difficulty in this ; but why should they all be? That the married clergy should be excluded from these houses is perfectly understood ; but why extend ex- clusion to secular celibate priests ? I go far- ther. When a celibate priest shall have arrived at a certain age, and given proofs of solid vir- tue, he should be set over an important parish in a large town. This result once obtained, nothing would prevent the settlement near him of younger priests equally celibate, who should live with him, and, profiting by his experi- encCj exercise themselves in sacerdotal duties. After having passed a few years under the di- rection of older priests, these young men could be set over less important parishes. Finally, from the ranks of such clergy bishops could be chosen, and the unmixed advantage gained of not recruiting the Episcopate exclusively from the monks. The existence of this intermediate clergy would contribute much to extinguish the hos- tility which now reigns between the White and Black clergy, and it would at the same time be a new barrier against Leviteism. In a word, on whatever side one views the question, one sees only advantage in breaking away from a routine which nothing justifies, and in leaving aspirants to the priesthood free to choose be- tween marriage and celibacy. The author of the book On the White and Black Clergy would wish that priests who become widowers might be authorised to contract a new marriage. We need not stop to point out that this would be a very grave infraction of ecclesiastical law, an innovation involving the most serious in- conveniences. Without speaking of the pre- scriptions of the canon law, who does not see the very great difierence between a married man clothed with the sacerdotal character, and a priest in whom mothers and their daughters might see a matc\ or who himself, among the !^ 32 The White Clergy. Cbiip. I. Chap. I, The White Clergij, 33 young people with whom his functions biing him in contact, might look for one to whom he could offer his heart and hand, and pay his courtship ? In such a situation, what would become of confession ? Let us pass on. Of all the reforms which the sad condition of the White clergy claims, the only one which is discussed with a little heat in the press, the only one to which the public and the govern- ment seem to attach any value, has for its object to ameliorate their situation; in other terms, to increase their revenues. In our eyes this reform has not the importance which they attach to it. There are many others more urgent; but yet it is necessary to say a few words on this. Let us begin by showing the pecuniary re- sources of the White clergy. Adopting our author's figures, these are the results we ar- rive at. For greater clearness, we convert the rouble into its near equivalent, 3^. 2d. We do not take into calculation the stipend allotted to the chaplains of prisons, hospitals, hospices, gymnasiums, schools, &c. In speaking of chap- lains for gymnasiums, colleges, schools, &c., we conform our language to French usage ; it would be more exact to say catechists. Our author recognises that in general all these ec- clesiastics are liberally paid. The less favoured \ J fulfil, at the same time, other functions. We are then concerned only with the parochial clergy properly so called. Here are their incomes : 1st. Perpetual foundations, with obligation to pray for the departed. These are in state funds, and yield a return of 4 per cent. Their amount is not stated. 2d. nouses and properties belonging to parishes, and chiefly in towns. Under this head there is a revenue of 100,000/. 3d. Provision paid by the treasury, 600,000/. 4th. Contributions of the parishioners, com- prising the casual also. Our author estimates that they should amount to 4,000,000/. That makes a total of 4,700,000/., to be distributed among 36,000 parishes, giving for each parish 131/. 12,5?. In Eussia the clergy of a parish regularly consists of a priest, a deacon, and two clerics discharging the duties of sacristan, beadle, finger, lector, &c. The total revenue is distributed thus : to the priest, the half; to the deacon, the quar- ter ; and the remainder to the two clerics. The income of the cures must, then, be rated at 65/. 166'. But, as for 36,000 priests there are only 12,444 deacons and 63,421 clerics, the incomes of the priests are increased by a fifth, and reach, on an average, 83/. More- *ii - , .- 34 The White Clergy. Chap. I. Chap. I. over, eacli parish, possesses a minimum of 33 hectares; which gives, according to the same calculations, au average of 20 hectares, the usufruct of which belongs to the cure. The quantity of land assigned to the clergy in many parishes is much more considerable. In pro- vinces so fertile, the true granary of Eussia, known under the name of the Black Lands, it is not rare that the cure's share rises to oO, 40, and 60 hectares.* In such a parish, on the banks of the Oka, the meadows assigned to the clergy yield for the priest's share 40/. Else- where the Church possesses considerable woods- and forests ; but this is an uncommon case. Our author maintains no less that the condition of the Eussian clergy is profoundlj^ miserable. This is hardly credible ; but, sup- posing it to be true, it is in lessening the ex- penses, not in increasing the receipts, that the remedy for the evil is to be sought. If the priests were not married, this result might be easily attained. Suppose the cure unmarried, and you will recognise that the state and the parishes largely supply all his wants. I shall perhaps jbe answered, that the discipline of the Eussian Church permits the Eussian cure to marry. I grant it; but if he profit by the * In the governments of the centre are found parishes pos- gessing 100, 200, or even 1000 hectares. / The White Clergy, 35 authorisation that is given him, and incur pe- cuniary trouble thereby, he can blame none but himself. I do not see that the faithful should be obliged to provide for the mainten- ance of his wife and children. And the less so, because, if celibate, he would have more time to devote to them, would catechise the children, instruct the ignorant, visit the sick, and be indeed the pastor of his flock. Even admitting the existence of a married clergy, it is not necessary that it form an here- ditary caste. The caste once abolished, no- thing would prevent the daughters of cures marrying decent farmers, the sons learning a business and settling in the village. Here, at one blow, is a riddance of many expenses. These are reforms to be proposed. Mean- time, is it true that the parish clergy are so miserable ? As is easily understood, the re- venues of the clergy in the towns, and espe- cially in the large towns, are much more con- siderable than in the country. At Petersbui^g they are greater than in the provinces. Let us begin, then, by seeing if the cures of the principal parishes of the capital are in distress. Here is the information furnished by our author, to whom the subject seems very familiar : The cures of Petersburg have not to trouble 36 The White Clergy, Chap. I. themselves about their dwelling: apartments are gratuitously provided for them, such as could not be rented for less than 160/., 240/., or 320/. per ann. The furniture is from the first shops of Petersburg. Eich carpets cover the floors of the drawing-room, study, and chamber ; the windows display fine hangings ; the walls, valuable pictures. Footmen in livery are not rarely seen in the anteroom. The din- ners given by these cures are highly appre- ciated by the most delicate epicures. Occa- sionally their salons are open for a soiree or a ball ; ordinarily it is on the occasion of a wed- ding, or the birthday of the cure, or on the patron saint's day. The apartments are .then magnificently lighted up, the toilettes of the ladies dazzling; the dancing is to the music of an orchestra of from seven to ten musicians. At supper, the table is spread with delicacies, and champagne flows in streams. A Peters- burg cure recently deceased loved to relate, that at his daughter's nuptials champagne was drunk to the value of 300 roubles (48/.). In the provinces they are more modest ; yet the towns try to imitate the capital. The rooms of the cure are here less splendid; the furniture, however, is chiefly of walnut and mahogany, and includes large mirrors, carpets, and often a piano. The cure's daughters are Chap. I. The White Clergij. 37 dressed by the milliner of the place ; you will always see them attired with elegance ; they do not discard crinoline, and never go out with- out a parasol. The cure himself wears cloth, silk, and sometimes velvet ; and our anonym- ous friend jovially informs us that the reverend gentleman gives at his parsonage soirees and balls, at the latter of which the daughters of priests dance with the young men of the semin- aries, to the great scandal of the superiors of these institutions. Let us carefully recollect this word, which escapes our author in spite of himself; it is to the credit of the seminaries, and consoles us by permitting us to hope that this clergy is not completely lost. The country cures are evidently far from leading such a life as the urban. Yet it ap- pears that for the last twenty years it has not been rare, even in the villages, to see the wives and daughters of priests display over their crinolines no longer merely modest dresses of cotton, but of wool and silk. They wear mantles, burnous, and small Garibaldi hats. It is very true that they sometimes divest them- selves of this attire to labour in the fields. It is also true that their table-fare is very mod- est ; they do not eat meat every day, even on the days when they are not requii^ed to ab- stain. In many Eussian villages this is a real I 38 Tlie White Clergy. Chap. I. Cliap. I. The Wliite Clergy, 39 necessity, and our author strives in vain to move our pity for the fate of these poor cures. From this description it evidently results, that if they are unfortunate, it is because they com- pare themselves to their brethren of the large towns, especially to those of Petersburg. If, on the contrary, they would compare them- selves to the peasants among whom they live, they would be obliged to confess that they were better lodged, better clothed, and better nourished than their flocks. Our author says that it is painful to be bareheaded when one accompanies a dead body to the cemetery, or follows a procession, and that it is very dis- agreeable to confess rude and ignorant people. These complaints give us the measure of im- portance to be attached to them. Besides, who, then, must be held responsible for the ignorance of the peasants ? Who would be bound to instruct them, if not the cure ? Let us remark, again, that, in spite of the very severe laws which oblige every Eussian to con- fess every year, it is rare that one has to hear more than half the persons of an age to fulfil this Easter duty. Too often it is only the fourth part, sometimes even the tenth. As to confessing more than once a year, it is a fact almost unheard of, especially in the country. The anonymous writer farther adds : ' The J cures are steeped in humiliation, and exposed to incessant and vexatious exactions on the j)art of the diocesan authorities.' This is an- other question, and a new proof that, even to better the material condition of the clergy, it is not sufficient to add to their revenues. We saw just now that the clergy of a Eus- sian parish regularly consist of a priest, a dea- con, and two clerks. Two-thirds of the parishes have no deacons ; they do without them very well. The others would do Avithout them in like manner. The presence of the deacon gives to the services more solemnity and splendour, an advantage the importance of which I appre- ciate ; but I put in view the 400,000/. which these 12,444 deacons cost Eussia, without speaking of the thousands of hectares which are allotted them. It seems to me that they are rather dear. Still, if these 12,444 fathers of families, their wives and their children, were happy ! But it is not so. By the very force of things, the existence of the deacon is a pain- ful one. His situation is false, subordinate; he has before him no future ; his wants are almost the same as the priest's, while he has only the half of the latter's resources. The character with which he is clothed forbids him the exercise of many professions, without open- ing to him access to the laborious practical 40 The White Clergy. Chap. I. functions of the ministry. His office ended, the Church has no farther need of him. To recite every Sunday an indefinite number of ehtenias^ is not enough to fill up the life of a man. In the Catholic Church, the Mass is sung with deacon and subdeacon. The deacon is also employed in solemn offices ; but, instead of maintaining a deacon who could render no other services, they prefer to have a second priest, who aids the first in all the functions of the holy ministry, who replaces him at need, and who at the altar acts as deacon whenever it is necessary. I do not see why something like this should not be done in the Eussian Church. It is true that the deacon could fill the office of schoolmaster ; but, on looking: closer into the matter, one will soon be con- vinced that the more practicable thing is the suppression of deacons in the parishes. Beside the 12,444 deacons, the Eussian Church still possesses G3,421 clerks, who dis- charge the duties of readers, chanters, sacris- tans, beadles, and ringers. -f* They form part of * Ektenia, from €kt€p^s, extended^ signifies an enlarged prayer. It consists of short petitions, each followed by the response from singers ftnd people of ' Lord, have mercy,' or * Lord, hear us,' or * Grant us, Lord,' as in the Litany of the English Episcopal Church. {Trans.) t All these inferior clerical degrees are comprised ur der the generic Russian term prichetniki (npiiMerHHKH), from npHicTi^ clergy, retinue. Chap. I. The White Clergy. 41 the clergy, take part of the perquisites, and, farther, are enrolled in the caste. As the figures show, there are ordinarily two clerks to a parish. Their maintenance costs 600,000/., or 9/. 106\ per head. Each has, besides, four hectares to cultivate, and creates resources from cows, pigs, poultry, kitchen-garden, &c. Sometimes they follow a trade, as that of a glazier, bookbinder, &;c. The Eastern Liturgy is extremely long, and if the reader read in an intelligible man- ner, the whole day would be passed in church. Eespect for ancient tradition permits of no retrenchment; on the other hand, it is not wished that the Mass should last more than an hour, and the other offices in proportion. To accomplish this, the reader reads with such a volubility, that it is impossible to understand anything ; and sometimes, in order to proceed still faster, two read at the same time different parts.* And then they come and reproach us * One hundred and fifty yaars ago, Peter the Great, in his Spi- ritual Begnlation, remarked that, *The very clerics, by discharg- ing their duties in a perfunctory manner, have originated and established a custom of double praying and singing, and even of giving 5^ irrfl/ readings and chantings at the same time; so that the morning and evening prayers, divided into sections, are per- fonned by several persons concurrently. And whereas this inno- vation, the fruit of sloth, is vicious and uttierly opposed to God's appointment, such a mode of discharging the divine offices is to be entirely abandoned.' Spir. Reg. part 11. Common Affairs, Ix. {Trans.) 42 The White Clergy, Cliap. I. •Chap. I. The White Clergy. 43 with celebrating the Mass in Latin, in a lan- guage not understood by the vulgar ! The first reform in this matter would be to abridge the offices, to retain only that which can be read and sung with edification. One clerk alone would then suffice, and he not ne- cessarily selected from the children of eccle- siastics. Besides, I see no reason why a lay- man of good life and manners should not be taken to do the work of a clerk. He might have a trade ; he might be a shoemaker, or a tailor, no matter what. Except on holidays and Sundays, he would have little to do at church. He would not take his share of the perquisites, nor of the lands of the church ; but he would receive a fixed salary. When the cure became dissatisfied with him, he would discharge him and take another. Let us here remark that the G3,000 families of these clerks form the great majority of the caste, and that it is of great concern to subject them to the jurisdiction of the common law. These reforms once made, there would probably be no incon- venience in the parish clerk becoming at the same time the village schoolmaster. It would, however, be necessary to clearly lay down that there is no connection between these two em- ployments. It now remains for us to say a few words on t the more or less voluntary contributions of the parishioners, and the mode of collecting them. We first notice a species of tithe paid in kind. Towards the Feast of St. Peter each house gives from three to five eggs, and a little milk, with which cheese and butter are made. In autumn, after the gathering of the crops, •each house gives a certain quantity of wheat. When a child is bom, the priest repairs to the house of the mother, recites over her a few prayers, and gives a name to the new-born babe. This service brings him a loaf, with 2df. or 4rf. ; the baptism from ^d, to 1^. more. Six weeks after, new prayers bring him a dozen eggs. At betrothals the priest receives a loaf, some brandy, sometimes a goose or a sucking-pig. Marriage costs from 8 to 16 francs (6^. M. to 13^. 4c/.); interment, from 3,9. Ad. to 65. M. The fee for Masses for the dead is from Is. 2d, to 2^. 8d ; the prayers recited for the dead (an oft-repeated practice) bring each time from 2d. to 4:d. Now there is a sort of Be profundis^ and now a Memento. When these prayers are read at the cemetery, which takes place every year on certain days, the peasant gives the priest some rice, a cake, or some pastry. Frequently the peasants have a Te Deum chanted as a thanksgiving for some favour received, or a supplication iV>r some 44 The White Clergy. Chap. I, Chap. T. The Wiite Clergy. 45 new gifts from God, or simply on the occa- sion of their birth- or name-days, or in some other cii'cumstance. Each time they give the priest from 46/. to M. It is a custom in Kussia j that the penitent, on receiving absolution, gives money to the confessor. In towns this sum frequently rises to 4.s'., 85., and 16.s., some- times to much more. In the villages the pea- sant offers only 4 centimes (a kopec^ about ^d.) ; but on receiving the communion, he i& obliged to renew his offering several times : for prayers before communion, at the moment of communion, after communion, and for having his name em^olled, &c. During the Masses collections are made, and a portion of the sum assigned to the clergy. It even sometimes, happens that the priest, arrayed in his sacer- dotal ornaments, traverses the whole church, the censer in one hand, and the other open to receive the offerings of the parishioners. Another source of revenue are the prayers- chanted at home in every house in the parish. This takes place at Easter, at Christmas, at the Epiphany, at the beginning and end of Lent, and on the patron saint's day, which is repeated in certain places twice or thrice a year. Our author cites one of his friends^ who assured him that the clergy of his parish, in St. Petersburg, in this way presented them- \ selves to him as many as twenty-seven times ; but he regards this case as an exaggeration or an exception. Generally, they come, says he, no more than fifteen times. At each visit the master of the house must give something. At Petersburg, and in the towns, these prayers bring sufficiently large amounts; in the vil- lages they give, according to the importance of the day, 2f/., 4(i., lOcZ., Is. ScL, or 2^. 6c/. ; which, on the average, amounts to 7^. 6d. or Ss. per year per house. We have no means of verifying these figures, and arc obliged to give them just as we find them in the anonym- ous Avriter, who, as we have said, seems per- fectly well informed, and more inclined to lessen than to exaggerate the resources of the White clergy. Following him, the voluntary contributions should be estimated at one rouble, or Ss. 4rf. per head, reckoning only the male population. This makes many shillings per family. We must, however, include in the reckoning baptisms, marriages, interments, and in general everything for which the peasant pays to the clergy. Sometimes it happens that the peasant can- not or will not give what the priest asks. Hence arise angry disputes. One priest — so runs the story — unable to overcome the ob- stinacy of a peasant refusing to pay for the 46 Tlie White Clergy, Chap. T. Chap. I. The White Clergy. 47 prayers read in his house, declared to him that he woukl reverse them. He had just before chanted ' Benedidus Deus noster^^ he now intoned ^ Non Benedidus^ xox Deus^ nox nos- ter-^ thus intercalating a non after every word. The affrighted peasant, the chronicle says, ^ instantly complied.* Often enough, too, in spite of all the prohibitions of the Synod, the wives and children of the priests, deacon, and clerks accompany their husbands and fathers, and stretch out their hands also. The worst of all this is, that the Eussian peasant, while long disputing merely about a few centimes, will think himself insulted unless the priest accept a glass of brandy. And when the cir- cuit of all the houses in the village has to be made, though he stay only a few minutes in each, this last gift is not without its incon- veniences. It must, then, be recognised, that if the revenues of the clergy are far from being as insufficient as is pretended, the mode of col- lecting them admits of improvement. A re- form is necessary, but it will be difficult. On the one hand, the clergy will not renounce * The superstitions pervading a great part of the Russian peo- ple might form matter for a volume, and indeed we have been told that a dictionary of Russian superstitions was published in Russia in 1782, To check their influence and growth, several articles are inserted in the Russian Code of Law. {Trans.) this source of revenue ; on the other, it is im- possible to convert these voluntary contribu- tions into compulsory imposts. A system of tariffs might perhaps be introduced, at the same time making the people understand that by this regulation no new charges were im- posed, but only a change made in the mode of collection. In completing this picture of the situation of the parish clergy in the Eussian Church, and of the reforms which it imperatively de- mands, it is impossible for me to pass by in silence a reflection which here presents itself. I by no means desire to become the champion of the Protestant clergy. As to the Catholic clergy, I know very well that, notwithstanding the grace attached to the sacerdotal character, the infirmity of human nature is sometimes revealed by many miseries. In the Catholic clergy there can exist abuses and disorders: these have been, and still are, more or less, ac- cording to different countries. Without going far for examples, the joy we feel from the mar- vellous transformation wrought under our eyes in the German clergy must not make us forget the tears wiimg from us 50 or 30 years ago. I admit it ; but in spite of that, I do not believe that there is in the Catholic Church, ur even in the Protestant churches, a clergy fallen so low j^ji^g^^fg^g^jg^ii^^^if,^ 48 The White Clergy. Chap. I. Chap. I. The White Clergy. 49 as the Kussian, and \7hich answers so little to what we might justly expect it to be. This unhappy clergy appears to have reached the point of self-persuasion that all its duties are fulfilled in chanting the offices. As to making Jesus Christ known and loved, or pointing out to souls the way to tread in His steps, it does not even dream of such a thing. The salva- tion of souls redeemed by Jesus Christ at the price of His own blood concerns it not; its thought goes not beyond a few formalities un- derstood after a Jewish fashion. Now, let us very loudly assert it, the fault is not in the individuals. I am convinced that the clergy counts in its ranks well-disposed men, good men, who profoundly sigh over the situation made for them. Where, then, must we look for the root of the evil ? In the vicious organisation of tlie clergy ; in this obligation of marriage imposed on all the aspirants to the priesthood — an obligation unknown to the canonical law of the East, and which has re- sulted in making the clergy an hereditary caste. There are yet other causes, doubtless, of which we shall have occasion to speak ; but here we would above all call attention to this grave abuse, so fertile of disastrous consequences. May these few pages impress on those who can apply a remedy to the evil, how urgent it is to enter on the path of reform ; how neces- sary to prevent the White clergy in Eussia being any longer an hereditary caste; and finally, how desirable it is to create, by the side of the married and the Black, a clergy secular and celibate. In view of these enormous abuses, we can only desire the adoption of the reforms w^hich we have just sketched ; but a reflection con- fronts us. Who will execute these reforms ? The Eussian Church, had it the will, has not the necessary authority to cause their adoption. Will the government? It would evidently transgress the limits of its sphere and trespass on the rights of the Church. This shows the radically false situation in which the Eussian Church is placed, and proves to us that it is outside herself and outside the government that she can alone find a remedy for the evils which ruin her. We reserve to ourselves to examine hereafter this aspect of the question. CHAPTEK II. THE BLACK CLERGY. We read in the Gospel that one day a yuuug man accosted onr 1. 1, and asked Him what he must do to have eternal life. 'Kee}^ t!u rnmmau.liiients,' replied the divine Saviour. Ill that magnificent discourse addressed to ]li- Apostles after the Last Supper, our Lord said unto them, * Tf ye love ILo, keep my commaii 1- iiiuiitb ;' ' He who keepetli my commandments, he it is that loveth x\ie.' (John xiv. "^I^ 2^) Jvii 1 at the moment of His ascension, He pro- nounced these solemn words : ^ ^^. 'ii^^nict ail 11 itiuns, teaching them whatsoever 1 have com- manded you.' (Matt, xxviii. 1^. i^O.) ' Keep the commandments ;' here is the la^\ , here is that which is rigorously neces- sary to insure one's salvation. !» it, bL;^idus the commandments, the divine Legislate r lias mven men counsels : ' If thou \\ ill be perfect,' said He to the young man who quesi ntd TTim. *sell all that thou hast, and give In thf -uui\ and come, follow Me.' (Matt. xix. liL} I h- 1 i^. iS n 1 - 1 '1 •1 4 ' A. Chap. II. The Black Clergy, 51 This is not a commandment, a law binding on all Christians ; it is counsel given by our Lord, a means of attaining the perfect life. Because the counsel i^ ii t addressed to every one, it is not, therefore, to be euneluded tliat *t is addressed to ]i*> one; Ijc^eause it is liul ubiigatury, it does iiul follow that 1101113 ouglit to f^ulf^w it. .VlwaiVb, evorvwhoro. tliere iuna: been, lliero are, tiH.-re will be Siails wjioni Chh! ralis in tlio wav nf Ills euuiiSfis ; ahva\-s, e\aa'v\\iaa'te tlua'o { he are, thei-f have been, iliere \vi will re^Oiaal to tliib ea!L aiitl wlie wiH ieel sucli re^iiunse to be for iiiein a necessiav. Sueli buuts \-erv fiuioklv loarii liiaK o> -nutunn to tlio I'ouil^ia^ iM i -V f S ur. Wax'x iiiu>t Diakt em i 1 U i I t lit i lie . iltiiee tlir rellirioil:- lile, '\\\\\l its A'ow's ^A ]i re '\'rrl\a chastit\a aial obedii-iiee. iuundatioii el' this Iviiai mT iile ]•< lio- i Terty, therenuia-iation nf all personal ornpertw ^ria- UtoTiiaii iV>i!ies niToiirniaiiisiii iia\a' :-l]nw]L t. us ihat a society euiild lae Ih) based on tiie reniin(aa,tinn of par-ional ])rupcilv wilhout tii«* concurrent renun- eat it a I ofmarriaa^eaia iainily: Inaa't- tiie tow of ehastit-\a La:sti\a ovorv ao- ciety necessarily supposes m its bosom an au™ thoritv to Triiieb its -niombers nin>t submit: lienae ike VOW of obedience. W^e lierc indi- cate uiilv ill their c:eneral features tho funda- d I 52 The Black Clergy. Chap. II, mental bases of the religious life. Before formulating counsels, our Lord says, 'If ye will be perfect.' Poverty, chastity, obedience, are, then, means of attaining to perfection, root- iiiii uui the three principal sources of our mi^- t:ik 'S and our falls: the love of av -iI^l Hip love of sensual pleasure, and pride. Our T rl. when Inlding the young man in the Cxospel • ^ell that thou hast,' addb, ' cuinu J ana nn .w ^fo.' To follow Jesus Cliii-t is to 1 C n tread in His steps, to imitate the exainjles He lin- u:n-«'!L us. V*\ Va^ vows of povertv, chaNtitv. ami ubcdi'iice, t]i<' religious inan imi- tate- Ji-us Christ, treads in TTi- Mfu-. Our Saviour ^mnt about doing gonr]. TTo nrayorl, buttered, preached, instructed the ignorant, ju r- mittod little children to approacli llim. ^ur^- cuuivd tiie miserable. The reli^riuu- undca\nur fn iiinfafr TThn. None ofthnn r-an 'l^^^ a at unco. buuie give themselves lu ilie cuuleui- plative lif a some to the active, some unite both, bumu piupose to employ tlmunsulveb in f spiritual mercy, others in lliose of AVur: s 1 i teiii)Hnil: Lunce the varietv of orders and in- stitutions. X la ni these orders is indi-i usable to tla^ Chureli; \et there would be some loss to tla^ ni]]if>^cj ofr-liuri-h iiff^ and notinn. \X \\\x^ rtityious eleni' ilil lU Ue L '^' ii waa'G to be suppressed. %\i i €bap. II. The Black Clergy. 53 Besides, what earthly authority has the right to say, 'Henceforth no one shall follow the counsel of Jesus Christ' ? If thus of the Church iii lt la lal. still less ui tilt- Oriental riiuivh ran tla.: i.li-i be auter- taina-l of till' tlestruction of tlir raligious state, wlajin, hv \arniG of a diMaifiliua in iluaa' tor eouturR.>, u 1- almost uniquely auinug t]u. re- iii^ion^ that celibate priests ara fnuufl. and the iutiieK;i>i uT the Episcopate can, ha rianuited. Bv this donbl(^ lit la, liw ivliirions in Ww East •exeiNUse a giaaUer i,utiuauaa tiiuu ekcwlieru, and jiaid alan'o a position of mora afajsideration. .A.ii ihm perfectly a; n dies to tha liussian (.'liua'rh. Let us farther a,dJ, rliiit ti'tan all tun,c the ainiiks have beau >in^Uia]iv unijular in liu>:-ia, E\-ia'y j)age nf Jiistury hilars wit- ness oi' it, a.iitl indeed tliis |H.i|)U,laiat v ]nu>t have beC' unr di'-ah- I'outed, sinac' it iam sur- ■vr\"eu. tiie defaaleure id' ua,)na.nlaries. 'ilit; aair- ried laae^t, ui\ to einnlux- tlu^ w^-ual in euinnion use, tlaj pope, is nut ]Mj|)ular; the pope's wile and <-!iiidren are still less su. Xtuwiilistanding all tla.' aiaaik retains tia,.^ ta"\"(air nt' tla^ iaitli- i'uL This popularitv m e\ani to da\a weakened t'h.uuirh It be. Ids only fi)i'ee. his (juIy jajwtua Till' aii-avna.)Us author uf the liuuk on Tlie White arid Black Clergy, hlmded ij}^ his preju- diaes, luis understood nothinir of all this. He 54 Tlie Black Clergy. Cliap. IL seriously quotes Le Juif errant (Wanderiiig Jew) J Le if audit (The Accursed) j and other works of the same kind. After this, is it as- tonishins: that he should LiixuLi'stand nothing of the religious life ? He sees in the "nii--i:m monasteries only two things — riches and ubuiLo. The riches he exaggerates, and concli iLs ii the necessity of confiscating them, the iibu;^^.- he describes, not for the purpose 'iliaiitit' ivpulai*/. Tlio latter, filled with ada iralinn at sight c i tlie immense basilica, a^kod tlio prt-lato if it woidd not be possible to erect such an i-diiU-v in America. ^Wliv not?' ropliod i!a- Bi-lajp, who was unwilling to wound hi.< naaiuiud }ai^lo. ' And do you think that ono would realise interest from tlie capital?' i ani\ St. lAder's at Eome iHiraunnL,: to n oompaiiv iiav- ing a dividend to the ^haraliuldi/i^ I Wlien ii\rarv "Mngd'done poured on tho fcot of the Saviour a costly pciiume, having bruken tho alabaster box which cnntained it, tlio^e present, seeing her prodigality, nnirniurid against her; but the divine Saviour k It nlitl her. And so with the gold and sih tr, tia liiu pearls and precious stones employed in tlie adorning of the churches. There is no i]{\ i bl- ment of money here; but a sensible witra ss of the faith of populations, who give ui tliiir abundance to increase the splendour of worship and the magnificence of the temples of the iJod they adore. It is true there arc circumstances wlwii the clergy can and ought to sacrifice even the aBffgyM8«>^!M ;Mmni«iair '^'**^--' ' i W I ^^ t i 56 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. consecrated cups in order to relieve the neces- sities of the suffering members of Jesus Christ; but from this it cannot be inferred that we may confiscate these treasures. What finance minister would dare to propose for signature to the Emperor of Eussia a measure, before which Peter I. and Catherine II. checked them- selves, and on which Biren himself was unable to resolve ? Let us then leave on one side the treasures laid up in the churches and sacristies of the monasteries, and speak of the revenues and properties of the monks. All this wealth was confiscated more than a hundred years ago by Catherine II. The history of this confiscation is curious. It has been written with greater care than clearness by M. Vladimir Milutin, whose work was published from 1859 to 1861, in the Memoirs of the Antiquarian Society of Moscow.* We will make a few extracts from tlii> document. In ancient times the clergy enjoyed great ; ! liiuiiLties, which, without having ever been sanctioned by general legislation, were the result of special privileges and charters ac- * 'IieHia B^ H.MnepaTopcKOMT) OCmeciB-fe HcTopin h ^poenocTeii p(XN ciiicKDXT, npii Mockobckomt. yiiiiBcpcuTeT-fe.-IIoBpeMeHnoe iiaaaHie. Mockbu, B^ ynnBopc. Tanorp. 8vo. Milutin's work bear^^ the title of hba- Bn/KiiMbiMT> HCMJinecTBaxi ^yxoBencTBa b^ pocciii-ii.uc'feAOBanie Bjn.iHM. MftiiOTnna, in the No. of Oct.-Dec. 1859, et seq. \ Chap. II. The Black Clergy. 57 corded to each monastery. These privileges display great variety. Generally the iroods of the clergy were exempt from taxes; th ir administration exclusively ntl^nigiii i » tii^^ liiunasteries or to the bishops; justice was ad- ministered therein, not by the reprosoiitativrs of the prince, but by those of tliu te Ht -i a-tu al authority: so that the ecclesiastical ih inaiiis formed almost independent states. Ail the public powers, including the Khans of the •t- iden Horde,'* contributed to create this state of things. Eeaction began to show IIm li in tlie sixteenth century, under the ia>i i i of the house of Kuric. Against tla xrt oTowth of the wealth of the clergy thev i-.ures which were not applied in all acus ave 1 < » O J\ llil rigour. W Ixcn one thinks of the circumstances which brought about and accompaiiuii th« ac- cession of the Eomanoffs to the throne, one* is led to conclude that this dvnastv oiighi to have testified to the clergy the liveliest grati™ tude and the most unbounded confidence, it has been quite othi aavise. Tbu young Miaiiul • * A son of the Mongol Genghis Khan became m 122^ the first governor of the province lying between the Dnieper and the Ural eter wa'^ first levied on the revenues of each convent, and handed to the mtuk^ : tlu bur- plus was applied as the luell-being of the Church and country demanded! Sometimes the same motives engaged the sovereign to dispose, not only of the revenues, but also of the proper- |,V^ l]^Pi^^ selves. Thus vast ecclesiastical do- ih ns were granted to Menchikoff. Peter liatl ^i,,.^.o.]|t of giving to the monasteries peiu^ion- ers— the invalids of his army, and convicts who were old and infirm, maimed or mad. The in- valids, convicts, and monks received the same rations. The reforming tsar complained of the ignorance of the monks ; probably for this it was that he harshly forbade them to liavo in their cells pens, ink, and paper. Moreover, none could be admitted to the religious pro- fession without an imperial ukase. When the dynasty of Komanoff became extinct in the person of Elizabeth, the crown passed to the dynasty of Holstein Gottorp. Peter III. had nothing to do but renew and confirm the acts of the Komanofls in order to conbummate the confiscation of ecclesiastical property. The measures which he |)rivs( riljed excited no less the lively discontent oi the clergy; and it was one of the grieYaiiees 3i 60 T/ie Black Clergy. Chap. II. brought against him at the revolution which deprived him of both throne and life. Scarcely had Catherine II. deemed her authority suf- ficiently established than she took up the pro- ject of Peter III., and by her ukase of Feb. 2Gth, 1764, seized on all the ecclesiastical lands. There was no resistance except on the part of Arsenius Matseievich, Archbishop of Eos- toff, who was degraded in 1764, and, con- fined in a narrow prison at Eevel as a vml (or dotard), died there in 1772. Wo note farther, that in a ukase relating to the same subject, and dated Aug. 12th, 1 7f^? (the revolution which had put Catherine i I . on the throne had taken place June 28th of the same year, and Peter III. died July 6th), the tsarina said she received from God, as did all monarchs, the chief authority in the Church. Upon the vast domains confiscated in 1764 there was a population of 910,866 peasants, without reckoning women.* They were in- stantly taxed 1 rouble 50 kopecs (5s.) per head, and the first year brought to the crown 1,366,229 roubles, or 227,705/. On this sum the state levied 403,712 roubles (67,285/.) for allowances to the clergy, and thus profited by * Two -thirds belonged to the monasteries, one -third to the bishops, to the cathedrals, &c. Chap. II. The Black Clergy. 61 160,420?. Soon after, it was felt necessary to increase the tax on the rents of tbt j on^nntrY. In 1772 it was 2 roubles 70 kopecs (9^.), and in 1783 3 roubles 70 kopecs (12^. 4^.). In proportion as the charges on the peasants be- came heavier, the crown revenues became ni ire considerable. In 1783 the confiscated wi alili brought 3,370,000 roubles, or 541,666/. 1 - . 1 /^ We know not to what sum the state receipts ac- cruing from this head can now amount. Let us say only that the allowances to the orthodox clergy figure, in the budget for 1865, for a sum of 5,806,210 roubles, or 967,701?. IZs. 4c7. We may hence conclude that the confiscation of 1764 has not enriched the treasury, but has^ placed it face to face with the growing com- plaints and exigences of the clergy. But all this concerns the past : the ques- tion is, how much the revenues of the convents now amount to. Our anonymous author does not give us the exact figure, which, besides, is not known. An approximate idea can, hov.- ever, be obtained by passing in roview different sources from which they are These are state aid, immovables, as fisheries, mills, meadows, forests, arable lands, &c. All other means of income can be comprised under thf ti rm alms. Let us examine in detail these different resources. J, 1 1 * * •^-ifn^mmm"'-^ tl i 62 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. The ukase of February 26th, 1764, was not confined to the confiscation of the goods of - ^ clergy; it suppressed the greater part of til,, convents. Those which were preserved were divided into two categories : the con- vents state-aided, and those which were not. The first category comprehends monasteries of the first, second, and third classes. Among the first-class convents are seven more im- portant than the rest, denominated Stawopegia. Above and beyond these three classes are four great Laures : that of the crypts at Kieff ; that of St Sergius, or of the Trinity, in the environs of Moscow ; that of St. Alexander Nevsky, at bL. Petersburg ; and, finally, that of Potchayeflf, in Volhynia, taken from the United Greeks The state-aided monasteries receive an an- nual allowance which may be regarded as a sort of indemnity for the confiscated wealth ; but it is plain that this allowance is far from representing the value of the property taken. In a monastery of the first class this aid is thus divided : The archimandrite . vicar treasurer . Eight priests, at 13 roubles Four deacons, >) >> » B. 500 50 25 104 52 K. I ! €hap. II. The Black Clergy. 68 Two guardians, at 10 roubles . A baker, a housekeeper, and eight monks, at 9 roubles . . . . • Five overseers of infirmary, at 8 roubles . Lay employes : writer at 19 roubles, and twenty-four servants at 9 roubles ; sup- plementary, 55 roubles Maintenance and repair of church Keep for horses ^V ood-f uel Hospitality Eeer and brandy Total . = £336 bs. R. K. 20 99 40 290 400 62 50 150 100 125 2017 50 A monastery of the second class receives 1611 Toubles 90 k. (268/. 145.); a monastery of the third cla^s, 670 roubles 30 k. (Ill/, lis. 4rf.)* An official report of Count Protassoff for 185U gives us the number of the monasteries of each class, which enables us to estimate the amount of the aid. Thus we shall have 39 convents of 1st class . 65 „ 2d 113 -. 3d J) 5> 5> Total R. K. 78,682 50 104,733 50 75,743 90 259,199 90 = £43,200. It is true that in 1842, in the western pro- * Silbernagl, Verfassung und gegomdrtiger Bestand sammt- llcJcer Kirch^Ti des Oriefits (Landshut, 18G5), pp. 133, 134. ^^0iiirmsmsi^^- ,m^m^mm^ * ^'m» ! m M M»--'»»^'M«fesK-^";''B«o»W" > *»ta- -sj-ww— jii-fssft-**""---? lit J' f 64 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. vinces, the allowances were more considerable. Here are the figures : Convents, 1st class, 3185r. ^ £509 12^. 2d „ 2220 R. = 355 45. 3d „ 1540R. = 246 85. 99 which makes, supposing in a convent of first- class 30 monks, more than 400 francs per head. It was very necessary to pay for the apostasy of the United-Greek monks turned orthodox in 1839. We have in the first chap. (p. 33) spoken of the perpetual endowments, invested in state funds at 4 per cent, assigned to the clergy, with an obligation to pray for the departed. This sum amounted to 64,000,000 roubles (10,240,000/.) ; giving a revenue of 2,560,000 roubles, or of 426,666/. 13^. Ad. \\ c know not what share of this revenue goes to the regular clergy. It ought to receive at least the half of it. After the confiscation of 1764, the state again allowed another kind of indemnity to the convents. They had lost their serfs; in order to replace them the state sent into each oi thi ^tat -aided monasteries a certain num- ber of peasants, for indoor service. They were obliged to li e there twonty-five years, after which they returned to their villages, and were replaced hx others. The-e servants wort- gra- 'I? Chap. II. The Black Clergy. fi ;» tuitously furnished by the state, to the num- ber of twelve for convents of tlie third class, fcc\(ii,teen for those of the second class, aii.l l\>r tho rest in proportioii. At tJii? eiiiaiicijtatieii of tlic serfs in 1861 tln' uu\a,?riiiiieiit rii!:litlv judged tliat it was time to piit an vim tu aii ordi 1 of things which too mucli iccaui I tlit ci / - vee^ and the convents have since tla ii r < < ived Ub indemnity a sum of 307,850 sii\( r ruiildes (51,308/.). By adding, then, the two state sub- sidies together, we shall have for th^^ iiiniias- teries for men, B. 259,199 307,850 K. 90 Total . . 567,049 90=-- £94,508 which does not appear exorbitant, if it is con- sidered that the maintenance of the orthodox clergy figures in the budget of 1865 for the smii of 5,806,210 silver ronljlis (!m]7J01/.). Let us now pass to th i: ■ After the ukase of 1 7 ^ I %. •■ i inn mon- asteries could no longer 1 <-r-s land- inhabited I>v })ca^an.ts iHinnd to thv ■■-nu ; leit tlivy re- ta:nu.M,l lir-iKi'u,:;-. mills, meaduw-, wouti-, arable lands, and tliey have the riglitto aaqn„ire tiiein. Tliu >taa;- ii-^rii unve tdieni, and ci^ntinuc^s Xo give tliem fi'oni time tu time, properties of tins 66 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. kind. On December 18th, 1797, the Emperor Paul published a ukase which accords thirty hectares of\:.w\ to all the convents subsidised ur not. Duiu^ twenty years, from 1842 to -jQi-i^ ji'Q r-n-n vents received i''.-^. i licotares; wii'!: .!i au average gives 1'^'' hectares per convent . h\ 1 S58, 1240 hectares of wood were allotted to the Laure of St. S rgius, Moscow. Tne twenty- f-^;r convents of the pi ovince of Nuvguiud possess 9641 hectares. In 1861 the convent ^f ?aroff, in the government of 'iaiii- boff, felled uuOO hectares of wood. The mere gum gathered from the resinous trees of the forests belonging to this convent has been sold for 1920/. From all this we must conclude that, spite of the confiscation of 1764, the Eussian monasteries still possess im- movables of sufficiently great value. But the bulk of the revenue of these houses comes from another source. The Russians freely give to the convents, and the generosity of tli Russian people is every moment soli- cited b) inventions the most varied and in- genious. The rich and great are fond of being buried within the precincts of the monasteries; and these places are sold ;it vory hieli } rices, luo interments, the prayers requested to 1h> " 1 at the tombs of relatives, bring lo tlic v. -o IV handsome sums. Begging Bro- i/i 11 r Vi i i Chap. II. The Black Clergy. 67 thers traverse all Eussia gathering alms. In the densest thoroughfares, in large towns, on roads, are sometimes seen chapels, or oratories, in which nu Mass is said, hut sdirii/ YviK-v-itvil image stands exposed, T frlHll u\ the ^iaii I'lcoplr, and lau'li if V, .lup^ visitor there purchases a wax-taper, some money into the hex. The images repiitrl miraculous, as also the relics of the saints, arc uiduiaiily in the churches oi the conToiits where they attract enormous crowds, and n > oiic cuines empty-handed. Some years ago tla^ ^yii "^ nised a bishop named Tychon. 1]^ a soleijiii lruii;Dier of his« rolir^. which is equiva- lent to the ceremony of canonisation, drew to- gether 250,000 persons. It is asserted iliat the laure of St. Sergius receives every year a ■miflioii of pilgrims. The celebru.jd image of 0111 ianh of Iberia, which is exposed in a chap! II it against the walls of the Kremlni at jI jscow, belongs to the convent of Pererva. it is ( stimated that the receipts of this chapel in 1843 amounted to 16,000/. According to the Gobs'' (1865. Xo. 283), flie sinde laure of St. Sergius has a reveniii^ <'f at least two millions. That of the Cryifs at Kiaii 1^ ai^u extremelv rich. Onr unonvnions author accumulates a great number of quota- * ro.iocT) (Petersburg daily newspaper). • ' m^-mmnimfi mmi i iwi i i' 68 TJie Black Clergy. chap. ii. tions and figures, in order to show with what skill, and often with what astuteness, the reli- gious spirit and credulity of tTi- Un- -lan pou- ple are worked ui^uu by ilie m.i k^. \N • arc inclined to think that ii' 1hese estinuito. tn- lo is some exaggeration; Lui it is difluuii \o re- fuse aU credence to what o- ■ Mit^-ri- rrlatos. "Wliat nse is made of all these n.li' - ' Are they employed in missions, in the rclu 1' .t the poor hi founding hospitals, schools, colleges, iii. varies? We can boldly reply, that hnt a very small part of the revenue of the cuinvnt ^ has tHs destination. Itis a notori..r,< fu t'M : thore is mneh lunnv. Jn takmij; the average of the expense of mainuiULing tiie iiinnks. their n.'*\"icefe, and thoir as|a,ra]it<. at Inij roubles (say lOL ^ an.d uspirauts, who li\'e .in the Enssian fonTent>. von will at onre au'ive at tlie \a;]'\- respectable ligure uf ijOOOjOOO rian !)h^. (jy I6O5OOOZ. At first this appears con- b.uhjral).h„' : but divided by 10,000, it i< a \a,.e.'}- small nnittar. T.et us even admit tluit tlie suin ba dtviiiilcd, what mrri aiinain the of the ('un\ant- would consent to live on 32/. nor aniruni r 'We do not think the eun.\a.'n.n'' iv Ui^ -o rieli as our anfa.iyna.jnr, author wuuJ.d wish to |)er- snaik' lis ; l.ait snppose thcan Uj be so, dis nut there that the evil lies. If tlio (o^nnnnnitydile were c^vervwhen^ introdneed, if the superiors were sukjeeted thereto as the others^ if they »«« ■ I f 70 The Black Clergy. Cliap. II. CO aid misappropriate nothing of the revenues for themselves or for their relations, it would not be difficult to find a useful pui^ose for the resources of the religious houses. Yes, schools are doubtless wanted m Kussia, hos- pitals, hospices, orphanages, :i-\]iims for the aged, and many otiicr guud iLing^^, but in-tfatl of suppressing the monks and confiscating their property, so act that they themselves may ur- ganise all these useful works. They can do it better and more economically thau bureau- cracy. * The right of property will be respected, and justice will suffer no hurt. The real scandal consists not in the greater * What, without bureaucracy, may be done for the poor is finely shown by a Catholic religious Order known as the ' Little Sisters of the Poor,' whose founder, the Abbe le Pailleur, still lives, and whose whole life and labour are devoted to the feeding i. i nurturing of aged poor of both sexes and of every denomination. The Order, numbering between 800 and 1000 sisters, has in dif- ferent countries the management of more than 150 asylums, shel- tering over 15,000 inmates. The sisters' resources are limited to the free-will offerings of the charitable, given in response to daily applications at private houses and the public markets. The gifts from private houses consist of broken victuals, stale but clean bread, &;c. At the markets the sisters good-humouredly submit to various receptions, and shrewdly take advantage of them, as re- cently seen in Covent-garden, London. In reply to their appeal, a rough market-gardener ironically bade them *take that there sack of potatoes,' and was astounded to see the sturdier < f the two eagerly shoulder the sack, and bear it off amid the laught. i if the bystanders. It would be to the credit of the railwav c iii- panies if these carers for the poor were permitted u i;a\ei i; e. {Trans.) fiabh "'"•" • "'"I" ' " " ' I iiiii T i ii ii w- i mi ii rtf i ii i ii i n i iii ' Trir I ' Hi iili' Wiijuaii III! n» iiiiiiiil,i» ii >«l" !■»■ *VI»l ll * li i l«|ll l l lllliril| l liia «l mm m mmm Chap. II. The Black Clergy. U or less revenue that the convents can haye, but in the bad use made of it, imd above ail, in the fact that this money >i r\ i s to enrich the superiors. Here i- tlii- vxil ti) he uprtHjti^d. Now Eussian legislation, iai iiuin ui>]MKiiiix, encourages it. What the anonymous author of the book on tli.' White and Blaelv f']j:'Vii:\\ imd tlie ineii who have inspired him, wish, is sinipl} tu (k>poil ilw celibate f-UTLi'v of the alms TOf'vJTod Irom the people, in order tu aid the t^ah'i-uxpunses of ilic wives and daughters of ilio iriarriiMl priests. Let them at least have the couraui to ^ay so. Before speaking of abuses, let us glaiK i ;it tlu) situation of the monasteries in Eussia. All are reputed to li\e riiider tiu' nilr ui St. Basil. They are not s n nil si 'mI aiiiniitr tiii'iii- Sfives as to form one uv bc\"rr:tl ('uiiirrt^u'atiuiis. Formerly it was not so. Tht-iv wvr.; largi^ monasteries, to whicli wuru aililiated a -I't/ator or less number oi other convents, iii di r the miardianship and Niiisdietion of f } '\ 1. it,.- ccaitral ■abbey. The laure of fct. Sorgiiis Iiad iV)rty liuii>es in its dependeuce. Tliesc Halutary bunds iiiadi- Hir- strength of the moiiustic Order; they ^'^^■'^'■' ii iximvimtee for ilu: niaiiitenanee of dis- cipline. In proportion, as tiie hand of tlie State iia^ been extendiMl over tlie tehuroln and has I t I i i I I i I ii - I • 1 I 1 I* ■ I 72 The Black Clergy, Chap. II. taken away her independence, these bonds have been broken: the monutoluncb liave heen iso- lated, and hence have resulted also tlirii wi al > n{'<> aihi decay. 1 he action of the state has made itsi if Alt ill vri tiib^Uivv ia:5iiion. l^a•liit■r]\' ilw cimwiit^ wciv vrvy iiujn.eroiis. Tii 1761., wltluAit rci-k- oniTi^- l.iitlf Russin :ni>i "White \l w ire still liiii'-C 732 convents of men 222 .. "women 9> ;}= 954 The iikase of Catherine II., which confiscated the property of the clergy, enacted that there should be thenceforward only 361 convents of men 39 ,, women 99 ;}= = 400 This was the suppression of 554 convents. Tiittle by little this rigour was obliged lu be relaxed, aial ever since the number of convents has been increasing. We have been able to procure the follow- in? fienres : 1810 1815 l-,a) 1836 l^nr 1838 Total. . . 452 387 convents of men, 91 of women, 478 408 „ 101 „ 509 410 >, 102 „ 512 412 „ 103 „ 515 435 „ 113 „ 548 99 » $ Chap. II. 1849 1850 1860 The Black Clergy. 73 Total. 462 convents of men, 123 of women, t)bo 464 614' 123 137 99 The following: nvv tli gious of ImjIIi ^eXi--, (Ios-iHiients:| tiirur*^'^ of tile nii- to tlie same ',,-' ',:]•! ill i ( r Total. 1815 1818 1835 1836 1837 1838 1849 1850 4900 monks, 1696 nuns. G" ). If 4396 4432 5703 6724 5105 4978 3161 2544 2655 2352 2595 2313 77 77 6976 8358 9076 7 7i>0 7«!i i 1. i. Till se figures present strange anomalies. must hr kept in yi^w tTirit thr iiiuiia-ti-^ru-b ut' the I iihd Greeks, incorporated in 1 bo in an reckoned as part c^f thn liiissiiiii l nureh iii 1838. This ex|»laiiis the siukleii ille^^;a^^e of lUUO monkb in uiii.^ vi'ar. Already in tlio pre- * We offer no explanation how the convents for men rose in the ten years 1850-60 by 150. f These documents are : (a) Mgr. Filaret, Archbishop of Kharkoff, recently decea t 1 at the see of Tchemigoff; HcTopia pyccKOii I^epKBU. Tchern. Ix-, period v. p. 130. {b) Fath. Theiner, L'Eglise scliismati/iue JRusse, pp. il ". 1 1 7. f" (c) The Official Reports of the Count Protassoff for 1 ^^i) au 1 ^ 1851. (rj) The aiH'nyiiioii^ author of the liuok un the "Uldtc and Black Clergy^ xol, i. ['|'. li-^s 13 1 o. J jB iiii^BiMa&^ g &liiaMgaHKf^^ mmm 74 TJie Black Clergy. Chap. II. ceding year there had been an inexplicable in- crease of 1200 monks. We may suppose that they were United Greeks taken from their own convents, and incorporated into the Eussian convents. But these unjust acquisition^ have not profited the Eussian Church ; twelve years afterward there remained nothing of this mo- mentary increase. Alas, if these monks could rise from their tombs, and describe the manoeuvres, frauds, vio- lences by which they were successfully made to appear in the report presented by Count Pro- tassofi* to the Emperor Nicholas ; if they could tell us by what accidents they successively dis- appeared from these sad lists,! Did Siberia receive them ? Did death deliver them ? "We cannot tell. We see only that these figures suddenly swell, then melt away like an ava- lanche which is precipated into the valley, and quickly disappears under the rays of the sun. In the figm^es we have cited let us point to another anomaly. The male religious are al- most thrice as numerous as the female. An- other document gives us the number of per;suns of both sexes admitted to the religious profes- sion from 1841 to 1857, during a space of six- teen years, the year 1848 being excluded: Men "Women 4147 1569 }= 5716 Chap. IL The Black Clergy. 75 The proportion between the two sexes is still almost the same. But if we take into our calculation the novices of the two sexes, the male and female aspirants, in a word the whole population of the cloisters, v i shall obtain different figures, as we shall ea>ih .{■>(' folio win <]r table : \-/ Total. 1835 . . 5739 men, 6411 women, 12,150 1836 . . 5978 „ 9271 „ 15,249 1837 . . 7163 „ 6089 „ 13,252 1838 . . 8339 „ 6385 „ 14,724 1861 . . 10,527 „ — VV.iich gives the following proportion: Men. Women. 1835 . . 47 per cent, 53 percent. 1836 . . 48 „ 52 1837 . . 54 „ 46 1838 . . 56 „ 48 „ That is to say, that the female population of the cloisters is very nearly equal to the iiirilo. It results, then, from the figures, that in tlie convents of women, the number of iiOYiec- roid postulants is much greater than that ui ilic professed. Professed. Novices. l^yteL 1835 . . 3161 . . 3250 . . 6411 1836 . . 2544 . . 3727 . . 6271 1837 , . . 2655 . . 3454 . . 6089 1838 . . 2322 . . 4033 . . 6385 76 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. Professed. Novices. Total. 1849 . . 2595 . . 5825 . . 8420 1850 . . 2313 . . 6230* . . 8543 We think we find the cause of this anomaly in a ukase of Peter the Great, which forbids admission to the religious profession to all wo- men, immaiTied or widows, under 40 years oid.f Hence it is that many young persons live in a convent and share the life of the professed whUst waiting to attain the age for professing. This waiting is sometimes prolonged for twenty years or more. After a delay longer or shorter some make professions, others return to the world, others still continue to live in the cloister without taking the vows. It is not, after this, astonishing that the number of those termed nnvices and aspirants should be more consider- able than that of the professed. Finally, the table already laid before the reader presents a third irregularity, for which ^p liavp found no explanation. How happens it that in 1836 the number of the professed falls off all at once by 617, whilst that of the aspir- ants increases by 477 ? The next year, on the contrary, the number of the professed increases by 111, and that of the aspirants decreases by * The number of the novices and postulants in the convent* state aided Is given only for the years 1849 and 1850. f Eussian Code, ed. 1857, torn. ix. art. 250. M^ ^-^4' ^33^s^^«^i'Ea«^(lfi,g*-*-ip«(ii^ * ! Chap. II. The Black Clergy, TJ 273; and the year after we see 333 less pro- fessed and 579 more aspirants. 1836 1837 1838 Professed - 61 7, aspirants + 477 + 111 „ -273 -333 „ +579 » » }> Is it not the violent reunion of the T^nitc^d Greeks which is the cause of these stranire flu - tuations ? We have seen that in takinsr into accoiiiit novices and aspirants of both sexes, tln^ ( i^ii- vnit^ of men and those of worn ii iHit aliiiuvt ilio same number of inmates, il ur ihitlKi examine these figures, we bliail see that the monks and nuns are not recruited from tlie same classes. From 1841 to 1857, n^ wv^ liavc already remarked, 4147 men and ISiiU \\a - men were admitted to the religious proiVs^aiL Let us see to what classes of society both be- long. We distinguish five difi'erent classes — ^the clergy, nobility, lu'ban population, riiril po}) il- lation, and the military. Under the term clergy figures the whole caste of ^iliieli wo have hitherto spoken, viz. priests, deacons, deiies, with their wives and children. T^t Tirlnlitv we mean, besides the nobles properly so (ailed, idl government eniployes, including physicians. professors, and in general all persons belong" ^ * } i -. ! u 78 The Black Clergy. Chap. IT. ing to the liberal professions, or who occupy a post m the administration. The urban population comprises merchants, dtizeiis, artisans, and all who are in Kussia un- derstood by the term raznotcMntzy.'^ To the rural population belong the peasants of every category. Finally, under the name military we take into account, with the soldiers, their wives and children. These explanations being given, here is the proportion in which the monks are recruited from these different classes : 54*3 per cent. Clergy 2253 Urban population . . 944 Eural „ . . 684 Military 141 :Nrol)ility 125 22-3 16-3 3-4 3-0 ^ ?> J? j> >> * paaeonnnnti, literally men of different categories (paano, razjw — MHHi, tchiti). Tchin = ceremonial, order, rank. By tcliiii is meant also the ladder of ranks introduced by Pe- ter I., and which subordinated nobility of birth to that of service. Here ancestors and parchments were made to count for nothing. This civil institution was intended by Peter to weaken the old nobility, and at first consisted of sixteen ranks, but afterwards was reduced to fourteen. Of these, the first eight conferred heredi- tary nobility, with all the rights and privileges enjoyed by the old ; to the ninth and tenth ranks only personal nobility was awarded. Men of merit were by Peter introduced into any rank he deemed proper ; but Paul I. ordained that the rise of all men should be gradual, and taken strictly through all the steps of the ladder successively. Pvecent municipal modifications have made hereditary nobility more dependent on the Tsar's will, as also the rights and privileges of that which is personal. See, for further information, Schnitzler (J. H.), V Empire des Tsars au point actv el dc la Science, Paris, 1866, tom. iii, seconde section, chap. 1, La societe politUiue ; etat pHricijpal, constitution,^^. 280-290. {Trans.) 1 . k Chap. II. Tlie Black Clergy. 79 For the nuns we have these figures : Urban population . .608 . . 38*8 per cent Eural „ .492 . . . 31-0 „ Clergy .... . 213 . . 13-0 „ Mobility .... . 190 . . 12-0 „ . Military .... . 66 . . 4-0 „ Thus the majority of the monks belongs to tlio ^ tribe of Levi,' whilst only one-eighth of the nuns comes from its ranks. The reason of this is very simple. We have seen that all the mem- bers of the Episcopate are taken from among the monks, ilere is the motive which engages a good number of young men, at the close of their theological studies, to renounce marriage and adopt the religious habit. Nothing like this exists for women. There is, then, among the monks a whole category to which there is nothing analogous among the nuns. The difference between the 4147 monks and the 1569 nuns is 2578 ; it nnswers very nearly to the figure 2263, which represents the number of monks proceeding from the sacerdotal caste. "We are presently to speak of this numer- ous category of monks, for whom the religious profession is a career far rather than a voca- tion. Merely observing now that these form the majority, we proceed to speak of the others. The nobility, the administrative classes, r, W-J,»*-Sf^ ™*^FT9e««'^ : I® ft f 80 T/ie Black Clergy. Chap. II. and the liberal professions annually give to the religious life, on an average, seven persons. This is little. The old soldiers lunn-li eight; 'tis scarcely worth while to note them. 1 m t} - three vocations form the contin Grout nf the rural population; fifty-nine that of the urban, li.c inhabitants of the country are eleven times more numerous than those of the towns, and it would besides seem that country life ought to dispose to the religious life rather than city tumult and corruption. Whence comes, then, this strange disproportion ? Eussian legislation has put shackles on every religious vocation, which impede but little a rich merchant, but which a poor pea- sant succeeds only with the greaiu^^i diliiculty in shaking off. This single fact t light to have great influence, and to explaiiu ni part, why there are many more merchants than peasants in iliO convents. Farther, following our anony- mous author, the convents exhibit but little eagerness to receive poor and io'ii' i nt pea- sai 1-, v] r) would be of no advantage to them, ^v; n tjii V readily embrace merchants, who 1 lingj besides their fortune, large experience in business and valuable connections i\iili the commercial class. It is also an ub- ject of desire to have such men at the head of poor convents, which very soon prosper Chap. II. The Black Clergy. 81 under their able management. They, on their part, are not insensible to the hope of becom- ing priors, abbots, knights of St. Anne and of St. Yladimir. Tf this account be true, then motives far different from religious vocation induce merchants to withdraw into cloisters. Let us conclude that the Eusbicii people in general furnish to the convents a very weak contingent. The clergy alone gives, propor- ti mately, a hundred times more than the rest of the population. The 140* recruits yearly tiirnished by it to the convents are subdivided into several classes, which we must be very careful not to confound. There are, firstly, the seminarists who have not been able to complete their classes. Their career is a broken one. If they quit the ranks of the clergy, conscription there awaits them ; in the secular clergy they have no other pro- spect than that of becomin^ 1 eadles or sacris- tans, and even of this all are not sui-e. They embrace, then, the religious state, and the rather as by this road they can hope to reach the diaconate, or even the priesthood. In any case, the life they will lead m the convent will be less rude than that among the low clerirv. The youths who have finished their luurso in the seminary have a career open before * 2253 in 16 years give a yearly average of 140. * ■ •J9l il H 82 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. them : they never dream of donning the cowl. There are, however, some who embrace the monastic life, but they are rare enough. ^ It very frequently happens that a deacon or priest loses his wife. He cannot marry again. If still young, he is admitted to the academy, and reenters the category of which we are about to speak ; but if a little older he goes to the con- vent, sometimes even under compulsion. It must not be forgotten that by one of those in- advertences so frequent in Eussian legislation, a priest or deacon who has rendered himself guilty of grave offences, and can no longer ex- ercise his functions, is condemned to the con- vent, as civilians are elsewhere to the galleys. A seminarist also who has com]3letedhis studies, but is not yet ordained, discharges in a semi- nary the duties of a professor. He is married, say, and loses his wife. If he marry again, he can no longer be ordained, nor even though he remain a widower. N"othing remains for him but to turn monk, unless he prefer to obtain a professorship in a gymnasium or embrace some other career. Let us now pass to the youths who have done with their classes in one of the four aca- demies of Petersburg, Moscow, Kieff, or Kasan. These, while remaining among the secular clergy, are sure to promptly arrive at the priest- Chap. II. The Black Clergy, 83 hood ; but they cannot aspire to the Episcopate ; whilst a young man who adopts the monastic hh' during his course at the academy is iiiO" ralJy certain, on quitting it, ul beiiii: named inspector or prefet of studies in a Siiiiiiiaii. At a few years' end he becomes rector ui mi|h - rior, and, provided he himself does not impede his own advancement, he can scarcely fail < i attaining the Episcopate. It is, then, a career, and the numerous de- tails into which our anonymous author enters clearly show us that for all, or nearly all. it is nothing else. It sometimes happens that these young peo- ple not only have no inclination to the religious life, but feel for it a repugnance too strong for even the prospect of a mitre to overcome. On the other hand, difficulty exists in prciiriTig the number of persons necessary for filling posi- tions which cannot be intrusted to monies wholly ignorant. The ecclesiastical authority uses every means to determine a certain number of academic pupils to embrace the monastic life. The strife is sometimes lively. If we are to credit our author, the celebrated Plato, metro- politan of Moscow at the beginning of this cen- tury, employed very strange means in these ^ases. When all methods of persuasion had failed, the recalcitrant student was invited \o i ■ 1 5 i i f 5 84 T/ie Black Clergy. Chap. II. pass the eyening with one of the monks. There he was made to drink until he became intoxi- cated, when the ceremony constituting religious profession was performed, I e. the taking the liubit and receiving the tonsure. On awnldTiir tiio next morning the unfortunate youth saw beside his bed, instead of the lay garments T^'orn the night before, a monastic habit. Often he fell into a rage, and tore into shreds the tokens of his profession. Then his anger gradu- ally subsided ; it was shown to him that what had been done could by no means be undone ; and the involuntary monk resigned himself to his fate. All reflection would here be superflu- ous, and nothing better proves the little account made of vocation about fifty years ago. At the present time recourse is not had to such expe- dients, but the means now employed are no less singular. The academic pupils do not scruple to frequent the cafes, restaurants, and public-houses of the neighbourhood. There they are sometimes so intoxicated as to lose all con- sciousness, and are obliged to be carried home • to the academy on a hand-barrow. In the slang oi the place this act is known as the Transla- tion of the Relics."^ When it is desired to in- duce one of these students to embrace the reli- us life spite of his repugnance, they watch * UepeneceHie lecTHbixi Momeii. Chap. II. The Black Clergy, 85 that he become in his turn the hero of one of these orgies. The next day, when he has re- covered his senses, the superior summon- iiiiii to his house, rates him soundly, and in! riu^ him of his expulsion. The sin tin i, Inwi vein is ready to pardon, to forget i v i \ li in. li tin offender give him evidence of a bmcein n ]h nt> ance. Of this he accepts ^ one proni — tin signature of the student to a paper conn) iuiiig a request that he may be allowed to make Lis religious profession. Such a fact is of unquestionable gr^ 'ty. Without doubt 'tis a very lamentable tliiiiir that a seminarist should frequent a t;i\i rn, and there be allowed to lose his senses; luii h tho offender were instantly excluded, it n nil become only an accident, and the superior's responsibility would not be seriously compro- mised. It is, however, a fact of common occur- rence, and hence unpardonable. It is, more- ever, joked about, which makes tlie matter graver still. Finally, what seems quite in- credible, the superiors pruiit I)y tliis debauch tu ibrce the victim of it tn lanbrace tliu rnligi- ous life. That which ought to cause perpetual ux-lusion srives, on tlir Cdiitrarv, adini>sioii wnin 1 the gates of the cloister. In order to realise iknsc straiiiTi* inaiiners. let the reader ii exaHi|de^ a st^* 86 The Black Clergy. Chap. II- ^1 ! 1 ! 1* young English seminarist brought to the semi- nar}' in a state of complete insensibility after a drinking bout, and the superior offering him next day his pardon, on condition of his enter- ing the community having the direction of the establishment. Let him then try to under- stand what the seminary would bo, what the clergy, the bishops, the religious congregations, if such a fact were only possible, and let liim then measure the distance which separates the Eussian clergy from the English. AYo must farther remark here on the idea these superiors must have of vocation, of pro- fession, and of the religious life, while admitting to solemn vows such a subject, without Iraiisl- tion, without preparation, without amendment. It is manifest that the fundamental basis of all religious life — vocation — is wanting in the Eussian convents. It is not fear of the world and its seductions, the attraction of soli- tude and prayer, the desire of leading a life of penitence, or of working towards perfection : it is not zeal for souls, love for Jesus Christ, the need of devotion and self-denial, that fill these houses. "We must not, however, be deceived. These attractions of the cloister are met with in Eussiu much oftener than one would be disposed to 1^ ; ove; but Eussian convents are unable to satisfy these aspirations. The souls^ Chap. II. Tlte Black Clergy. 87 then, which feel these holv desires do not there present themselves ; they do not remain there. Some think to find the realisation , wiiii n ) better success. :: . ; \ they who have kaini that the Catholic Church alone possesses r ■" treats where their dreams can become realities. After vocation the ini^i btagc of tlio ici;- gious life is the novitiate. It is necessary, in order that vocation may be really testetl aial that the soul which aspires to take before ( < il irrovocable engagements, ma} Ikivo lime to maturely reflect on the c-rave stei> it is modi- tating. it is farther necessary tijat it rliuuld be instructed in the duties of the life w liich it is going henceforth to lead, that ii oo formed to the practice of the rules it ib aludt to follow, and of the virtues which it must force itsell u^ acquire ; for in all this consists the novitiate. IS'ow, the novitiate in the "Russian convents i< just as much wanting as is tliO vocation. The pupils of the theological academies who i iii" brace the religious life make their profession withont a novitiate, and it ivm happens tiuit they attain the Episcopate without ever ha^ in- lived ill a convent. I k I 1 1 ? i « ! s ! ! "' i til I i I I 88 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. Here a circumstance occurs which we can- not pass by in silence. According to "Rii^sioTi legislation, as we have seen, women cannot pro- fess before the age of forty ; men are allowed to pronounce their vows at thirty, and for the academy piipi]^ the iinul has beon Inworod to twenty-five. These are not the prescript iuus ui: the cmu'Yi law, but nl' i|k> chih It very often liappens that a yomig inuii lias iinidieil his studies before tweuty-ilvo. ^nmo at twenty- three, some even at nineteen. In unkr li) obtain the authurijsatioii 1^ Imng about liis pro- fession, instead of procuring u di,>p( ii>atiuii, ialso documents are sent stating that lie is twenty-five. The religious superiors wliu ^i n I these documents, the la^hops and mc mbers of the Synod who receive ihti i, ixriuclh kiiow that recourse has been ha! tu iidsehood : lH)f!i prcier to commit a sin "^•atliri' ihau \a-!atn up imperial ordinance, which could easily be re- pealed or dispensed from. But, in iin ii oves a ukase is more inviolable than a command- ment of God. As to the seminarists who have not been able to finish their studies, they are not so urged to take irrevocable engagements, but await their tluitieth year; their novitiate is therefore very Imh-. But how i-) tlii:. nn\-itiaiu ru--'ni r Tl.ij yuiitJis rocoivo no instruction in H \ f (0 Chap. II. The Black Clergy. 89 the religious life, do not learn to pray, to ex- amine their consciences, to combat their evil inclinations, nor do they even n c oivo books which might strengthen their goiHl dis]) si- tions: no surveillance ib ex ici<(Ml iivcjllann no loving advice ^iven them; tlnre is wi uno to whom to open tiaai* In^art^N to speak of their temptations, their d"[i'iA>, tlieir inward tmnbu^s. Tliey have no n- A-iiiati-nuister ; tiiey do nut frequent tlie Saeraiiiiau- ; iheir |n'ineipal ncvii- patiun IS t'* ri^ntai' sta;\"ieo t^) tlaa nieidv a\']io is i''iiii them for the ndiiriniis liie. C 1 1 T 1 1 i r . . ■ ' 1 i ^ i i Tlirv assist in \cr\' Imho. ntH^rs ■wliirli spoak tu tlieir neither to their underst laH iir noi heart. The rest of tlnar tiim is passed in play- ing and amusing themselves, and (do n. wo mn^t ^ay, f-hcir pleasures are anythinu; but religious. When they are -\vcar\^ beliind tiio cloister walls, there is always the means nf exit, with or without leiiiussion. b\ dav or night. The monks who do not come from acade- mies and seminaries generally arrive when advanced in age: they are no lungii ea[able of being moulded, even ^hen they wi>li it. If no novitiate, then im religious Hfc ; it eannut be otherwise. Elsewhere, the rule knuwn to alb n])..erved bv alb natives eardi nnderstan«l €Vtnv daY Ilia l]ie truth of the Sa^dunr'; /' I •iiiiiiiiMiiaifwriM .c \ 90 The Black Clergy. Cbap. II. words : ^ My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' In the Eussian monasteries there i& nothing like it. Now there is extreme laxness, now the despotism of a capricious superior; sometimes both at once. Still following our author, as to the rule, it is nowhere observed. The same thing must be said of vows. Take, for example, poverty. There are in Eussia a few convents on which community-life has been imposed ; there all the wants of the religious are provided for — nothing is one's own. But these monasteries are very few, and the monks who live there in general sigh only for the moment of their being able to quit. In other convents the monks receive lodging, fuel, and nourishment; their clothing, their shoes, and their other necessaries, are at their own ex- pense. The revenues are divided into two parts; the one goes into the treasure- chest, the other is divided among the monks, without forgetting, as we have said, that out of it the superiors have to emich themselves and their relativr-. Tliu rule forbidding the use of meat to the monks of ?t. Easil is often put aside, especially L\ those who ought to set an example. A& to drunkenness, our author cites a multitude of facts, each one exceeding its predecessor in sadness. It is not rare to see monks, profes- ,/ ^ ^ Chap. II. The Black Clergy, 91 sors, seminary -directors, archimandrites, the bishops themselves, seeking in (liiiiikenness oblivion of their vexations. After that, one can imagine what becoTiics of the vow of r']iii>" tity. Our author has had the good taste not to enter into much detail in this subject ; I'Ui the little he says suflGices to show us that the vow is often broken. We ought, LuWiMi- t > add that, among the bishops and the moiik. the facts furnished I v tiic A. *■ Innjk tMi rj:- WliitC iOKllMack 1*1 reference to what concurns vocation, pruti'Sbiuii, the obser\'utiun ^n \~iav>>, iind the rul I , We have omitted many refiections appear- u sneeial vitiate. til < f iTclevant, and discovering, in our opiuiunj •m.^^^L t;^^imm^mmm.— 1 / 92 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. Chap. II. a spirit hostile to religious institutions. We have not dwelt upon faults inseparable from human nature ; we are disposed to think that the author has preferred dwelling on the dark sides of the picture, and that he has left in the shade whatever could lessen the gloom. We willingly admit that there are exceptions ; it ne- vertheless results from what we have seen, that the Eussian monasteries are in a very bad state. It remains for us to say a few words on a side of the question on which our author has not touched, but which, however, is very im- portant. We refer to the government of the monasteries, the mode of nomination of the superiors, and their relations with the bishops and the Synod. A religious Order is an association ; those who are members of it propose to themselves a definite end, at which they aim by definite means. It is in verifying the agreement of will, both as to the end and means, between him who presents himself, and the society into which he desires admission, that his vocation can be judged of. On entering the religious life a man renounces everything, abdicates his own right to will ; but every sacrifice is joy- ftdly made in view of the end proposed. Ab- negation cannot go so far as to sacrifice this end. If you consent to do the will of a superior Tlie Black Clergy. 93 ill all the details of life, it is on the condition tliat he will direct you towards the goal, to gain i^'hich you abandon \"=rur c^wii will. J'^-r tliis guarantees are necessary, and one of these i> I liat the superior himself have I h 1 J 10 saino 1). ject before him^ and that for it he also have Forrificed everything. Tn a word, ho mubt 1iO a member of the association. This is not all : he must possess the confidence of his associates, he must have their approbation ; also in every religious Order the superior is chosen by elec- tion. It is farther necessary that, under the authority and supervision of the Church, every religious Order should enjoy a certain inde- pendence, that it may be assured of not being thwarted of its end, but may be able to reach if T»\' the means the association has chosen. Ui. the contrary, that a religious order should come to be governed by a man who is a stranger to it, would obviously disorganise the whole. Of this the history of the Church, and especi- ally of the religious orders, is full of examples. In the Church of the East, which saw the first religious communities formed in its bo- som, these elementary principles have been always embodied m practice. To this iiiay be attributed the enduring prosperity of 3 i. ••„' iXkL U Atho?2, But you would look in \mn fbr any- thing like it in the Eussian convents. TruCj 94 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. €hap. II. The Black Clergy. 95 the Synod miglit exercise over them a right of control and inspection, but this does not exist. The great latiresj which ought to be the very abodes of the religious spirit, do not choose their archimandrites. Borrowing, very improperly, of Western Europe one of its most regrettable inventions, the Eussian metropo- litans are become abbots- commendatory of the laures^ and the bishops of the different sees equally receive in commandery a monastery of their dioceses. Everywhere the bureaucracy names the superiors.* These render an ac- count of their management to the Synod — to the Synod they are responsible ; and when we say the Synod, we shall hereafter see that we mean, in fact, the bureau of a minister. Con- sequently, all these posts, of archimandrites (abbots), hegoumens (priors), superiors, &c., have become the different steps of a career. For all those who follow it, advancement is the principal motive ; they therefore think only of making themselves acceptable to those on whom they depend. All this bureaucratic or- ganisation is at complete variance with the exigencies and needs of the religious life. To us it appears demonstrated by all that * The only exception made is in the case of a very small num- ber of convents, chosen among those which have adopted the community-life. has gone before, that the monastic life in Eussia exists henceforth only in appearance : as to veritable monks — to a relidons nnli l>rnpor!v so called — none such exist. Eeforms could indeed be proposed; but so great has becii the progress of evil, that reforms the most radical would avail nothing. The day that the clergy in Eussia shall cease to exist as a caste — that a secular celibate clergy shall be formed — will be the day when all the monasteries will fall, the whole actual monastic organisation will disappear. It may be that the convents in which the commimity-life has been introduced would be susceptible of reform. The monasteries would then have to be divided into two distinct classes. Those not having adopted the com- munity-life should be left to die ; the rest, if reformable, should be united into a single con- gregation, or rather should labour to create several congregations. The religious has for his aim to labour for his salvation and perfec- tion— -to sanctify himself; but alongside this general aim, he can have a particular uiie. Some give themselves to the contemplative life, some to foreign missions or to the education of children, to the study and teaching of sacred science, to preaching, to the direction of soub. to care for the sick, &c. &c. Why sh 1 it %j 96 The Black Clergy. Chap, n a monastery be chosen as the centre of a con- gregation for foreign missions ? Another would serve as a centre for an hospital congregation, another for a teaching congregation, another for preachers, and so on. An appeal -would be made to those monks who had adopted the community-life, and they would be induced to choose one or other kind of occupation. From among those who would present themselves would be chosen the most pious, the most re- gular, the most zealous, and the most capable, and they would form the nucleus of new con- gregations, according to the bias they had manifested. In order to organise these congre- gations, it would above all be necessary to leave entire liberty to all those who would be willing to enter them, without any other limit as to age than that determined by the canon law. At the same time, the congregations themselves should be very strict as to admis- sions, very compliant as to dismissions. The best means of preventing laxness creeping into a community is to open reluctantly their doors for those who would come in, and to open them willingly to those who would go out. It would still be necessary that vocation should be seriously tried during a year or two by means of the novitiate, all the novices being gathered together and placed under the direc- Chap. II. The Black Clergy, 97 tion of a master chosen with the greatest care. 1 111 superior should be elcetru liy the moin- Ih 1- tf the congregation, will ut any interfer- i'licv I J* the civil authority, of the S}^ikmK or of tlio bishops. The ecclesiastical authority should confine itself to taking the iir r^>:irv measures to secure the freedom of the eleetiun. When a congregation shall have developed it- self it will be able to occupy several huu^ud, plaood under the authority of one superior- general, each house having a local superior. Tho particular end proposed to itself by each congregation, the most proper means to attain it, niul the practical counsels which experience shall suggest, will be the subject-matt ii of tho special constitutions of each congregation, and become the comjDlement to the Enle ui bt. Basil, which shall be religiously observed. The for- mation of congregations, composed of many houses, bound to a common centre, is com- pletely misrepresented by some Eussian au- thors as an innovation borrowed from the Latin Church. We have before seen that the fact formerly existed in Eussia, and that its aboli- tion has been for the interest neither of the monasteries nor of the Church. Here in few words i?^ tho schenic of mea- sures to be taken for reformii . lie moiia u i ii >, if they succeed in finding tlit iieccssarv ele- 98 The Black Clergy. Chap. II. ments in the convents where community life is practised. We would prefer that, leaving on one side whatever exists, men of good dis- position should be allowed to found new com- munities. We said just now, 'tis not the men who are in fault, but the institutions: the ruin of the monasteries has arisen from the inter- vention of the bureaucracy, the regulations, and the want of independence. Will liberty raise up new communities? Will it create more order, more regularity, more zeal? The essence of life, the force of religious orders, is the spirit that animates them ; and this spixit, where will it be found? Tro do not know; but we should wish the experiment tried. Eussia has gloriously freed herself from the leprosy of serfdom ; she is now on the road to freedom from the yoke of a harassing bureau- cracy, venal and corrupt. The monasteries claim the same reforms: they demand to be emancipated, to live their own life. Take away the multiplied impediments which clog voca- tions, foundations, and the whole organisation of the religious life, and a great part of the abuses now complained of will disappear. Let the people be free to give alms to the convents, if it seem good to them. You complain that the monks sometimes employ means not war- ranted by morality to draw to themselves larger Chap. 11. ' The Black Clergy. 99 gifts. The press and the tribunals are sufficient to repress the disorders which would arise ; keep to the common law. By the side of the monasteries oi tho official Church leave to the staroveres, leave to tln' (Ai- tholics also, the liberty to estilii-li runviiiis; free them from an oppressive u laiihiii-lujK Justice demands it, your interest i\'It^.'x'< \\ itli her: you know not all the utnitv th t vutir convents can draw from a free compel it luii. We wish not to deny that among the Catholic convents there have been some — some tiuit arc still — into which abuses have crept, and w Iiii li laxness has invaded. But i^^ 1 ack tu tlu^ causes, and you will recognise that, aliiio>i al- ways, if not always, the root of the evil i- in uu excessive guardianship on the part of tiic state. It is the public v^liic'^i sustains com- munities; it furnishes their membcis, irives them those material resources witla a uil li they could not subsist. The iniliH i> u ; it - ceived in this matter: it will sustain the u-* lul communities; from the useless it will witL draw its support. If you find exceptions tj t hi- law, thov are all explained In a sin«rlecau>e iiunu- K' X »■ V.,' puha With free concurrence, iiutliiiig ^jf tlic kind is to be feared. CHAPTEE III. ECCLESIASTICAL SCHOOLS. We have not to write the history of the eccle- siastical schools in Eussia ; we shall, however, say a few words about them. It is not doubtful that, under Jaroslav and his successors, the sacred sciences were culti- vated at Kieff.* It cannot be denied that the Eussian Church, in the first days of its founda- tion, resembled that torch spoken of in Scrip- ture as brightly burning, diffusing all around it light and heat. Little by little the light goes out, the heat withdraws, darkness over- spreads minds, and hearts grow cold. Those who are aware that in her beginnings the Eus- sian Church had not broken the bonds which bound her to the Universal Church have no cause for surprise. The regions of the north- east, formerly called Muscovy, and now bear- ing the name of Great Eussia, have shared less * How in Russia, pre\'iou8ly to the Mongol invasion (1240), sacred science was extensively and successfully cultivated, see Strahl, Das gelehrte Eussland, Leipzig, 1828, 8vo. iTra7is.) Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. lOi. than the south-west, called Little Eussia, in this expansion of Christian life, without being completely deprived of it. In the sixteenth century the darkness be- came singularly thick ; we wish no other proof of this than the celebrated Council of Moscow in 1551, known in history under the name of Stoglaff, or Council of the Hundred Chap- ters.* The torch of sacred science was rekindled at Kieff at the contact of the Eussian Church with the Catholic, of the Greek rite with the Latin. The first place among the ecclesiastiool schools of Eussia belongs unquestionably to the Aca- demy of Kieff, founded in 1631 by Peter Mo- ghila. This remarkable man was the son of a hospodar of Walachia, named Simeon Iva- novich. After hating studied philosophy and theology at Paris he served with distinction in the Polish army, and particularly signalised himself at the battle of Khotin, 163L Four years afterwards he embraced the monastic life in the convent of the Crypts at Kieff; in 1628 he was archimandrite of this celebrated Laure^ and shortly after was called to the see of Kieff. As metropolitanhegovemGd the ununited ♦ Cto— LiaBT.. The decrees of this Council were a few years ■ago published in London. The Staroveres lean on the authority of this Council, while it is rejected by the official Church. I ' 1 102 Ecclesiastical Schools. cuap. iii. Cliurcli in the States of the Polish Eepublic from 1632 to 1646, the date of his death. One of his first cares had heen to found a printing estahlishment and a school. This academy, as it was called, possessed, besides classes for grammar, chairs of philosophy and theology. The instruction was given principally in Latm, but Polish and Little Eussian were also used ; the study of Greek was much neglected. The best students were sent to finish to the Col- lege of Lemberg, and to other Catholic schools. Moghila is the author of a catechism,* or ' ex- position of the orthodox faith,' solemnly ap- proved by the Greek Church at the Council of Jassy in 1643, and at that of Jerusalem in 1672, and equally received by Adrian, patriarch of Moscow. It may be said that the doctrine of this catechism, except the question of the Fope and that of the Filioqtce, is Catholic. At Kieff the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas was ex- pounded. The whole organisation of the classes was traced on that of the Catholic colleges ; at every step we seem to recognise the ratio studiorum of the Society of Jesus ; we find there also the Congregation of the Blessed Yir- * The Eussian title is npafiociaBBOo HcnoBtjaaic KaeoJuiecKOtt H AnocTOJicKOH ^epKBH BocToiHoB. This Catechism, in Greek and Latin, can be seen in Kimmel's Monumenta Fidei Scclesue (Men- ialh, Jenaj, 1850. An English translation appeared in London in 1752. (7Va»«.) * I '€ Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 108 gin.* The need of reacting against the growing ignorance of the clergy soon made itself felt at Moscow. The celebrated Nicon, one of the greatest figures appearing in the history of the Eussian Church, undertook to correct the text of the liturgical books, which had been cor- rupted by copyists. The resistance encountered by this reform showed the necessity of ha^^ng schools. The Tsar Feodor had just succeeded his father Alexis ; Nicon was still alive, and one of his disciples, Simeon of Polotsk, exercised great influence at coui't. This Simeon was a man of merit, born at Polotsk in 1628. Ar- rived in Eussia (1667), after having studied in Poland, and frequented the Catholic schools, he had been charged with the education of Peodor. At the same time he refuted by sub- stantial writings the errors of the Eascolniks (dissenters), and composed dramas which were represented in the apartments of the Princess Sophia, the daughter of Alexis. When his pupil mounted the throne, he profited by the credit he enjoyed to establish a printing-press in the pal- ace ; then he set himself to preach. This was a bold innovation : before him the most any one had done was to read some homilies borrowed from ♦ Cf. Mudes de Tlieologiey de PJiilosophie, et d'Histoire, par les PP. C. Daniel et J. Gagarin, S.J. (Paris, 1857), Tol. i. p. 39. 104 Eeclesiastical Schools. Chap. III. the holy Fathers; besides, he manifested Ca- tholic tendencies. This was more than enough to irritate the narrow-minded patriarch Joa- chim; but Simeon, strong in the friendship of the Tsar, little feared the wrath of the pa- triarch, and even thought of depriving him of the supreme dignity. His plan was to re- place at the head of the Eussian Church his master Nicon, who was living in exile, after having been deposed by order of Alexis. In order to prevent a schism, Simeon proposed to the Tsar to create four patriarchs in place of the four metropolitans, and to put over them jSTicon with the title of pope. It needed but little to put this project into execution. The better to explain the situation, let us farther say that Catholic ideas were under this reign received at the court with favour. Eussia was maintaining the best relations with Poland.* Feodor had in 1680 married a young lady of Polish origin, named Agatha Grouchetzka, to whom was attributed a leaning towards Catho- licism. In consequence of this marriage the Polish costume was generally adopted at court. Feodor's foreign policy hinged upon a strict alliance with Poland, and the formation of a league against the Turk, into which should * M. Stchebalski affinns it. See pyccKiii .^BtcTHHKT» {Russian Messenger)^ Oct. 1863, p. 767. €hap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 105 enter the Emperor of Germany, the Pope, and the Venetian Eepublic. It was in these circumstances that Simeon conceived the plan of founding at 11 -ccav a school destined to spread civilisation among both the clergy and the people. Scarcely had he laid its foundations when he died. The only man who could withstand the patriarch thus disappearing, the designs favoured by the Tsar became compromised : he knew not to whom to confide the direction of the school, and, fearing the opposition of Joachim, he hesitated to procure masters from Kieff. He then pro- fited by an embassy he was sending to the Sul- tan to ask for professors of the patriarch of Constantinople. The embassy set out in 1681 ; the year following Feodor died, and power passed into the hands of Sophia, the faithful heiress of his policy. In 1684 two Jesuits ar- rived at Moscow with an ambassador from the Emperor of Germany, and obtained without •difficulty permission to remain in that city. To us it not doubtful that Sophia, and Galitzin her minister, had intended to intrust the school to the Jesuits. About a year after the arrival of the Jesuits, the professors sent by the patriarch of Constan- tinople made their appearance in the capital. They were two brothers, natives of the Ionian 106 Ecclesiastical ScJwols. Chap. III^ IsleSj who had studied at Yenice and Padua. Their real name was Ly.cudes ;* they changed it to that of Lykhudes, and by the aid of false genealogies caused themselves to be recognised as Bulgarian princes. They were placed at the head of the new school ; the Jesuits, on their side, had opened another. The two Ionian monks soon raised a theological question which inflamed every one, clergy and laity, men and women. The question was whether, in the Sacrifice of the Mass, the bread and the wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, by virtue of the words of our Lord, ' This is my Body, this is my Blood,' or by the invocation of the Holy Spirit, the Ejnclesis^-^ which in the Eastern Liturgy follows the sacra- mental words. The strife became very lively. On the one side were all those who inclined to Catholicism, as Sylvester Medvedeff, superior of the Convent Zaikonospaski, the monk Sabbas Dolgui, the prior Innocent, a layman occupy- ing an elevated position, Theodore Stcheglovi- toy, and many others. The patriarch and the two monks, with all those who were hostile to * See, for biographical notices of these two brothers, Constan-. tine Satha's f^coeWrjviK^ 4>L\oKoyia.—BioypaTik^ or priests, ♦ Smirnoff, IICTopifl MockobckoA CiaBflno— FpeKO— .laTHHCKOu Ana- 4eMin MocKBa (1855), p. 25. t I^i^- P- ^^• \ I Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 109 natives of the Ukraine or of Poland,* and old pupils at Kieff. What is the origin of this state At 3l«'>rij\r, * i ( % I k. kings? The ansA\i r i> easy. time any one I villi V. ;t < « 1 1 r ~. '^ I nil . 1 « >• n i JUC li;L ^^^ c^ -^ f ■> 1, 1 1 went away to seek tlioir lortiiiie eKow'iirre. A irood number of the pupils d tu i i a limt- tance to the hospital of Moscow, to learn ine- dicine there ; others applied themselves to the study of mathematics, which opened to them access to various careers ; others still were occupied at the press, at the mint. kc. The gt \emors of the provinces led some av. i\ with them to become professors and schoolmasters, &c. Peter I. distributed a good number in the navy and in the guard ; others he sent abroad to prosecute their studies. When the Academy of Sciences was founded at Petersbiu'g, attend- ants were wanted for the course prescribed to it: these were taken from the academy of^Fs- cow. The reforming Tsar had addressed hiin- self to the Jesuits of Prague, to get translated into Eussian works on law and dictionaries. lour pupils were chosen to engage in this work tiiider the direction of the Fathers, wlio want * Only such names are met with asKrasnopolski,WiszDew5ki\ Miegalewicz, Florinski, Kozlowicz, Liaszczewski, Bronicki, Przy- ]>v]owicz, Kulczycki, Kolniecki, Konaszewicz, Zaborowski, Rud- zinski, Leszczinski, Czarnieckl, Jaroszewski, kc. 110 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. IIL to study pHlosophy and letters in another col- lege of the Jesuits. Some students of the academy Peter sent to the mission of Pekin, established by him for a purpose rather poli- tical than religious, but which required the services of a certain number of monks having some degree of learning. In short, the Academy of Moscow was used as a preparatory school, but it does not appear that many priests have proceeded thence. We find in the list of pupils beside the celebrated Lomonossoif, Kostroff, and Petroff, who have made a certain reputation in literature, the Prince Cantemir, Bantysch-Kamenski, the ar- chitect Bajanoff ; but not a single name reflect- ing honour on the clergy before that of the metropolitan Platen. The beginnings of the Academy of Saint Alexander If evsky, at St. Petersburg, were long subsequent to those of the Academy of Mos- cow, and much more Immble. It was at first only a simple primary school, where children of every condition were admitted. Later it was desired to introduce Latin; but the school could not go on — there was no one to be put at its head. In 1736 recourse was again had to the Academy of Kieff, and two of its pupils succeeded in organising some classes. Setting out from this time, the Academy of Petersburg €liap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. Ill followed the steps of that of Moscow, present- ing however some notable differences. In the teaching staff we do not see so many monks from Kieff, and in a little time the pupils are recruited almost exclusively from the sons of ecclesiastics. Here also, in consequence of the paucity of men who had studied in any degree, the administration takes away a great number of young men, to launch them in careers the most diverse, before they have passed their classes. The Academy of Petersburg, however, is chiefly a normal school, where are prepared masters for all newly-founded schools. Some of the most capable youths are sent abroad to complete their studies, but are no lon^ r li- rected to Catholic schools, still less to Jesuit colleges ; they go into Protestant countries. Such was still the state of things in the first years of the reign of Catherine II. The reaction, however, the first symptoms of which we have just pointed out, was making its way. The course of theology of Theophane Proko- povich, preserved at first in manuscript, then committed to the press, profoundly changed the instruction given in the Eussian schools, and opened the door to Protestantism.* It * See the proofs of this agsertion detailed in our article en- titled *De Venseignement de la TJieologie dans VEglise rtisse^^ in the Etudes ^ &;c. 1st series, vol. i. lOtmm 112 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. III. t must be recollected, that for eleven years, from 1730 to 1741, Eussia was governed by the Calvinist Biren, and that the Enssian Church was then subjected to a real persecution. To this we must say she opposed but a feeble resistance. The desire to display sufficiently clearly the first phases of the history of the ecclesiastical schools has perhaps drawn us beyond due limits. To describe all the modifications they have undergone to the present time would be almost impossible, and certainly fastidious : we confine ourselves to indicate the general fea- tures, throwing a clearer light on a few im- portant points. If we designate as the Old that system which prevailed at Kieff, and left so deep an impression on the Academy of Moscow, we shall be able to apply the name New system to the entirety of tendencies which showed them- selves under Peter I., and which, in spite of partial checks, never ceased to become daily more evident. In the study point of view, these tendencies may be gathered up into three topics : restricting the teaching of ancient lan- guages in favour of modem ones, of literature in favour of the sciences, of sacred studies in favour of profane. The strife between the two systems presents a double character — insta- Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 118 bility and uniformity. All schools are sub- jected to the same system, and thi- -\ -u lu is continually being modified. It would be vain to look in the Eussian Church for teaching congregations strongly or- ganised, faithful to their traditions and method : there is no longer any liberty of action left to the bishops in the direction of their seminariis. The ecclesiastical schools, which in their origin were a little independent, and had a spirit pe- culiar to themselves, are soon seen subject to a central direction which made all establish- ments pass under the same level, riiis central authority, placed in a certain dependence on the ^ nod, suffered also more or less the in- fluence of the lay element. The new system attempted to shatter whatever existed; the old --^ lilt to keep the positions acquired, and to retake those it had lost. Hence arose continual swayings, which made themselves felt at once in all the establishments. Here, beyond a doubt, is one great cause of tlie weakness of the studies in Eussia. Stability is an indis- pensable condition of success in matters of education. TTlijtever maybe our preferences for tiic ancii 111 methods, we willingly recognise that satistactory results would have been achieved with the new system. In our opinion, it would 114 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. III-^ Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools, 115 have somewhat failed in the case of the young persons leaving these schools ; but at least, in acquiring the knowledge of modem languages, they would have had access to French or Ger- man literature. The study of mathematics and of the experimental sciences would have given to their understandings habits of clearness, order, method, which are not to be despised. But things do not happen thus. Under the name scholastic all Catholic traditions still sub- sisting are rejected; the place accorded to Latin is more and more restricted, without succeeding in giving to the pupils a sufficient knowledge of modern tongues ; they are made to study natural history and medicine, to which will by and by be added rural economy. The branches of instruction are being multiplied^ and that fatal path entered on of encyclopsedic studies, which overload the memory of chil- dren with a mass of superficial information, without forming their judgment or developing their intellect. And this organised chaos is still subject to continual changes. Between the studies of childhood and those which ter- minate education, there is a necessary bond. What profit can be gained from courses of study by a f^ominarist, who has not, in inferior classes, obtained the knowledge which these courses pi^ ; pose ? Ho^ will you obtain good professors, if you demand of them to teach what they have not previously learnt? And yet these are the results arrived at by this uni- formity, to which is attached so much value. Speaking of the monks, we obserstl how necessary it is to allow teaching congregations to organise and develop ^themsuhcb ireely. The history of the Eussian seminaries plainly shows that there is a blank, and that it could not too soon be filled up. Suppose thera are several congregations to-day, one of which keeps the traditions of Peter Moghila, another those of Simeon of Polotsk, a third those of Theophane Prokopovich, whilst others incline to the new system ; each has its own methods, its own nursery for its professors. This variety maintains emulation, but the esprit de corps secures stability. Allow the bishops to in- trust their seminaries to a congregation of their own choice, and it will furnish those professors whom you do not succeed in producing. All the books, all the journals that treat of the ecclesiastical schools in Eussia, testify to the hatred more or less manifest against the monks: people are indignant at seeing them at the head of the seminaries, and would dis- place them. In our opinion, people are above all aiiuinst the monks because thev show them- selves little favourable to innoyatieii ; but, ^ 116 Ecclesiastical Schools, Chap. III. Chap. III- Ecclesiastical Schools* 117 whilst admitting that the grievances articled against them may be well founded, these griev- ances would disappear before the reforms we have suggested. Better still: the great, the true reason which necessitates the maintenance of the monks in the seminaries is, that they alone represent the celibate clergy, and that it would be very strange indeed to see the functions of rector or prefect discharged by a father of a family, occupying, with his wife and daughters, an apartment among young men, and looking for sons-in-law among the seminarists. Let there be formed a secular celibate clergy, and nothing will prevent semi- naries being directed by secular priests. Xo ! the root of the evil is not there, where they persist in pointing to ; it is in this cen- tral direction, in this kind of ministry for the education of the clergy placed in double de- pendence on the Sjmod and the State, but where the influence of the State is predominant. And, strange to say, whilst the direction of the ecclesiastical schools passes more and more into the hands of the laity; whilst the instruc- tion given in the seminaries tends more and more to become secular, — clerical influence is made to appear on the side least advantageous to it. We have seen that formerly young men of all classes assembled on the benches of the Academy of Moscow ; to-day the ecclesiastical schools are exclusively reserved to the children of the tribe of Levi. In the first chapter of this work we said what we thought of a like state of things, and the reforms which in our opinion it demanded. Between the mainten- ance of caste and the organisation of the eccle- siastical schools there is a connection that must be broken. Now, of all the means that can be employed to this end, one of the most efficacious in our eyes would be the formation of teaching congregations, whose schools should be open to all classes of society. These reflections will acquire new force, taken in connection with the most salient facts in the history of the ecclesiastical schools. A commission established by Catherine II. (September 7th, 1781) to endow Eussia with new schools, took as a model the institutions which Joseph II. had just then created in Aus- tria, and borrowed from them the organisation of the normal schools. Its work having been approved by Catherine (August 5th, 1786), the Synod hastened to adapt the same plan to the schools of the clergy. We then find that ma- thematics, experimental physics, mechanics, and natural history entered into the buiicuiu of ecclesiastical study. The seminary of Nevsky took the name of General Seminary ; each dio- 118 Ecclesiastical Schools. Cliap. III. cese was to send thitlier two of its best pupils. Here the influence of Joseph II. is perceptible. Under Paul I. a reaction is seen. He de- cides (December 18th, 1797) that there shall henceforth be four ecclesiastical academies or faculties of theology ; that besides the instruc- tion common to all the seminaries, complete courses of philosophy and theology in Latin, as well as of eloquence and physics, shall be or- ganised there, and that Greek, Hebrew, Ger- man, and French shall be taught. Two years are devoted to philosophy, three to theology. During these three years the students must also occupy themselves with ecclesiastical history, with holy Scripture, moral and polemical theo- logy, the canon law, and the obligations of cures. It is difficult not to recognise in these dispositions the influence of Father Gruber, general of the Jesuits.* This plan, which seems borrowed from the Catholic seminaries, was modified no later than the following year. In 1804 another was made, * At this time Father Gruber was in great favour with the Emperor Paul. M. Tchistovich, in his History of the Ecclesiastical Academy of St. Petersburg (Hciopia C. neTcpOypcKOfi ^yxoBHoii Ana- 4eMiH. CnO. 1857, 8vo), mentions a canonical dissertation on the authority of the Pope, composed in 1800 by the Archimandrite Eugeny, prefect of the academy, on the occasion of a project of reunion of the Churches presented by Father Gruber. The disser- tation was remitted by the Metropolitan Ambrose to the Imperial Cabinet. The archimandrite, according to Tchistovich, did this le ^^V " Omp. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 119^ giving more time to the mathematical and physical sciences, and creating a course of na- tural history. The first four years are spent in classes for grammar, the fifth embraces logic, rhetoric, universal history and geography, na- tural history, the Greek, French, and German languages (begun in the first years), medicine, and ecclesiastical computation. During the sixth year the studies are the history of philo- sophy, geometry, trigonometry, theoretical and practical physics, eloquence, the same langua- ges as the year before, and medicine. Finally, the seventh and last course comprises ecclesias- tical history, dogmatic theology, ecclesiastical ar- ■chceology, hermeneutics and exegesis, sacred elo- quence, moral theology, geometry and trigonome- try, physics, Greek, French, and German. The class-time is eight hours per day. We would gladly believe that this course lasted more than a year ; but, in truth, one asks oneself if the authors of this programme had themselves ever studied. . Instruction in medicine began m IbUJ ; it ty the order of Paul himself. This is a fact as curious as it is important. We ought to declare that we had no knowledge of it It is to be desired that the project presented by Father Gruber and the answer of the Archimandrite Eugeny, should be sought for in the archives, and published. Eugeny died Metropolitan of Kieff. The late M. Moroschkin asserted to me that Eugeny i answer had been found at Kieff. 120 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. III. Cliai). III. Ecclesiastical Schools, 121 was laid p-side in 1808, to be resumed later, and again abandoned (February 1866). On November 29th, 1807, the Emperor Alexander I. resolved once more to reform the ecclesiastical schools, and charged with this task a committee, the soul of which was Mi- chael Speranski. We cannot refrain from say- ing a few words of this personage. Born in 1772 in the diocese of Yladimir, Michael Gramatin was the son of a poor coun- try priest. He was first admitted to the se- minary of Vladimir, and there the ambitious youth took the name Speranski, thus indicating by a word borrowed from the Latin the high hopes he nourished in his heart. From Vladi- mir he passed to the seminary of Nevski, where he completed his studies in theology, and be« came afterwards professor of sacred eloquence, of mathematics, and soon also of physics ; to these three chairs he later joined the duties of prefect of studies. They pretend that he was equal to everything. To speak the truth, he united in himself two qualities which rarely meet together — great facility and great appli- cation to work; but on seeing him discharging three or four functions, each of which would suffice to absorb the entire attention of one man, one can scarcely help being reminded of that tailor who was cited before Sancho Panza's tribunal in the Isle of Barataria, and who, with a piece of cloth hardly enough to make one coat, had, at the request of his employer, made five thereof, but so small that each could clothe only a doll. However, all these occupa- tions failing to 'fill up' Speranski' s day, he ob- tained the place of private secretary to Prince Kourakin. For some time he lived with this statesman, taking his meals with the servants, and going to the monastery of Nevski to dis- charge his duties. Shortly afterwards Kourakin obtained from the metropolitan the dismission of Speranski, for whom he procured a place in his own office. This occurred December 24th, 1796. On the 19th of March 1801 Speranski was Secretary of State. He was not slow in acquiring the entire confidence of the^Emperor Alexander, and in becoming the most influential person in the empire. He had already intro- duced very great modifications into the admi- nistration of state, and was preparing a com- plete reorganisation, when, on March 17th, 1812, he was arrested, and relegated first to Nijni, then to Perm. Some years after, Alex- ander called him to employment of considerable importance ; but the first confidence returned no more. Nicholas charged him to make a col- lection of all ukases and a systematic abstract of them, to which was given the name of code. 122 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. IIL He died in 1839, a chevalier of St. Andrew, decorated with the title of Count, and possessed of a fair fortune. This extraordinary man has more than one title to our notice. The son of a priest, edu- cated in the schools of the clergy, professor and prefect of studies in one of the first seminaries of Eussia, he exercised a notable influence on the reorganisation of ecclesiastical instruction in 1809. In this, as in everything he touched, we recognise the presence of a mind more ca- pacious than deep ; the love of regulation, of bureaucracy, of centralisation ; schemes of per- fect symmetry which have no regard to the ground on which it is proposed to build, and where the substance of things is continually sacrificed to their form. These are only fa9ades, behind which there is nothing ; or rather, the only serious thing about it is, that they subject all the schools of the clergy to an administra- tion dominated by the influence of the laity. There were to be academies, seminaries, dis- trict schools, parish schools; and everything should terminate in the central direction which gave the impulse to everything, and reduced the members of this magnificent hierarchy to simple wheehvork destined to transmit motions they did not themselves possess. Ohap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 123 Here, in few words, is the organisation given to the academies. The pupils drawn from the seminaries ought to have finished their philosophy, to know Latin, and one of the three languages, Greek, German, or French, and to be not more than twenty-two years old: the length of the course was six years. The different sub- jects for instruction and authors adopted were the following : I. Dogmatic Theology. Author : Theophane Proko- povitch, abridged by Irenaius Fialkovski (Latin). Aux- iUary authors : 1. Fr. Budda3i Institutiones Theologiae Dogmatical ; 2. Holtazii Examen Theologicum Acroama- ticum ; 3. Turretini Institutio Theologian Elencliicae ; 4. •Sardagna, Opera Theologica. II. Moral Theology. Authors : 1. Mgr. Theophylact, Instruction Orthodox, pt. ii. (in Euss) ; 2. Schuberti et Eudd^ei Institutiones Theologian Moralis. III. Polemic Theology. Authors: Buddanus, Ernest Schubert, Lang. lY. Hermeneutics. Authors : Mgr. Ambrose (Euss), Buddseus. Auxiliary Authors : the Fathers of the Church, Osiander, Tirinus, Veith, Dom Calmet. Note. The Professor of Theology knows it : the King- dom of God is not in word, but in power ; the letter kiUeth, the spirit alone giveth Ufe. Hence, in reading the Holy Scripture, we cannot always be satisfied with the literal or elementary sense. (With a like note the professor is singularly at his ease: the literal sense will not em- barrass him ; the door is open to Strauss and his fellows.) 124 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. III. Y. Homiletics. Authors : Buddceus, Tellus. YI. Canon Law. The Kornitchaia (in Euss), l.e, the Pedalion ; 1. Beveridge's Pandects ; 2. Bingham's Anti- quitates ; 3. The ^N'otitia Ecclesiastica of Cabasutius ; 4. Cavei Historia-; 5. Historia Alexandri Natalis ; 6. Archa^- ologia Posseri Graeca ; 7. Buddoei Ecclesia Eomana cum Euthenica irreconciliabilis ; 8. Finally, the * Spiritual Ee- gulation' of Peter I., with all the ecclesiastico-political legislation that followed. YII. Philosophy. Complete course of Metaphysics^ the History of Philosophy in its whole extent, Physics theoretical and practical. YIII. ^Esthetics and Eloquence. Precepts : Blair, Eollin, Levisac, Bouterweck, Cicero, Horace, Longinus, Quinctilian, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Laharpe, Gerard ; selections from D'Alembert, Montesquieu, Marmontel, Eenelon, Cardinal Maury, Chateaubriand, Burke, Batteux, Meiners, Eschenburg. Models : Demosthenes, Cicero, Titus Livy, Tacitus, Sallust, Quintus Curtius, Pliny the younger ; St. J. Chrysostom, St. Augustine, the Holy Bible; Pascal, Bossuet, Eenelon, Elechier, Bourdaloue, Massillon, Saurin. IX. Physics and Mathematics. 1. Elements of Geo- metry as far as conic sections inclusive ; Arithmetic, Al- gebra ; 2. Curvilinear Geometry, Differential and Integral Calculus ; 3. Physics, Mathematics. X. Historical Sciences. Auxiliary Sciences : 1. Chro- nology, Ancient Geography, Geography of Eussia (two years) ; 2. Biblical and Ecclesiastical History, Christian Antiquities, Eussian History ; 3. Universal History. XL Languages. 1. Greek, not on the same level as Latin (1st year, Xenophon, Thucydides, Herodotus, Plut- arch ; 2d, Demosthenes, ^Eschines, Lysias, Isocrates, St. Basil, St. Gregory JS'azianzen, St. John Chrysostom; 3d, Plato, Aristotle ; 4th, Homer, Hesiod, Aristophanes ; 5th, Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 125 Sophocles, ^schylus, Euripides ; 6th, Theocritus, Bion, Anacreon, Pindar) ; 2. Hebrew ; 3. German and French. The choice of authors is noteworthy. For theology, it is specially Budda3us, a Protestant theologian. What would have been said by Stephen Javorski and Theophylact Lopatinski, those two athletes who fought against him with so much vigour ? How will any one set about the task of convincing us that their faith was the same as that of the Synod of 1809 ? THs first course counted seventy-eight pupils : eight became bishops, and one of these, Mgr. Gregory Posnikoff, died some years ago metropolitan of St. Petersburg; another, Koutnevich, was a member of the Synod ; then a considerable number of priests, who have been more or less influential by their teaching in the chairs *of the academies and seminaries, or by the works they have published. We content ourselves with naming Pavski. Ought we to be aston- ished at finding Protestant ideas in the Eussian clergy ? When it became a question oi converting to orthodoxy the Prussian princess destined to marry him who was one day to be the Emperor Nicholas, the priest charged to instruct the neophyte received from the Synod instructions, in which, among other things, we read as fol- lows : ' In the exposition of the dogmatical I 126 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. IIL teaching of the Greeo-Eussian Churehj it must be explained with the greatest care that thi& Church recognises the word of God contained in holy Scriptures as the only wl^ perfectly suffi- cient rule of faith and of Christian life, and a& the sole measure of truth ; that it doubtless re- verences the tradition of the primitive Church, but only so far as it is found accordant with holy Scripture ; and finally, that from this pure tradition it draws not new dogmas of faith, but edifying opinions j as also directions^ for ecclesi- astical discipline.'* Thus spoke the Synod in 181G. We hope that M. Yanycheff, charged with the instruc- tion of the Princess Dagmar, received other instructions. In any case, we can thus see what progress Protestantism had made in the Synod at the beginning of this century. The priest armed with these instructions ought to deliver them thus : ' Princess, we keep, it is. true, a crowd of ceremonies and observances which shock you; we are obliged to conform thereto, from fear of irritating an ignorant and bigoted people ; but at heart we do not hold them, and we are as good Protestants as the King of Prussia. Be pleased, then, to con- descend to conform to the usages of a people over whom you may be called to reign, and ♦ See Nic. Tourgueneff, La Bussle et Ics livsses, vol. iii. p. 304. Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 127 in your inmost conscience remain what you are.' The new regulation distributed the day among four classes of two hours each. The members of the commission had not, indeed, then gone beyond the grammatical courses, in- asmuch as they imagined that in theology it is possible to have eight hours of classes every day. • STUDIES. • • 1 C3 1 G I OS E a ■s t/2 MORNING. Eloquence . . . History .... Mathematics . . . Philosophy . . . Theology .... 9-10 • • • • ii-i2 • • 11-12 9-10 • • 9-io • • ii-i2 • • 11-12 9-10 • • 9-10 ii-i2 11-12 9-io • • AFTERNOON. Eloquence . . . History .... 5-6 • • • • • • • • 5-6 • • 5-6 5-6 Mathematics . . . • • • • • • Theology .... Greek Hebrew .... French and German • • 3-4 • • • • 5-6 . . 3-4 • • • • • • • • 3-4 • • • • 3-4 • • • • 3-4 • • • • • • 5-6 • • 3-4 "WTien this meclianisin was put in motion, it was of course seen to be unable to work. It was then declared that theology, philosophy, sacred eloquence (less the theory or aesthetics), ecclesiastical history, and Greek, were obliga- tory on every one; that, for the other branches of instruction, students should choose between 128 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. III. mathematics and history, between Hebrew and a living language ; and the whole duration of the classes was reduced to six hours. It was quite natural that embarrassment should be experienced in Jfinding professors, and that the authorities should not be very particular notwithstanding. How can we fail to be surprised at seeing certain selections? Let us give an example. At this time there was abroad an ungowned Capuchin, who had embraced Protestantism and married ; but who had been divorced from his first wife and had married another. His man- ners were dissolute ; he believed in nothing, and had obtained for himself a certain reputation in Freemasonry. If he were not connected with the llluminati of Bavaria, he yet much resem- bled them ; his name was Fessler. This was the man to whom they chose to offer a chair in the reorganised ecclesiastical academy. They began by intrusting him with the teaching of Hebrew ; finding soon that this did not suffice, they gave him the chair of philosophy. Everybody in Paris still remembers the feeling produced there by the nomination to the Hebrew chair of a man who had publicly testi- fied his nonbelief in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Yet, M. Eenan's antecedents are not those of Fessler, nor is the College of France a semi- Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 129 nary. How is it then, that, in a country pre- tending such jealousy for its orthodoxy, the instruction of the future pastors of the Kussian Church was confided to such a man as the lat- ter ? It is not my task to explain it : I know only that Speranski got Fessler to initiate him into the mysteries of Freemasonry, and declared himself his protector. He was given an apart- ment in tho neighbourhood of the Laure, and, in the very interior of the academy, a chamber where he passed a great part of the day in fami- liar conversation with the seminarists. It is sad to say so, but these young men were en- raptured with this singular professor. Let us hasten to add that such a scandal excited the zeal of the Bishop of Kalouga, Theophylact Kou- sanoff ; and in spite of the efforts of Speranski, at the end of five months Fessler was obliged to resign. Speranski was eager to procure for him another place in the Law Commission.* In the memoirs left by Fessler he relates that the persecutions of which he was the object * Some years later the Emperor Alexander wished that the Protestants of his states had bishops, like the Anglican and Swedish Churches. Being nominated Protestant Bishop of Saratoff, Fessler got himself consecrated in Finland ; afterwards exercised juris- diction over the Protestants at Saratoff, Astrakan, Voronej, Tarn- boff, Rezan, Penza, Simbirsk, Kasan, and Orenburg. In one of his pastoral visits he lost his second wife, whom he hastened to replace by another. He made pretensions to apostolical succes- bion, and used to ordain priests. ?i 130 Ecclesiastical Schools, Chap. III. had for tteir motive the preference given by liim to the Platonic over the peripatetic phi- losophy. But, without entering into the ex- amination of his teaching, it is evident that the choice of such a man for professor in a seminary was suflScient to alarm the con- science of any bishop having any anxiety about doctrine. This alone, better than long reasonings, en- lightens us as to the disposition of Speranski, and as to the spirit in which he had conceived his reforms. We know well that, after his disgrace, he affected the semblance of piety. He translated the Imitation, willingly read the holy Fathers, assisted in the offices, partook of the sacraments, and in his conversation and correspondence frequently spoke of God, Pro- vidence, and of the life hereafter. But it would be difficult to say what religion he had in his inmost heart. Was he orthodox, Protestant, or Deist ? We know only that his was a soul without loftiness, knowing no other motive than ambition. Speranski lavished the lowest flatteries on such a man as Araktcheieff. Sper- anski, who passed as the first jurisconsult of the empire, put his signature to the end of the sentence which condemned the conspirators of the 14th December 1825, although in this process the forms of justice had been outrage- Cbap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 131 ously violated. 'He is a gi^eat hypocrite,' said of him Count Cancrin, finance- minister of the Emperor Nicholas. Baron Korff has inserted this expression in his Life of Speranski, and it will doubtless be the judgment of posterity. In stopping to notice the physiognomy of Speranski, we do not swerve from our subject. It is worth remarking, that holy Russia is exposed to have ministers of this temper, and they can exercise an incontestable influence over the Church and her doctrine, by the choice of subjects, by the direction given to studies. It is a farther argument against the central direction of the schools of the clergy.* Fessler is not the only Protestant who has taught in * There is a singular parallelism between the destinies of Sper- unski and Fessler. In 1810 they are both at the apogee of their fortune ; in 1811 Speranski was precipitated from his pinnacle of greatness, and banished to Nijni, then to Perm. Some months before, Fessler had quitted Petersburg and withdrawn to the banks of the Volga, into an estate of Zlobin, brother-in-law of Speranski ; sent away by Zlobin Feb. 25th, 1813, he took refuge at Saratoff. On Oct. 3d, 1815, he established himself at S^repta ; Jan. 1st, 1816, his emoluments were suppressed : he was obliged to sell his books, and to have recourse to his friends in Germany for the means of living. Soon, however, the wind changes. On Aug. 30th of the same year Speranski is named Governor of Penza; Aug. 20th, 1817, Fessler is restored to his appointments; March 22d, 1819, Speranski becomes Governor-general of Siberia ; July 8th, Fessler is authorised to reenter Petersburg ; and on Oct. 25th a Protestant bishopric is erected for him at Saratoff. In thus following the vicissitudes of fortune in the lives of these two men, we can verify the greater or less amount of credit which the Freemasons en- joyed. m. I 132 Ecclesiastical Schools. cbap. til the Academy of Petersburg. After him came two of his co-religionists— John von Horn, who succeeded him as professor of philosophy and Hebrew, and Christian Frederic Graefe, who lone- filled the chair of Greek. We quite understand that the professors of the faculty of theology of Dorpat should be Protestants ; this is quite natural; but we do not understand confiding to Protestants the care of forming the orthodox clergy. What has been the re- sult ? We have already observed that Pro- testant ideas and doctrines have penetrated the Kussian clergy ; at every step we find proofs of it ; and perhaps the instructions given by the Synod to the priests charged to lead the German princesses to exchange their Protest- antism for orthodoxy are nearer the truth than is thought. Without doubt the doctrines pro- fessed by the Greek and the Eussian Church were not the least Protestant in the world; but it cannot be disputed that, for a century past, a work has been going on among the Kussian clergy, separating them more and more from their old traditions, and drawing them every day neare- and nearer to the Protestant ministers. . Let us return to the ecclesiastical academy of Nevsky. The organisation of the studies was so vicious that it was obliged to undergo Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 133 radical modifications. The course, reduced to four years, was divided into two sections — two years of philosophy, and two of theology. With philosophy were studied Latin, literature, uni- versal history, and mathematics ; with theo- logy, ecclesiastical history, Christian antiqui- ties, chronology, sacred geography, and Eussian literature. Holy Scripture, Greek, Hebrew, French, and German, were common to both sections. The lessons of holy Scripture be- came reading of the Bible, with commentaries ; the Old Testament was read with philosophy, the New with theology. Programmes were at the same time drawn up for the different branches of instruction. The course of theology must embrace: 1. Introduction to theology; 2. Hermeneutics ; 3. Dogmatic theology; 4. Moral theology ; 5. Polemic theology ; 6. Pa- tristic; 7. Orthodox liturgy; 8. Pastoral; 9. Homiletics; and 10. Canon law. No serious man will imagine that a young man could learn in two years everything enumerated in this programme, and at the same time the other matters just indicated. What is the result? The students are profound in nothing; they are given only small abridgments, which serve merely to overload the memory. In the great Catholic schools the course of philosophy runs for three years, that of theology for four years, 134 ^ Ecclesiastical Schools. chap, iii- which makes the time seven years instead of four, and the branches of instruction are much less numerous. Examining the programme of 1814, one is at once struck with the puerile desire of sym- metry, which has nothing in common with true science, and which seems to be a heritage of Speranski's mind. Here, for example, is the programme of the course of dogmatic theology : I. On God: 1. Knowledge of God. 2. Unity of God. 3. The Holy Trinity. II. III. IV. Y. 99 THE Creator. Providence. Angels. Man : 1. On man's nature and state before the fall. 9 3. 4. 5. 6. )> )> )> >> )> his fallen state. ,, Kestoration. the Eequisites to salvation. Means of salvation. Church : a. In itself. b. On the Sacraments. c. „ Hierarchy. d. Laws of the Church. >> >> YI. On the last state of man and the world. At first sight, a theologian is shocked at the want of proportion presented by this table. t^nm Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 135 In these six great divisions, there is one which demands thrice the space of the other five. The section on God^ even joining to it that on Prwidence^ presents important lacunae. It is inexplicable why the sections on the Hierarchy and the Church are separated the one from the other. It is equally surprising to see thrown into one subdivision the subject of the Sacraments^ which comprehends eight parts; one on sacraments in general, and seven relat- ing severally to the sacraments in particular. Now, among the sacraments, the treatises on the Eucharist^ on Penitence^ and on Matrimony^ have an importance of the first order. We search this table in vain for the vast beautiful treatises De Actibus humanis^ de Gra- tia, de Virtutibus, de Peccatis. It will perhaps be said that they are referred to morality ; but it is one thing to consider these matters in a moral point of view, and another to consider them in the dogmatic. And if this omission is admissible in a diocesan seminary, it can- not be accepted in the case of a house of high studies ; for it must not be lost sight of, that the four ecclesiastical academies of Eussia, and especially that of Petersburg, form the rank most distinguished in theological instruction. And this high course occujnes two years! and the author to-day adopted is Mgr. Macaire, ■■1 134 ^ Ecclesiastical Schools. chap. in. which makes the time seven years instead of four, and the branches of instruction are much less numerous. Examining the programme of 1814, one is at once struck with the puerile desire of sym- metry, which has nothing in common with true science, and which seems to be a heritage of Speranski's mind. Here, for example, is the programme of the course of dogmatic theology : I. On God: 1. Knowledge of God. 2. Unity of God. 3. The Holy Trinity. Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 135 II. III. IV. Y. THE Creator. Providence. Angels. Man : 1. On man's nature and state before the fall. 2. 3. the Eequisites to salvation. Means of salvation. Church : a. In itself. h. On the Sacraments. c. „ Hierarchy. d, „ Laws of the Church. 4. 5. 6. his fallen state. ,, Eestoration. )> >> >> YI. On the last state of man and the world. At first sight, a theologian is shocked at the want of proportion presented by this table. In these six great divisions, there is one which demands thrice the space of the other five. The section on God^ even joining to it that on Providence, presents important lacunae. It is inexplicable why the sections on the Hierarchy and the Church are separated the one from the other. It is equally surprising to see thrown into one subdivision the subject of the Sacraments J which comprehends eight parts; one on sacraments in general, and seven relat- ing severally to the sacraments in particular. Now, among the sacraments, the treatises on the Eucharist, on Penitence, and on Matrimony^ have an importance of the first order. We search this table in vain for the vast beautiful treatises De Actibus humanis, de Gra- tia, de Virtutibus, de Peccatis. It will perhaps be said that they are referred to morality ; but it is one thing to consider these matters in a moral point of view, and another to consider them in the dogmatic. And if this omission is admissible in a diocesan seminary, it can- not be accepted in the case of a house of high studies ; for it must not be lost sight of, that the four ecclesiastical academies of Eussia, and especially that of Petersburg, form the rank most distinguished in theological instruction. And this high course occujnes two years! and the author to-day adopted is Mgr. Macaire, mimmmmmHm I'mll' i lC n 136 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap III. Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 137 who wrote in Eussian ! What would be said in France of a seminary where theology should take two years, and that in French ? If there are any such, they do not boast of them ; in any case, they are not faculties of theology, or anything approaching thereto. For moral theology, the Academy has re- mained faithful to Buddceus ; for polemical, to Schubert, We have not information sufficient for us to form an opinion of the manner in which philosophy is taught in the Academy of Peters- burg ; but the history of this academy, from which we have borrowed many facts and hints, has been written by M. Tchistovich, professor of philosophy in that institution ;* and we are not a little surprised to see his declaration that, in the ecclesiastical academies, the teach- ing of philosophy has for its object to demon- strate the feebleness of human reason, and its inability to discover truth by its own forces, without the light of revelation. If this is not traditionalism, I know not now where to look for it. Beyond doubt, rationalists are quite wrong in pretending that human reason, left to its sole force, can attain every kind of truth; * iiciopifl C. nerepCypcKott AyxoBeoft AKajCMiH, coiHHeHie op^HHap- Haro npo*eccopa C. nerepCypcKOft AyxoBHott AKa^eMia UiapiOHa Hhcto- BHHa. Cn6, 1857, 8vo. but to conclude of it that it is impotent to know truth, is to sap the foundation of reason and faith, philosophy and theology. The study of universal history was not obligatory from 1814 to 1844 ; in the latter year it became obligatory. In 1842 the course of Eussian history was extended to all stu- dents ; in 1851 it was divided. Eussian his- tory was taught to the pupils in philosophy, Eussian church history to the pupils in theo- logy. In 1844 the study of physics and mathe- matics was rendered equally obligatory. Until 1842 eight hours weekly were devoted to these sciences; in 1845 four hours and a half sufficed ; since 1849 they occupy six hours: At an epoch not specified, but which can be conjectured, the professor of history was warned to beware of two rocks — an excessive criticism and fatal- To these two recommendations, very ism. reasonable in themselves, was added a third, of which I am unwilling to deprive the reader : ' Avoid an inconsiderate political direction, which could bring forth in young minds a tendency to dream and to judge of what ought not to be submitted to their judgment.^ From this one can imagine what the course of his- tory must be.* * In illustration of the sentence in italics, we quote the fol- lowing explanation of the autocratical power of the Tsar which #" B^inS«fer| i i[ij i SS' i ffS I i m i iii ii iSiij'irm i I w 'i t mim mum" mi^mm m •mmmimtaim 138 Ecclesiastical Schools. chap. iii. Cliap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 139 In the primitive plan instruction in Latin had been wholly laid aside, on the supposition that the young men on leaving the seminary would be sufficiently acquainted with the Ian*- guage. The event, it appears, did not justify this trial, and in 1847 two classes in Latin weekly were established. In these were ex- pounded Lactantius, Cicero, T. Livy, Tacitus, Yirgil, Horace ; that is to say, what the stu- dents were thought to have seen in the gram- mar-classes was here repeated. Very modest this ! "We have seen above the selection of au- thors to be read in Greek. This programme, which places Thucydides in the first year, is evidently the work of men who were ignorant of Greek. They soon returned to wiser ideas. The coiu'se was divided into two sections, the first comprising the beginners ; to the second were explained Homer, Lucian, Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus, Pausanias, Xenophon, &c. ; then they touch on iEschylus, Sophocles, Euri- pides ; lastly, they pass to Demosthenes, Iso- crates and the Fathers of the Church. The i3 alluded to in the 1st article of the Jlussian Code: *His Ma- iesty is a monarch autocratic, who has not to give reason for his actions to anybody on earth, but has the power and authority, as Christian sovereign, to administer his state and country accordmg to his own will and discretion.' (^Trans.) study of French and German has also become obligatory ; so that a return has imperceptibly been made to almost the very programme of 1809, which was found too full in 1814. It is seen, then, that there is one thought in the plan of 1797, and another in that of 1809: the first belonged to the Jesuits, the second to the Freemasons ; the rest was mere routine. In 1863 a new reform was tried. Instead of dwelling on it, we prefer giving here our own views on the matter. We should like to see in all the seminaries two years allotted to philosophy, and three to theology : the instruction should be given in Latin. It is even to be wished that the use of scholastic disputation be revived. During the theological course the whole attention should be expended on dogma and morality; all else should be accessory. There should be only three hours of class daily, and at most two or three hours weekly for accessories, so distributed that one year should be devoted to ecclesiastical history, another to canon law, a third to holy Scripture. The academies, to which should be admitted only those young men who have finished their studies in the seminaries, should be true faculties of theo- logy. There all the branches of sacred science I I y feict -^ tiS .1 UO Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. m. should be taught, with all the fulness they admit of; there should he formed the men des- tined to become professors in the seminaries. By permitting the best pupils to spend some years in foreign travel, good professors of fa- culties would be prepared. These professors should evidently not be taken from among Protestants ; the formation of the clergy can be entrusted only to men whose doctrine gives every security. We would, farther, that that mixture of monks, secular priests, and laymen should be renounced. If the reforms proposed by us were adopted, one or two academies might be reserved for the secular celibate clergy ; the others should be confided to monks ; and if there existed two or three separate teaching congregations, there would be no disadvantage iu introducing into different academies differ- ent congregations. As to the choice of authors, it is high time to lay aside Buddseus and the other Protestant theologians. Similarly it would be necessary to subject to a careful examina- tion the books published by members of the Eussian clergy, who have allowed themselves to be drawn towards Protestantism. At tlie head of these is Theophane Prokopovich. It should be seen what was thought of ti^ and his doctrine by Etienne Javorski and iheo- phylact Lopatinski. For this purpose it would Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 141 be very useful to have reprinted the great work of Javorski, published by Lopatinski, and entitled The Stone of Faith.* It i== a refutation of Protestantism, which ought to bo placed in the hands of every student of theo- logy- It rarely happens that we are of the same opinion as the anonymous author of the book on The White and Black Clergy ; this is one more reason for seizing the occasion of citing him when we agree with him. The chair of dogmatic theology ought not to be an appendage to the rectorship; quite on the contrary: these two employments are incompatible. Teaching demands men who devote themselves wholly to it, and remain each in his own speciality. If they so remain long, they will be but the better for it. A professor who has for any length of time occupied a chair can rarely ex- change it for another without inconvenience ; and he who has lived a few years without teaching can scarcely ever return to it again. These considerations ill agree with the career followed by the poorly - instructed monks m Eussia. Whatever employ is confided to them, they consider it only as a lower ladder to raise them to a higher. With this system good professors will never be obtained. A semi- * KaMenb Btpu. SPiJ**Si^t«tS it * 142 Ecclesiastical Schools. chap. m. nary superior, wlio lias shown some aptitude for administration, who possesses virtues ne- cessary for governing men, and fulfils besides the other conditions required, can be with ad- vantage promoted to the episcopate. On the other hand, the bishop being not only a pastor but a doctor, we understand that the episco- pate receives a theologian of merit ; "but, as a general rule, it is to be wished that good pro- fessors keep to teaching, and make it exclu- sively their ambition to become eminent m their line. . , Hitherto we have been chiefly occupied with teaching ; we must now study another aspect of the question,-the admimstration oi houses destined, for the training of the clergy, the discipline observed there, and the educa- tion received by candidates for the priesthood We have seen that the administration ot these establishments, centred at first in the hands of the commission on ecclesiastical schools, was afterwards placed among the functions of the Synod, but that really it is exercised by the central direction, which depends on the chief procurator at least as much as on the supreme council* of the Russian Church. In 1863 a new regulation was published. Judging of it • As to the applicability of the term 'council' to the Synod, see infra^ p. 219. t Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 143 by the attacks of the philo-slave journal, The Bay* and by those of our anonymous author, it would contain notable and serious ameliora- tions. For the first time, the diocesan bishop is invested with the rights belonging to him over his seminary. Under the supervision of the central direction, he exercises over this nursery of his clergy a veritable authority. The rector, named at Petersburg on the bishop's presentation, is assisted by a pedagogic council, composed of the prefect of studies or inspector, of six professors, and of three or four priests, whom the city clergy choose from their midst. The powers of this council are very extended, but at the same time the rector's authority over the whole personnel of the house is entire. Until now the professorships in the seminaries were, in the majority of cases, held by sons of ecclesiastics, who, after having terminated their studies at the seminary or at the academy, re- mained laymen. To entrust the education of the young Levites to men who thus testify their aversion from the vocation to the eccle- siastical state, was not the way to preserve this vocation in the pupils. The ne^^ regulation has understood this, and the men of this cate- o-ory will be separated from the seminaries. These dispositions, so reasonable, are vio- * 4eHb. I^' 144 Ecclesiastical Schools. chap. m. lently criticised by the philo- slave journal. Now what does it ask ? Separation from the monks, teaching confided to the laity, all pro- fessors without distinction called to sit m a pedagogic council, the rector and the inspector chosen by ballot by the staff of professors. It is indignant at the authority confided to the bishop and the rector, and in it sees only the triumph of despotism. (The Day, i86b, Nos. 41 and 46.) Yerily we cannot believe our eyes These fiery athletes of orthodoxy speak- ing a language which seems borrowed from the extremest republicans when it is a question o an educational establishment, or of a seminary! No study is more curious than this question of ecclesiastical places of education : masks fal off, and every man betrays his most secret thoughts. The philo- slaves speak like free- masons ; they have the same hatreds and the same preferences. We by no means wish to constitute our- selves the advocates of the Eussian clergy; but how comes it that these men, who inscribe the word orthodoxy on their banner, show themselves animated with such hostile sentiments towards the cler<^y ^ How can we help recalling that these same men have placed the supreme au- thority of their Church, not in the oecumenical council - that is to say, in the assembly ot Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 145 bishops— but in the universal suffrage of the people, sanctioning or rejecting the decrees of the councils ? The question is the education of young men who are to be clothed with the priesthood, the instructing them in sacred knowledge and revealed truth ; and it is not necessary, forsooth, that the bishop have au- thority over the professors. The rector also is to be named by his professors, who give no guarantee of their orthodoxy. The philo-slaves would be particularly satisfied if this rector were himself a layman ; they would see with- out displeasure authority wholly taken away from the bishop and passed into the hands ot the laity I know that certain Protestant sects look at the matter thus; but I ask myself, how can men who think thus persuade themselves that they are orthodox? above all, how can they persuade others so ? What shall we say? Are these philo-slaves a sect which the Eus- sian Church will end by ejecting from its bo- som, or rather is it necessary to explain this phenomenon by the state of disregard i^o which the Eussian clergy have fallen .^ W e do not know ; but this anti-clerical fanaticism of the philo-slaves most certainly affords much to think about. The reflections contained in the anonymous work on The White and Black Clergy are ** Jf K."^:-.*' *" 146 Ecclesiastical Schools. Chap. III. quite as curious. The author finds that the education given in the Russian seminaries was abeady too Catholic, and that the neiv regula- tion is about to render it Jesuitical. Let us first see in what it was too Catholic. Accord- ing to our anonymous writer, the seminary superiors were wrong to busy themselves about the goings-out of their pupils, and the relations these might have with the outside world, to look with an evil eye on those who frequented balls and theatres, and he thinks that generally they were kept at too great a distance from women. And yet he speaks of a professor who, in a seminary, gave a course of lessons to which ladies were admitted; he farther recognises that all the surveillance of superiors does not prevent the seminarists going to theatres, balls, &c. His great argument is, that all the semi- narists ought some day to be married. First of all, if it is probable that the majority will marry, it cannot be said of any that he ought to be married ; and even admitting that they all marry, is this a reason for not preserving their youth from the wanderings and disorders to which they are too exposed ? The vigilance very insufficient, alas! — adopted by the seminary superiors to protect the innocence of their pupils, this is what our anonymous au- thor speaks of as Catholic tendencies ! What an Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 147 avowal, what homage ! He would doubtless see this Catholic spirit replaced by tendencies wholly o])^osite— orthodox tendencies. Whither these would tend can be imagined. Once more, we are not the advocates of the Eussian Church ; but we do not believe that she deserves the op- probrium of being defended after this fashion. As to the Jesuitical tendencies of the new regulation, the occasion for such an accusation is this. The central administration communi- cated to the bishops a description of the little seminary of Paris, and from it were borrowed several arrangements in use there. Every one knows that the little seminary of Paris is not a college of Jesuits, that it is directed by secular priests, under the supervision of the archbishop ; but at this distance one may not look at this matter with minuteness, and two pages farther on our anonymous author does not hesitate to say, in reference to the Leotade affair, that among the Brothers of the Christian Schools— at Toulouse— a//, even to the servants and the phy- sician, ivere Jesuits. But in what, then, do these Jesuitical tendencies consist ? There are, firstly, the same grievances we have already seen in the organ of the philo-slaves : the semi- naries are placed under the authority of the diocesan bishop ; the rector, on his side, has too great a power in the house, the lay element irJt' I I 148 Ecclesiastical Schools. chap. iii. in the personnel is weak. Then come other accusations of the same kind : instead of day- schools the seminaries are going to become boarding-schools ; the pupils are separated too much from the world ; Catholic seminaries are taken as models, instead of imitating the Pro- testant system ; mention is not often enough made of the necessity of inculcating m the youths devotion to their fatherland and to the emperor. In other terms, the aspirants to the priesthood ought to be accustomed to the thought that they are, above all, functionaries ot the state. But what is more Jesuitical is, that the bishop shall choose from his clergy an edu- cated and pious priest charged to receive the con- fessions of the seminarists; this chaplain is re- commended to excite in his penitents a sincere contrition, to see them from time to time, to give them good counsel, to habituate them to watch over their actions and thoughts, to seek their spiritual father in order to disclose to him the state of their souls, to learn from him to fi-ht against their faults, and to exercise themselves in mental prayer. The first objec- tion our anonymous friend makes to this is not without originality : a priest capable of dis- charging these functions is not to be found ; those of the monks who would be able occupy more important posts; and to find one of them Cliap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. I4y in the ranks of the secular clergy too high a salainj would be necessary. And then this would considerably alter custom. To-day the seminarists are thought to confess and com- municate twice a year, during the first week of Lent and during Holy Week. In reality they generally confine themselves to approaching the sacraments at the beginning of Lent. Almost all go to pass Easter in their families ; starting on Palm Sunday, because, from the bad state of the roads, they do not reach home till Monday or Tuesday. Scarcely any one approaches the sacraments, which, however, does not hinder the cures from giving them on their return a certificate attesting that they have both con- fessed and communicated.* The new regula- tion prescribes two communions more per year, the one at Christmas, the other at the Assump- tion; as this latter festival falls during the vacation, it may be feared that many young men do not refrain from bringing a false certificate. It also ordains that, in order to give the seminarists habits of piety, prayers should be recited morning and evening, grace before and after meat should be said, and their classes be begun and finished with a short * In several Jesuit colleges there are vacations at Easter, but the pupils leave only the day after the f estiva,]. This is a Jesmtical invention which the Russian seminaries would do well to adopt. LI iff ft! ■ ^ 150 Ecclesiastical Schools. chap. m. prayer. And herein consists its Jesuitical ten- dencies. The seminarists receive a too clerical education, and the clergy are too isolated from the rest of the population. The less the priests shall distinguish themselves from the laity, the better it will be : they are married and fathers of families ; consequently the principle is laid down, it remains only to deduce therefrom its consequences. It is necessary that the as- pirants to the priesthood should be brought up by laymen, and as laymen ; that they should have the same ideas, the same habits, the same kind of life as laymen. The greater part of the laity do not conform to the laws of the Church, and do not lead Christian lives. It matters not. But what, then, is the priest, and why did our Lord call him the salt of the earth ? Has he not received the deposit of revealed truth, in order to dissipate ignorance and combat er- ror ? Ought he not to oppose the doctrine of the Gospel to the false wisdom of the world ? Has he not been established guardian of the law and dispenser of the sacraments ? Ought he not to reprove sinners, to call them to peni- tence, to purify them from their defilements, to catch them up when fainting, and raise them to God? In a word, ought he not to react against ignorance, against errors, against vanity, against the corruption of the world ? It is not. ^.«s<«^pt^^^!^s»^ iii fti a i[SiPMnMi(flm i l |i M| |i 4 Chap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 151 then, whilst living the life of the world, accept- ing its ideas and submitting to its influence, that the priest will be able to fulfil his mission. And if the men who di-ew up the new regula- tion of the Kussian seminaries have insisted on the necessity of sheltering the priest's youth from the scandals of the world, they have only conformed to the spirit of the Gospel. Let people say that these are Jesuitical tendencies, we shall not complain ; they thereby only esta- blish the conformity of the spirit of the Com- pany of Jesus with the spirit of Him who said, ' If ye were of the world, the world would love you ; but because ye are not of the world, be- cause I have separated you from the world, therefore the world hates you.' (John xv. 19.) Consequently, the principles of the new re- gulation are good, so far as we can judge of them from the criticisms they have evoked. Will there be found in the Kussian Church men to put them in practice ? This is another question. Have these principles always been applied with discretion? We will not affirm it. It is certainly a good thing to give habits of piety to clerical youth ; but in making all the pupils attend mass Wednesdays and Fri- days, matins and vespers every Sunday and holiday; by rendering it obligatory on them during their four last years at the seminary to ^^'i^i'^ '^ z^\ '~«^ '3 1 "i il [I 152 Ecclesiastical Schools. chap. lU- attend mass, matins, and vespers every day- lias not the limit of moderation been passed ." We think so. If we consider that the Offices of the Eussian Church are much longer than those of the Latin, we shall feel a difficulty m understanding that study does not suffer there- from ; and farther, 'tis doubtful whether they be a proper means for nourishing piety. When our anonymous author says that these long hours of service are more in place in a monas- tery than in a house for study, that they can produce in young souls distaste for prayer, or dispose them to hypocrisy, we perfectly agree with him. We shall say as much of the four annual communions. We would that the young men could approach the sacraments far oftener ; but, as each of these commxmions is preceded by an eight days' retreat, without studies, with- out recreation, without distraction of any sort, we expect from them no good result. One re- treat a year may do very much good ; but one is sufficient, and farther, for very young men, eight days are too long. Moreover, children must not be left to themselves ; they need to be spoken with four or five times a day, and fresh food always supplied them for mind and heart. , ., In a word, the new regulation bears witness to good intentions ; but we doubt much if it Cliap. III. Ecclesiastical Schools. 153 will breed happy effects. To speak our mmd entirely, we do not believe in the possibdity of a reform of the Russian seminaries. The evil is too deep, and the men are wanting. In such a situation there is but one course to take : to allow those who can do anything to do it. Eenounce frankly your traditional policy in matters religious ; break all the fet- ters with which you have loaded alien worship ; allow CathoV'^s and Staroveres (dissenters) to have their seminaries, their academies, their faculties of theology, as you freely allow them to Protestants ; do not burden these establish- ments with your administrative guardianship, leave the bishops free to organise their semin- aries as they desire, to entrust the direction of them to whom they will, give all the religious orders— not excepting the Jesuits— the faculty to have colleges; efface from your code the laws which forbid Russians to embrace any other religion than that of the State : this free concurrence can alone save you. I willingly admit that the official Church will see the num- ber of her childi-en diminish ; but the multi- tude of those inscribed on the parish registers do not constitute her strength, as the 40,000 Catholics she conquered in 1867 add nothing to her vigour. This is certain, that this con- currence will strengthen the Christian element i''^ AAiWS 154 Ecclesiastical Schools. chap. m. in the empire ; that it will be an embankment against the Nihilism now propagating itselt through the schools, and above all says the Moscow Gazette, through the schools of the cler-y. All the regulations in the world can avail nothing, the remedy must be sought else- where; and you will find it only ma renun- ciation of all your traditions opposed to alien worship. CHAPTEE lY. THE BISHOPS. The Church founded by Jesus Christ is apos- tolic ; it was to the Apostles that our Lord con- fided'the deposit of the faith, the mission to teach all nations, the power to administer the sacra- ments, the task to lead the faitliful into the way of salvation. The Apostles were mortal; their ministry is to be exercised until the consum- mation of the ages. They must therefore have successors: these are the bishops. The bishops are doctors; that is to say, guardians, inter- preters, and judges of doctrine. They have the fulness of the priesthood ; not only do they administer the sacraments, but they confer the power to administer them. They are pastors ; to them belongs the care of leading and feeding the flock of Jesus Christ. What the bishops have received from the Apostles they transmit to their successors ; and thus is formed in the Church a chain, of which not a link is broken —an uninterrupted tradition by which, from generation to generation, pass the teaching, the episcopal characterj and authority. 156 The Bishops. Chap. IV. The bishop's power is supernatural; it comes not from men, nor can it. Neither the votes of the people assembled in their comitia, nor a sovereign's decree, whatever his power, can make a bishop. To the ancients, when being entrusted with the government of the churches founded by him, St. Paul said : ' The Holy Ghost has made you bishops, to rule the Church of God.' 'Tis necessary, however, that men intervene in this great work of the trans- mission of the episcopal power. The first bishops were directly named and consecrated by the Apostles : about this there could be no difficulty. We shall presently see how the mode of election has been regulated by the canon law at different epochs in history ; but before quitting the Apostles we must make an important observation. When they began to preach the Gospel, not being able, of course, to address themselves to all men at once, they betook themselves to the great centres of population — to Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica. When they had grouped around them a certain number of believers, and had sufficiently instructed them, before leaving them they placed at the head of this nascent Church a bishop, charged to rule it, and to carry on the work begun. This bishop spread the Gospel in the surrounding Chap. IV. The Bishojys. 167 towns, and there formed churches, to which, in his turn, he gave bishops. The new churches considered themselves as the daughters of that which had begotten them in the faith; they regarded her as a mother, and the city where she was established became for them a mother' city J a metropolis ; for such is the signification of the word. This is the origin of the ties of subordination which attach sees simply epis- copal to sees metropolitan. There exists no necessary bond between provinces ecclesiastical and provinces of civil administration ; but nothing was more natural than for the Church to adopt administrative boundaries, based in general on the very nature of things. It hence resulted that, generally, the metropolitan see was fixed in the chief city of the province. But these sees themselves were too numerous not to feel the need of grouping themselves around a common centre. The prefecture of the East was divided into five great circumscriptions, which bore the names of the Egyptian, Eastern, Asian, Pontian, and Thracian dioceses. Also we early see the bi- shops of Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus, Coesarea, of Cappadocia, and of the Thracian Heraclea, exercising a certain authority over the metro- politans of their jurisdiction. The title borne by the titularies of these great sees was not 41 1 4 si I I I 158 Tlie Bishops. Chap. IV. uniformly fixed at their origin. The bishops of Ephesus, of C«^sarea, and of Heraclea were called Exarchs; later, the name of ^«<''»- arch was given to those of Alexandria and Antioch. . /-. i. x- At the epoch of its foundation Constanti- nople depended on the see of Heraclea. The importance of the Bishop of Byzantium increased with that of the city, which had became the capital of the empire, and the ««« of Constan- tinople soon ranged under its authority all the metropolitans of the diocese of Thrace as well as those of the dioceses of Asia and of Pontus.* Jerusalem was then a simple bishopric, having for its metropolis C^sarea in Palestine, itselt subiect to the authority of Antioch. But Chris- tians could not forget that in Jerusalem was accomplished the mystery of our redemption : the finding of the Cross by the Empress Helena, the magnificent basilica built over the Holy Sepulchre by order of Constantine the con- course of pilgrinis,-everything contributed to raise the importance of this Church. The bi- . On the origin of the see of Constantinople, and Ae f rcum- . Wh Idded to its importance, see the remarkable work fT Her^en^^ier, PA<.*i- Patriarck .on Constantinopelsei. of Dr. "^.■^««°^«"'' ' ^ ^^, griechucke Schuma, Eegensburg, S"' tr^tt ;fok is toted'to the history of the see of Con 1867. Ihe nrsi j Nation to Photius. It is greatly U> be 'S^^tJZ itortL worU, written in German, should be soon translated into other languages. The Bishops. 159 Cliap. IV. shop of the holy city could scarcely remain in the last rank of the hierarchy. Councils, the interpreters of the feelings of the faithful, detached from the jurisdiction of Antioch a cer- tain number of dioceses, of which was formed the patriarchate of Jerusalem.* Alexandria and Antioch have remained invested with a supremacy recognised from all time Thus were formed the four great patriarchates of the East,-Constantinople,t Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The Bishop of Eome was pa- triarch of all the West. Unity is the law of the Church. There was one sole bishop in each diocese ; several bishops crrouped themselves around one sole metropo- Utan ; several metropolitans around one sole patriarch. The patriarchs, in their turn, must have a centre. Our Lord had given a head to the Apostolic College in the person of St. Peter. The bishops of Eome, successors of St. Peter, had remained invested with an authority ex- tending over the Universal Church. This au- thority, perfectly recognised in the East, was invoked only in extraordinary circumstances ; * This may be said without prejudice of the blame merited by the ambltious'ntriguesof some bishops of Jerusalem. Seei>Aot.«*, '^ T^^^^^^^^ --^ ^-^rTnT mut definiUvely recognised at the see of Constanttaople tdl much later. t ^5 I ; i* I 'rv • k X 160 TJie Bishops. Chap. IV. Chap. IV. The Bishops. 161 short of these it was enough to have recourse to the patriarchs. Such was the ancient organisation ot tne hierarchy in the Church. When the Eussians embraced Christianity, the Patriarch of Constantinople sent them a bishop, who remained subject to his authority. The Christian faith having spread itself beyond the limits of Kieff, it soon became necessary to organise in Eussia several dioceses • and the see of Kieff became metropolitan, without ceas- in- to be subordinate to the see of Constan- tinople. It is no part of our plan to give the history of the relations between the two Churches We confine ourselves to saying that, subiect in principle to Constantinople i^ fact the Eussian Church very early found herself in possession of a certain autonomy i or a long period she was wholly governed by one single metropolitan, the Bishop of Kieff. It was then usual at that time to distmguish a metropolitan from a simple bishop. Later when the Church of Ukraine separated itselt from the Muscovite Church, each of them had at its head a metropolitan. That of Kieff ex- ercised very extended rights in TJkrame and Lithuania ; that of Moscow had the same au- thority in the north-east. Then also they knew how to distinguish ecclesiastical provinces. «•> 1 i At the close of the sixteenth century the patriarchate of Moscow was erected : four me- tropolitans were created under its jurisdiction. This number grew with time ; and at length, in 1685, fifteen years before the death of the last patriarch, the old Church of Kieff paled before her young sister of Moscow ; the metro- politan of the Ukraine transferred to the Mos- cow patriarch the obedience he had always rendered to him of Constantinople. At the commencement of Peter I.'s reign, the Eussian Church counted eight metropolitans. Not con- tent with abolishing the patriarchate, the de- stroyer of the hierarchy suppressed the metro- politans also: in April 1724 not one remained. The last survivor, Sylvester of Smolensk, had been transferred to the see of Tver, and re- duced to the rank of bishop. The clergy saw with pain this overthrow, especially in Ukraine, where they remembered the almost complete independence they had enjoyed under the su- zerainty of Constantinople ; but they did not attempt to resist. When Peter I. established the Synod, the bishops found themselves all on a level before this assembly, in which centred all authority. If to-day some bear the title of bishop, others that of archbishop, a few that of metropolitan, these distinctions are purely honorary; they ■J ; $ 162 The Bishops. Cliap. IV. constitute a difference of provision without es- tablishing any bond of subordination, btill farther, by a discipline unknown to antiquity, the title is attached to the person rather than to the see. There certainly exists a usage by virtue of which the bishops of Moscow, Kieflf, and Petersburg, are metropolitans; but we have seen bishops succeed to the see of Moscow with the title of archbishop, and not receive till later that of metropolitan. Such was the case with Mgr. Tilaret. Yery lately Mgr. Gregory Posnikoff, before being promoted to the see of Petersburg, held that of Kazan with the title of metropolitan, which did not pass to his successor. These titles are given m the clerical career as that of privy councillor is m the civil. Prom this state of things it results that the idea of hierarchy is obscured and almost effaced from the mind. Yet it has not com- pletely disappeared. We recollect that eccle- siastical history and canon law speak of pro- vincial councils ; which involves the notion of ecclesiastical provinces, and of bishops subor- dinated to a metropolitan. To revive the use of these councils and to reestablish the pro- yinces is being thought of. The proof of this is in a very remarkable article, pubhshed by the Moscow Gazette. October if, 1866, No. 216. li Cliap. IV. The Bishops. 163 Here is a passage, translated from the Kus- sian : ' We must not, ho^veve^, despise the danger the Ortho- dox Church runs through the outward disunion in which she now is. The Orthodox Church is essentially cecu- menical, and it ought to appear in the character essential to it. The enemies of Kussia, and the spirits hostile to cxjcumenical orthodoxy, who know it, seek to spread the opinion that the Russian Church has been completely transformed into a political institution ; in consequence of Avhich she finds herself, so far as a Church, in a state of inaction and death. This is an exaggeration, hut it mmt he confessed that such reports are not icithout a hasis. The oecumenical Church, in virtue of its constitution, ought to live the same life and to have the same spirit in every country on earth. In order to maintiiin ecumenical unity every Church ought to be found in lining communion with aU others ; and the first condition for this, doubtless, con- sists in the living communion which each particular Church of the one oecumenical Church ought to maintain in its own limits (among its different parts), and for the preservation of which the canons of the Church have instituted the local or provincial councils. Anciently the provincial councHs assembled twice a year under the presidency of the metro- politan; later, because of certain difficulties, the sixth oecumenical council permitted them to assemble only once a year in virtue of canonical laws which have not been abrogated by any legitimate authority. The provincial council, according to the canons of oecumenical councils, ought to be convoked by the circular letters of the me- tropolitan ; it is this council which decides controverted ecclesiastical questions and doubtful cases ; which exa- mines complaints made against the bishops, which chooses them, institutes them, and judges them. Of these coun- . '-I ! 1 M J-W ^#^?»l-i-S«™lM» V »,*a6«!S^'^*«e»i»f5w \^ I ' ill fe !^ 164 The Bishops. Chap. IV- Chap. IT. The Bishops. 165 cUs, established by the Apostles then.selves (STth Apos tolkal Canon) we have had none for ^^-^ P^^^; J^J Holy Synod cannot take their pl^'=«'.^^'=^^^', f,\i' Je Zps drnot take part in its deliberations ; whdst all the Sips ou.ht absolutely to sit in the provincial councils Si they were instituted by the Apostles and the ncS cBCuLnical. Only oM age ^^cknjs - -- extreme necessity could excuse the ^^^^f ^P^^^^. ^^ ";'. every year present himself in the assembly of his brethren oZw'ise he was subject to - ecclesiastical pu-J-^^^ (Can. 87 of the Council of Carthage, 19th of tbe4thCEcu tni al Council, 50th of the 6* ^----^.^^^^^tid Yet with us quite recently the diocesan bishops had still no ;Lm to go out of the limits of their dioc^^sf^^^ PVPn the shortest time. This isolation of the bishops iafy to apostolical constitutions and to tl^e canons o r Ecumenical councUs, has had the most painful results for th nSof the Church. It is but lately that our bi- hops have been permitted to aW themse^es fo-gh days on notice being given to the Holy Synod, and lor tSnty-eight days with the previous authorisation of the Tvnod Last summer, two bishops whose dioceses are bynocl. -i-asi ^Lgcow Mgr. Irenarcus, Archbishop contiguous to that of Moscow, xvi i cs^.i^cV pro- nf T^Pzan and Mgr. Antonius, Bishop of SmolensK, pro Id by thiB newi;.acquired right. After doing reverence tihe' ancient sLctuaries of Moscow, «ieyh^d-^^^ Gethsemane Hermitage an interview with ^"^e ^ tan Mgr. Filaret. These direct communications be ween he pasTors of the Church cannot fail to -d circulat ng 4l,rnLh the body of the Church a sap new, living, ana tnetn? The'necessity of these interchanges of ideas daily makes itself more felt. ^.^_ The present reign, whilst calhng into new ferent elLents of L national and PoHticaWrga— announces to the Church also the renewal of that life \ which she was deprived, and the reestablishment of the order of things bequeathed to us by the oecumenical coun- cUs We have received news that the imperial defender of orthodoxy and the guardian of the Church's rights has invited the Holy Synod to deUberate on the reestablish- ment of the canonical laws prescribing the convocation of councils, which, according to the apostolic decrees, should assemble every year. When councils shall have been reestablished among us, their deliberations wiU put the bishops in direct relations with one another, and will introduce into theChurch that life which formerly animated her ■ and then our Church will acquire the possibility of entering into relation with other orthodox Churches, and will become oecumenical no longer in name only, but also in fact Then will the malevolent reproaches addressed to her by our secret and open enemies fall of themselves. We know not where tliose secret and public enemies of the Kussian Churcli are wMcli M. Katkoff, the editor of the Moscow Gazette, refers to We are not afraid to assure him that all Catholics will applaud his language, and that no one wishes to see the accomplishment of the reforms in question more than we do ; but we can speak only of that which exists, and even the article of the Moscow Gazette finds fault with an important omission. The eminent publicist cites the canons which attribute to the provincial councils the right of electing, iudging, and deposing bishops. Let us. see how these canons are observed in the Kussian Church, and first let us take a glance at history. cv 166 The Bishops. ciiap. rv. The Apostles themselves appointed bishops in the Churches they founded; but the first dis- ciples of the Apostles, such as Titus and Tirao- theus, perceiving no longer the same personal ascendency, chose bishops only with the con- currence of the faithful * There were thence- forward, well says Dr. Hefele,t whom here we foUoAV, two factors, which concur, each in its share, in the election. The Church, that is to say the faithful, brought its testimony in fav- our of the candidate ; it declared him worthy ((Z|/oj) of the episcopate,]: and the disciple of the Apostles confirmed the election. When the immediate disciples of the Apostles had in their turn disappeared, the mode of electing was again modified. The clergy and the people of the Church to be provided for proposed a can- didate, and the bishops of the province imme- diately instituted and ordained the elected. Sometimes the people did not present sufiicient guarantees, or made a bad choice. Then the bishops directly proceeded to the election, in which, in the two cases, they had always the principal share.§ The Council of Nicsea deemed * 2u«t,8oK7,(raff7)s t^j iKKMaiat irth^ 1845, his Holiness cites : ' Among the laws and anti- Catholic regulations which the Holy See could notj and cannot^ cease to denounce^ is the decree of November 80th^ 1840, concerning seminaries^ by which these have practically been withdrawn from the episcopal jurisdiction and subjected to governmental., as well for regulation of doctrine as of discipline. little to inspire great confidence in the reader. For this prohibi- tion to the bishops going outside their dioceses, we refer the Nord to the Moscow Gazette; but we should be curious to know if, as the Kord seems to admit, the Russian bishops need a passport in order to visit their diocese. If Mgr. Wolonczewski could visit his dio- cese only with a visa of General Kauf mann, it is probable that he did not visit it at all, at least until this general was displaced. It must be avowed that the Nord has a rare talent for confirming news which it pretends to contradict. ' Such regulations are only developments or corollaries of principles injurious to the rights and divine authority of the Church, already con- tained in the laws and ukases recorded among the documents of the allocution of July 22nd, 1842. It is clear, however, that here is a body of laws, whose effect is to forbid to the bishops the exercise of their sacred pastoral ministry, taking from them all jurisdiction over discipline, worship, liturgy, instruction, and the seminaries ; taking from them, in a word, the government of their churches, and subjecting them to the con- sistories, to the ecclesiastical college, and finally to the ministry, in order to reduce them to be mere executors of the sovereign's commands.^ ' These are, then, laws in open opposition to Divine ordination, since according to Scripture, " Spiritus Sanctus posuit Episcopos regere Ec- clesiam Dei" {the Holy Ghost hath set the bi- shops to rule the Church of God). These are laws subversive of ecclesiastical authority, of the hier- archy of the Catholic Church, in a word, of its whole constitution.''* In holding this firm and noble language, Gregory XVL probably never dreamt that he * Esponzmie doeumentata sulle costanti cure del S.P.PwIX. a rivarodei mali ehe soffre la Chiesa CattoU^ nei domzm. d. rJL e di Polonia, Eoma, 1866, pp. i, 5. A French translat.on with Introduction by the Oratorian Fath. Lescoeur, appeared in Paris under the title L'Eglise de Pologne: V. Paling, 1868, I 0m 186 Tlie Bishops. Chap. IV. Chap. IV. The Bishops. 187 was pleading the cause of the Eussian bishops. 'Tis they, and not the Catholic bishops, who have profited thereby. We hope that they will be grateful to him, and understand that it is not useless to the Episcopate to have a head capable of taking up its defence, when the bishops cannot, or dare not, raise their voices. These very judicious observations of Gre- gory XVI. apply not only to the seminaries; they extend to all the acts of episcopal admi- nistration. If we enter into detail, we shall always reach the same results. In Eussia all authority is concentrated in the Synod; the bishop can do nothing of himself; his life is passed in sending reports to Petersburg, re- ceiving thence orders, executing them, and notifying his obedience. Instead of having, as in France, a council composed of priests of his choice, the Eussian bishop is assisted by a con- sistory in which sit priests, 'tis true, but where figures also a lay secretary nominated at Peters- burg by the Synod on the presentation of its chief procurator, but in reality named by him. The secretary takes cognisance of all business, draws up all documents, and conducts all corre- spondence. He is assisted by a chancery, com- posed of six or seven chief clerks, with their sub-clerks and writers. To this chancery are referred all the affairs of the clergy to the most minute detail ; and it is notorious that no busi- ness is transacted without drink-money. Eus- sian bureaucracy has, in general, a sad reputa- tion for venality ; the bureaucracy of the consis- tories is more venal than any other. It is a true system of drainage perfectly organised, which draws off from priests, deacons, and poor clerks, all their savings ; a hideous plague which feeds on the Eussian clergy, whose revenues would suffice them if delivered from these ignoble spoliations. Is^othing is sadder than this bureaucratic regime which strips the bishops of all author- ity, and makes them the victims of endless annoyance ; and all this in order to procure a livelihood for the wasters of the seminaries, re- duced to create for themselves a revenue by their rapine. The creation of ecclesiastical chanceries in all the towns of the arrondisse- ment has been resolved on : its inutility, how- ever, is so perfectly demonstrated, that, last year, the part of the building in the chancery's use having become a prey to fire, the chancery was simply suppressed. The employes begged to be allowed to rebuild the burnt house at their own expense ; so much interest had they in not losing this engine for draining the people. Thus, in whatever point of view we I i ' .-.-5^ «.-a /-J , ,i^a4'«JV*A'*3SWJ*-'»*"*^^!r'-, - ■MIMHili 188 The Bishops. Chap. IV. Chap. IV. The Bishops. 189 look at the Eussian Church, we see the plague of Leviteism. In law authority belongs to the bishops ; in the consistory everything is to be decided by the priests. But in practice ' tis the chancery or its chief, the secretary, who decides every- thing. It can scarcely be otherwise. In the course of a year from 12,000 to 15,000 files of papers pass the consistory, each claiming a de- cision according to law. Now the laws eccle- siastical, the statutes of the Synod, the decrees of the bishops, form an enormous mass of docu- ments all unedited; a veritable chaos, where only men hoary in the business escape being lost. Let a member of the - consistory feel in- clined to decide otherwise than the chancery, he is plied with legal texts, and obliged to sign. The bishop himself is in no condition to strive with the secretary. Named by the chief procurator of the Synod, who alone can change him, the secretary is in direct corre- spondence with him, and renders him an ac- count of the progress of business ; it depends, then, on the secretary to forewarn the all-power- ful chief procurator against the bishop. With still greater reason are the members of the con- sistory obliged to bend to him. The bishop does not attend their sittings; the secretary brings him the papers, and presents him with a report ; as the ordinary intermediary between the bishop and the consistory, he can by means of the bishop modify the decisions taken in the assembly, or even, in transmitting to the latter the orders of the bishop, give them the colour that suits him. Almost always the only mo- tive for the secretary's opinions is the money he has received from interested parties.* One word on the incomes of the bishops. In 1866 the Moscow Gazette, wishing to show that the revenues of the Catholic bishops in Eussia * At the conclusion of the Concordat of Aug. 3d, 1847, which was abrogated by a ukase of Dec. 4th, 1866, the plenipotentiaries of the two parties did not succeed in coming to an understanding on a certain number of points. These were embraced in a protocol, signed the same day by Cardinal Lambruschini, Count Bloudoff, and M. Bouteneff. This protocol was published at Rome in the volume of documents relating to the Allocution of Oct. 29tb, 1866 ( Esposizwne documetitata, &c.). We deem it our duty to reproduce article ii. * Tlie pontifical plenipotentiary protested against tie presence in tlie episcopal consistories of a lay secretary named hy the go- vernment, and uniting also the quality of imperial procurator. Tlie plenipotentiaries of his imperial majesty replied, that the rmpei-ial government would be ready to submit the nomination of the secre- tary of the consistory to the previous consent of the bishop, reserv- ing to itself in this case to establish a procurator at the consistory; ' or else tlie imperial government 7V0uld reserve to itself the nomi- nation of the secretary without the participation of the bishop, m this case reyiouncing the appointment of a special procurator. ♦ The pontifical plenipotentiary decUred that none of these modei could be admitted by the Holy See: {Esposizione, &c. p. 19.) ^ After the example of what has been done for the semmaries, this remonstrance of the Holy See, rejected in the case of Catbolic bishops, could it not be admitted in favour of bishops of the dominant Church ? The suppression of the lay secretary would \. ) t^ '• 1 1 190 The Bisliops, Chap. IV. \ were higher than those of the bishops of the National Church, published information which we eagerly borrow from it. ' The Catholic Archbishop of IMohileff, resident at PetershiTr", receives from the Treasury a provision of 1383/ • that of the other Catholic bishops is from 8007. to 10007. On the other hand, the Metropolitan of Peters- burg and Is^ovgorod touches 54Ur. ^k- (902O ; that o Kieff 4900r. (816?.); that of Moscow, 1/1 •2r. IGk. (2bo/.) FHow came M. Katkoff to quote this figure? Who proves loo much, proves nothing] ; the Archbishops of Kiga, Tauris, Stavropol, Lithuania, Mohileff, Minsk, and Po- dolia, each 4000r. (GGGZ.) ; those of Polotzk and Vo hy- nia, 3200r. (5337.) ; the Archbishop of Cherson, 2414r. 85k (4027.) the Bishop of Gouria and Abkhasia, loOOr. (2507.): twelve Archbishops occupying important sees as those of Kazan, Astrakan, Tver, Eezan, 9Ur. 85k (152/.) ; and finally, twenty-six bishops, 743r. 40k. (1247. . Sonio auxiliary bishops, as he of Moscow, touch only 358r 98k. (607 ) • that is, less than many simple Catholic priests. It may be said that the orthodox bishops receive some- thiu" additional. These additions are not given for their personal use; but for the maintenance of their cathedrals, and of the personnel forming the episcopal house. ^Nor are these additions considerable, 2000 or 3000 roubles. result in the destruction of bureaucracy in the ecclesiastical ad- niinistration. It would be not only the bishops, but he whole deL who would celebrate this reform with thanksgiving and extraordinary rejoicings ; see also (p. 145 of the «^m« ^^^^ a discussion on this point in a committee composed o Counts Nessel- rode Kisseleffi, BloudofI, and MM. Lanskoi, Turkull, Bouteneff, Bomuald Hub^, and Nicolas Kisseleff. In 18..G itjas sca-^^^^ possible to find names that would give more g"'^^'^"*!f/°; ";•; , and impartiality ; but bureaucratic routine was still too strong. Let us hope an advance has been made since. Chap. IV. The Bishops. 191 Now every cathedral ought to have at least ten priests and deacons, who, having no parishes, receive a provision of 250r. or 300r. each (427.-507.). Some orthodox bishops de- rive revenues also from the immovables belonging to the bishopric, and receive gifts from the faithful ; but these not being a charge on the Treasury, but voluntary offer- ings, cannot be taken into account.' {Moscoic Gazette, Nov. 11th (23d), 1866, No. 238.) If we verify these data by those furnished by the oft-cited work on The White and Black Clergy, the result is not quite the same. True, the Moscow Gazette has told us that the La- tin Catholic Archbishop of Mohileff receives a provision of 8000 roubles, or 1333?.; but it has not told us that the Kussian Archbishop of Varsovia receives as much. Now the diocese of Mohileff, which comprehends within its cir- cumference both Petersburg and Moscow, is perhaps the vastest diocese of the Catholic Church, whilst the flock of the Archbishop of Varsovia in 1865 did not amount to 30,000 souls. The Archbishop of Kiga, according to our author, does not receive 4000 roubles, or GG6/., as asserted by the Moscow Gazette, but 6700 roubles, or 1116?. The provision for the Archbishops of Lithuania, Mohileff, Minsk, and Podolia is quite 4000 roubles, or 066?.; but they have a supplement of 2973 roubles, or 495?., making a total of more than 1000?.. The Arch- bishops of Polotzk and Yolhynia, besides their .! Bilmii — 192 The Bishops. Cliap. IV. provision of 3200 roubles, or 533Z., receive a supplement of 2778 roubles, or 463/., which secures to them a revenue of nearly 960/. The other bishops have also severally received sup- plements : The Bishop of Irkoiitsk Olonetz Kicheneff Kalouga Kostroma Penza . Kharkoif Kherson 99 J) 2000 R. 2000 R. 1530R. 1428R. 1U2r. 1142R. IOOOr. 857 R. £333 333 255 236 190 190 166 143 The bishop of Stavropol has ceded to the state a mill and fisheries, and in return re- ceives an annual rent of 3800 roubles, or 633/., which, added to his provision of 4000 roubles, makes up a revenue of more than 1200/. Many bishops live in the enjoyment of fisheries, mills, meadows, and lands, which bring them more or less money. The emancipation of 1861 had the efleect of securing to them, as a compensa- tion for peasants attached to their service, a very liberally calculated indemnity. Besides, many bishops are at the same time abbots or superiors of monasteries whose revenues they deal with. It was formerly the privilege of the three Metropolitans of Moscow, Kiefi', and Peters- CllAp. IV. The Bishops. 193 burg, who are at the same time necessarily ar- chimandrites of the three laiires of St. Sergius, of the Crypts, and of Nevsky. Little by little other prelates also received convents in com- mendam; in 1842 there were eighteen com- mendatories; in 1858, thirty-eight; in 1861, forty-five. Some have even many convents; and some of these are very rich. Thus, the Metropolitan of Moscow, with a ridiculous pro- vision of 1712 roubles, or 285/., enjoys a re- venue of more than 100,000 francs, or 4000/. The Synod possesses a capital of 254,543 roubles, that is, more than 42,757/., the income of which is distributed among the bishops under the name of supply. It is a custom with rich families to call the diocesan bishop to burials ; each of these ceremonies brings him in one or two hundred roubles, i.e. 16/. or 32/., some- times more. "When the bishop goes to conse- crate a new church, he receives an indemnity which sometimes rises to 40/. or 80/. The bi- shops have domestic chapels, where collections are made. In one of these chapels they collect in a year 14,000 roubles, or 2333/. Miraculous images are another source of revenue ; some- times abundantly so. We say nothing of illicit and abusive profits. Provision, supplements, indemnities, supplies accorded by the Synod, monastic revenues, casualties,— all these suffice ^ J i*»M*w»^'*«^-'-^*^* -" 194 TJie Bishops. Cliap. IV. to reassure us as to the pretended poverty of the Eussian bishops. They would certainly not exchange their revenues for those of the Catholic bishops, who receive on an average a provision of 5000 to 6000 roubles, or 800/. to 1000/., according to the Moscow Gazette* If we pass to the moral authority, to the influence of the bishops, we shall not be wrong in affirming that it is almost nil. As to pas- toral letters, they are never heard of. The dis- courses they pronounce on solemn occasions no one cares about. They can be haughty in presence of their clergy, can surround them- selves with a certain pomp, demand of their inferiors excessive marks of respect, and, alas, are no bolder or more independent in the pre- sence of the great. They know not how to unite Christian humility with sacerdotal firm- ness ; people never hear them speak with an evangelic liberty. Their action on minds, on society, is nil They seem to be bishops only for the pui-pose of figuring in the pomps of the divine office. The ceremonies of worship m the oriental rite have, it is true, an incompar- able majesty ; in the Eussian Church they are » It would certainly be simpler to give the Eussian bishops a lar-er provision and suppress all these supplements, indemnities, 8up°plies, convents in commendam. But these are so many bonds holding them in dependence on power. It is easier to suppress a supplement than to diminish the provision. [-l.^jjjj .1 . . J ■■■Harl Chap. IV. The Bishojjs. 195 performed with a rare perfection. The voice of chanters lends them a marvellous charm, and all this, as a whole, acquires completeness only by the presidency of the bishop. This is great; this is fine. But these splendours would make no less impression, if the bishop, on lay- ing aside his magnificent ornaments, remained a bishop still ; if he knew how to raise his voice to instruct the people, to denounce abuses, and to defend God's rights on earth and those of the Church, of justice, of the humble and lowly. We will say of the bishops what we have said of the priests and monks : it is not the men that must be taken in hand, but the insti- tutions. We have in our hands the Memoirs, by i\i. Yakovleff, of the bishops who made part of the Synod of his time; but although Yakov- leff occupied the important post of chief pro- curator of the Synod, and had it in his power to be well informed, it is repugnant to us to cite him. Let us rather say that, in the con- dition made for them, there are to be met with among the Eussian bishops men distinguished by the integrity of their manners, the gravity and austerity of their lives, and by their dis- interestedness. Who knows what that day will bring forth when a crushing yoke shall cease to rest on the Eussian Church ? If there is a i •mismmmmmm'i 196 The Bishops. Chap. IV. Chap. IV. The Bishops. 197 germ of health, 'tis in the episcopate. It is sometimes spoken of as a bough in which a little sap is left, and which is destined again to clothe itself with foliage. The Eussian bishops have the episcopal character, and if it has not always been legiti- mately transmitted to them, its validity has never been in doubt. We do not believe we shall do amiss by calling their attention to what is wanting to them — viz. independence. As bishops, they do not exercise in their plenitude their imprescriptible rights. They must allow us to say, they are not truly bishops^ but mitred functionaries. If the projects announced by M. Katkoff are realised, all hopes are justifiable. Yes, with that eminent publicist, we believe that if the ecclesiastical provinces were reestablished, if provincial councils assembled and deliber- ated freely, if they chose bishops who should be irremovable and amenable only to their peers, if the ancient discipline were renewed — yes, we will hope it, — life could reenter this great body, numbed with centuries of lethargic sleep. What consequences would a change so ra- dical bring ! M. Katkoff has perfectly sighted them. 'Tis not only the Eussian Church which •would be called to reconstitute itself; all the Churches of the East must unite, as members long separated, to form a living body. From that moment provincial councils, presided over by a metropolitan, would no longer suffice; other councils, presided over b} j niarchs, are needed; and rising higher still, an oecumeiuial council, representing the Universal Cliuidi. The oecumenical council must have also a chief, a president, ^'here is this chief of the hier- archy, around whom may gather respectfully the patriarchs themselves? The old Eastern Church knew him. 'Tis he who received the appeals of the patriarchs of Alexandria and Constantinople by the mouths of Athanasius and Chiysostom ; he who deposed these same patriarchs in the persons of JSTestorius, Anthe- mius, and Sergius ;* who, by his legates, pre- sided at the oecumenical councils : 'tis the Bi- shop of ancient Eome, 'tis the successor of St. Peter. Let us pause. Our task is not finished; it remains for us to speak of the Synod. * See the texts of the Russian liturgy which establish it, Etudes^ 1st series, vol. ii. pp. 75, 76. CHAPTEE Y. THE SYNOD. The Eussian Church, we have seen, was long ^^overned by a metropolitan dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople. The developments of this Church, the increasing importance of the country, the precarious situation of the see of Constantinople after the capture of this city by the Turks (1 452),— all these considerations, and many others, determined Boris Godounoff to erect at Moscow a patriarchal see. Favoured by circumstances, the new patriarch saw him- self at first invested with very great authority; but misunderstanding was not slow in cropping up between him and the tsar. After a long and painful strife, a council, convoked at Mos- cow by the care of the Tsar Alexis, and at which the Eastern patriarchs assisted, deposed the patriarch Nicon. He was replaced, and nothing, externally at least, was changed in the relations of the two powers. The patriarch's authority, however, found itself diminished by the struggle in which he had succumbed. At Chap. V. The Synod. 199 first this was deemed to be only an eclipse; and had there arisen among Nicon's successors a man of intelligence and character, the lost ground had been recovered. Nothing of the kind occurred ; but, on the other hand, a man was seen to mount the throne of the tsars endowed in the highest degree with those qualities which were essentially wanting in the chiefs of the Eussian Church. What at bottom were the religious ideas of Peter I. ? This question is difficult and em- barrassing. It is almost certain that he dreamt of a reconciliation with Eome,* but probably in view only of the matrimonial alliances which could be contracted with the houses of Austria and France. Besides sympathising with Pro- testants when very young, he was initiated into a masonic lodge founded at Moscow by Lefort. Hence it may be concluded that he was indifferent enough in matters of religion. He did not love the Eussian clergy, the na- tural adversary of his reforms. Taught by the quarrels of his father Alexis with Nicon, and wishing to be master in everything and alwav*^, he resolved on abolishing the patriarchate, an I replacing it by a council or college, to which * See on this subject an interesting article of F. Gagarin, en- titled La Sorbomie de Park et VEgllse russe^ published in the Etudes Reli^ieuses, Sec. Sept. 1868. Paris. 200 The Synod. Chap. V. Chap. V. The Synod. 201 lie gave the name of Synod. This was a con- siderable innovation, which profoundly modi- fied the hierarchy and the relations between the Church and the State, as well as the rela- tions of the Eussian Church with those of the East. It thus gave new strength to the schism of the Staroveres, — to that raskol^ born indeed under his father, but to which, contrary to his intention, he communicated an extraordinary vitality. Peter had to use caution; he felt it, and proceeded with a prudent slowness to the exe- cution of his designs. The patriarch Joachim having died March 17th (27th), 1690, a few months after the revolution which deprived the Princess Sophia of power, the new tsar ap- pointed as his successor Adrian, who showed himself but little favourable to his reforms, but otherwise caused him little embarrassment. At his death, in October 1700, Peter, without giving him a successor, confided the adminis- tration of the see to Stephen Yavorski, Metro- politan of Eezan. This provisional state lasted more than twenty years, and the sight of a patriarch in Eussia had almost been forgotten, when the Synod was instituted, January 25th (o.s.), 1721. An ecclesiastical statute, or regulation, de- termined the rights and duties of this assembly. w We have before us a Latin translation of it, printed at Petersburg in 1785, under the aub- pices of Prince Potemkin. 'Tis from it that we must learn the ideas of the tsar. The regulation is composed of three parts. The first treats of the Synod and the motives for its foundation ; the second, of the persons subject to its jurisdiction — viz. the bishops, schools, preachers, and laymen; the third, of the members of the Synod and their functions. Then come the rules imposed on the secular clergy, the monks, and nuns. It is a veritable ecclesiastical code, still in force. The ukase is very remarkable. Peter con- gratulates himself on the happy reforms ac- complished in the military and civil orders ; he describes in general terms the disorders of the clergy, and the necessity of remedying them. Smitten with the fear of the Sovereign Judge, who will demand of him an account of the power intrusted to him, after the example of the kings of the Old and New Testaments, he undertook the reform of the ecclesiastical order. In pursuance of this he instituted a council or Synod, composed of a president, two vice-pre- sidents, four councillors, and four assessors, to whose jurisdiction were assigned all the affairs of the Church of all the Eussias, and whose judgment should be without appeal: so that V 202 The Synod. Chap. V. everybody must acquiesce in the Synod's de- crees and decisions, and rest satisfied with its definitive sentence. Moreover there is no men- tion made of the patriarchs, nor of the orthodox Church beyond the limits of the empire ; no announcement that the tsar would at first put himself in accord with the Eastern Church, still less that he would admit the possibility of an appeal to the Church (Ecumenical. It was only eight months afterwards that Peter deemed it advisable to write to the Pa- triarch of Constantinople, informing him of what he had done, and inviting him to recog- nise the Synod, with which he would have the same relations as he formerly maintained with the Patriarch of Moscow. The patriarch Jeremy displayed little eagerness in replying, as is seen by his letter, dated September 23d, 1723, that is, two years after Peter wrote. Cuttingly con- trasting with the usual forms of this kind of writing, it is short and dry. Jeremy confirms the Synod established by the most pious and most gracious autocrat, the sacred Tsar of all Muscovy. He declares that ^ the holy and sacred Synod is, and is called, his brother in Jesus Christ, and that it has the power to do what the very holy and apostolical patriarchal sees do.' He exhorts it to preserve and keep steadily the customs and canons of the seven „„i-^.-. Chap. V. Tlie Synod. 20S holy and sacred oecumenical councils, and all that the holy Eastern Church observes. After the ukase comes the formula of oath. The members of the Synod swear to show them- selves faitlifid^ upright^ and obedient sei^ants and subjects of the Autocrat of all the Bicssias; and after him of his legitimate heirs^ designated ' or to be designated^ in virtue of the good pleasure and sovereign power of his Majesty^ as also of her Majesty the Tsarina Catherine.'^ They en- gage, as far as they shall be able, to preserve and defend all the rights and prerogatives belonging to the sovereignty, authority, and * Peter had in 1689 married Eudoxia Lapoukhin, and by her had had two sons, of whom one, the Tsarovich Alexis, had himself left a son by his marriage with the Princess Charlotte of Brunswick. After having been married ten years Peter repudiated Eudoxia, and obliged her to retire into a convent, without giving any reason for his conduct. She survived Peter. Ecclesiastical authority never pronounced her divorce ; besides, had it done so, the sent- ence must have been considered as extorted, since there existed no legitimate motive for breakiug this union. This Catherine, to whom the members of the Synod took the oath of fidelity, and who eventually succeeded Peter I., could not then be the legiti- mate wife of the tsar ; she was only his concubine. He had had three children by her when he declared her his wife (1711). Later, in 1724, he crowned her, but no authentic proof exists that the marriage was celebrated. There is no escape from this dilemma : either Peter married her during his lawful wife's life, and so com- mitted bigamy, or he did not marry her ; in any case, his connec- tion with her was adulterous. Catherine could be in the eyes of the bishops, and really was, only a concubine. On seeing this cowardly complacence of the bishops in presence of adultery and bigamy, it is impossible not to think of Henry VIII., with whom Peter I. had more than one feature of resemblance. SsS^S"-,.- 204 The Synod. Chap. V. Chap. V. The Synod. 205 power of his majesty, such as these rights and prerogatives are defined, or shall hereafter be defined, in their narrowest signification, with- out sparing their own lives; in watching in all things for the advantage of his majesty; in denouncing, hindering, and combating every- thing that could do him harm. Finally, in the formula of oath is found this significant sentence : 'I confess and affirm on oath that the sovereign judge of this Synod is the monarch of all the Russias himself our very clement lord.' Eeserving the reflections which crowd on us, let us continue our examination of the spi- ritual regulations. In its first part Peter aims at justifying the creation of the Synod. He invokes precedents, cites the Sanhedrim of the Jews and the Areopagus of Athens ; but, as is seen, very little to the purpose. He wishes to rely also on the Word of God. St. Paul has said to the Corinthians, 'He is not the God of confusion, but of peace. . . . Let all things be done decently and in order' (1 Cor. xiv. 33 ; 40). The tsar refers to these two texts ; but clearly perceiving that they are far from giving formal sanction to his work, he refrains from reproducing them. Authorities failing him, he tries argumentation. Let us pass his argu- ments in review. L Several men in associa- tion see more clearly into business than ono alone. 2. The decisions of an assembly carry more authority than those of a single man. 3. The Synod will have so much more autho- rity, as it shall be known that it is established by the sovereign, and depends on him: a monarcha dependet^ suamque illi acceptam fert originem. 4. Different occupations, sickness, death, hinder a single man from dispatching business, but do not impede an assembly. 5. An individual is accessible to passion, interest, corruption ; not so an assembly. 6. A single man yields more readily to the threats of the powerful in the land. 7. The vulgar know not the difference between the rights of princes and those of the Church : when they see a pas- tor at the head of the Church, they are tempted to compare him to the prince, and even to place the spiritual order in the first rank. The people could then be led to attach less import- ance to the orders of a monarch than to those of a pontiff. With the Synod there would be no such risk. Its president, deprived of all prerogatives, stript of all pomp, can have no high opinion of himself, and escapes the at- tempts of pride and flattery. The people, knowing that this mode of government has been established by order of the prince man- dato mo7iarchcej will dwell in peace, being able to count on no support from the spiritual aii» / 206 The Synod. Chap. V. thority. 8. A patriarch could be judged only by an oecumenical council, wbicli would pre- sent many inconveniences; whilst each mem- ber of the Synod and the president himself arc amenable to the Synod.* 9. It is a method of forming for the government of the dioceses men destined to the episcopate, and the Synod can be considered as a nursery for bishops, f Such are the reasons which Peter I. deemed proper to give to the public. We are tempted to regard them as childish. At bottom there are but two : the government of several is bet- ter than that of one ; if the Church had a head, Peter would be uneasy in the possession of his power over her. The former of these two reasons, taken strictly, would lead to nothing less than the condemnation of monarchical go- vernment ; and such certainly was not the thought of Peter, who, not having wished for a power shared by his brother and sister, was * This abundantly proves that in recognising the emperor as judge of the Synod, the members of this assembly do not speak of themselves individually, but of the Synod as a constituted body. f Bishops are now no longer drawn from the Synod. All the members of this assembly are clothed with the episcopal character, and placed at thi head of a diocese, except two or three married priests who cannot become bishops. But at the epoch of its found- ation the Synod counted only three bishops, the president and two vice-presidents. The four councillors and four assessors were archimanfirites and hegoumens, who naturally found themselves on the hurh-road to the episcopate. Peter wi^Ik d t > iiavi thciii seen at work t efore conferring on them the episcopal character. Chap. V. The Synod. 207 quite as decided to yield none of it to an as- sembly. We nevertheless believe in his sin- cerity. Power for him was not in question; it belonged to him, and only to hiiii. such was his conviction. The question was only to secure iTi^^fruments for exercising it. In this bcnse, it was in very good faith that he preferred col- lective government to that of a single person . Thus, instead of ministers, he had established colleges for foreign affairs, for war, for finance. &c. &c., and concentrated the whole adminis- tration in the senate. When we cross the Place d' Isaac, and stop near the statue of Peter I., with the ^< \a flowing on our right, we see rise before u s the V{''^ ('( lifices in which assemble ro>\ ■IP I . 1 \ I 1 1 U byi lud and the Senate. This is the liiattrial realisation of Peter's thought. Tho two pa- laces are in the same line, have the same aspect, and form a symmetrir^al whole. Peter wished lu govern the Church and the State by means nf the Synod an 1 the ^^ late; he caused him- self to be equally represented iii both a^ « ni- i lies, by a procurator assigned to eaah. Liia \]\i)^k^ structures, which liaw liaeii th'-lr-jvad hv the hand of time and rchuilt ou a ditfrreut or£rani?ation uf iai->ia is iiu niali TfiO r>ropnm«nnoTi ta ii\\<>iii i> au iOlllTCr ■what It was a hundred auj.l hflv ^aiirs a;i2:c ■V] (;(jlUii: i)\ the empire has I'elegated the t 208 The Synod. Chap. V. Senate to the second plan, ministers liaye re- placed the colleges; the Synod alone has re- mained standing in its isolation as a monument of the past, surviving the rest of the edifice of which it once formed a part. Under Peter's reign it was in perfect harmony with the other creations of the tsar reformer. "We think we have sufficiently unfolded Peter's idea, by saying that the government of several is better than that of one. The other argument, that it is more difficult for power to hold the Church in its hand when it has a single chief, needs no explication ; 'tis the thought of the autocrat in all its clearness. He fully reckoned on remaining sole master ; we shall see him later preeminently so. In the other parts of the Ecclesiastical Ee- gulation the lion-grip made itself less felt ; it is perceptible that Prokopovich held the pen, but under his master's eye. This compila- tion has a double character ; it is puerile and malignant. First come ten pages in quarto, the points of which can be stated in few words. To make war on superstition : meaning by this certain prayers, lives of saints, images, relics, and mir- acles, which must be submitted to rigorous cri- ticism. Then it is said that it would be very useful to make a little book, or catechism, con- ■\ Chap. V. The Synod. 209 taining the exposition of the Symbol and De- calogue, with selected homilies.* The bishops shall read the canons, shall set themselves to become acquainted with the degrees of consan- guinity and affinity, from which arise hinder- ances to marriage, and in doubtful cases they will address themselves to the Synod. The Synod will see whether it be proper to super- sede them because of old age or sickness. They shall build no useless churches, shall distrust miraculous images, and combat superstitions. They shall take care to found schools or semi- naries, and to ordain as priests only those who have been given to study. If the seminarists are monks, they ought to be named archiman- drites or hegoumens (abbots or priors), unless they render themselves infamous by some great crime (p. 33, n. 10). The bishops shall report to the Synod the state of their revenues and of those of the monasteries ; they shall observe economy and humility; shall pronounce no excommunication without referring it to the Synod ; shall visit their dioceses every year or every two years, receive any accusations made against the clergy; assure themselves of the state of the monasteries, much more by the testimony of persons outside them than by that * See, for the catechisms of the Russian Church, Tondini's Tlie Pope of Rome and the Po;pes^ &;c. pp. 81-94, P 210 Tlie Synod, Chap. V. Chap. V. The Synod. 211 of the monks. Stress is laid on the necessity of fighting against superstition, and on the de- pendence of the bishops on the Synod. In the chapter on schools the Eussian army is given as a model, ^ which was in so sad a state before our very august and very puissant monarch Peter I. introduced discipline into it.' In order to prove the necessity of science, it is said that during the first four centuries the bishops had a horror of arrogance; but that later they began to get proud, especially those of Constantinople and Eome. From the year 500 to 1400 all Europe was plunged in dark- ness. Then came the organisation of studies and of seminaries ; the rules for preachers ; a dis- tinction between laity and clergy obscure enough; the Kascolniks, and how to treat them, &c. The third part is devoted to the Synod itself. This assembly shall watch that all bi- shops, priests, monks, laymen, discharge their duties, and shall chastise those who do not. Every one can address the Synod by writing. No theological work can be printed without its permission. When it is reported that a dead body has been preserved from corruption, or a miracle or vision been witnessed, the Synod makes inquiry. It resolves cases of conscience, examines bishops, satisfies itself of their being neither superstitious nor impostors, informs itself as to the sources from which they can get money ; it also judges them, and decides matrimonial causes and cases of divorce, and watches over the use of ecclesiastical pro- perty. The wills of important personages, in cases of doubt as to their validity, are exa- mined by the Synod and by the College of Justice (Ministry of Justice). Finally, the Eegulation treats of mendicity. "We do not find fault with their seeking to ex- tirpate it by giving to the able-bodied poor the means of earning their living, and coming to the help of the rest ; but we cannot without oppression of heart read these pages, every line of which breathes hatred of the poor. To give alms to an able-bodied pauper is to render one- self accessory to his sin. Mendicants are the greatest of scoundrels.* How can we help re- calling the lesson in the Gospel ? When John the Baptist, desiring to assure himself that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, sent some of his disciples to question Him, our Lord, in order to give the Forerunner proof that the Messiah was come, cites His own works, and says : To the poor the Gospel is preached. On reading the ' Spiritual Eegulation,' and especially this * * Re quidem vera, non est hominum genus magis sceleratum profligatumque magis' (p. 98). 212 The Synod. Chap. v. Chap. v. The Synod. 213 passage, which distils the venom of hatred against the poor, without meeting therein a word of compassion or charity, there can be no longer any doubt that it is not the Church that there speaks. Nor are the Eussian people therein deceived, but in spite of the Synod continue to give alms. In the supplement, among the rules given to the priests, we shall notice the 11th and 1 2th, which indicate in what cases the confes- sor mu-^t reveal the secrets of the confessional. If there be a plot against the emperor or the em- pire, or any machination against the honour or life of the emperor or his majesty's family, and the penitent be unwilling to abandon it; or still farther, if a false miracle be admitted as true, and the author of the imposture come to confess it, without, however, wishing to reveal it, — in these cases the confessor is bound to reveal the secret of the confessed and to de- nounce the guilty. The author of these strange rules says, in order to justify them, that false mii-acles expose the orthodox religion to the contempt of the heterodox. Alas ! the pre- tended miracle of the Sacred Fire, which is performed every year at Jerusalem, and all the miracles that can be attributed to Metrophanes of Yoronege, will never do so much harm to the Church as these llth and 12th rules in ij^- the ' Spiritual Eegulation.' Here again one cannot be deceived : it is not the voice of the Chnrchj it is the invasion of the sanctuary by- bureaucracy ; but it is mournfully affecting to see bishops countersigning orders like these.* Then come the rules for the monks. We shall refer to only one, the 36 th, which forbids the monk to have a pen, ilsils calami scriptoriiy quantum ad extracta ex libris litterasque sua- sorias attinet^ monachis denegatur. The monk who shall have written without the abbot's permission shall undergo a severe corporal punishment, sub gravi corporalis castigationis poena. It is equally forbidden to have ink and paper. Nothing is fraught with more danger to the monastic life than the rage for writing, * History teaches us that the Russian clergy, both before and after the ' Spiritual Kegulation,' did not much scruple to reveal the secrets of the confessional. During the trial of the Tsarevich Alexis, his confessor, Jaques Ignatieff, when put to the torture, June IDth, 1718, declared that the tsarevich had told him in con- fession that he had wished his father's death. On Oct. 12th, 1754, the priest Basil Sergueeff declared to the police that Barbe Jou- koff had in confesion avowed to him that his mother had excited him to the murder of his mother-in-law. {Russian Messenger^ Dec 1860, p. 479.) The priest Gerbonovsky declared that the prisoner Striekha had in confession avowed to him such and such things. (JloXb Oxh ( Under Judgment')^ published at London, August 1st, 1861.) Demetrius, Bishop of Rostoff (1651-1709), whom the Rus- sian Church canonised, was obliged to rise up against the priests who reported what had been told them in confession. (Solovieff, History of Ilussia, vol. xv. p. 126.) These examples show that, in practice, little trouble was taken by the priests to set themselves above the restrictions indicated by the * Spiritual Regulation.' 234 The Synod. Chap. V. ina7iis etfrivola scriptmiendi prurigo. If, how- ever, there are legitimate reasons for writing, and the abbot permit it, it shall be done in the refectory, and at the common inkstand. Any one daring to act otherwise will be severely punished, contrariim ausuris severa poena in- tentabitur. This is a sad spectacle, but one full of instruction. This despot, this victor, this conqueror, has drowned in blood all re- sistance, not sparing even his own son ; he has moulded his people like soft wax, recking naught of its traditions, customs, preferences ; he has subjected the Church herself to his will' and Europe has proclaimed him great: yes this man, who trembles in his solitary musings' see, he has caught a glimpse of one of those poor monks, who, shut up in their little cells, were there recording from day to day the his- tory of their country. What would become of him, if in some corner of his immense empire one were to write the chronicles of Peter's reign ? He who had faced all the artillery of Charles XII., what fears he ? A book, a pam- phlet, a journal, the liberty of the press ? ISTo ; he is afraid of a pen in a monk's cell, and with reason ; for the pen that defends the rights of truth and the freedom of the Church is stronger than he. But what also must be thought of the freedom and independence of the Eussian Chap. V. The Synod. 215 Church under the regime which Peter inaugu- rated ? Let us cite two more rules relating to monks. The apostle had written to Timothy, ' Let not a icidotv be chosen who is less than sixty years old' (1 Tim. v. 9) ; the Synod made it the rule of monasteries that virgins conse- crated to God should not take their vows before the age of sixty, and he quotes the authority of St. Paul. The Synod, however, is appropriately reminded that Peter's lawful wife is in a con- vent, and that the tsar might take it into his head to send his second there — her to whom he had just taken an oath of fidelity — before she should reach the age of sixty. The Holy Synod at once reserves to itself the power of making exceptions ! Let us pass to the rule following the 43d, which well deserves a literal translation. ' If any young virgin still desire to embrace the monastic life, in order to keep her virginity perpetually, it is necessary 'to begin by care- fully examining the circumstances. Does she not wish to deceive ? Is she not reduced to it by reverses of fortune ? Is she not led away by over-excitement ? * Is it not the case of a * We are not quite certain of having exactly understood the sense of the text. The Latin is Vel affectibus jplus justo indulgeat. Of what excessive affections does it speak? We have supposed it to mean an exalted mind. 216 The Synod. Chap. V. person profoundly versed in the art of dissimu- lation, who is feigning a wish to take the vow of chastity ? If the examination is satisfactory, she shall be sent into a convent distinguished for the virtue of its nuns, and whose privacy shall be carefulJy guarded ; she shall be placed at the service of a nun of irreproachable con- duct, and shall remain without assuming the habit until the age of sixty, or fifty at the least. If before this age the desire to be married seize her, she shall be allowed to gratify it.' ' How perceptible that this was written by those who had no faith in chastity, who mocked at it and hated it! Prokopovich doubtless here still wielded the pen ; but among the sig- natures, beside his own, are found those of three bishops, seven monks, and two priests. We love to think that several among them, as Stephen Yavorski and Theophylact Lopatinski, signed through want of energy, without shar^ ing the views of their colleagues. Such is the ' Spiritual Eegulation.'* It pre- scribes to confessors betrayal, forbids monks the use of the pen, insults the chastity of those virgins who wish to consecrate their virginity * The above abstraTtsli^^iTthi-^nS^ evince how acceptable to all interested in Russian literature will be the translation of that document from the original Russian, now being prepared, with introduction and notes, by t^arnabite Fath. Ton- dini, under the auspices of the Paris BibliograpWCSTSociety. {Tr ) Chap. V. The Synod. 217 (■ to God; it has no bowels of compassion for the poor, and we look in vain for a single word breathing love to God or our neighbour ; piety is as hateful to it as the independence of the Church; it dejir^s--eot-T)ti!5tor-&~Jmt^^ agents — the blind instruments of power. If we Catholics, quite disinterested in all this, feel it difficult to restrain our indignation, what ought to be the sentiment of men obliged to avow themselves members of a Church in which this strange code has for 150 years had the force of law, and is unabrogated even now? As to Synodal administration, it is a very complicated mechanism, which we can under- stand only by passing successively in review th^_Synodr44elfy it« chief-3)rocurator, audjthe bureaux. Peter's idea, we have seen, was that the Synod should consist of a bishop-president, two vice-presidents, equally bishops ; four councillors and four assessors, taken from the clergy of the second order, regular and secular. To-day this is changed ; no more president or vice-presidents, and all the members of the Synod are bishops, except two or three secular priests. One of these is the emperor's chap- lain and confessor ; the other is the chief chap- lain of the army and navy. Admitted to the \ 218 The Synod, Chap. V. Chap. V. hi bosom of the Synod, the bishops retain the administration of theii^ dioceses, however dis- tant they may be from St. Petersburg. In this assembly the members are distin- guished into perpetual and temporary, the latter being called to take part in the delibera- tions during a determinate period of time. ^ The metropolitans and the emperor's chap- lain are always perpetual members, a distinc- tion sometimes conferred on other bishops and on the chaplain-in-chief to the forces. One would from this be tempted to conclude that the perpetual members are irremovable, but 'tis not so ; the bishops can receive orders to return to their dioceses, and then, while re- taming the title of members of the Synod, they cease to take part in its sittings. There is, however, a certain irremovability in fact for the Metropolitan of Petersburg and for the two chaplains; but in an emergency these could always be got rid of; and as to the Metropoli- tan of Petersburg, it would not be impossible to transfer him to another see, or invite him to take repose. ' ^^^ Synod, then, is composed just as the ^pmperor pleases, ancT^cannot become an ele- ments opposition. In point of independence there is no comparison between an assembly of this kind and an irremovable patriarch. It is Tlie Synod. 219 also not a council. We are well aware that M. Wassilieff, in his letter to Mgr. the Bishop of Nantes, has had the courage to say that the Synod ' is only the council of the Church of Eussia' (p. 33). This affirmation does not bear examination ; we confine ourselves to op- posing to it the words of M. Katkofi*, already quoted above. ^ The Holy Synod cannot take the place of councils, because all the bishops do not take part in its deliberations ; whilst all the bishops must absolutely sit in the provin- cial councils, such as were instituted by the Apostles and by the oecumenical councils.' {Moscow Gazette^ 1866, No. 210.) Between the council of the Eussian Church and the Synod there is the same difference as between the English House of Peers and a commission composed of half a dozen lords chosen by the Queen. The minister who should bethink him- self of maintaining that it is indifierent whether we submit a law to the House of Peers or to such a commission would be guilty of an enor- mous constitutional heresy. M. Wassilieff's assertion is no less strange ; and, for our part, we believe the Synod itself but little disposed to share the opinion of the Eussian embassy's ex-chaplain at Paris. Not content with this dependence, Peter took another guarantee, in the person of the 220 The Synod, i \\i Chap. V. Synod's chief procurator. This personage ' has to sit m the assembly, and attentively watch that the Synod acquits itself of its functions aiid that m all affairs subjected to its delibera- tions It proceed with truth, zeal, order, and without loss of time, conformably to the requla- tions and ukases. He must also attentively watch that the Synod acts with uprightness and without hypocrisy ' (art. 1). ' He is to be considered as our own eye, and as the pro- tector of state affairs; hence he should act with hde ity, for he in the first place will have to render an account' (art. 2). To find a man capable of discharging these functions, Peter recommends the selection from among the offi- cers of a good man possessing boldness (ukase May nth, 1722). No decision is put in force without the chief procurator's consent. < If he remark that the Synod is not acting with up- rightness, but with hypocrisy, he is obliged in- stantly to point out to the Synod, clearly and with all necessary explanation, in what the Synod, or a part of it, are not acting properly, that they may correct it. And if they do not obey, he must thereupon protest, stop the de- liberation on the matter, and report it to us at once, if It be of great importance ; otherwise when ^vre come to the Synod, or in the course ol the month or of the week ' (Instr. art 2) Chap. V. The Synod. 221 Many matters subject to the deliberation of the Synod must besides be referred to the em- peror. In this case the chief procurator draws up the report, presents it, accompanying it with the needful explanation, and transmits the supreme decision to the Synod. The chief procurator is, then, a real inter- mediary minister between the emperor and the ' Synod. He has under his orders : 1st, his own chancery; 2d, that of the Synod ; 3d, the central direction of the ecclesiastical schools ; 4th, the directory charged with administration and revenue. The personnel of all these ofl&- ces is placed under his control ; nominations, promotions, dismissions, all depend on him. The central direction of the ecclesiastical schools is a veritable ministry of public instruction for the clergy. The directory of administration and revenue is chiefly occupied with finance, with what may be called the clergy-chest. The authority exercised by the chief procurator over all these administrations naturally gives him great influence on the progress of affairs sub- mitted to the Synod, as also over diocesan authorities. We have seen that he was in di- rect correspondence with the consistory secre- taries, who, on a smaller theatre, play at these ecclesiastical assemblies the same part that the chief procurator does at the Synod. Farther, 222 The Synod. Chap. V. Chap. V. all these administrations are obliged to send to the Synod or to the chief procurator a very large number of reports, accounts, and papers of all sorts. A delay in sending these papers, an irregularity in digesting them, expose the diocesan authorities to receive from the chief procurator demands for explanation or rectifi- cation, reproaches, sometimes even reprimands. It is easy to understand how by these thousand bonds the diocesan authorities find themselves in dependence on him. But 'tis necessary that we enter into some detail, in order to clearly show how bureau- cracy has invaded the Church and entwined her in its meshes. Papers of every kind addressed to the Sy- nod go to the chancery. They are read, sum- marised, reported on in connection with the articles of law applying to them. On the Sy- nod's assembling, extracts from the report are read, and pertinent legal texts. Thereupon begins the discussion, which terminates in the adoption of a resolution in such or such a sense : this resolution is put in writing, and signed by all the members. They are besides obliged to sign the minutes of the sittings, and a great number of other papers. If we calculate the number of matters submitted every year to the decision of the Synod, and the number of hours The SynocL 223 it is in session, we reach the conclusion that it can on an average give but five minutes to each matter. Now there are matters so very com- plicated as to demand the perusal of many hundreds of pages, and give rise to long dis- cussions. Here, then, is a physical impossi- bility. In the majority of cases discussion is suppressed, the sentence being drawn up be- forehand by the chancery, and the members required only to sign it. This process, how- ever, is still too long ; the chancery is empow- ered to set aside all afiairs of little moment. Of these not even the report is read, the pa- pers already drawn up being merely presented to the members of the Synod for signature. Their signatures are even frequently gathered one after another at their homes. To read these papers, one would suppose that all were the work of the Synod, and transacted during its sessions. From this state of things it is evident that the greater part of the business is decided on in the government offices by the subordinate officials. It even sometimes hap- pens that the chancery takes upon itself to entirely change a decision which has been ar- rived at in session. In this case the great thing is to obtain a first signature at some member's house, which usually draws after it all the rest. It is very evident to all that the decision is h <' rJ 1 I < 1 I' 224 The Synod. Chap. V. quite different from the one taken in the sit- ting ; but they can suppose that the chief pro- curator refused to sanction the decision taken, and that, in consequence, the resolution was changed. For peace' sake they sign ; the chief procurator, having on an average one hundred signatures per day to write, has often nothing to do with it ; and this abuse of authority emanates purely and simply from the chan- cery. Some years ago a privy councillor, a director of the chancery of the Synod, was condemned to deportation to Siberia for malversations. All the employes of the chancery are not, then, in- corruptible, and an idea can thus be formed of the abuses resulting from this omnipotence of the bureaux. There is a story that a member of the Synod seeing one of his colleagues reading a paper, said to him, ' Stop, we are not here to read, but to sign ; sign now, it gives less trouble, and is sooner done.' On one occasion, when a resolution taken during a sitting had been changed for one totally different, one of the most important personages of the chancery re- paired to a member of the Synod and obtained his signature. Another made more difficulty about it. ' Why do you trouble yourself ? said the official to him. He who is most directly Chap. V. T7ie Synod. 225 interested in the matter has made no objection. Look at his signature.' The old man signed ; but one of his confidants, entering some mo- ments after, found him bathed in tears. ' My God ! my God !' cried he, ^ to what a depth of humiliation are we fallen !'* Besides the chancery, the chief procurator has still under his orders the central direction of the ecclesiastical schools ; and if a little more authority over theij* seminaries has been given to the bishops, the central direction, which al- ways maintains a high hand, is itself placed in the most entire dependence on the chief procu- rator. The Synod exercises a certain, but very restricted, control ; it can but feebly oppose the procurator, and besides presents but little co- hesion. Fancy all the Catholic seminaries of a coun- try placed under the supervision and control of a council composed of five or six bishops named by the minister of worship, able to take no step without the visa of this minister, with lay bureaux having in their hands all the corre- spondence and manipulating all the business. Catholic bishops would never admit the mere possibility of such an organisation ; yet how many more guarantees would they have in the * npaBoc.i. Ct.ioMT. ii hcphomT) ^yxoB. torn. ii. pp. 1-20 Synod, the chief procurator, and the chancer}-, Q On the 226 ♦M Tlie Synod. Chap. V. present state of civilisation which are altogether wanting to the Eussian bishops ! The department of revenue exercises its action over all financial and material matters. Herein, to pass by all else, all diocesan autho- rities find themselves under the chief procu- rator's control, who experiences no difficulty in making them feel his authority. It is curious, after this, to hear the arch- priest Wassilieff say to Mgr. the Bishop of Nantes : ' You see, Mgr., that far from being the president of the holy Synod, the chief pro- curator is not even a member of it ; he is sim- ply but a civil functionary at the council. Far from being the Church's master and oppressor, he is its benefactor and servant.'* After these decisive proofs of the depend- ence of the Eussian clergy in presence of the procurator of the Synod, it must be granted that all precautions have been taken against any- thing being either said or done in the Eussian Church but with the consent and approval of the State, as represented by the chief procurator. Have the same precautions been taken against the State's encroachments on the Church ? This does not appear to have been dreamt of. The * Discussion entre ^gr. VEveque de Nantes et M. VArchipretre Wassilieff au svjet de VAutorite dans VEgllse dc JRussie. Parip, 1861, pp. 71, 72. Chap. V. The Synod. 227 Free Church in the Free State is certainly not the formula expressing the position of the Eus- sian Church ; no, we must seek for some other. What we have hitherto said sufficiently ex- plains why we should ask in vain whether of the Eussian government or of the Patriarch of Constantinople, or of the Synod itself, or finally of the organs of public opinion, their sincere judgment of the institution of the Sy- nod. Yet we should attach the highest value to knowing exactly what they think of it. Eeally this is not, perhaps, as impossible as one would think it. Peter I. has had imita- tors, and among the number those who for some reason or other do not inspire the same reserve, and in whom one does not much hesitate to blame that which one admires in him. Such, among others, is Prince Couza, till lately Hos- podar of Wallachia and Moldavia, who treated the Church cavalierly enough, without how- ever taking so many liberties with her as Peter I. did with the Eussian Church. Now, we are so fortunate as to possess on Couza's unlucky reforms the opinions of the Patriarch of Con- stantinople, of the Eussian Synod, of the Eus-. sian government, of the Eussian journals, and, lastly, that of the actual chief procurator of the Synod. It will be sufficient to translate from the Eussian a few documents taken from the 228 Tlie Synod. Chap. V. journals. Let us begin with the Northern Post* the official journal of the Minister of the In- terior, and see how it sums up and criticises Prince Couza's acts relative to the Eoumanian Church : ' In order to make understood tlie documents we pub- lish below, it is indispensable to glance at the acts of the late Prince Couza relative to the orthodox Church in the Principalities. We know that Prince Couza sought support in the ranks of the enemies of orthodoxy, and for this he sought to subordinate to his authority the Eoumanian orthodox clergy and the admmistration of the Church. To attain this end, Prince Couza thought to introduce new ecclesi- astical institutions of such a nature as to completely weaken the Church while subjecting it to his power. By his orders there were drawn up at the IMinistry of Public Worship, without the cooperation of the clergy, three projects of new ecclesiastical regulations, which in July 1864 received the sanction of the Parliament, and at the end of the year were signed by the Hospodar. Of this new code the principal features are these : The Roumanian orthodox Church (which hitherto de- pended on the hierarchical supremacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople) is proclaimed independent of all foreign ecclesiastical authority whatsoever. The government of the Eoumanian Church is subject to a Synod receiving the de- nomination, hitherto unheard of among the orthodox, of General Synod, Of this Synod are named as members, firstly, all the Eoumanian bishops ; then three delegates from each diocese, chosen for three years among the priests or laymen, but by such a mode of election that the re- * CtBepeaa Uo'iia. Chap. V. Tlie Synod, 229 suit of the scrutiny depends on the will of the govern- ment. The presidency of the Synod is conferred on the Metropolitan of Wallachia, but not in virtue of the dignity with wliich he is clothed, nor in his own name ; but in the name of the Hospodar , a thing unheard of in the or- thodox as well as in the Latin Church. The Synod must assemble in July once every two years ; it is convoked by the Minister of Public Worship, who proposes the questions for debate, is present at its sittings, takes part in its deliberations, presents its resolutions to the Hospodar, and puts them into execution. If the Synod presumes to touch any matter not brought before it, the minister termLiiates the sitting. In any case of urgency for the immediate convoking of an extraordinary sitting, the bishops must address their request for it to the minis- ter, with whom it lies to grant or to refuse it. The Synod has no right to extend its supervision to the instruction in the seminaries (so that Latin tendencies could be there propagated without hindrance). The Synod has no right to meddle in judgment as to the measures relating to toleration and liberty of conscience wliich the civil power shall deem it useful to adopt (in order to open the gates to Eoman propagandism). To complete these measures, by order of the Hospodar, the Chamber, in January 1865, sanctioned another project relating to the nomination of bishops. There had long existed a rule inscribed in the law of Moldavia and Wal- lachia, in virtue of which the bishops are elected in as- semblies composed of ecclesiastical and lay deputies, and afterwards confirmed by the Hospodar ; as to the election of the metropolitans, it is subject to the confirmation of the Patriarch of Constantinople. In contempt of this an- cient rule, it has been established that the bishops and metropolitans should be chosen in a preliminary assembly of the council of ministers, and that they should be desig- 230 TJie Synod. Chap. V. nated by tlie Hospodar on the presentation of the minis- ter of worship. In this fashion the Hospodar completely possessed himself of the government of the Church, he arrogated to himself the right of naming her bishops and controlling all their dispositions. To crown all these innovations, it has been laid down by a special article, that " aU previous laws not agreeing with the present dispositions are abrogated." By these last words the force and authority of all the canons of the oecumenical councils, forming the basis of the organisation, administration, and life of the orthodox Church, are defini- tively broken. The news of the accomplishment of these reforms ar- rived in Constantinople by the Courrier de Dade, which published the text of the new laws ; it there produced in- tense excitement, and indeed profound grief, in all ortho- dox society. His Holiness the Patriarch Sophronius con- voked an extraordinary council, in which all patriarchs happening to be in the city took part, both those in office and those deposed, all metropolitans, all bishops, and a few archimandrites. This assembly adopted a conciliary canonical resolution on the essential signification of the new legislative measures, and on the usurpation of the Eoumanian government in matters ecclesiastical. It was resolved to transmit it to Bucharest, by sending there the archimandrite Eustachius Cleobulus with letters from the Patriarch for the Hospodar, the ]\Ietropolitans of Wal- lachia and Moldavia, as also for aU the bishops under them, demanding the repeal of the newly promulgated ecclesiastical laws. Every one knows from the journals the result of the archimandrite Cleobulus's journey : under the pretext of no leisure amid his numerous engagements, the ex-Prince Couza refused for a fortnight to receive the Patriarch's envoy, and at last sent him word to hand the papers he Cliap. V. TJie Synod. 231 had brought to the minister of worship, notwithstanding the persistency of Father Cleobulus, who had declared that he had a mission from the Patriarch to deliver by word of mouth certain communications to the Hospodar. After this, in order to put an end to liis sojourn in the Principalities, he was accused of fomenting plots and an insurrection against the government ; and under this pre- text, police-agents were sent to him, who, having searched liis papers through without finding anything, hurried him under escort beyond the frontiers to the city of Giurgevo ; here, after having undergone another examination, and whilst waiting for the steamboat, he was shut up in a room and sentinels placed at his door. The Patriarch's envoy, thus humiliated and insulted, did not wait for the steamer; but hurrying into a fisherman's boat, crossed the Danube, and betook himself to Eustchuk. In this ignominious fashion was the archimandrite Cleobulus driven from Bucharest, May 11th; and on the same day, as a reply to the Patriarch's letter. Prince Couza, of his own authority, designated the six first bishops for the vacant sees in Eoumania, and among the number the Metropolitan of Moldavia. The return of the archimandrite Cleobulus produced at Constantinople a general outburst of indignation among the clergy and orthodox population ; for in the annals of the orthodox Church was there no example of the official envoy of the first and most ancient of her pastors having received a reception so outrageous, contemptuous, and inso- lent, on the part of a ruler of an orthodox, and above all of a little country, — one not independent, but whose prince was vassal to another ; and when, farther, the prince of the Church in the country he governs is hierarchically subordinate directly to this pastor.'"* * We have reproduced as textually as we could this very tangled phrase, the sense of which is, however, very clear. The Northern 232 The Synod, Chap. V. The Patriarcli immediately convoked a new extraordi- nary council, and communicated to it the result of the mission with which the archimandrite Cleobulus had been charged. The council decided that in these circumstances, painful and important for the whole orthodox Church, it was necessary to ask counsel of the other national ortho- dox Churches. For two months the Church of Constanti- nople waited for the Hospodar's answer to the Patriarch's letter ; but when this expectation proved vain, there was no longer room for delay or for tenderness towards the Eoumanian government. His Holiness sent to our [of Eussia] plenipotentiary at Constantinople, to procure the sending to the holy Synod an official letter, asking of it wise counsel, fraternal support, and salutary measures, within the limits of the rights determined by the canons, in order to put an end to the perilous situation of the Moldo- Wallachian Church. The Hospodar, however, and his devoted accomplices did not sleep, and in order to justify before European public opinion the usurpation they had permitted in eccle- siastical affairs, and their unheard-of proceedings in respect to the Patriarch's envoy, had recourse to the press. Xews from Bucharest aj^peared in the foreign journals, according to which, the true cause of the disagreements between the Church and the Eoumanian government was simply the material constraint in which the Patriarch found himself in consequence of the confiscation in the Principalities of the monastic properties belonging to the Greek Church ; a report being at the same time spread that the archimandrite Cleobulus had been sent to Bucharest with the object of Post intended to say, * Were it the Emperor of Russia, nothing could be said ; but the Hospodar of Wallachia 1' And this obser- vation well attests the rare prudence of the Paste du Nord; for there is no other difference. Chap. V. The Synod. 233 raising there an insurrection against the government. ^ In these circumstances people did not forget to calumniate Eussia ; but the journal Byzaniis, the organ of the Patri- arch of Constantinople, reestablished the facts as they were, and, starting with the unjust attacks directed against Eussia, recalled to notice the ingratitude with which her benefits to Moldo-Wallachia had been requited by the men at the head of the Eoumanian government. The ex-Hos- podar. Prince Couza, again had recourse to a peculiar ]ueans of bringing public opinion to his side in the matter. He drew up an answer to the Patriarch's letter; but with- out sending it to him, had it printed in the foreign journals. This answer, written in defence of the anti-canonical innovations introduced into the Eoumanian Church, con- sisted in an arbitrary interpretation of the ecclesiastical canons, and in inexact references to historical facts which were either distorted or meant absolutely nothing. By this subterfuge the public, but little familiar with these canons and facts, and having no idea of the contents of the Patriarch's letter, after having acquainted themselves with the Hospodar's reply, which was not remarkable for its veracity, were obliged to consider Prince Couza's acts perfectly regular. The Eoumanian clergy could not remain a silent and indifferent witness of this abuse of power on the part of the government.* Deprived of force and influence, it dared not loudly protest against the Hospodar's acts ; but on May 23d the bishops presented to Prince Couza a me- morial signed by them, in which, in the most humble terms, but nevertheless with much detail and firmness, they pronounced a complete censure on the ecclesiastical laws newly published, and prayed the Prince not to put them in execution, but to previously submit them to the examination of the bishops in order to their modification. » Northern Post, you forget yourself 1 234 The Synod. Chap. V. Chap. T. The Synod. 235 No regard was paid to this petition. Several of the bishops then addressed themselves by private letters directly to the Patriarch of Constantinople, imploring his defence in favour of the unfortunate Church of Roumania, and speak- ing of the excommunication of Prince Couza, whom they dubbed Julian the Apostate. Two bishops, quitting the Principalities, undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and Mount Athos, to avoid taking part in innovations to which their duty and conscience were alike repugnant.* When Prince Couza and his accomplices learnt that the Patriarch had addressed himself officially to the most half/ S}Tiod of the Russian Church, and to the holf/ Synod of Athens,t ^^r their advice, they were terrified at sight of the peril which threatened them. By virtue of the canons, the authors of violence against the Church, and those who infringe her laws, are excommunicated ; and in the present case a resolution on this subject, taken by all the Eastern patriarchs, with the full powers of the Russian and Athe- nian Synods, would have been a determination taken in common by all the parts of the orthodox Church, and would have been equivalent to the sentence of an oecu- menical council. To prevent these consequences, the Hos- podar ordered his charge - d'aflPaires at Constantinople immediately to send the Patriarch Sophronius the reply to the latter's letter long since published in the journals. The charge-d'affaires multiplied to the Patriarch excuses and regrets respecting what had happened, and sought to justify Prince Couza, by saying that he had acted against his own feelings and convictions under the pressure of circumstances. In concluding, he expressed in the warmest terms the liveliest desire on the part of the Hospodar to * If the Russian bishops of Peter the First's time had acted in this fashion, they would perhaps have deserved the eulogies of the Mrthern Post; but they would have expired on the wheel. t The little cannot be most holy. cr arrange this affair by putting himself in accord with his Holiness, and, to this end, to enter into negotiations with him. This proposition of Prince Couza had, however, no result. The Patriarch then judged it necessary once more to convoke the council, which decided that a new letter ought to be addressed to the Hospodar, refuting the in correct conclusions contained in his reply, and invitm him into the path of regular conduct. In the following November the Patriarch sent a copy of these documents to our most holy Synod, with a letter, in which he re- quested its concurrence for the defence of the spiritual in- terests of the Roumanian people. At this same epoch the Roumanian government an- nounced the convocation of the General Synod at Buchar- est for the month of December, and occupied itself with preparing the programme of its labours. As all the acts of Prince Couza and his party had for their object to de- tach the Roumanian Church from the oecumenical, they were incessantly devising new measures for successively separatmg the people from orthodoxy, and subjecting them to the Pope by means of the union. '^' An attempt of this kind is seen in the series of questions sent by the miuis- * We have no concern here with the plan pursued by Prince Couza, but we cannot refrain from saying that the Northern Post is misled in imagining that this Hospodar laboured in tlie interest of the Catholic Church. Prince Couza wished to substitute in the Eoumanian Church the Latin rite for the Greek— this we believe-- taking this course on the ground that the Roumanians were a Latin race ; but he certainly did not dream of subjecting the Roumanian Church to the authority of the Pope. He wished for a national Church, as independent of Rome as of Constantinople. If the Poste du Noril aims at knowing what this Church was to be, it can ask Prince Vladimir Tcherkasky, who now has leisure to communicate to it the plans he formed for the Polish Church. The Roumanian Church of Prince Couza and the Polish Church of Prince Tcher- kasky were to be constructed on the same plan : a Latin rite ; abso- lute independence of Rome ; absolute dependence on the civil power. I. I 236 The Synod. Chap. V. Chap. V. The Synod. 237 ter of worsliip to one of the "bishops designated by the Hospodar, and which were to be submitted to the Synod for deliberation. Among these questions figured the in- troduction of the Gregorian Calendar into general use, and into that of the Church, and the adoption of organs in churches. A year before, there had been inserted in the Voice of Roumania, a journal subsidised by the govern- ment, certain articles which, by the aid of false statements and perverted historical facts, led one to give to Latinism the character of the national rehgion of Eoumania, At Jassy a Latin seminary was organised, with the aid of government, in which was given instruction incom- parably superior to that of the orthodox seminaries ; for in the latter, not even instruction in classical and modern languages was permitted, in order that the orthodox clergy might stand on a lower level than the Latin. The prelate Salanderi was allowed to enter ^loldavia as a visitor sent by the Pope, and a report even got into circulation that the Hospodar was continually carrying on negotiations with the Court of Eome, but that these were wrapt in impenetrable mystery. At the time of the convocation of the Synod, the intentions and views of the government were clearly manifested with respect to the results expected from this measure. In article 4 of the new law, it was said that all the bishops are members of the General S^-nod; but Prince Couza caused letters of convocation to be addressed only to a certain number of bishops chosen according to con- siderations of his own. Two Moldavian bishops, ^Igr. Joseph of Sebaste, and Mgr. Pilaret of Stauropol, known for their devotion to orthodoxy, having received no invi- tation to sit in the Synod, resolved, notwithstanding, to repair to Bucharest ; but they were stopped on the road by agents of the government, and sent back under escort from Fokchany to Jassy. They forwarded their protests to the consuls of the protecting powers, as well as in the name of the General Synod. In these documents they strongly complained of the usurpation of the Hospodar, and of the innovations he had introduced into the Church. Mgr. I^eophyte, Bishop of Edessa, and brother of the Bishop of Stauropol, also sent a protest. This proceeding of the three bishops, and the sympathy they met "wdth among the members of the Synod, excited in that assembly a strong opposition to all the Latin innovations, in spite of the predominating influence of governmental authority. In consequence of this circumstance, and fearing new conflicts on spiritual matters, the Hospodar resolved on closing the session for an indefinite time. The orthodox people of Eoumania will doubtless know well how to discern the motives which have brought about these innovations, and will not allow themselves to be seduced by the manifest imposture of the enemies of their Church and nationality. In presence of acts so grievous for the orthodox Church, emanating from the government of the late Prince Couza, the most holy Synod could not but answer with entire sym- pathy the fraternal letter addressed to it by the oecumeni- cal Patriarch.' {Mosc. Gaz. 1866, l^o. 43, Peb. 26, o.s.) We have translated the entire article of the Northern Post, as given in the Moscoic Gazette, leaving the official sheet of St. Petersburg to exhibit Prince Conza's acts from its own point of view. These we by no means pretend to defend ; but we ask ourselves, how is it pos- sible to have two weights and two measures, and so blame in Prince Couza what is praised in Peter I. ? If we go to the root of the mat- ter, Couza has done no more than follow the 1» 238 The Synod. Chap. V. example set him on the banks of the IS'eva. He has perhaps a little less skilfully disguised his usurpation, but it does not outdo what has been done at Petersburg ; in both cases we see a national Church completely independent of all foreign control, and completely subject to the civil power. It would even be easy to demonstrate that, in several respects, the Eou- manian Church had preserved guarantees utterly wanting in the case of the Eussian Church. Suffice it to mention the irremovability of the bishops. The General Synod of Bucharest is no greater innovation than that (governing) Synod of St. Petersburg; both are far from canonical, but the composition of that at Bu- charest assured to it a considerable degree of independence, as the event has proved. The only real difference between these two ecclesi- astical coups d^etai is that so accurately indi- cated by the Northern Post itself: in the one case we see a petty vassal-prince of the sul- tan's, in the other a powerful autocrat. The Northern Post has forgotten to tell us in what this difference, very real in a military and political point of view, has any value in a canonical. But it is time to allow the Patriarch of Constantinople to speak. ' To the most holy governing Synod of the Orthodox \'S Chap. V. The Synod. 239 Church of the empire protected of God in all the Eussias, our fraternal greeting in Jesus Christ. Without douht, reports have reached your Reverences of the projects of law of the Roumanian government, which, contrary to all expectation, have lately appeared, and which, by introducing changes into the ecclesiastical administration of the orthodox Principalities of the Danube, with the object of shaking the foundations of the piety of the orthodox Roumanian people, transmitted by their fathers, by means of the enslavement of the holy clergy of this country, by means of usurpation by the lay power of ecclesiastical rights, and by all kinds of attempts to in- troduce anti-canonical innovations, as is known to all those who have attentively followed the under-mentioned pro- jects of law, which also have already been published in the journals. Having early become acquainted with such a state of affairs in these countries, the great and holy Church of Christ, the spiritual guardian of the command- ments of the Apostles and holy Fathers, took care more than a year ago to put on his guard the spiritual pastor of this country, Mgr. Niphon, Metropolitan of the Hungaro- Wallachian Church, by transmitting to him in our syno- dical letter the necessary counsels and instructions, which unfortunately were not accepted by his Grace with the dispositions and zeal they deserved, because he allowed himself to be led by the suggestions of political authority, as we have learnt by the reply he has at last sent us, and by other indications. Consequently, being acquainted with the aforesaid projects of law, the great Cliurch of Christ, accomplishing the duty, imposed on her by the canons, of watching over the Church of this country, being unable to remain an indifferent spectator of things having for their object the spiritual ruin of her pious children, resolved to convoke a great and holy council, composed of most holy patriarchs, venerated metropolitans, and most reverend 240 Tlie Synod. Chap. V. doctors ; and tliis council, after a severe and attentive ex- amination, has formulated a decree, in which, by means of testimonies borrowed from Scripture and the canons, it unmasks the anti- canonical character of the laws projected by the Koumanian government, and exposes with a spi- ritual prudence the necessity of abrogating and annulling them. This synodical decree, accompanied by ecclesiasti- cal letters, has been sent into Moldo-Wallachia, to the re- presentatives of the two powers, through an ecclesiastical personage, to whom has been confided the mission not only of officially delivering these documents, but farther of explaining them in case of need, in conformity with the spirit of the Church. Your venerable charity will be able to take an exact and detailed notice of these important dispositions of the great Church of Christ, by the copies which we transmit you under this cover. You will there find the copy of the s}Tiodical letter to the Metropolitan of the Hungaro- Walla chian Church, which was written on the occasion of the reports being circulated of the abolition of the Old Calendar, adopted by the Oriental Church ; on the recitation of the symbol with the addition condemned by the oecumenical councils, as well as by the above-named resolution, and by the letters added thereto, as also the copy of the last reply of the said metropolitan, dispatched by himself after the return of the ecclesiastical personage sent by the Church. But what trouble will not your mind feel when you learn the reception accorded by his Highness Prince Alexander Couza to the expressed solici- tude of the great Church of Christ,""' inspired by her ma- ternal grief ! His Highness did not deign to receive and hear the envoy of the great Church of Christ : our archi- mandrite, a very worthy man, known for his piety and learning, was with great ignominy sent back beyond the frontiers of the Principalities under guard of the poHce. ♦ This is the title taken by the Church of Constantinople. Chap. V. The Synod. 241 To crown so many outrages, calumnies without number have been spread abroad about his sojourn and his em- bassy, which had a character purely ecclesiastical; and our patriarchal and synodical letters addressed to his High- ness have been contemned, and not been honoured even with an answer. ]S'or was this enough : immediately after the envoy's expulsion, the loioits (!) prince confirmed the above-mentioned projects of law, and he, a temporal prince, placed at the head of Churches bishops chosen by the ministry. This, beloved brethren in Christ, is the reason why we have deemed it necessary to inform you of these things, that you may receive an exact account of the circumstances of the matter, in order to judge in common of the deter- mination of the great Church of Christ, which has con- demned as contrary to the canons, and transgressing the eternal limits set by our fathers, the said projects of law of the Eoumanian government trenching on spiritual and ecclesiastical matters entirely foreign to its jurisdiction. We are convinced that in the present matter, which de- mands union and unanimity of all the orthodox Churches in Jesus Christ, your venerated charity, sharing not only the profound grief and the painful impression felt by us, and by all orthodox Christian hearts, at this conduct of the Roumanian government, but also the solicitude inspir- ing us for the salvation of the orthodox Eoumanian people exposed to so great a danger, will doubtless be willing to consider and examine everything that can conduce to this end, and will not fail to take, with suitable care, and with- in the limits fixed by the canons, all other salutary mea- sures to render vain those efforts against which the Church of Christ has in the spirit of gentleness striven until now. Thus we await from you not only the expression of your serious attention, and the judgment of your pious wisdom, but farther your fraternal cooperation, and the spiritual E 242 Tlie Synod. Chap. V. help witli which religious zeal will inspire you. to put an end to so dangerous a situation, which is dragging into perdition a Christian people for whose blood we must hereafter give account. We shall await with impatience your esteemed reply, and news of your brotherly health, which is precious to us. The Lord grant you long years, health, and salva- tion. Your Eeverences* very dear and loving brother in Jesus Christ, Sophronius of Constantinople.* We have endeavoured to give the most literal translation possible of this curious docu- ment. We will not dwell on the rather hollow phraseology, and the little agreement between words and deeds ; but we will openly congrat- ulate ourselves on seeing the Church of Con- stantinople proclaim with so much earnestness the necessity of maintaining ecclesiastical in- dependence in the presence of the secular power, and the union of the different national Churches, to form therefrom one single universal Church. Let us now see the reply of the Synod. We must be just to this assembly. It felt it- self in a false position, and, spite of itself, to this feeling its embarrassed language testifies. ' To the most holy Sophronius, Archbishop of Constan- tinople, — the new Eome, — oecumenical Patriarch. Fraternal greeting in our Lord Jesus Christ. By the letter of your Holiness, dated July 1st, 1865, we have learnt with profound grief the events which have afflicted all the united Churches in orthodoxy, and Chap. V. The Synod. 243 which have shaken the good order and prosperity of the Moldo-Wallachian Church. If our sympathising thought has stopped on the road that leads to word and action (that is, if we have as yet neither said nor done anything), it has been partly for want of knowing with clearness and precision certain circum- stances of these events, and partly because we were hoping that the orthodox spirit of the ministers of the Moldo- Wallachian Church would be aroused, would with firmness place itself on guard of the ancient ecclesiastical order handed down by the fathers ; that they would raise a per- suasive voice towards the orthodox authorities and towards the people ; that they would take to heart the voice of the Mother Church, and by these common efforts be preserved from innovations incompatible with the sacred canons. It is to us a new affliction to see our hopes little justi- fied by the course of events. Tlie members of the Moldo- Wallachian hierarchy are but few who, not without suffer- ing, have uttered words of truth in order to unmask error : may their sacrifice be pleasing to the divine Head of the Church, the Christ, our God! The Moldo-Wallachian Prince has not, most holy sir, deigned to reply to your letter, and to the memorial of the council surrounding you, with pacific dispositions, but has decided, according to his own expression, " to fight them with the invincible arms of the laws and canons." In these circumstances, in virtue of our duty to guard in common and mutually the peace and unanimity of the Churches, we find ourselves obliged to testify that the war imdertaken has not been marked by victory, and that the right arrogated by the temporal prince, to innovate in the legislation and administration of the Moldo-Wallachian Church, appears destitute of legal basis. The detailed ex- position of this thought is given in the annexed disserta- tion. 244 The Synod. Chap. y. Chap. Y. Tlie Synod. 245 We recognise that the establishment of a new Synod, having legislative and administrative authority, is beyond the competence of the civil power, and demands the ex- amination and confirmation of a council more exalted in the Church, and particularly that of the Patriarch to whose jurisdiction the Church instituting a new Synod belongs. Examples of this can be seen at hand in the Synod of all the Eussias, and in that of Athens. We recognise as con- trary to the canons and to the Gospel (Luke x. 16, Matt, xviii. 20), the proposition that " The Metropolitan of Eou- mania presides at the Synod in the name of the Hospodar." We recognise as contrary to the canons, the designation of bishops by sole lay authority without ecclesiastical election. Those who have been nominated in this fashion should confront the 30th canon of the holy Apostles, and exam- ine with fear if it be a veritable consecration which they will receive and extend over their flock. We confine ourselves to noting the most important deviations from the sacred canons. If God's grace bring about a return from these to the Church's true path, it will also reveal the means of remedying the rest. Without doubt, most holy sir, your paternal love for the Moldo- Wallachian Church and her children is not exhausted. Could not means be found by a persuasive and love-in- spired language to sustain those who are now strong in justice, to strengthen those who are shaken, bring back those who have wandered, replace the matter on the ground of pacific conference, and guarantee the inviolability of what is essential by some condescension as to what can be tolerated ? We are convinced that in order to arrive at this result, our most pious emperor will order, or has al- ready ordered, his minister to transmit to the ]\[oldo-Wall- achian government good and pacific counsels. We pray our Lord Jesus Christ, by His all-influencing grace, to direct your acts, and those of the council assem° bled around you, to the pacification of the Moldo-Wall- achian Church, and to the preservation of this member of Christ's mystical body in a healthful union with the great body of the orthodox oecumenical Church. We sincerely wish your Holiness every good with salvation, and remain united to you in the bonds of brotherly love in Jesus Christ.' It will be remarked, even from tlic Synod's avowalj that its answer is conformed to the diplomatic note emanating from the minister of foreign affaii\s. It is useless to ask if the Synod dictated the note, or the Minister the reply. Besides, the Synod was obliged to lean to the side of concession ; it could not, without condemning itself, pronounce anathema against its own founder. As a sequel to these three important docu- ments, let us farther reproduce the article of the Moscov: Gazette : * We this day jDublish some documents of a very ex- traordinary character. They are the letter of the most holy Patriarch of Constantinople to the most holy Synod of Kussia, and the reply of the latter. We have called these documents extraordinary ; and truly, who is there that re- members the publication of any relations whatsoever of general interest between the Eussian hierarchy and the other branches of the oecumenical Church ? In different countries there exist Churches, calling themselves Oriental Catholic j but between them there is no bond or settled relations. They have no organisation vindicating to them their oecumenical character. We see Churches which, alas ! 246 The Synod, Chap. V. Chap. V. The Synod. 247 already begin profoundly to differ from one another in their modes of regarding many very essential objects ; but an oecumenical Church such as each of these ought to be exists only in an idea ever receding into obscurity, and losing all connection with reality. This is the great ques- tion which long ago made itself felt within our Church, and which will soon appear in all its strength. We must be prepared for it. 'Tis time that the zealots of our Church cease to see in her only a national institution ; to recall to themselves her oecumenical character constituting her essence, which is above and more precious than all the rest. The Church of Christ and orthodoxy must not be made to consist in the peculiarities of an organisation constituted in this or that country, under the influence of different circumstances often the most unfavourable; or also in things accidental, which often darken and disfigure the essence of religion, and in every case have nothing in common with her; or in the architectural character of churches, in the form of images, in the number of buttons on sacerdotal vestments ; or again, in the mode of joining the fingers of the hand to make the sign of the cross ; or again, in the educational establishments for the daughters of the clergy (as if children, or, in general, persons not in fact attached to the service of the altar, could form a part of the clergy) ; finally, in a clergy understood in the sense of a caste and race apart. But we have no intention to touch to-day on great ec- clesiastical questions, nor even to examine the proceeding between the Patriarch of Constantinople and the fallen Hospodar of the Danubian Principalities. We wish to call attention to but a single circumstance which thi'ows a very bright light on our own afiairs. The correspondence of the Patriarch of Constantinople with our Synod is preceded by an official statement of the events which gave rise to it. We see developed the long series of violent and ma- levolent measures of the ex-Hospodar of Moldavia and WaUachia, which sought to humble and overthrow the orthodox Church. Not content with subjecting the Church and hierarchy to all imaginable oppressions, Prince Couza aimed at destroying the dominant Church in its root, i.e. in the formation of its clergy. Taking care to organise in the best possible manner the Eoman CathoUc seminaries, he applied himself at the same time to give to the orthodox seminaries the worst organisation possible ; he forbade them instruction in the ancient languages, " with the ob- ject of placing the orthodox clergy on a comparatively lower educational level than that of the Latin clergy." The official statement forming the introduction to the docu- ments calls attention to this circumstance, as crowning the series of malevolent measures taken by the ex-Hospodar. Without question. Prince Couza knew what he was about He did not hide his designs. He acted as an enemy, and his acts corresponded— none better— to his intentions. His adversaries had every reason to point out in their indictment this systematic deterioration of the houses of education, which he had deprived of the classic languages as the most pedagogic and palpable of means. But in at- tacking Prince Couza in this fashion, what shaU we say of ourselves 1 He acted as an enemy, he wished to destroy all instruction of the orthodox clergy ; and to this end, as the official statement justly observes, he took away from the orthodox seminaries the foundation of a classical edu- Kiation. Why then, we ask, is absolutely the same thing done in Eussia '? If the acts of the minister of worship and public instruction in Koumania become a ground for accu- sation ; if we see these malevolent and hostile acts ; what must be said of the reforms our seminaries underwent in 1840, and our gymnasia in 1848] What of the efforts made even to-day to maintain our houses of education in 248 The Synod. Chap. V. Chap. V. The Synod. 249 the situation created by these reforms, to alter the new Eegulation, the promulgation of which encountered so many- difficulties — not to allow its application in those establish- ments where is trained a youth thoroughly Eussian and orthodox ? What must every reflecting man think on see- ing that this new Eegulation, which ought to give to in- struction among us the bases recognised by the whole civilised world, is put in operation in provinces of the West ; whilst at Moscow even the gymnasia are condemned to languish in a sad state of transition, and, so far as we can judge, seem destined to remain in this state during five whole years, with the prospect at the end of that time of being able to modify or even abrogate the new Eegula- tion ? -As to what respects our ecclesiastical schools, not ex- cepting the highest, we can positively aver that Prince Couza would have been perfectly satisfied ; he would have found nothing to change in order to attain the end he was pursuing with so much method, decision, and freedom. Here everything Prince Couza could have done has been done, and much even beyond. And now, when the evil is being proved, and the acts of a foreign government unmasked to reveal it, are we making serious efforts to remedy it 1 What right, then, have we to attack Prince Couza V Tlie eminent publicist who so brilliantly conducts the Moscow Gazette sets himself to bring out a single point ; but if any one will give himself the trouble to read his article with a little attention, he will easily be convinced that the apostrophe with which he concludes it covers not only iho classical studies in the seminaries, but every reproach flung at Prince Couza. This work, which rouses so much in- dignation in the Phanar^ and which the North- ern Post so severely lashes, is after all but a very poor counterfeit of Peter I.'s work. In presence of M. Katkoff 's vigorous rea- soning, let us place a few of the conclusions arrived at by M. Wassilieff, in his letter to the Bishop of Nantes. 1. ' The first part of my reply has estab- lished that it is not possible, without offending against theology and canon law, to assert that a disciplinary change in a Church is a change in the constitution of that Church. 2. ^ I have had the honour of proving to you that the government of a Church by means of a council, is of all forms the most ancient and canonical. 3. ' You have aflfirmed that the holy Synod was established exclusively by the sovereign of Eussia, and for the purpose of enslaving the ) Church of his empire : I have proved to you/ that it was otherwise. Eelying on facts and^ authentic documents, I have demonstrated that j Peter the Great took part in the establishment^ of the holy Synod only in a measure prope: to a sovereign careful of his public independ^ ence— to a Christian sovereign having the right to share in the creation of an ecclesiastical in- stitution, in what concerns its civil and ex-y 250 The Synod, Chap. V. Chap. V. The Synod. 251 Oternal existence I have farther proved, In a solid manner, that the Eussian bishops took their due part in the establishment of the holy Synod, both by the counsels they gave /for its establishment, and by the drawing up and approval of the organic statute of this per- manent council. 4. ' You have affirmed that the approval asked of the Patriarch of Constantinople was too late, and a pure formality : I have given incontestable proofs that, immediately after the convocation of the holy Synod, the sanction of all the Oriental patriarchs was sincerely and respectfully requested ; that it was canonically accorded with independence, and with the least possible delay.'* If Prince Couza, in the leisure afforded him by the instability of human affairs, seeks con- solation in the perusal of M. Wassilieff 's pam- phlet, the page we have just quoted can excite in his heart only the most poignant regrets. Had he but known M. Wassilieff some years sooner, what a theologian, what a canonist, what an advocate might he have found in him ! How the learned archpriest would have kept in his place the Patriarch of Constantinople, with his council of deposed and non-deposed patriarchs, and the archimandrite Cleobulus himself ! How * Dlscus£ion, Sec, pp. 50, 51. he would have shown to the Northern Post that it knew not what it was saying ! and how he would have obliged M. Katkoff to confess that he was speaking of things he did not under- stand, when he allowed himself to talk with so much irreverence on the subject of the eccle- siastical schools, even the highest, i. e. the academies ! M. Wassilieff would even have proved to the Synod that, if his conclusion was reasonable, he had advanced among the grounds of it propositions singularly bold, which could not be sustained without doing violence to theology and canonical law. We will now leave Prince Couza to his regrets, and M. Wassilieff to the contests with his numerous antagonists, and go at once to the heart of the question. Here we must carefully distinguish theory from practice. As we have been able, by the numerous documents we have cited, to satisfy ourselves, in a theoretical point of view, the doctrine of the Oriental Church touching the distinction of the two powers and the Church's independence is perfectly correct. Take, for example, M. Wassilieff. He defends the in- stitution of the Synod in Kussia, but is con- vinced that it is the work of the Eussian Church herself, and of the oecumenical Church, acting in the plenitude of their liberty and independ- 252 The Synod. Chap, y II • ence. Peter I., 'tis true, counts there for some- thing, but merely gives his concurrence to the decisions of the Church. M. Wassilieff also admits the part assigned to the chief procurator of the Synod, but in him he sees only a bene- factor and servant of this ecclesiastical assem- bly; and if this servant ever took upon himself to assume any authority,— if he raised his voice, if he undertook to counteract the deliberations of the Synod, or if he so far forgot himself as to close the discussion and raise the sitting- he who is so little the president of the Synod as not to be a member of it,— the learned arch- priest would be ready to say to him, ' Sir, you interfere with what does not concern you. The most holy assembly, of which you are not a member, desires to be alone in closing its de- liberations : go; when it needs you, it will call for you.' The holy Synod invites the bishops hold- ing their nominations of the lay authorities to confront the 30th canon of the holy Apostles. Now this canon runs thus : Si quis episcopm scecularibiis potestatibus usus ecclesiam per ipsas obtineat^ deponatiir et segregetur^ et omnes qui illi communicant^ He is therefore convinced * Ei rls iiriffKOTTos koct/lkois apxoicn xPVf^^F^^vos, &c. Hefele, voL i. p. 183. We have already remarked that the text of this canon sufficiently proves that it is not of apostolic origin ; but it has been sanctioned by the authority of the Oriental Church, and still has- Chap. V. The Synod. 253 that, among all the bishops with whom he is in communion, there is not one who has had recourse to the secular power to obtain a bi- shopric. We need not cite the Patriarch of Constantinople, whose language is very strong. When, then. Catholic or Protestant writers advance that the Russian Church recournises the Eussian emperor as its hierarchical head, they are utterly in error. The Eussian em- perors are laymen, and have no place in the hierarchy. It is true that Paul I., confound- ing the consecration of emperors with sacer- dotal ordination, thought himself a priest. He one day wished to say Mass, and was success- fully turned from his purpose only by being reminded that, having been twice married, he was on this account disqualified for the service of the altar. But here was the whim of an individual; although, however, some trace of exaggeration could be found elsewhere* respect- ing the consecration of the anointed of the Lord and of His Christs. In the Byzantine Church we find, with re- spect to the emperors of the lower empire, for- mularies too obsequious, and a condescension the force of law. * If any bishop, making use of the secular powers, obtain a church through them, let him be deposed and separated, and all who communicate with him.* * In the Office of Orthodoxy. See Tondini ; TJie Pope, &c. pp. 102-103. /^ 254 The Synod. Chap. V. which is exaggerated. The doctrine of the outside hisltop'^ received there too great an ex- tension; but this very expression shows that the emperors are outside the hierarchy, and have no place therein; and it may be said that on this point, as on many others, the doctrine of the Oriental Church has not been altered, her principles have not been sacrificed. We have spoken here only of theory. If we pass to her practice, we find ourselves in presence of a very different situation. Under the Byzantine emperors, as from the time of the old Tsars of Muscovy, we can verify, on the part of the temporal sovereign, exaggerated pretensions, and encroachments of the lay power on the ecclesiastical domains; but this shows itself more or less everywhere. The Greek Church, like the Eussian, can be reproached with a certain softness, a certain want of energy in presence of these pretensions and encroach- ments of the civil power, — of fits of weakness more or less frequent; but strictly speaking, * Eusebius, in 1. iv. c. xxiv. of his Life of Constantine, says of the Emperor Constantine : ' Wherefore, when once receiving us (the bishops) at table, he said in our hearing that he also was a bi- shop, using these words : *' You are bishops of those rvitldn the Church ; but I too have been appointed by God a bishop of those outside the Church." And, remembering his words, I observed that he governed all beneath his sway with episcopal solicitude, and urged them by every means in his power to pursue the path of true piety.' (Tfans.) Chap. v. The Synod, 255 all this can be considered as accidental and transitory. Undoubtedly the Tsar Alexis de- posed the Patriarch Nicon, but he had recourse to the intervention of a council attended by the Oriental patriarchs. Moreover, this de- position was regarded by contemporaries as a great iniquity. It was one of the first cares of Alexis's son and successor to repair it ; and Alexis himself, when dying, overcome by re- morse, requested pardon of the deposed pa- triarch. A violation of a law does not abolish it, and a right is not destroyed because it has been forgotten. From all these considerations, we hesitate not to say that the doctrine of the Oriental Church nowhere recognises in the prince, we do not say the head of the Universal Church, but not even the head of a particular Church. Must we from this conclude that M. Wassilieff is right, and that the Eussian Church, for ex- ample, is in possession of its independence? This is not what we wish to say ; but to pre- sent this delicate and complicated question fully and clearly, we must enter into some detail. We will begin by examining the nature and extent of the authority assumed by the emperors of Eussia, and expressed by the term autocracy ; and here we specially have in view Peter I. and his successors. We are compelled 256 The Synod. Chap. V. Chap. V. to admit that they arrogate to themselves an authority that does not belong to them; but let us carefully note, that this follows from the idea which they form of their power, not from the doctrine of the Church of which they are part. They assume the same rights in pre- sence of all Churches and all confessions ; and whilst professing to respect the dogmas of all confessions — whether Christian _or not — they claim'to Tiave the upp'ef "hahd^ey^rywhere in the government of religious as of civil society. Catherine II. very well expressed this idea in her ukase of August 12, 1762, on the goods of the clergy. Speaking of her predecessors, she there says, among other things, that they, ' like all monarchs, received from God the prin- cipal authority in the Church: One might fancy he heard the echo of St. Irenoeus's voice claim- ing for the bishops of Eome potiorem princi- palitatem. Let us now listen to Peter I. as he seeks to justify the establishment of the Synod. ' Mo- narchs,' says he, ' although they possess an absolute power, since, according to the Divine precept, an unhesitating obedience is due to them, employ councillors, not only for better getting at the truth, but also for stopping the calumnies of perverse men, who would ascribe this or that order of the sovereign to violence The Synod. 257 I r\ and passion, rather than to the right and legi- timate cause. This applies still more to eccle^ siastical government, which is deprived of a/ii absolute and independent power ^ since domina-^ tion over the clergy is forbidden even to thosq/ who hold the helm of the Church.'* ^ Confounding, by a clever sophism, the spirit of domination with authority^ Peter laid it down that those who are at the helm of the Church, viz. the bishops, metropolitans, patriarchs, &c. — in a word, the pastors — are without inde- pendent authority. According to him, supreme/ auth(^Ttj^ in Church_^^overnment,-.as_ in civil' society, belongs to the sovereign, whom aU oitghl^iii-everythiHg ip obey without murmur- ing. This settled, he finds it convenient that the sovereign, should be surrounded with ecdle- jgiastical^i^mincillors, to aid him in governibg the -Qmi^chi but jhey are""^6nly councillors^ aiid the a:ut}iority,.intrusted to them they hold; of him, and are accountable for it^ proper exqr- * ... * Monarcha3 etiam, quamvis absoluta gaudeant potentid-, quippe quibus, secundum divinum prreceptum, obedientia citra reclamationem debetur, a consiliariis tamen, non eo solum fine, ut in veritate inv^estiganda felicius proficiant, sed ne homines quoquo pervicaces hoc aut illud per vim potius et ex affectu, quam jure et legitime a monarchis pracipi calumnientur, minime abhorrent. Id autem magis quadrat in ecclesiasticum regimen, utpote absoluta et independente potentia destitutum adeo ut ipsi quoque Ecclesius gubernacula tenenti dominatio in clerum denegetur.' {Statutum Canonicum Petri Magni, Petropoli, 1785, pp. 11, 12.) S 258 The Synod. Chap. V. €hap. V. The Synod. 259 cisejta Juffi.„^Tbese principki?^ show thgmselves, •imder all forms, at the bottom of Bussian legis- lation. Thence springs the right of naming and displacing bishops, and the complete and absolute dependence of the whole hierarchy on the sovereign. Thence, moreover, in matters ecclesiastical, the concentration of the exercise of legislative authority in the hands of the em- peror. No ecclesiastical authority in the Eus- sian clergy, however exalted, can promulgate, modify, suspend, or abrogate any ecclesiastical law, without the emperor's consent and sanc- tion. On the contrary, it suffices, in order that a law of the emperor's on an ecclesiastical matter may become obligatory, that it have received the countersign of the Synod. This countersign would have the force of a guaran- tee, if it emanated from an independent au- thority ; but the organisation and mechanism of the Synod being such as we have described them, it is simply a formality. Not only, as we have said, is it in respect of the national and official Church that the Eussian government claims this authority, but also in respect of all religions. Hence the in- surmountable difficulties in the construction, and above all in the enforcement, of concordats with the Holy See. From the point of view of the Eussian government, the supreme author- 1 ity over the Catholic Church in Eussia sub- stantially resides in the emperor. He is quite willing that the Mass be said in Latin, that the Filioque be inserted in the symbol, that un- leavened bread be used, that the communion be in one kind only ; but these concessions made, he sincerely believes he has the right to rule the Catholic Church in his States, the Protestant and Armenian, just as the national Church. He applies the same principles to Jews, Mussulmans, and Buddhists; and this equality of all religions before imperial supre- macy constitutes what is in Eussia called toleration. As is witnessed, a perpetual mis- understanding and radical opposition exists between the Catholic Church and the Eussian autocracy. The two powers speak a different language ; the same words in their lips have not the same signification. For our part, we are ready to admit that there may be in Eussia those who persecute the Catholic Church, and labour to destroy it, whilst quite persuaded that, with a certain degree of good faith, they are the most tolerant men in the world. "We can now see how we are to understand the position maintained by M. Wassilieff, viz. ^ The first part of my reply has proved to you 260 The Synod. Chap. V. that it is not permitted, without doing violence to theology and canon law, to aflarm that a change of discipline in a Church is a change of the constitution of that Church ' (op. cit. p. 50). M. Wassilieff is here speaking of the establishment of the Synod. What he calls a change of discipline is not only a change in the constitution of the Church, but the destruction of this constitution, the substitution of the im- perial poAver for the ecclesiastical in the govern- ment of the Church. We cited above the formula of oath taken by the members of the Synod. It will be re- collected that in it they declared that the em- peror is supreme judge in that assembly. M. Wassilieif gives himself much trouble to assign to this inconvenient text an acceptable sense. He supposes the formula of oath taken by the members to be composed of two parts ; in the first, an oath of fidelity to the Church is taken; in the second, to the sovereign. He thence concludes that ' the words quoted relate to the members of the Holy Synod only in their quality of subjects, of dignitaries of the State, of members of a mixed assembly, having a double character— religious and civil? We have already observed that the members of the Synod do not recognise the emperor as their Ohap. V. The Synod. 261 judge — an avowal not asked of them — but as judge of the Synod, supremum hnjusce collegii judicem^ which admits of no equivocation what- ever. This means that an appeal can be made from the Synod to the emperor, and to him only. N'ow, the Synod is the highest author- ity existing in the Eussian Church ; to it all owe submission and obedience; it holds the place of patriarch. According to the letter of Jeremiah, Patriarch of Constantinople, it has a power equal to that of each of the four patri- archates; and yet it is under the emperor's jurisdiction. After this it is difiicult to dis- pute the emperor's exercise of authority over the Church. When Peter I. caused his son to be tried and condemned, before the sentence was pro- , nounced he requested a consultation with the clergy. We have the account of this : it is dated June 18th, 1718, and is signed by eight bishops and six archimandrites, of whom seve- ral are found among the signataries of the eccle- siastical statute and the first members of the Synod. We there read this passage: ^Who has made us judges of those who exercise au- thority over us ? How can the members in- struct the h^ad, which ought to instruct and govern them ?' The members are the bishops ; the head is the Tsar ; and from beginning to 262 The Synod. Chap, v.. end of this remarkable document the members speak like bishops.'^ M. Wassilieff does not wish it to be said that the Eussian Church is subject to the civil power ; he is right. It can be said that the Church of Constantinople is subject to the sul- tan ; but in spite of the oppression burdening her, we yet recognise in her a distinct society^ with her own spirit, legislation, traditions, and magistrates : she wears chains, but still lives. In Eussia the situation is wholly dijfferent. The Church has no life of its own : in every- thing she receives impulse from without. The clergy wear mitres and copes ; this is the one respect distinguishing them from the other functionaries of the State. The Eussian Church is not subjected^ she is absorbed by the State : she is an inert instrument, a body without a soul. Between her and the old Eussian Church there is no identity ; they are two things en- * A characteristic detail confirms our view. In the annual report published by the chief procurator of the Synod, mention is made of the new privileges just granted to the bishops. Hence- forth they will be able to absent themselves from theii- dioceses for eight days, oa simply giving notice to the Synod, and without waiting for its permission ; with the Synod's authorisation, they will be able to absent themselves for twenty-nine days ; for a longer absence the imperial decision must be asked. How clearly do we dis5cem the hierarchy through this arrangement : for eight days, the bishop ; for a month, the Synod ; for six weeks or ihree^ months, the emperor. This is at once ridiculous and odious. Chap. V. The Synod. 263 tirely distinct, whose resemblance is altogether external. Peter I. effected a religious revolution com- parable only to that accomplished in England by Henry VIII. and Elizabeth ; he did in Eus- sia what Prince Couza attempted in Eoumania. To be convinced of this we have but to repro- duce an extract from the annual report recently presented to the emperor by Count Dmitri Tol- stoy, the present chief procurator of the Synod. See, first of all, how he appreciates the acts of the old Hospodar : ' Prince Couza,' says the report, ' who evidently proposed to draw the people into union with the Latin Church, and separate them from the patriarchal see of Con- stantinople, proclaimed, arbitrarily and in con- tempt of the laws, the Eoumain Church to be independent of all foreign ecclesiastical author- ity. At the same time he stripped this Church, feigned to be independent, of the degree of in- dependence always enjoyed in her internal ad- ministration. The General Synod created by the Hospodar's decree, and destined to central- ise in its own bosom the high administration of ecclesiastical affairs, has been placed in com- plete dependence on the laity. The right to convoke and dissolve this assembly was as- sumed by the Hospodar ; the choice of bishops and metropolitans he confided to his ministers, li > 1 1 264 TJie Synod. Cliap. V. Ohap. v. Tlie Synod. 265 reserving to himself their confirmation. The ties of dependence binding the clergy to the diocesan bishop were relaxed; houses of in- struction subjected to a reform which deprived aspirants to the priesthood of the possibility of receiving a sufficient theological education ; to those who felt themselves called to the religious life, such excessively troublesome conditions were opposed as almost to amount to a bar to their embracing the monastic state ; civil mar- riage was recognised as legal, &c.' — This obvi- ously is the counterpart of Peter I.'s acts. The chief procurator is naturally averse to admit it ; and hence he sets himself to indicate the differ- ence. In his reply to the Patriarch of Constan- . tinople, he says, in the same report, the holy Synod has set the facts in their true light. Thus did Prince Couza support himself on an error as to the Kussian patriarch having been replaced by a Synod, in virtue of the will of the emperor Peter I., and as to our method of nominating bishops. It has been shown that the establish- ment of the Synod took place with the bene- diction of all the Oriental patriarchs ; that in Kussia, even now, the bishops select the candi- dates for the episcopate, and that 'tis only after this selection that one of the candidates is con- firmed by the supreme authority {i. e. the em- peror's). In what, then, consists the difference, ac- cording to Count Dmitri Tolstoy ? First, in this, that the order of things founded by Peter I. received the sanction of the Oriental patri- archs, and, secondly, that the episcopal nomi- nations are sanctioned by the choice of the Synod. We willingly recognise that this double difference would be capital, if in either case there were anything more than a formality, an empty image. But in presence of the facts, it is impossible not to see that, if external forms seem to have been preserved, in reality every- thing has been changed. Prince Couza's Gene- ral Synod had even more independence than Peter's governing Synod : events have proved it. Count Tolstoy says that the Hospodar ar- rogated to himself the right of convoking and dissolving the General Synod : we have shown that the Eussian Synod can oppose no resist- 4ince to the emperor's wishes, since it depends on him to call to or dismiss from the Synod whom he please ; and none knows better than the chief procurator, unless it be the Synod it- self, that the emperor is not scrupulous in his •choice of bishops. Now as to the approval given by the Ori- ental patriarchs to the establishment of the Synod. We are well aware that there was a ;sham-council in Eussia and a sham-approba- I': \ 266 The Synod. \ Cliap. V. tion on the part of tlic Orieutal patriarclis ; but it is certain that neither the council nor the patriarchs freely pronounced themselves. In an article published September 8th, 1862, by the Ecclesiastical Talk* under the signature of Father Athanasius, it is said, in reference to this council : ' Beyond a doubt those who sat in it did not consent, all, and at once, to Peter's proposition, ... but the Tsar's will, sustained by a few ecclesiastics, gained the day' (p. 221). Is^ow, this article, although it bears visible traces of the author's embarrassment, is on the whole favourable to Peter's innovation, and is clothed with the approbation of the ecclesiasti- cal censorship : the acknowledgment, therefore, has importance. What Father Athanasius says of Peter's council, we in oui- turn will say of the approbation of the Patriarch of Constan- tinople : 'tis a pure formality, which after the fact could not be refused to the puissant em- peror who had vanquished Charles XII. and whose hoFts inspired the Turks with terror, and the Greeks with hope. We may well suppose that if the patriarch had been con- sulted at an opportune time, and especially if he had not had to deal with a prince whose power bore with so terrible a weight in the councils of the Fhanar, he would not have al- Chap. V. The Synod. 267 lowed an innovation, so unheard of in the an- nals of the Church, to pass without a protest. The approbation, however, does not legitimise Peter's work; it proves only the abasement of the Greek Church. Moreover, we have shown by dates that this approval was given only after the fact; no uneasiness was felt at the time of the institution of the Synod, nor was any dreamt of until the whole thing was done. This revolution was the work of Peter solely, without the concurrence of the Oriental Church. Finally, it was not the fii-st time that the Tsars requested any concession and signature of the Eastern patriarchs : there were prece- dents. When the Ukraine Church was severed from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, to be subjected to that of Moscow (1685), the whole matter was directly negotiated and concluded between the interested parties, without any in- tervention on the part of the Bysantine Church. The hetman Samoilovich, fearing excommuni- cation, demanded that the consent of the_ Pa- triarch of Constantinople should be obtained. The latter, named James, and Dositheus, Pa- triarch of Jerusalem, began by refusing, declar- in<- that to consent would be contrary to the rules laid down by the holy fathers. The Kus- sian envoys then addressed themselves to the Grand Yizier, who declared himself charmed 268 The Synod, Chap. V. to do anything agreeable to the Tsar, and that he would at once issue the necessary orders to the patriarchs. Immediately afterwards, Dosi- theus found a canon which he had not known of, and which rendered perfectly lawful what had hitherto been impossible. In the interval James had been deposed, and replaced by Dio- nysius, who had before filled the see of Con- stantinople. Dionysius delivered to the Kus- sian envoys all the necessary papers, and re- ceived in exchange two hundred pieces of gold and forty skins of sable ; Dositheus also had two hundred pieces of gold. Dionysius, be- sides, demanded that money should be sent to all the episcopal signitaries of the acts, as was done in the time of the Tsar Feodore Ivano- vich, whose liberality was extended to all the bishops taking part in the erection of the Mos- cow patriarchate (Solovieff, History of Russia^ vol. xiv. p. 35). 'Twas therefore the Grand Vizier's will and Eussia's gold that determined the consent of the patriarchs ; motives of the same kind caused the official recognition of the Synod. That Peter I. was more skilful than Prince Couza, we readily recognise ; but this is not the question. Nor is it a question as to whether, in the organisation of the Eussian Church in 1721, imperial omnipotence showed itself openly, Chap. V. Tlie Synod, 269 ki or prudently veiled itself in a simulated garb. Was the Church in 1721 stripped of her legi- timate authority, or not ? This is the question. Prince Couza in Eoumania tried to usurp this authority. We admit it, and subscribe most cheerfully to the judgment passed by the Pa- triarch of Constantinople, the Eussian Synod, the chief procurator of the Synod, and the Northern Post. But when they come to tell us that in Eussia the Church has remained inde- pendent, that it preserved all its rightful au- thority, we cannot accept this language, but demonstrate the contrary by facts. It is very easy to understand that a Church thus enslaved ought to find herself in a state of isolation with respect to the other Churches. This M. Katkoff has justly observed. Speak- ing of the different Churches of the Oriental communion, he says they have no bond among them, no settled relationship; they are not parts of a whole. This would require a com- mon organisation, which would bind together their scattered members and make of them one body. There can be no unity where there i& no centre. Let this centre be a council, a commission, or an individual, a centre is indis- pensable. Now, this centre does not exist. Has it, at least, been sought to supply the place of these regular relations by exchange of 268 The Synod. Chap. V. Chap. V. TJie Synod, 269 to do anything agreeable to the Tsar, and that he would at once issue the necessary orders to the patriarchs. Immediately afterwards, Dosi- theus found a canon which he had not known of, and which rendered perfectly lawful what had hitherto been impossible. In the interval James had been deposed, and replaced by Dio- nysius, who had before filled the see of Con- stantinople. Dionysius delivered to the Rus- sian envoys all the necessary papers, and re- ceived in exchange two hundred pieces of gold and forty skins of sable ; Dositheus also had two hundred pieces of gold. Dionysius, be- sides, demanded that money should be sent to all the episcopal signitaries of the acts, as was done in the time of the Tsar Feodore Ivano- vich, whose liberality was extended to all the bishops taking part in the erection of the Mos- cow patriarchate (Solovieff, History of Russia^ vol. xiv. p. 35). 'Twas therefore the Grand Vizier's will and Eussia's geld that determined the consent of the patriarchs ; motives of the same kind caused the official recognition of the Synod. That Peter I. was more skilful than Prince Couza, we readily recognise ; but this is not the question. IsTor is it a question as to whether, in the organisation of the Russian Church in 1721, imperial omnipotence showed itself openly, or prudently veiled itself in a simulated garb. Was the Church in 1721 stripped of her legi- timate authority, or not ? This is the question. Prince Couza in Eoumania tried to usurp this authority. We admit it, and subscribe most cheerfully to the judgment passed by the Pa- triarch of Constantinople, the Russian Synod, the chief procurator of the Synod, and the Northern Post. But when they come to tell us that in Russia the Church has remained inde- pendent, that it preserved all its rightful au- thority, we cannot accept this language, but demonstrate the contrary by facts. It is very easy to understand that a Church thus enslaved ought to find herself in a state of isolation with respect to the other Churches. This M. Katkoff has justly observed. Speak- ing of the different Churches of the Oriental communion, he says they have no bond among them, no settled relationship; they are not parts of a whole. This would require a com- mon organisation, which would bind together their scattered members and make of them one body. There can be no unity where there is no centre. Let this centre be a council, a commission, or an individual, a centre is indis- pensable. Now, this centre does not exist. Has it, at least, been sought to supply the place of these regular relations by exchange of ^70 Tlie Synod. Chap. V. Chap. V. The Synod. 271 ideas ? Thus, for example, the different states of Europe are perfectly independent of one an- other, they do not even form a confederation ; yet they maintain among themselves diplo- matic relations and correspondence ; they have representatives accredited one to another. In the Oriental Church there is nothing of the kind. The Kussian emperor is in closer rela- tions with the emperor of China than is the Synod with the Patriarch of Constantinople ; and the letters exchanged in 1865, on the sub- ject of the Koumain Church, are perhaps the first instance of a common consultation for nearly one hundred and fifty years of the Sy- nod's existence. It has justly been said that the different Churches of the Oriental communion may be compared to the defunct Germanic Confedera- tion, less the Frankfort Diet, How is it that they have never succeeded in constituting a kind of ecclesiastical diet, by which all corre- spondence should be ultimatumed, and which should serve as a bond to all the Churches, which now have become so completely es- tranged from one another? This long state of isolation, in spite of all stereotyped phrases about the immobility and unchangeableness of the Oriental Churches, could not continue with- out the introduction of new situations, new customs, and new points of view ; hence arose differences, as M. Katkoff very well observes, very perceptible, and even very profound. If among the clergy or laity in Eussia there were people who would take religious affairs to lieart, and feel a serious interest in the Church to which they belong, these differences between the several Churches, which pretend to form but one, would become the subject of conscien- tious study and of graver discussions. But it is not so. On the contrary, we behold the strangest indifference, and apathy the most complete. It needed that an Englishman* should call attention to the very different man- ner in which the Constantinopolitan and Kus- sian Churches view the conditions necessary to the validity of baptism. At Constantinople baptism by immersion only is admitted as valid. The consequence is that, in the eyes of that Church, Latin Catho- lics and Protestants are not Christians. Should a member of either of them request to be re- ceived into the Greek Church, she will impose on him the obligation to be baptised. The doctrine of the Eussian Church is more liberal: in her view baptism by immersion is a matter of rite, and not of dogma. She recognises » W. Palmer, Esq., M. A., of Magdalen College Oxon, the author of ne Patriarch and U.e mr,-B^plicB of the hvmile Mc