M ' - / - i ;'l/ If// F# ?'/ // Ø7 ç /' /' // . J -- --- 7 , BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Published for the Anglican and Eastern Association, which alone is resþonsible (or the contents. \. , p} rrJ JzN w. U 111" J BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH CONTAINING Essays and Articles by the late W. y. Birkbeck, M.A., P.S.A.) written in the years I 888- I 9 I 5 (Being a continuation of Russia and the English Church, V 01. I) COLLECTED AND EDITED BY HIS FRIEND ATHELSTAN RILEY, M.A. , SEIGNEUR DE LA TRINITE Published for THE ANGLICAN AND EASTERN As SOCIATION by the SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE . 68 HAYMARKET LONDON . S. w. NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 19 1 7 To 1IY SON CHRISTOPHER J. M. RILEY, M.C. CAPTAIN, COLDSTREA1\I GUARDS, THESE LITERARY RE1\IAINS OF HIS GODFATHER ARE DEDICATED IN GRATEFUL RE1\IEMBRA.NCE OF LOOS, 28 SEPTEMBER, 1915. "Nomen inane, puer, ne ducas grande memento Semper onus Christum pectore ferre tuo."-W. J. B. PREF ACE. IN 1895 the following work was published under the auspices of the Eastern Church Association,l Russia and the English Ohurch during the Last Fifty Years, Vol. I, con- taining a Correspondence between lrl r. William Palmer, Fellow of lJIagdalen College, Oxford, and M. Khomiakoff,in the years 1844-54, edited by W. J. Birkbeck, M.A., F.B.A., Magdalen College, Oxford. This book consisted of a corres- pondence between the Rev. William Palmer,2 an Anglican divine, and Alexis Stepanovich Khomiakoff: a Russian layman and a theologian of the first rank, with a valuable introduc- tion and notes by the Editor. Noone desirous of becoming acquainted with the teaching and spirit of the Eastern Church can afford to neglect this book, and it is hardly too much to say that no Anglican will read it without taking his bearings afresh, dissipating certain prejudices, and gaining a wider view of Christianity as a whole. The last chapter in the book contains Khomiakoff's Essay on the Unity of the Church, a treatise which for clarity and profundity of thought in a 1 Now the Anglican and Eastern Association. 2 The U Cursing Deacon ". He acquired this strange soubriqf..l.8t during a war _of theological pamphlets at Oxford, from the publication of certain open letters to opponents containing anatheILss of Protestant statements. He was a remarkable member of a remarkable family, being brother to Lord Chancel10r Selborne and reckoned, the latter once told me, as the ablest of them all. He wrote several theological books but never proceeded beyond the diaconate. He finally joined the Roman Church whIlst holding the Eastern opinion on the Filioq'lle (see Russia and the English Ohurch, p.186) and died in Rome in 1879. v VI PREFACE small compass challenges comparison with any theological essay of Western provenance in modern times. Birkbeck originally intended to produce V 01. II, but as time went on the intention seenled to fade. " I shall never write it," he used to say, and I do not know that he had even decided on its scope. Now that he has passed away his friends have no doubt that the collected essays on Russia and the Russian Church of the man who devoted his life to the cause of unity should form the second volume of Russia and the English Ohurch. Birkbeck did more than anyone has ever done to bring the two Churches together; what he did he - did wisely and with infinite patience, and his writings, with a fe\v con- necting and explanatory notes, form the best history of these ecclesiastical relations down to the beginning of the Great War. About my ùear and intimate friend I will say but little here, for his Letters and lemoirs are now being prepared for the press. We were boys together at Eton, fellow-under- graduates at Oxford, and companions through life. For over forty years we were united in the closest bond, that of faith; for more than thirty we thought together and acted to- gether in every phase of storm and stress which overtook the Church of England during that period; together we tried to serve her whether in times of difficulty or in times of tran- quillity. He had all the instincts of the scholar, but "as saved from anything approaching academic narrowness from the breadth of view which comes from mixing with the world, and, above all, from travel in many lands. On the death of his father he succeeded to a considerable fortune and thence- forward spent his time between his beautiful hOlne at Stratton Strawless, Norfolk, 1 and his beloved Russia, where "I van 1 He had married in 1883 Miss Rose Gurney, by whom he had two sons and a. daughter. PRE.F.A.CE VB Vassilievich "1 was welcomed by his innumerable friends, amongst whom he ,vas privileged to include the Emperor and some of the men1bers of the Imperial family. His readino- was as wide as his travels. He owed much to b the Oxford History School, in which he had taken honours. He was well acquainted \vith the chief Latin and Greek authors, and used them freely in his writings and conversation to illustrate his lneaning. He spoke French, Russian, and German with accuracy. He could read S\vedish, Danish, and Italian, and even converse in those languages vlith tolerable facility. Besides, he kne\v Old Slavonic, the language of the Russian Church, and his interest in Iceland, ,vhere he had travelled as a young luan, had led hin1 to acquire some kno" - ledge of Icelandic. He ,vas an accomplished n1usician, a per- former on the organ, piano, and violoncello. 2 His melllory ,vas so retentive that on one occasion he set himself the task of reproducing the parts of a Beethoven quartet and successfully accomplished it in a night. He was an enthusiastic student of plainsong and edited that portion of the English H Y1nnal. His lecture on Russian ecclesiastical music and notation before the London rusical Association was a remarkable exall1ple of his power to grasp a recondite and difficult theme. He knew a great deal about liturgical subjects, ,vas familiar with the Saruln service-books, and could order to the smallest detail the ceremonies of a High l\Iass. He was an accurate and cautious theologian whom no opponent could afford to play ,vith. His judgment was rarely, if ever, at fault, and his opinions on men and affairs were expressed in racy and delightful lan- guage. He could not endure folly, especially in matters of 1" John, the son of Basil," the nearest Russian equivalent to "John, the son of \Villiam ". Birkbeck used his second Christian name; his father was :Mr. \Villiam Birkbeck. 2 It is curious that he was incapable of singing, or even humming the simplest melody, and though he wrote admirably, he could not deliver a speech. VIll PREFACE religion, and clerical fools, whether episcopal or presbyteral, received scant. respect from him. He was on friendly terms with the most distinguished prelates, and he ended by winning their respect and then their confidence before he died. He shared Queen Elizabeth's dislike for bishops' wives, and re- garded their presence in episcopal palaces as not only offending against Christian sentiment and Catholic order but as prac- tically harmful to diocesan administration; but fron1 his habitual courtesy and the gentleman's disinclination to make others uncomfortable it is very doubtful whether his attitude was often discovered. Three things he regarded as specially lacking in the Church of England and upon these he \vas perpetually insisting - the doctrine of the Communion of Saints as necessary to a right conception of the Church, the doctrine of icons, as focussed in the dogmatic decree of the Seventh General Council (he had studied the icono- clastic controversy and had got to the real issues which lay beneath it), and lastly, devotion to the l\lother of God as the great bulwark of the true faith in our Lord's Personality. On these questions he set himself to convert the High Church party, still largely dominated bJ7 Post-Reformation prejudices, and he certainly lived to see the impression he had made. He never disguised from himself the weakness of the Church of England; he faced her difficulties resoìutely. He knew the Roman, the Eastern,l and the Anglican Communions equally well; he was at his ease in a Benedictine monastery or at the Vatican 2 just as amongst Oriental dignitaries in a Russian lavra,o but the Anglican Communion was his spiritual home, he "'"as throughout ,life a devout recipient of her sacraments, and attendant on her ministrations and to her service he consecrated all his singular talents. Only once had he any temptation to leave the Church of England, at Oxford, when he first went up from Eton, but the glamour of Rome soon passed 1 Except the Greek portion. 2 He had a private audience with Pope Leo XIII in 1895. PREFACE IX away never to return. He was persuaded that the modern papal claims and system were dangerous exaggerations and historically and theologically untenable, whilst the Eastern position, fairly stated, would stand. The Papacy had made the Reformation inevitable; Protestantism was hatched fro the egg that Rome had laid. The Church of England had esca ped " by the skin of her teeth " from the awful shock of the sixteenth century; marred and scarred, her sacraments and her ministry were still valid and though she was full of abuses he saw no reason why these should not in time be purged away. "From Eastern premisses," he would say, "I can prove Rome wrong, but I cannot prove Canterbury right." He insisted that the hopes of the Church of Eng.. land lay in a gradual approximation to the Eastern Church and eventual union with it as the guardian of true Catholic tradition, whilst she kept her occidental and national customs as being necessary to us as Westerns in thought and character, and as members of the Ecclesia Anglicana whose noble birth .and history we cannot afford to forget. Tha t was his life's dream and to it he consecrated his life's work. I last saw my friend at the Athenæum Club in Iarch, 1916. I heard he had been in cOffilnunication with high officers of state in England, and there \vere rumours that he was going to see important personages in Russia on matters connected with the Great 'Var. He told me that he was starting the next day, crossing the North Sea to Bergen, and travelling thence to Petrograd by way of Sweden. I asked why he was going to Russia. "Oh!" he replied, "I think I should like to spend Easter at :ThIoscow." We parted to meet no more in this world. He reached Stratton Straw- less from Russia just after Ascension Day, made his last com- muni on with the members of his family in his parish church on the Sunday, and, being seized with a sudden illness, died on June 9, at the comparatively early age of 57, a few days after his return. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE NINE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONVERSION OF RUSSIA. CHAPTER II. THE RUSSIAN CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE OF ARCHANGEL CHAPTER III. THE RUSSIAN CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE OF ARCHANGEL-(Continued) . CHAPTER IV. THE BALTIC PROVINCES OF RUSSIA CHAPTER V. THE SLAVONIC LANG CAGE IN THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SERVICES CHAPTER VI. THE PROSPECT OF REUNION WITH EASTERN CHRISTENDOM IN SPECIAL RELATION TO THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH CHAPTER VII. THE PROSPECT OF REUNION WITH EASTERN CHRISTENDOM IN SPECIAL RELATION TO THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH-(Continued) CHAPTER VIII. THE CORONATION OF THE TSAR CHAPTER IX. THE VISIT OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK TO RUSSIA CHAPTER X. THE VISIT OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK TO RUSsIA-(contin.ued) _ CHAPTER XI. THE VISIT OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF YORK TO RUSSIA-(continued) CHAPTER XII. THE VISIT OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF FINLAND. CHAPTER XIII. VLADIMIR NA KLJASMJE . CHAPTER XIV. SOME NOTES UPON THE IO:8KS AND IONASTERIES OF RUSSIA Xl PAGE 1 17 31 51 60 70 87 · 99 . 107 . 126 . 144 . 155 . 165 . 177 xu TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER XV. PAGE . 194 RUSSIAN THEOLOGY . CHAPTER XVI. RUSSIAN :MISSIONS TO THE )IOHAM1\IEDANS . 206 CHAPTER XVII. THE IDEA OF A NATIONAL CHURCH. . 218 CHAPTER XVIII. THE ATTITUDE OF THE ORTHODOX EASTERN CHURCH TOWARDS CERTAIN CONTROVERSIES AMONGST US IN THE \V EST . 226 CHAPTER XIX. THE FULHAM CONFERENCE ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST 241 CHAPTER XX. THE EPISTLE OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF RUSSIA TO THE PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE ON THE ATTITUDE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCHES TO NON-ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS . 247 CHAPTER XXI. THE EPISTLE OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF RUSSIA TO THE PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE-(Continued) . 258 CHAPTER XXII. THE PRESENT CONDITIONS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE IN RUSSIA . 268 CHAPTER XXIII. POSSIBILITIES OF INTERCOMMUNION WITH THE HOLY ORTHODOX EASTERN CHURCH . 275 CHAPTER XXIV. RUSSIAN ICONS AND THEIR USE IN THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH . 292 CHAPTER XXV. A VISIT TO GALICIA. . 305 CHAPTER XXVI. THE CENTENARY OF BORODINO . 323 CHAPTER XXVII. THE DOCTRINE OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH . 332 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE DOCTRINE OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH-(Continued) . . 343 POSTSCRIPT . 357 INDEX . 365 CHAprrER I. THE NINE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONVERSION OF RUSSIA. EARLY in 1888 ,ve received private letters from lr. Arthur Hardinge,l then Second Secretary at the British Embassy in Petrograd, who was an old Eton and Oxford friend of ours, and had travelled in Ice- land and else,vhere with Birkbeck. These letters told of the approaching religious commemoration at I{ieff ( Ir. Hardinge had follo\ved the events which led to the founding of the Archbishop's Assyrian Iission to the X estorians in Persia and Kurdistan 2 and was then engaged in a study of the ecclesiastical side of Russia, though from a political and diplo- matic, rather than from the religious point of vie\v.) F"fhis intelligence I gave to ___t\.rchbishop Bensoll. -\.fter careful consideration the Archbishop resolved to take the opportunity of opening con11nunications ,vith the Russian Church and ,ve drafted a formal letter ,vhich took the following shape. I do not think tbat -Birkbeck was consulted at thi stage as he had then no kno\vledge of the Eastern Church and its prelates and had only visited Russia casually in 1882. 1 Fellow of All Souls. Now Sir Arthur Hardinge, P.C., R.C.B., G.C. I.G., H.B.M. Ambassador at :\Iadrid. 2 I had been to these countries on behalf of the Ar hbishop in 18S4 and 1886. 1 2 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Edward, by Divine Providence ArchbisholJ of Canterbury, Primate of All England, and Afetropolitan, to our Brother, Greatly Beloved in the Faith and Worship of the All-Holy and Undivided Trinity, Platon, by Divine Provide'nce the Jfost Reverend lrfetropolitan of Kieff and Galicia, Greeting in the Lord. "Intelligence having reached us of the approaching festival at the city of Kietf the Great, we, remembering the command- ment of the Blessed Apostle, XaíPEtV flÆTà XatPÓVTWV, em- brace this opportunity of communicating to your Grace, and through your Grace to the Bishops and clergy and laity of the Church of Russia, our most sincere sympathy and good-wilL Great festivals are commonly either religious or national. This celebration which you are holding is, indeed, in the first place, religious; but it is also national in the highest way. It is a thankful recognition before God of the sacred fact that Russia owes all that she has yet attained of po,ver and dignity amongst the nations of Christendom, not merely to the saga- city of her rulers and the inborn strength of her people. You offer your thanksgiving to God because your branch of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, which you reverently link with the name of the Apostle St. Andrew, has been co- extensive ,vith your nation, and because the Christian Faith, through the agency of the illustrious St. Vladimir, whose con- version you now commemorate, has illuminated your people through nine long centuries of history. It was our original hope and purpose to have sent a Bishop to Kieff to represent the Church of England at your festival, and we were only prevented from carrying out our design by the events of the present month. During the whole month of July there is assembled in London under our presidency the Universal Episcopate of the Anglican Church. That is to say, not only the Bishops of the Church of England itself, but all the Archbishops, :r.fetropolitans and Bishops of the Church of Ireland, Scotland and America, as well as the Bishops of India, and of the British Colonies, with many l\lissionary Bishops and THE I{IEF]j' FESTIVAL 3 other Bishops who are in comlnunion ,vith us. One hundred and forty of these are now asseffi bled here with us. This Conference meets once only in ten years, and its assemblies are of great importance to our Communion. 'Ve find, therefore, that it would not be fitting for one of their number, who are assembled from all parts of the world, to quit this solemn gathering during its session. Thus we are, much to our regret and disappointment, compelled to abandon our intention, and to convey by the present letter our humble and fraternal congratulations to your Grace, and to the Church in ,vhich you worthily bear rule. Our beloved brethren will rejoice in the announcement that we have communicated to you the felicitations and congratulations and the assurance of prayer on behalf of your rejoicing multitude, in which \ve know that all ,vill be of one heart .and of one souL The Russian and the Anglican Churches have common foes. Alike we have to guard our independence against that Papal aggressiveness which claims to subordinate all the Churches of Christ to the See of Rome. Alike we have to protect our flocks from new and strange doctrines, ad verse to that Holy Faith which was handed down to us by the Holy Apostles and Ancient Fathers of the Catholic Church. But the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, and by mutual sympathy that we may be one Èv Toî ðE(]P,oî TOÛ EùaryryEÀLoV, we shall encourage each other, and promote the salvation of .all men. Praying, therefore, earnestly in the Spirit for the unity of all men in the Faith of the Gospel, laid down and ex- pounded by the <:Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church .of Christ, and in the living kno"T ledge of the Son of God, we ever remain your Grace's most t",ithful and devoted Servant .and Brother in the Lord. (Signed) ED\v. CANTUAR. Given at our Palace of Lambeth in London, and sealed with our Archiepiscopal Seal on the 'Vestern Fourteenth day 4 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH of July, in the year of our Salvation, one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eight." Before the draft was finally settled the question had arisen as to how the letter should be conveyed to Russia and by ,vhom it should be presented. A Lambeth Conference ,vas then sitting and at first it was proposed to send Bishop Smythies, of Zanzibar, and that I should accompany him. This, for some reason, was found impossible. Next, Bishop Hale, of Cairo, U.S.A., ,vho was deeply interested in Oriental Christendom, ,vas proposed, and I have preserved a memoranduIl1 from the Archbishop to the Foreign Office on the subject of sending an American instead of an English prelate, for by that time the dé171a1-che had assumed an official character. This proposal also fell to the ground, and it was finally resolved to send the letter through the British Embassy at Petrograd and to deliver it by the hands of 1\11'. Hardinge and of Birkbeck, ,vho ,vent to Russia for that purpose. The latter no,v tells the tale in a. series of letters ,vhich appeared originallydl1 the Guardian. VIEN A, A ug1.tst 12. On the evening of July 14 the churches of Kieff \vere all cro\\.ded for first Vespers of the next day's festival. It would take too long to describe in detail these services, several of \vhich, under the kind guidance of l. Pùbiedonostzeff, l and of his assistant, l. Sabler, I attenJed; but I must n1ake an ex- ception in the case of the in1pressive ceremony by \vhich Ves- pel's at the Church of St. Andre\v was concluded. This church stands on a platfol'lI1 surrounded by a stone balustrade, raised 1 Constantine Pobiedonostzeff, Chief Procurator, Le. the Emperor's repre- sentative, at the Holy Synod. He had been tutor to the Emperor Alexander III and was at this time the most influential man in Russia. Ee died in 1907.-[A.R.] THE I IEFF FESTIV \L 5 high above the upper to,vn, and approached from it on the west by a lofty flight of steps, while on the east it overhangs the steep slope (I nlay ahnost say cliff) down to the lower town several hundred feet below. It is built on the spot where St. Andre,,,, is saiLl to have once preached; and there is a tradition that in the time of St. Vladimir, a cross, ,vhich the Apostle had left, ,vas found here. Towards the conclusion of Vespers, after the reading of the Old Testament lections, a procession was forn1ed, ,vhich left the church by the west door, and passing rounel the stone platforn1, Inade a station at each of the four ends of the church, which is built in the forln of a Greek cross. \Y ords cannot describe the beauty of the scene-the officiant surrounded by the other clergy, amidst numerous burning tapers and clouds of fragrant incense, raising the Cross on high, and blessing the people at each of these stations, and the choir Inean,vhile chanting various anthen1s and psalms and the Kyrie Eleiso1l J" ,vhile below, lit up by the rays of the setting sun, ,vere an the gold and coloured domes of the óther churches of the city, and the broad stream of the Dnieper winding its ,yay for nliles over the plain; and in the streets and windows of the houses near the church were to be seen dense cro,vds of ,vorshippers, who testified to their devotion by repeatedly bow- ing and crossing thelnselves, and, ,vhen near enough, joining in the singing of the choir. The service concludeJ by the singing of Nunc Dirnittis in front of the west entrance, this canticle occupying in the Eastern Church (as formerly in the \Vest) the position assigned to l1Iagnificat in the ROlnan Ves- pel's, and the latter being still sung at Iattins. As soon as this service was over we drove to the Lavra, a great lllonastery of Kieff, ,yhich contains altogether rather over 1,000 monks. Here 'T espers ,vere already over, and l\Iat- tins, ,vhich on great feasts is sung inllnediately after '"1" espers, instead of at the ordinary hour of t,vo o'clock in the night (not, be it ob erved, from Illotives of laziness, but in order to allow the poor to attend, who, in this country, assist at the choir offices in great numbers) ,vas just beginning. It " as with the greatest difficulty that ,ve made our ,yay into the 6 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH church, for not only the building itself, but the court in which it stands, was filled with a dense crowd of pilgrims from every part of the empire; and had it not been for the good offices of M. Pobiedonostzeff and 1\1. Sabler, I should never have been able to have got inside the building. This service was more particularly interesting to me, because in the monasteries the ancient Slavonic music is still in use, whereas it has almost disappeared in the cathedrals and parish churches of Russia. It ,vas impossible, on account of the length of the service (more than five hours), and the extreme heat, to remain to the end, and at about half-past ten ,ve left the church. The monastery court in the moonlight presented a most impressive spectacle. In every part of the vast space there were dense masses of pilgrinls who were unable to :find room in the church, some joining in the service from outside, others lying all about on the pavement and grass, taking their night's rest. Iany of these pilgrims had come from Siberia, and even from the shores of the Pacific, the whole way on foot, to pass a fortnight at this great centre of Russian Christianity, and when one comes to consider that it is quite a common thing for there to be 200,000 pilgrims in the year at this lnonastery alone, one begins to have some faint notion of the hold ,vhich the Orthodox Church has upon the Russian people. The follo,ving day-the day of the festival-the town at an early hour presented a most animated appearance. The streets, which were brilliantly decorated ,vith flags, were crowded with people, all in holiday array, and all the bells of the numerous churches were ringing. I made my way to the Church of St. Sophia at 8 o'clock, the hour at which the liturgy was to be celebrated; and was kindly given a place by I. Pobiedonostzeff in the procession of clergy and laity which met the Ietropolitan Platon who was to pontificate on this great occasion at the entrance to the cathedral precinct, and conducted him to his throne in the nave under the great central dome of the church) ,vhere he was solemnly vested in his pontifical robes by the attendant Bishops and clergy, and then conducted to the sanctuary, to begin the liturgy. It is rrHE KIEFF FESTIV.A.L 7 impossible adequately to describe the grandeur of the service. St. Sophia, though small as compared to most of our Western cathedrals is one of the most beautiful churches in Russia, , and was built in the 11th century in imitation of its more fanlous namesake at Constantinople. There is a great deal of beautiful ancient mosaic work, including a superb figure of the lother of God in the great centra] apse, and the icono- stasis covered with venerable icons, each adorned by almost priceless silver and gold work, and studded with innumerable gems, yields to none which I have yet seen in richness and beauty; and, what with the unrivalled splendour of the liturgy of St. Chrysostom, the number of the ecclesiastics in their gorgeous cloth of gold vestInents, the innumerable tapers burning round the altar or before the various pictures and shrines, the incense, the solemn chanting of the clergy in the sanctuary and the excellent singing of the unaccompanied choir, and the brilliant uniforms worn by many of the assem- bled congregation, it is impossible to imagine a more solenln or impressive function. The liturgy being ended, the ltfetropolitan 1tfichael of Ser- via 1 took the place of the Metropolitan Platon, whose extreme age prevented him from undergoing any further fatigue, and the procession started from the cathedral to the Dnieper. The road lay for nearly two miles through some of the principal streets of the town, which were lined all the way \vith troops who often had the greatest difficulty in preventing the throng- ing crO"\vJ from breaking through the line, so anxious ,vere they to accompany the procession and assist at the solemn benediction of the ,vaters, where just nine centuries ago their forefathers had received the grace of baptism. Words cannot describe the splendour of the scene, as between lines of troops, and to the solemn strains of several military bands stationed at intervals along the line, the procession made its way down the winding road which leads from the upper town to the 1 I met this prelate at :Mount Athos in 1883, when he had been dispos- sessed of his see by King :Milan. He returned to Servia and to his see (to which he had been appointed in 1859) and died, after a.n eventful life, in 1898. He had been educated in the University of Kieff.-[A.R.] 8 13IRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH river; the rich vestments and jewelled mitres of Bishops and Archimandrites glittering in the rays of the midday sun amidst the lllagnificent silver-gilt banners, which had been presented on the occasion by various Russian to,vnships. N or will it be easy soon to forget the enthusiasm of the crowd, which liter- ally covered the green slopes of the hill wherever it was pos- sible to get a glimpse of the procession as it passed; it was plain that they had COlne together not for the sake of witness- ing a pageant, or frolll motives of curiosity, but in order re- ligiously to take part in the rejoicings on the occasion of this great festival of their Church and Nation. After the proces- sion followed a great banquet, given by the l\fayor of Kieff. As I have already occupied too n1uch of your valuable space, I will not describe the various speeches, except to Inention that few of the toasts were lllore enthusiastically received than when his Excellency the Proctor of the Holy Synod rose to propose the health of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The toast was received \vith a storm of applause, and after it was drunk the Metropolitan again assured me, as an Englishn1an, of the pleasure and gratification that His Grace's letter had given him, and how his expressions of sYlllpathy would be ap- preciated throughout the Russian Church. It will be the wish of every earnest ChurchIll an that this friendly exchange of courtesy between the principal representatives of the Russian and English Churches may be the forerunner of still closer relations between the two great national con11nunions in time to come. CRACOW, August 5. July 15 (O.S.), 1888, will be a day for ever men10rable in Russia, on account of the celebration at Kieff of the 900th anniversary of the conversion of the nation to Christianity. On that day, 900 years ago, the subjects of St. VladÏ1nir were baptised in the waters of the Dnieper, and thus the foundations were laid of that great Church which now extends its juris- diction from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, and from the shores of the Baltic to the easternlllost point of Asia. It is not, however, only on account of the fact that from this small THE I{IEFF FESTIVAL 9 "beginning a National Church now containing some 70,000,000 -of souls, and likely at no distant future to contain double this nU1l1ber, has grown, that this festival ought to evoke feelings of interest and sympathy alnongst English Churchmen, but .also on account of the letter which the Archbishop of Canter- bury ,vrote to the 1\Ietropolitan of Kiefl congratulating him .and the Russian Church on the occasion. I think, therefore, that some of your readers may like to see a description of the principal features of the celebration by an eye-,vitness, who, thanks to the kindness of 1\1. Pobiedonostzefl', the Proctor of the Holy Synod, and his assistant, ltf. Sabler, was given the ,best opportunities of seeing and hearing all the various cere- .monies and speeches of the occasion. I will begin by describing the delivery of the various .addresses of congratulation ,vhich took place on Thursday, the day before the festival itself, in the great hall of the Theo- logical Academy, which is one of the three principal centres of ecclesiastical learning in Russia, which are attached to each of the three lavras or principal monasteries of the Russian . Church. The hall, the walls of ,vhich are covered with por.. -.traits of various eminent men educated in the Academy, an10ngst "\vhich the white head-dress and veil peculiar to the .rank of Ietropolitan is of frequent occurrence, ,vas cro\vded by those who had been fortunate enough to obtain tickets; .and, what with the uniforms of the various officers and func- tionaries, and the picturesque robes of the nUlnerous Bishops and other ecclesiastics, presented a most striking and brilliant spectacle. At eleven o'clock proceedings commenced by the .singing of a hymn in honour of St. Vladimir, while the vener- able l\Ietropolitan entered the hall and took his place in front .of thè portrait of the Emperor, in the lniddle of the hall, with 1.1. Pobiedonostzeff and the l\Ietropolitans of Servia and lonte- .negro on his right, and the Governor-General of Kieff, General Dreutchi on his left. The choir having ended, one of the pro- fessors of the Academy delivered an address, tracing the .history of the Russian Church from the conversion of St. Yladin1ir, and describing in eloquent terms its growth and 10 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIA:K CHURCH progress, and the dangers and vicissitudes which it, together with the Russian nation had undergone. After the singing of another hymn, the addresses of congratulation were read, first by the letropolitans of Servia and Iontenegro, then by a Greek Archimandrite, as representing the Church of Greece. After which came the representatives of the more important of the Russian dioceses and public bodies. On account of the great age (eighty-five years) of the Metropolitan of Kietf, the greater part of these addresses were not personally delivered, but were left on a table under the Emperor's portrait in front of the letropolitan, together with various presents in the' shape of valuable books and icons which some of the deputa- tion had brought. But before proceedings were ended M. Pobiedonostzeff, rising from his seat, said that there was one document more which must be read, namely, the letter of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. His Excellency then proceeded to read the letter aloud, translating it into Russian, so that all might understand its contents. In it his Grace, after congratulating the l\letropolitan of I{ieff, and expressing his sympathy and good-will to,vards the Bishops, clergy, and laity of the Russian Church,' regretted that it had been impos- sible, o,ving to the Lambeth Conference, for hin1 to be repre- sented by an Anglican Bishop, and after pointing out that the two National Churches had common enelnies to defend them- selves against, and the same holy faith, as handed do,vn by the Apostles and ancient Fathers of the Catholic Church, to preserve intact, both from Papal aggressiveness, and also from teachers of new and strange doctrines, and that by mutual sympathy and prayer for unity we may help and encourage one another, ended by a prayer for the unity of all men in the faith of the Gospel as expounded by the CEcumenical Councils of the undivided Church of Christ. At the conclu- sion of the reading of the Archbishop's letter, which was listened to with the greatest attention and interest by all pre- sent, and with frequent signs of approval and pleasure on the part of the l\Ietropolitan, 1\1. Pobiedonostzefl: in the absence of any official representative of the English Primate (the English THE KIEFF FESTIVAL 11 chaplain at Cronstadt, who was to have taken the letter to Kieff having been unfortunately, at the last lninute, prevented by illness from taking so long a journey) presented me as an English visitor to his Grace, who in a few well-chosen words expressed his appreciation of our Primate's letter, and of the kindly sympathy therein expressed for the Russian Church, and assured me that he would lose no time in replying to it. The Russian National Anthem ,vas then sung, and we all ad- journed to a luncheon in the refectory of the Academy. From the frequent references made during this lneal to the Arch.. bishop's letter, it was evident that it had made a profound im- pression upon all who had heard it, and that it had given great satisfaction after the refusal, on political grounds, of several of the Eastern Orthodox Churches to take part in these re- joicings, that the Primate of the English Church, leaving out of sight the past and possible future political antagonisln be- tween the two nations, should, alone among the Churches of 'Vestern Christendom, have come for,vard, and, recognising the importance to the Universal Church of the event which brought the Russian Empire into the great Christian polity, should, in the ,vords of his own letter, have remelnbered' the commandment of the Blessed Apostle" to rejoice ,vith them that do rejoice" '. This was regarded as a peculiarly happy feature in the day's proceedings, and I was assured on all sides that his Grace's action ,vas fully appreciated. Political relations bet,veen Russia and England were very different at that time from what they have since become. There was, indeed, great suspicion and jealousy in 1888 between the t\VO countries, and the fact that of all Western Churches the English Church alone had taken any notice of the l{ieff festivallnade, as Birkbeck says, "a profound impression". It was acknowledged by the follo,ving important letter from the ietropolitan of I{jeff, ,vhich reached Lambeth in October. 12 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH (Translation. ) To His Beloved Brother in Christ, Edward, the [ost Re- nowned Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England, the Hur,. ble Platon, by Divine Mercy Metro- politan of Kieff and Galicia, Sendeth Greeting in the Lord. First of all I offer you, beloved Brother, sincere thanks on behalf both of myself and of all the Russians that were at I{ieff at the Celebration of the 900th Anniversary of the Baptisnl of Russia into the Christian Faith, for your loving letter of con- gratulation upon that occasion. That letter was extremely gratifying to us, not only in itself, on account of the spirit of Christian faith and love ill ,vhich it 'vas expressed, but also be- cause that of all the heads of the "T estern Churches none other has sent us a sin1Ïlar greeting. Your Grace rightly says that Russia is indebted for her po,ver and the position which she holds amongst. Christian nations, not only to the ,visdom of her rulers and the inborn strength of her people, but also to the fact that our branch of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church has grown up together with our nation, and that the Christian faith has illuminated it through nine long centuries of history. Yes, the Orthodox Faith of Christ, professed by our Holy Church, has indeed hitherto had a great and lTIOst blessed influence upon t.he des- tinies of Russia. By it the Lord gives strength unto our 1\Iost Religious and Gracious Sovereigns; it enables our Christ-lov- ing soldiery to overcome the hosts of their enemies; and it arouses in every Orthodox Russian that spirit of self-denial which makes him ready to sacrificp all, even life itself, for his Fajth, Tsar, and Fatherland. I entirely agree "Tith you that the Russian and English Churches have the COlnnlon foes of which you speak in your letter to me, and that we ought together ,vith you to contend against them, Inutually encouraging and supporting one an- other; but for this it is indispensable that your and our Churches should enter into a nlore complete spiritual union with one another. Our Church sincerely desires such a union, THE KIE:FF FESTI'T.A.L 13 for at each one of her services she intreats the Lord" for the peace of an the ,vorld, for the welfare of the Holy Churches of God, and for the union of them all "; but, if you also, as ap- pears from your letter, desire that ,ve may be one with you Èv TO'i() ot:G"ftoÎs TOÛ E ùaryryt:Àíov, I beg you to communicate to me distinctly and definitely 'ltpon what conditions YOlt con- sider the union of your and 01tr Churches would be possible. Together w-ith you fervently entreating the Lord, that by Hi grace He may dispose all men to come into the unity of the Faith and of the }(nowledge of the Son of God, and heartily praying that He may preserve you and all England under His protection in perfect prosperity. \Vith deep respect, I remain, Your most devoted servant and brother in the Lord. PLATON, j[et1.opolitan of Kieff and Gal-icia. Pecherskija Lan'a, Kieff, Sept. 14, 1888. So pointed an inquiry ,vas certainly not expected by Archbishop Benson, but it ,vas an inquiry ,vhich could not be neglected. A reply ,vas approved by the Bishop of England and despatched on Iarch 5, 1889. It took the follo\ving forn1 :- "His Reyerence (the Reverend Eugene Smirnoft Chaplain to the Russian Embassy) also delivered to llle at the same time a copy of the speech ,vhich His Excellency the Imperial Chief Procurator delivered before a vast asscn1blyof Russian Church- TIlen expressing in ,varm tern1S that sense of Christian fello,v- ship tow ard our English Church and Churchmen which anÍlnated the heart of the Learlers of Clergy and people in your Holy Church. Your own expressions as ,veIl as those of !l. Pobiedonostzefi call for the n10st lively recognition and for devout thankfulness. 'fheyassure us that 've receive alike the common hope ,vhich inspires, and the unrighteous pretensions ,vhich would blight, 14 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH the desire for true Catholic union among the world-dispersed members of Christ. That is a glorious vision whose fulfilment -depends on the sincerity of believers and on their living unity with their one Head. I confess that I was scarcely prepared to expect an inquiry so direct as you propose to me, and nlY whole heart goes out in answer to it, as if the consumnlation ,ve long for must be nearer than we believed. Your Holiness invites me to express to you C what are the .conditions under which I find it possible to unite our Churches'. In considering \vhat answer I ought to return to this most in1portant question-no question more important has been asked for centuries-I arrive at the conclusion that two things are essential to a real union :- 1. First and above all, the drawing together of the hearts of the individuals composing the two Churches which would fain' be at one together'. 2. Secondly, a more or less formal acceptance of each other's position ,vith toleration for any points of differ- ence: non-interference with each other upon any such points. 1. As to the first of these two conditions, among Christian worshippers it resolves itself into this question-Would the two Churches of Russia and of England be willing each to .admit the Clergy and the Faithful Laity of the other, as indi- viduals, to be partakers of the Holy Communion even as they allow their own children to partake of that Feast of Love upon their Lord's Sacrifice? 2. The second point would require much longer considera- tion: but if the first was acknowledged and acted upon there would exist a basis of practical unity on which might be built the more formal structure. Two questions seem to present themselves here:- (a) Would the two Churches mutually acknowledge the historic verity and reality of each other's Holy Orders? As a contribution to the settlement of this question from .the English side, I shall do myself the honour shortly of con- THE KIEFF FESTIVAL 15 :signing to your Holiness four Works 1 which will present in due form, with the necessary historical evidence, the pr.oof of the authenticity and continuity of the Holy Orders of the Church of England. These works I commend to those Scholars .and Divines of your Holiness' Communion who may not yet have given their attention to the subject. And I would ask .your Holiness in return to communicate to us some authentic account of the corresponding history and evidences of the Ch urch of Russia. (b) 'Vith regard to the non-interference \vith such points of difference as are, however great their intrinsic importance, of less moment than the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Faith and thirst after the Righteousness of Christ, there is one which can scarcely be passed over in honesty, namely, the Procession of the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life. But we do not doubt that a formula of agreement on this .question might be arrived at, dra\vn from the Fathers of the Church which are reverenced both by ourselves and the Eastern Church. The consideration of the paragraphs numbered 2 (a), 2 (b) must necessarily be postponed for examination. It is not possible that your Holiness should give, or that I should ex- pect, an immediate answer. But if in the meantirne the hearts of Christ's faithful people should be so drawn together that in scattered folds the Unity of the one Flock under one Shepherd should be acknow- ledged and acted upon in the admission of Faithful1tlembers to Communion with one another and with Him, He would, we believe, in His time work out for us both spiritual and intel- lectual approaches. . I would therefore shortly outline an answer to your Holi- ness' inquiry by saying that I shuuld understand that the first step would be the admission of religious believers to Holy Communion in either Church. And that the second step would 1 The books sent were (1) Episcopal Succession in England (Stubbs); (2) Validity of English Orders (Courayer); (3) Apostolic Succession (Haddan); (4) ,Ordinatio'lLum Ecclesiæ AngZicanæ Defensio (Bailey). 16 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH be the serious consideration (taking abundant time for the purpose) of whether any impediments, disciplinary or doctrinal, exist, which still render necessary the formal separation in which for strange reasons \ve finel ourselves placed." Nobody ,vho had first-hand knowledge of the Eastern Church had been consulted in the drawing up of this document; it was wholly the work of the English Episcopate and its defects are obvious. The suggestion that Communion in sacris should come be- fore unity of doctrine ,vould seem to the Easterns to imply an insufficient sense of the importance of faith. 1 So, too, the question of the "verity and reality" of each other's Holy Orders was, from an Eastern point of vie""T, raised prematurely. Still, the reply revealed things as they lvere ; it exposed real difficulties. The tin1e ,vas not ripe for consideration of the basis of union, and ..A..rchbishop Benson had learnt this when he \vrote to the Bishop of 'Vinchester in 1896 to the effect that personal intercourse with the Easterns ,vould "help those good feelings to strengthen them- selves, on which more n1ay be built hereafter". Ho,v Birkbeck laid those foundations stone by stone we shall see as ,ve proceed. He, at least, ,vas under no ill usion as to the careful and patiel1 t labour needed before union could be profitably discussed. IOn this subject see Birkbeck's trenchant criticisms in his essay on The Prospect of Reunion with Eastern Christendom (Chapter VIr. page 93). CHAPTEI II. THE RUSSIAN CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE 0]' ARCHANGEL. AFTER the visit to Kieff, Birkbeck took up the study of Russia and the Russian Church ,vhich ,vas to re- main his absorbing interest to the end. He now set to ,vork to learn Russian and Slavonic-the old ec- clesiasticallanguage-and every year saw him in some part of the Russian Enlpire. In 1889 we 'v ere in Petrograd together and paid an interesting visit to ( reat Xovgoroù. By that tinle he could carryon a conversation in Russian fairly well. lIe introduced Dle that year to Constantine Po biedonostzeff, the re- markable man ,vho ,vas then C hief Procurator of the } [oly Synod, and the nlost pronlinent figure in Russian politics. Birkbeck nlaintained a close friendship with him until his death in 1907. The follo\ving articles ,vere the result of J1irkbeck's journey in the :R orth of R.ussia in the sumUler of 1889. I. There are few dioceses in Christendom which present so Inany features of interest as the diocese of Archaugel and Kholmogory, 'v hich is the nort.hernmost Episcopal see of Europe, and indeed of the \vhole world. It includes the whole of the vast government of Archangel, "hich stretches from the Norwegian frontier to the Ural l\Iountains, and is, as far as territory is concerned, the largest government of European (17) 2 18 BIRI{BECK \ND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Russia, extending over an area twice as large as the kingdom of Prussia. 'rhe northern governnlents of Russia were for the Inost part colonised fron1 N ovgorod the Great by settlements planted anlongst the Lapps and Samojeds for trading purposes; but the honour of bringing thet-Je distant regions under the do- minion of the Cross undoubtedly is due to :ß,luscovite mission- aries, and more especially the disciples of St. Sergius, the founder of the celebrated Monastery of Troitza, near .Thloscow. It is impossible to overestimate the part that monasticism has played in the colonisation of this part of RU:-5sia. Both Khol- mogory and Archangel itself grew up round the ,valls of monasteries, while the great Solovetzki monastery in the White Sea has for the last 400 years been the chief centre of Christianity and ci vilisation in these parts. Indeed, the ,vork of Inonasticism is still being vigorously carried on in these districts at the present day. It was only a few years back that. a colony froln Solovetzki refounded the n10nastery of Pechenski 1 in the very north of Lapland, not far from the Norwegian frontier, in order to provide a centre of enlighten- Inent for the non1ad tribes of Lapps in those parts; ,vhile in the year 1887 the monastery of St. Nicholas on the White Sea, close to the mouth of the Dwina, sent a monk, Jonah by name, together with a lay brother, to the island of N ovaja Zemlja, in order to provide for the spiritual wants of the fifty inhabi- tants of this distant outpost of the Russian Elnpire. Though all of thern Inembers of the Orthodox Church, the natives had before this to depend upon such chance visits during the SUffiluer as the Bishop of Archangel could provide for, and it was seldoln that they saw a priest lIlore than once in the year. Now, thanks to the self-denying devotion of Father Jonah- for it requires SOlle zeal and courage to spend a winter in Novaja Zemlja-these poor fishermen have their permanent church and regular religious ministrations throughout the year. Father Jonah started from the monastery of St. Nicholas on August 30, 1887, taking ,vith him service books, 1 This monastery was dastroyed by the Swedes in the sixteenth century. THE DIOCES:b OF ARCHANGEL 19 altar vessels, vestlnents, censers, and an other requirements for the Church services, as ,yell as a large supply of elen1entary books of instruction provided by the Diocesan Board of Edu- cation, in order to teach the inhabitants to read and write, to- gether with many copies of the four Gospels in Russian and some lives of the saints. He arrived at his destination on SepteJnber 4, and was received ,vith the greatest joy and en- thusiasm by the inhabitants, lnore especially when they heard that he was going to pass the winter with them. He landed in full priestly vestlnents, carrying the picture of St. Nicholas, the patron of the monastery which had sent this Iission. He was nlet by the inhabitants with bread and salt, and im- mediately proceeded to choose out a place on which to build the ne,v church. The summer is short in these northern dis- tricts, and there was no time to be lost, so all the inhabitants set to ,york with right good ,vill to build a church before winter set in. And thus it was that the northernmost church in Europe was dedicated to God on October 1, 1887. The Inonastic community has since then been increased, and there are now two churches in the island. The total nun1ber of n10nastic establishments in the diocese, not including the great Solovetzki monastery, ,vhich is one of the seven Stavropigial communities of Russia (that is to say, it is independent of episcopal control, and subject only to the Holy Synod), is eleven, t,vo of \vhich are convents for women. These latter contain in all rather over seventy nuns and thirty lay sisters, while the nine monasteries contain about 120 monks and thirty lay brothers. The parochial organisation of the diocese has always been a great difficulty, owing to the scattered distribution of the scanty - population over the vast extent of territory which it includes. The Orthodox population of the diocese numbers about 350,000 of both sexes, and for these there are 279 parishes served by 302 priests, 21 deacons, and 295 lay-readers. These latter are, of course, licensed by the Bishop, and their duty is to lead the choir and to read the epistle at the liturgy and the lections at the choir offices. \Vhen I was at Archangel 20 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH the Bishop showed Ine a Inap of his dioc98f': fron1 ,vhich it ap- peared that nearly all the parishes are either on the coast or else close to one or other of the large rivers which flow to the sea through this government, and he told me that one of his chief wants ,vas a slnall steamboat, by means of ,vhich he could go on visitation tours through the more distant parts of his diocese, especially along the river Pechora, in the eastern part of the government, w'hich is almost inaccessible by land, but where at the present time there is a great deal of work to be done, both amongst the "Old Believers," ,vho are very numerous in that part of the diocese, and also amongst the half-savage Salnojed tribes. Since Bishop Nathaniel has oc- cupied the see the parish churches on the Pechora have been increased from t\VO to twenty-three, but there is still much missionary ,york to be done in this district, especially amongst the Samojeds. These latter are being gradually civilised by means of the Church, their children being brought to the diocesan schools at Archangel, where they are taught the Russian language and the Chri tian faith, together with some of the elementary lessons of civilisation-such, for instance, as to eat bread, and to cook their Ineat instead of eating it raw, and not to <.h'ink the blood of the animals they slaughter. The chief difficulty in civilising anll Christianising then1 con- sists in the nOlnacl life which they lead, ,vandering about the vast tundras with their herds of reindeer all the SUlnmer, and fornlÌng encalnpments for the "tinter ,vhich may very likely be miles away fron1 any parish church, so that it is extremely difficult to keep them under Christian influences. Of late years great efforts hav(' been n1ade to provide parochiallinraries connected ,vith thð parish churches through- out Russia, in order to raise the standard of religious education in the villages. The diocese of Archangel has been no excep- tion to the rule, and there are no\v 140 parishes which have been provided with a suitable collection of books for the use of the parishioners, and every year sees an addition to their number. Another extremely useful ll1easure taken by the Holy Synod n1ust not be passed by unmentioned. In 1888 THE DIOCESE OF ARCH....\.NGEL 21 an official weekly paper was started, entitled the Tzerkovnija Védomosti, or Ecclesiastical Gazette. This paper, besides publishing an official report of all the acts of the Holy Synod, gives an account of the ecclesiastical news of the "reek, to- gether ,vith reports of l\fission \york, the consecration of new churches, new theological publications, etc. A weekly period- ical of this kind \vould be useful anywhere, and it is especially so in a diocese like Archangel, so far removed from the centres of national life. 'T ery few of the parochial clergy in this dis- tant part of the empire have ever been beyond the confines of their own government, and yet I have come across parish priests on the shores of the 'Vhite Sea who, although living the life of the ordinary peasant, are able to discuss contem- porary ecclesiastical events in the Balkan peninsula, the prospects of the Russian lission in Japan, the religious diffi- culties in Poland and the Baltic provinces, and in fact any matter "rhich affects the Orthodox Church; and when one cOllles to inquire \vhere it. ,vas that they obtained their in- formation, it generally turns out that they have obtained it from the Tzerkovnija Védomosti. As in all the other Russian dioceses, the clergy receive their ecclesiastical training in a diocesan seminary. At the present time there are bet,yeen ninety and one hundred students in the Archangel seminary. Their course lasts for four years, after \yhich, if they have passed their examination, they are allo,ved, provided the Bishop's licence be obtained, to preach in the parish churches even before they are admitted to holy orders. I may say in passing that however true it may have been a few years ago, the neglect of preaching \vith which one constantly sees the Russian Church reproached is nowadays a most Ünfair charge. The ecclesia tical authorities are taking the greatest pains in the matter, and it is very seldom that one finds a young priest who does not preach on Sunday at the Liturgy, ,vhile the elder clergy, ,vho were not trained for the purpose, often read a short hon1Ïly upon the Gospel for the day out of the ,yorks of St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, or another of the Fathers. 'Vhile travelling in this diocese I passed two 22 BIRKBECK AND TH}1J RUSSIAN CHURCH Sundays in the country and one in Archangel itself. In the latter and in one of the villages there was a sermon, while in the other case a homily ,vas read in its place. In districts where the Old Believers 1 are plentiful homilies are found to be more useful, as provided that they be read from a book printed in old Slavonic letters these Dissenters will listen to the writings of the Fathers, but will not pay the slightest heed to a sermon written in ordinary fS. by a priest of the State Church, which they consider to be under the dominion of Antichrist! While I was staying at Archangel I spent an evening '\vith a priest who holds the appointment of diocesan missioner to the Old Believers, anà he told me many interesting anecdotes of his conferences ,vith the various sectaries vvhich may be included under this category. Their differences with the Russian Church, as is ,yen known, consist entirely in ritual minutiae, such as ,vhether the sign of the Cross should be made with t,vo fingers or three, anù how certain ,vords should be spelt in the service-books. On paper these differences ap- pear to be the merest trifles, but ,vhen one penetrates a little below the surface it becomes evident that the whole principle of the living authority of the Church is involved in them. English and Russian Dissent have at first sight little in COln- mon with one another, and I an1 quite sure that no l\lethodist or Quaker, if he chanced to visit a chapel belonging to one of the sects of the Old Believers, would feel himself at home amidst the icons and incense and elaborate ceremonial of the Russian Raskolniki. And yet there is much in common be- tween the Russian and EngliBh type of Dissent. Both alike, albeit upon different grounds, deny that "the Church hath power to decree rites or cereillonies and authority in contro- versies of faith," both alike in consequenc of this, ho,vever much the one may appeal to the Scriptures and the other to 1 These are the Russian dissenters (raskol1 iki) who broke off from the Church owing to their refusal to accept the liturgical reforms of the Patriarch Nikon in the seventeenth century. Some were reunited to the Church in the nineteenth century.-[A.R.] THE DIOCESE OF ARCHANGEL 23 the tradition of the Church, are obliged to fall back upon the right of private judgment, as is exemplified in the fact that the Raskol, no less than English Dissent, has split up into numberless rival sects, Inany of which are named after their founders. In this respect our \Vesleyans, Irvingites, and Huntingdonians find their Russian counterpart in the Philip- offtzi, Theodosjúfftzi, etc. Even in the Inatter of the Royal supremacy the Russian Dissenters take the same impractical view of the right relations between Church and State which characterises some N onconfol'nlist sects of this country. They persistently refuse to recognise the fact that the Sovereign bas never claimed for himself the right to settle matters purely spiritual, and they are ready to see the mark of the Beast or the sign of Antichrist in any act of the civil power, ho,vever legitimate, which can by any ingenuity of argument be made to appear to encroach upon the sphere of religion. A conver- sation which I had ,vith one of these sectaries ,vill best illus- trate the attitude of the Russian Raskol (schism) towards the Church and Government of the country. One of the signs, he told me, that Antichrist had acquired the mastery over Church and State ,vas that the Government had altered New Year's Day from Septenlber 1 to January 1. It was quite useles8 representing to him that the Church Calendar still begins with September, and that it is only the civil N ew Year ,vhich commences ,vith January. He retorted that this change, in- troduced by Peter the Great, was obviously contrary to Scrip- ture, for the \vorld must have been created in September, otherwise there ,vould have been no apples ripe for Eve to eat! " But surely it is quite pos,;ible that Eve lnay have eaten the apple in September, and yet have been created in January or any other month in the year," said I, thinking that I bad sug- gested a most reasonable way out of the difficulty. ." No," said Iny friend, "the world was created in six days, and God created light on Sunday, the 1st of September, and Adam and Eve on Friday, the 6th, and rested from His ,york on the Sabbath. On Sunday, September 8, Eve tasted of the apple, and gave it to Ada-In: this is ,vhy the most holy l\Iother of 24 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH God, the second E\Te, was born on September 8." This is a very fair specimen of the style of argument used by the Old Believers, and it is often quite astonishing with what ingenuity and earnestness they will Jefend their peculiar tenets, which, trifling as they may appear to us Westerns, are looked upon by them as matters of life and death. Although the Raskol is now not so strong in this part of Russia as formerly, it has played a most iInportant part in the past history of the government of Archangel. The sect of the Pomortzi, one of the largest bodies of the Old Believers, took its name froln the western coast (pomorie) of the White Sea, 'v here it first sprang into existence, with its headquarters at the monastery of Lake Vyg, about fifty miles to the south; while at the very beginning of the schism the monastery of Solovetzki itself fell into the hands of the adherents of the old service-books, and stood a siege of ten years against the troops of the Tzar Alexis, before it \vould adn1it the reforms of Nikon 1 within its walls. At present, ho\vever, these sects are not so numerous in this part of Russia as they used to be, \vhile ex- cept in isolated cases on the --'inland frontier there is no Pro- testant propagandism of any kind. rrhe Lutherans have a church in Archangel, but it is used exclusively by the German residents, and the same is the case \vith the small ROlllan Catholic chapel \vhich has been erected for a few Polish exiles who have been sent to this distant government. II. DURING four days of the seven which I spent at Archangel last summer I enjoyed the hospitality of Bishop Nathaniel, who spared no pains in giving me every kind of information concerning his diocese, and in eXplaining to me its practical working. He took me to see the principal churches of the town, including the cathedral, a fine church in the very centre of the town close to the river, which contains SOlne interesting relics of Peter the Great's visit in 1702 to Archangel, which 1 The greatest of the Russian Patriarchs. He reigned a t loscow 1653- 1660 a.nd died in 1681.-[A.R.] THE DIOCESE OF .l\..RCH ..\KGEL 25 was then Russia's only seaport. All10ngst then1 is a large wooden cross, carved by his own hands during his stay in the place. Another day he sho\ved me all over the Inonastery of St. lichael, from which the town takes its name, and which contains a fine church dating from the end of the sixteenth century. This monastery is situated at the extrelne southern nd of the town, and, with its gold domes reflected in the water and the long quays cro\vded \vith sbipping in the back- ground, adds greatly to the beauty of Archangel on approach- ing it from the D\yina. The Episcopal residence is nominally in this monastery, but, finding the building set apart for this purpose too large for his requirements, the Bishop has handed it over to the nlonks for their school, and has moved into smaller quarters nearer the centre of the town. The Sunday which I spent at Archangel happened to be the Feast of the Transfiguration, one of the t\velve principal festivals of the Orthodox Church. On the Saturday evening I \vent with the Bishop to the cathedral to the" all-night " service, which consists of vespers follo\ved by matins, and though happily it belied its name and only lasted three hours, it is a somewhat exhausting service for anyone who is ac- custon1ed to our shorter \Vestern forms, especially as one has to stand all the time. The next morning the Bishop took me to the large Church of the Transfiguration, which is the prin- cipal church on the island of Solombal, the commercial quarter of Archangel. This church \vas founded by Peter the Great, and finished in the reign of Catherine II, and, though a fine building in its way, is built in the sOlne\vhat unecclesiastical style then in fashion, and consequently is not so interesting as the cathedral. Whell \ve arrived the church was already crowded from OIle end to another, the conareQ"ation consistinO" o L.J n chiefly of the \VOrknlen froll1 the various factories and saw- mills of this quarter of the to\vn. A sermon followed the liturgy, preached by a young student \yho had just finished his sen1inary course, and ,vas soon to be ordained; and then came a procession round the outside of the church: followed by the whole congregation. 26 BIRI{BECK AND THE RUSSI___.\.N CHURCH I may say in passing that the festival processions in the Eastern Church take a different direction to those of Latin Christendom. The latter always follow the course of the sun t no doubt in allusion to Ps. xix. 5, 6, as mystically applied to our Lord's life upon earth from His Nativity to His Ascen- sion, and thus the procession symbolises the Church following in His footsteps. The processions of the Orthodox Church,. on the contrary, go to meet the sun, symbolising thereby that the Church goes forth to meet our Lord, Whose first coming was in the East, and 'Vhose second coming shall be "as the lightning ,vhich cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west ". After the procession we adjourned to the house of lr. Teljate one of the principal merchants residing on the island of Solon1bal, who had invited the Bishop, together with some of the leading Archangel ecclesiastics and merchants, to dinner on this occasion. This banquet consisted entirely of 'ìnaigre dishes, because the Bishops in the Eastern Church are chosen exclusively from the monastic, or black clergy, and conse- quently never eat meat. Several of the merchants present were of German origin and Lutheran by religion, but there appeared to be no ill-feeling whatever bet,veen them and the Orthodox who ,vere present. The next day the Bishop told me that he had to go to the monastery of St. Nicholas, to see about the affairs of the N ovaja Zemlja l\Iission, which, as I stated in my last article, 'vas originally sent from there. The hour before we started he spent intervie\ving some of the clergy of the diocese. It was extremely interesting to hear all the inquiries he made with regard to the state of their parishes. One of these priests, 'v hose living is situated near the boundary of Finland, about fifty n1Ïles ,vest of the White Sea, came in for rather a severe reprimand, owing to the appearance amongst his flock of a sort of semi-revivalist, semi-rationalistic sect lately started by a preacher who had dissented from the Lutheran Church of Finland. Father Pavel pleaded in self-defence that the sect had been introduced unbeknown to him. "This." said the THE DIOCESE OF .A.RC ANGEL 27 Bishop, It would have been quite impossible, had you looked after your parish properly and not neglected your duty." At the end of the intervie,v, the Bishop gave him his blessing and then walked with him to the door, and as he ,vent out kissed him and said, "truclitesj, truditesj, truditesj," which, being interpreted, is " work, work, ,york !" After this we started on our journey to the monastery of St. Nicholas, situated about thirty miles from Archangel at the mouth of the river. One of the merchants had lent him a small steamer, which had been brought round to the quay just in front of the Bishop's residence. As we walked down to it, follo\ved by the Bishop's deacon and servants carrying provisions for the journey and beds for the night, the ,vork- men and boatmen on the quay took off their hats in all direc- tions, many of them running up to kiss the Bishop's hand, and bringing their children to receive his blessing. \Ve ,vere a long time arriving at our destination owing to the shallo\vness of this part of the river, the steanler running aground several times; but as soon as we came \vithin sight of the monastery the bells began to ring, and as ,ve made our ,yay to,varc1s land an the inmates of the monastery came down to the ,vater's edge in their full robes to meet the Bishop, and formed a most picturesque group a they stood on the landing-stage \vith candles and incense awaiting his landing. As soon as he stepped on shore they robed him in a gorgeous ?nantija (an Episcopal cloak shaped some\vhat like a cope, but looser, and with a long train) of blue and silver brocade, and escorted us with great pomp to the principal church of the monastery chanting all the ,vhile, and then after a short service \ve \vere conducted in the same manner all through the monastic build- ings and to the other churches. The buildings, ,vhich were erected early in the seventeenth century in place of others which were destroyed by the S\vedes, are very fine, particu- larly the principal church, ,vhich is entered by two beautiful specimens of the staircase porches which are so characteristic of Russian sixteenth and seventeenth century architecture. The whole lnonastery is enclosed by an extremely picturesque 28 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH wooden wall ,vith eight to,vers at its angles, surmounted by the curious half-spire and half-clolne which one so often Ineets with in the wooden ecclesiastical edifices in this part of the empire. Although it ,vas now past nine o'clock, the Bishop ordered the carriage and pair belonging to the monastery, and insisted on taking me in the t\vilight round the 11lonastic farm, which is rather extensive, and then at about ten o'clock ,ve had supper and retired to rest for the night. The next nlorn- ing at six o'clock I ,vas roused from my slumbers by the church bellIS, and on dressing found the Bishop's servant wait- ing outside my room to take me to church as soon as ever I felt inclined. The Bishop, he told me, had got up at half-past four, and after making his preparation for saying the liturgy had bathed in the 'Vhite Sea, and then had gone to church, "There I found hiln pontificating at matins. The singing was very good, and the whole service ,vas beautifully done, but so extreluely long that I had more than once to retire froln sheer fatigue before it was finished. The liturgy itself conlmenced soon after eight o'clock, and the "Thole service was over a little before ten, by which time I was nearer dead than alive from fatigue and hunger. But the Bishop, although considerably over sixty years of age, seeuled to think nothing of his five hours' service upon an empty stomach, to ,vhich he was evi- dently quite accustollled. The Russian Bishops as a rule cele- brate the liturgy about three times a week, and habit soon accustoms theln as ,veIl as the other clergy to these long fasts. After breakfast the prior showed me some of the treasures of the monastery, amongst them a portrait of Lady l\lartha, the rich noble\voman of N ovgorod, who did so luuch for the colonising and evangelisation of the shores of the \Vhite Sea in the fifteenth century. It ,yas here that the bodies of her t,vo sons "\vho were dro,vned in a stornl \vere buried, and in her legacy to the monastery appear the following ,vords: "I, Martha, the servant of God, have caused to be erected the church of St. Nicholas in this lllonastery over the graves of my children Antony and --'elix". This church, ho\yever, is no longer standing, having been burnt by the Swedes, as ,ve have TH}1 DIOCESE OF \.RCHAXGEL 29 already seen. Another -point I about this monastery \vhich should be of special interest to Englishmen is that it ,vas here that Chalonner first discovered the mouth of the D,vina in 1.558, and thus laid the foundation of the important \Vhite Sea trade between England and Russia. In the earliest Eng- lish charts "That is no,v the port of Archangel is in conse- quence marked as the port (or quay) of St. Nicholas. After the Bishop had settled the Inatters concerning the Novaja Zem ja l\lission for ,vhich he had come, we started back, and as it was no, v high tide the return journey took only four hours. During both journcys the Bishop never ceased either telling me a bout his o\vn diocese or asking me questions about the English Church, and particularly about our Church schools, a subject in ,vhich he appeared to take lnuch interest. He told me ho,v much he regretted that there ,vas no longer an English chaplain at Archangel, to perform duty in the t,vo English churches there, one of \,hich is in Archangel itself, and the other on the island of Sololn bal. " There are more sailors fronl England in Archangel during the sumlner than frolll any other foreign nation, and yet they have no priest. Our clergy kno,v no English and can do nothing for them; they cannot untlerstand our service any better than if a Ksendz ( Roman priest) ,vas reading it to them. in Latin. \Vhy does not the Archbishop of Canterhury spnd Rome one to theln? \Ve "QuId ,velconle him here." The fact is that the rich English cOIDJnunity \vhich forn1erly re ided in Archangel have all moved no\v to St. Petersburg, ,vhither the CnclO\VU1ents of the English churches have also been transferred. The llext t,vo days \vere spent in a visit to the English Vice-Consul, )[r. Bartlett Cobb, aft.er \vhich Iny visit to Arch- all el caIne to an end. The evening before my departure I ,vcnt to take leave of Bishop Nathaniel. ....LÌs we parted he took off fron1 his neck a beautiful little silver-covered icon of the Blessed Virgin and Child, \,hich he had ,vorn as his pana- gía (luring our journey to St. icholas's Dlonastery, and told me to take it home frolll hinI to DIY youngest son, ,vhose nanle- 30 BII=tKBECK AKD THE !{USSIAN CHURCH is lichael, in Inemory of my visit to the city named after the great Archangel, bidding me tell him when he grew up that he must not think that ther ,vas nothing but white bears to be found in that part of the world. 'rhe next day I started at about Inidday by stean1er for Sijski lllonastery up the Dwina on the vlay to l\fosco\v, and in less than quarter of an hour nothing ,vas to be seen of Archangel but the golden domes of the nlonastery of St. l\lichael blazing in the mid- .day SUllo CHAPTER III. THE RUSSIAN CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE OF ARCHANGEL- (continued) . III. IN the Elnpire of the Tzars all roads lead to l\Ioscow, for is she not the very "heart of Russia "? And yet the journey thither fronl Archangel is a sOInewhat arduous undertaking, especially when there is not sufficient ,vater in the Dwina to .get by stealner to V ologda, \vhere the railway begins. Last year I could only get 100 nliles by river, and had to do the remaining 350 by road. But this I did not regret, as it .enabled me to see some curious monasteries seldom visited by foreigners, as \vell as some of the interesting village life in these parts. The journey up the Dwina is very uninteresting for the first few hours, until one conIes to IChohnogory, which was formerly the seat of the bishopric, and is still of considerable ecclesiastical importance. It contains two large monasteries, .one of which, "\vith a very fine church and separate bell-tower, stands close to the river. This is the most populous district of the Archangel Government. The river here breaks up into several wide branches, the banks of which are thickly studded with villages, each with their "summer" and " winter " churches in the same churchyard. At one time I counted no less than fourteen churches in sight at once, nearly all of them built of wood, but extremely picturesque o,ving to the domes "by which they are almost invariably surmounted, more especi- .ally the" summer" churches, "rhich are of course the largest and finest, the "winter" churches being built as low and snlall .as possible for the sake of \val'mth. Fortunately the steamer (31) 3:2 BIRKBECK .A1\D THE RUSSIAN CHURCH stopped for wood at the village of Chukhcheremsk, which enabled me to examine one of the finest specin1ens of these wooden churches built in the seventeenth century. It is dedicated to the prophet Elijah, and may roughly be described as a copy in wood of the style of the early Romanoff period, which can be seen at its best at Jaroslavl, Kostroma, and throughout the region of the northern '7 olga, and which, though Byzantine in origin, has so many original features that it may be described as a truly national style. The great feature of the exterior of Chukhcheremsk Church is the roof, ,vhich has nine wooden domes, all surmounted by the eight- pointed orthodox cross. The sacred edifice is entered by the usual covered-in staircase (lcryltzo) leading into the narthex (pritvor), which, like in St. Iark's at .Venice, extends across the whole ,vest end of the church and half-way ronnd the north and south side, ending in this case on each side in a grill looking on to the iconostasis. rhe interior was full of beautiful ornaments and pictures, and many of the icons on the iconostasis ,vere, as usual, covered over \vith silver and studded ,,'ith precious stones. ltussia is almost the only country \yhere the parish churches have never been subjected to legalised plunder, and their ,vealth helps one to realise the meaning of our own Inediæval inventories, and what our churcheH 1l1u t have lost in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At t\VO o' clock in the morning I was roused frolll my slulnbers and told that ,YC had arrived at Sija. The steamer landed IDe close to a chapel, on ,vhat, to my disgust, I found to be the ,vrong side of the river. The chapel belongs to the neif 'hbouring S jski l\lonastery, ,vhich is some eight miles from the opposite bank, and a very shaggy-looking lay brother, stationed there for the purpose, ferried three soldiers, an ispravnilc (local head of police) from the Pechora, and my- self and lllountaills of luggage across the river in a very top- heavy boat, and landed us on a sandy waste \vith not a house in sight, and 1110re than a mile fro In the village of Sija. After an aln1ust internlinable da,vdle t,vo carts arrived from the THE DIOCESE O ' Al CH.A GEL 88 village, ,vhich conveyed us and our luggage to the village post-house, from ,vhich I obtained a tarantass to convey lne to Sijski Ionastery, Olne seven miles flistant. rrhe monastery is beautifully situated at the end of a long, narro,v tongue of land jutting into a lake, the shores of which are surrounded by lo,v hills covered ,vith pine, fir, and birch forest. The vie,v of it froln the road ,vhich runs along the edge of the lake is particularly pleasing, with its ,,,hite stone buildings surmounted by green domes, interspersed "lith a fe,v fine tir trees, standing in a court surrounded by ,vooden walls built down to the ,vater, and ,vith an avenue of birch tree leading along the narrow causeway, ,vhich connects the lllonas- tery with the lnainland, up to the picturesque stone gateway surlllounted by a church: Here I ,vas received by a young lay brother, ,vho told me that the abbot had heard from thp Bishop cf Archangel that I was coming, and that rooms ,vere prepare(l for Ine. After breakfast I called upon the Archi- Inanùrite .L ntony, a young and energetic-looking man, formerly a n1en1ber of the 'vhite or parish cJergy, but ,vho, having lost his \\?ife, ,vas appointed by the Holy Synod at the recom- Inendation of the Bishop to be abbot of this monastery, not altogether, so I heard, to the satisfaction of the community, \vho w'oul.1 ha'?e preferred the election of one of their nwn 11 HIll ber. The founder of this monastery was t. Antony, a Dlouk frolH the monastery of the Transfiguration, on the river Ken, in the district of Onega. He settled ,vith six followers on thi spot by the lake "in the n1Ïddle of the forest in the year 1520, and ruled the lle\V con1munity until his death, in 1557. His last testaluent is preserved in the archives of the monastery, and Qears his o\vn signature. It ,vas \vritten the year before his death, and is a touching IneD10:;.-ial of his simple piety and affection for his spiritual children. After telling them that old age and sickness have overtaken hÍ1n, anù that he feels his en(! approaching, he conlmends himself to their prayers, asking- then1 to forgive all the faults which he has committed in thp. government of the 1110nastery :- :-3 34 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH "I have been neither a pastor to you, nor a teacher, for Christ alone is the Good Shepherd, but I, by .n1Y sins and folly, have been a scatterer rather than a shepherd of the flock comll1itted to ll1Y charge in this holy habitation. But I do not despair of my salvation and have hope in the 111ercy of God and in your holy prayers. For God hath said: 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance,' and, en- couraged by your prayers, I "rill 'cast ll1Y burden upon the Lord'; then Inay He do unto me as it plea seth Him, for He 'will have all men to be saved, and to con1e to the knowledge of the truth '. So now I commend my ll10nastery and you to God, to His most pure Mother the Queen of heaven, and St. SergÏus, the \Vonder-worker, and I appoint as my successor, according to your petition, Father Cyril as Prior, to take care of this holy habitation." After this COll1e SOlne directions "rith regard to the property of the monastery and some regulations concerning refractory members of the community, and then the testament concludes as follows :- "But, above all, have the fear of God in your hearts, and may His Holy Spirit dwell in you and instruct you, and lead you in the paths of truth. And amongst yourselves let there ever be love, and submit yourselves one to another for Christ's sake; so shall the ll1ultitude of your sins be blotted out. And take care that ye follow the rules of the community both in spiritual and tenlporal matters, in your food and in your clothing according to the cOll1mands of the holy fathers, nor should the Prior fare better in lneat, or drink, or clothing, than the rest of the brethren. N either should strangers be admitted into the cells of the brotherhood, or intoxicating drinks be brought into the monastery, but ye shall give food to the poor and homeless who come to you, so shall this holy place never be left destitute. N one of the brethren, except they be sick, shall remain in the monastery without employ- ll1ent, neither shall ye make the peasants execute your repairs or look after the buildings, but ye shall do these things your- selves, except it be in the cow-yard on the other side of the THE DIOCESE OF ARCHA.KGEL 35 lake, which is too distant from the D10nastery. These instruc- tions I pray of you to follow, and may the mercy of God and the prayers of His most pure J\lother and of St. Sergius ever be with you, now and ever and to ages of ages. Amen." This interesting document gives quite an insight into the spirit of Russian monasticism during the fifteenth and six- teeuth centuries, ,vhen so many religious houses were founded in the northern parts of the empire. It show's too, although the present buildings date chiefly from the seventeenth cen- tury, that in the founder's time, as now, the monastery con- tained three churches, dedicated respectively to the Holy Trinity, the Annunciation, and St. Sergius. The principal, or " summer," church is a very fine building, and contains in its left-hand corner just outside the iconostasis the shrine of the founder, together with the vestn1ents in which he used to say l\Iass. The relics themselves lie pod spudoJn (under a bushel) ; that is to say, they are not exposed to view, but are buried in the floor of the church underneath the shrine, which is a ceno- taph, with a picture of the saint on the upper surface encased in the usual silver covering. The" winter" church of the ...t\.n- nunciation opens into the refectory, a very fine oblong room, with a vaulted roof, supported (like in the far larger refectory at Solovetzki, of ,vhich it is an evident copy) by an enormous round pillar in the lniddle. Bet,veen the refectory and the principal church, and separated from the shrine of St. Antony in the latter only by a ,vall, is a chapel where all the abbots are buried. The church of St. Sergius is over the gate,vay by which the monastery is entered. Besides these buildings there is a fine tower, built in the seventeenth century, con- taining twenty bells, the largest of which weighs near upon six tons.. O\ving to its secluded position, the history of this monas- tery has been on the whole uneventful, although it has several times been visited by the emperors on their way to Archangel. It has never been besieged by the Swedes or bombarded by the English, like some of the monasteries on the vVhite Sea, and though, like almost every building in Russia, it catches 36 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH fire about three times in the course of each century, these con- flagrations are not due to the malice of foreigners, but either to lightning or the carelessness of its inmates. Nevertheless Sijski l\Ionastery has played its part in the history of Russia. It was here that Theodore Nikitich Romånoff, the father of 1\Iichael, the future Tzar, and founder of the present reigning dynasty, was incarcerated in the year 1599 by the Tzar Boris Godunofi: and compelled to take the tonsure under the name Philaret, his wife having been separated from hin} and sent into a convent. If a letter, still preserved in the monasteïy, from the Tzar Boris Godunoff can be trusted, it would seeUl that he took anything but kindly to his enforced religious lifc, for the Tzar writes to the Prior saying that he hears that Philaret has been neglecting hi:;; religious duties and spending his time hunting wild beaRts in the forests, and quarrelling with the other monks, breaking into their cells and beating them ,vith a stick, and that all this must cease for the future, that the Prior must insist on his going regularly to confe sion and communion like the other monks, and not allow hinl to neglect the choir offices. 1\Ioreover, he nlust not be allo,ved to see or hold any converse ,,"'ith strangers, but is to be kept ,vithin the ,valls of the monastery, and these latter, if they have in any places fallen into disrepair, are to be mena(}d. This letter is extremely interesting- as showing ho,v insecure Boris Godunoff felt his position on the throne to be, o,ving to his doubtful title, and this doubtless ,vas the real reason that he exhibited such solicitude lest the ne\vly professed Blonk should be corrupted by intercourse with the secular 'tvorld. Whether Philaret's insubordination Y.as exaggerated by the rrzar's infornlant, Bogdan V oseikotf, or not, it is impossible to state; but it is certain that he became reconciled to the lllOH- astic life before he ,vas released from his imprisOllluent at Sijski by the false I)emetrius in 1606, and the comlnunity still possess a rnagnificent lS. copy of the Gospels, beautifully illuminated, which he sent them after he ascended the patriar- chal throne of l\Ioscow, in commemoration of the fact that it ,vas t.herp that he began that ecclesiastical career which, ho,,"- THE DIOCESE OF ARCHANGEL 37 ever unwillingly entered upon, was, in the providence of God, to be the saving of Russia, both in Church and State. After Abbot Antony had shown IDe all over the monastery, its churches and treasures, he took me up to his quarters, where I found an excellent fish dinner provided for ine. He apologised for not dining with me, but said that his rule for- bade liinl to eat fish during the Gospozhinki, or " Fast of our Lady," that is to say the fourteen days before 15 August, the Feast of the Repose of the Blessed Virgin. This fast is kept very strictly in the 11lonasteries, and \vhen I was staying at Solovetzki, during the last three days of my visit, no fish, eggs, nlilk, or butter appeared in the refectory, and I had to content nlyself ,vith bread, mushrooms, and vegetables of various kinds. But anlongst the laity fish is perIllitted as a rule. A good lnany pilgrims on their ,vay to Solovetzki visit this lllonastery, ,vhich is close to ,vhere the t,vo main roads from Ioscow and St. Petersburg to Archangel unite. They are al- lowed to stay in the hostelry outside the gate free of charge for a night, and are fed at the expense of the community. No description of the religious life of the country ,vould be conlplete ,vithout nlaking mention of the pilgrims ,vho may be seen on every high-road leading to the great religious centres of the country, trudging along ,vith their bro,vn habits, their pilgrilll's staff, a large bundle on their backs, and a tin teapot hanging by a string from their necks. It is often most interesting to talk with them about their long journeys and all their adventures by the ,yay. l\Iany of thenl have been to J erusalelll at least once in their lives, and in this case their bundle usually contains a shirt \vhich has been dipped in the waters of the Jordan in lllemory of our Saviour's baptism, which they constantly carry about ,vith them, in order that they lllay clothe thenlselves in it ,vhen their last hour ap- proaches. The length of the journeys which they make upon foot is sin1ply astounding. T,vice in the Archangel Government I was recognised by pilgrims who had seen IDe at Kieff the year 38 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH before at the celebration of the nine hundredth anniversary of the conversion of Russia, and as it takes six days posting with three horses from Archangel to V ologda, and fifty-seven hours of railway from there to Kieff, it may be imagined that a journey on foot over this distance is no light undertaking. One of the two ,vho had seen me at Kieff told me that he had been to Jerusalem in the meantime, having been treated by a l\Ioscow merchant to a passage from Odessa to Beyrout, whence he had ,valked to Nazareth and thence to Jerusalem. On his way bet,veen the latter places he had been robbed by brigands of aU the money he was bringing to the holy places at Jeru- salem, but he had been helped by the Russian monks in the Holy Land, and then 0 btained a ticket through the Russian Palestine Society back to Odessa and by rail to :Thfoscow. From there he had started imIl1ediately on foot for Solovetzki. He told me that his home ,vas in the government of .Vladimir, and that besides this pilgrimage he had made four to the Troitza monastery, near l\loscow, and one to \T alaam, on Lake Ladoga, and one to Great N ovgorod. This ,yill give some idea of what a Russian pilgrin1's life is, and in my opinion they have an enormous influence upon the national life of Russia. I often used to ,vonder ho,v it ,vas that as a rule the mention of the great capitals of Western Europe conveyed nothing to the peasants in this part of Russia, and ,vhen I told them that I lived in London I ,vas often asked some such ques- tion as "How many versts is London from loscow?" and yet that, on the other hand, all of them had heard of Constan- tinople, and lount Athos, and Jerusalem. But after travel- ling on the pilgrim boat between Solo vetzki and Archangel and hearing the conversation of the pilgrin1s the 111atter was no longer a mystery to me; for the pilgrim is ,velcome in every village throughout the length and breadth of the land, and everybody is glad to hear the account of his travelling experIences. THE DIOCESE OF .A.RCHA.NGEL 39 IV. Sunday in a Country Village. BEFORE leaving- St. Petersburg for the 'Vhite Sea, I had been anxious to find some one to travel ,vith, anJ had secured the services of Vladimir J oanovich Popoff, a student who had conipleted his course at the Seminary of Archangel, and having passed all his examinations with distinction, had been sent to the ecclesiastical academy at St. Petersburg for four years before being ordained. His father is parish priest at Zacha- chevski, a vil1age about fifteen miles from Sijski lonastery, and far too poor to pay the expenses of his son's journey home for the summer holidays. So Vladimir ,vas glad to accompany Ine on my journey to Solovetzki, as it enabled him to visit his home, which otherwise he could not have done during his four years' course at the academy. Directly I arrived at Archangel I had sent him home to his father's, and arranged to meet him at Sijski 310nastery, and his father had invited me to spend a day or t,vo with him before starting for l\loscow. This I was very glad to do, as it enabled me to pass a Sunday in a siulple country village in this distant part of Russia. 'Vhile I ,vas being sho,vn round the monastery at Sijski, Vladimir arrived \vith his father's tarantass; so after dinner I took leave of Abbot ..... ntony and started in his carriage drawn by three white horses) Father I van's tarantass following behind ,vith the luggage. \Ve drove through the forest along the edge of the lake for some way, and should evidently have had some beautiful vie,vs of the monastery, had it not been for the sheets of rain \vhich wer descending. About four hours' drive brought us to the end of our journey, and ,ve drew up at the parsonage of Zachachevski, where Vladimir's father, I van Germanovich Popoff, met us at the door, and gave me a most hearty welcome. He is considerably over sixty years of age, and in his day must have been a very handsome man; even now, though long past the prime of life, he looked the very picture of dignity ,vith his long grey beard and dark purple cassock. I was immediately taken upstairs and int,roduced to 40 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH the rest of the household, which consisted of his sister, Anna Germanovna, who has kept house for him since the death of his wife, hiH daughter, ,vho is the widow of a priest, and her little girl, who was evidently the spoilt one of the family. The house consisted of four rooms-a sitting-rooln, containing a table and sofa and a fe,v chairs, and a bookshelf in the corner, with pictures on the walls of the Tzar and Tzarina, the Crhcifixion, and scenes from the Passion, the twelve principal feasts of the Church, some vie,vs of l\loscow, and several photographs of various l11embers of the family. In the corner, with a lanlp in front of it, ,vas the icon of the Saviour, and below it a picture of the Holy .Virgin and Child, and on each side "'ere pictures of St. Nicholas, patron of the parish, with scenes from his life; and of St. \Tladimir, the Apostle of Russia; and St. Alexander N evski, after ,vhon1 his t\VO sons are named respectively". On a small table below the icons was a large copy of the Bible in Russian on a table by itself. The other rOOlns of the house consisted of a second s111all sitting- room and t,yO bedroollls, all on the saIne floor ,vhile off the landing at the back of the house ,vas a large storehouse, in which clothes are hung to dry, ,vood is kept for the stove in winter, and lumber of various kinds is stored a,vay. On the ground floor lives the old nurse of the family, who, needless to say, was delighted to see Vladimir home again. The village itself, like almost all Russian villages, consists of one long wide street with ,vooden houses on each side, each of thenl with roughly carved wooden gables and little white window sashes. In the middle of the village is a large church- yard containing two churches dedicated to St. Nicholas anà SSe ZosÏIna and Savvati respectively. The" surnmer" church of St. Nicholas is a good specilnen of the style in vogue in these parts at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It is octagonal in form, the roof ascending into an eight-sided spire, 'surmounted at the top by a small dome. It contains a very beautiful iconostasis extending over three of the eight sides of the church, the centre of which is occupied by some exqui- sitely carved \vooden "royal doors" painted and gilded all r eHE DIOCESE OF ARCHAKGEL 41 over, with the usual representations of the four Evangelists and the Annunciation painted in small canopied niches in the carvin a, ,,'"bile in the chord of the arch are suspended two b cherubim appropriately suggestive of the Cherubic Hymn which is sung during the Great Entrance. On the left of the l{oyal Gates there is the usual icon of the Iadonna and Child, but on the right-hand side, the position usually oc- upied by the icon of the Saviour is filled by a very fine icon of Abraharn and Sarah entertaining the three angels. This is the ordinary conventional n10de in the East of representing in painting the mystery of the Holy Trinity. As in n10st Rus- sian parish churches, there are lnany beautiful silver lamps, rich sets of vestInents, icons, and other costly offerings ,vhich ha ve been 111ade froln tÏIne to tinle by the parishioners. Only a rear ago one of the peasants w"ho had been in Moscow at the tÏIl1e of the festival of the 900th anniversary of the Conversion of Russia had brought back a beautiful icon of St. .Vladimir, which he had bought out of his savings as an offering to his parish church. The" ,vinter" church contains nothing re- markable, and is about to be replaced by a Dew church built in brick, the ,valls of vlhich ,vere about half-finished when I was there. On Saturday afternoon "\ve all ,vent to vespers, after which Father I van Inade .Yladimir sit do,yn and 'v rite the sermon for next day at the Liturgy. First of all the Gospel for the day was looked out, then pens and paper and ink ,vere produced: and the large Bible brought out from und er the icons, and then in order that .Yladimir should not be disturbed the priest and I "rent for a \vall{: round the village, and all amongst the sn1all ?elds of rye by which it is surrounded. These belong to the village con1ll1une, and are R.pportioned off about once every five years to the various fanlÍlies, according as they are able to cultivate then1. It was quite evident by the way the peasants greeted him that Father I van ,vas n1uch beloved in his native village, ,,-here he had lived his ,vhole life except during the tÍ1ne when he was at the senlinary at Archangel, ha vii1g succeeded his father in the living, and it was very 42 BIRKBECK -,- ND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH pleasing to see the simple and kindly relations ,vhich evidently existed between him and his Hock. The next morning I was roused from my slunlbers by the- church bells ringing for lllatins at five o'clock, but did not ar- rive myself in church until just before the liturgy commenced at about seven. The church ,vas cro,vdeù, the men on the- south side and the women on the north, the latter dressed in their bright costumes in ,vhich red and ,vhite predominated. The music of the service ,vas led by a lay-reader and joined in most heartily by the congregation, ,vhose behaviour through- out the ,vhole service was most devout and attentive. I may here say that the ordinary notion in the 'Vest that the Russian. peasantry cannot understand the Old Slavonic in ,vhich the services are read and sung is quite a òe]usion. Some parts of the choir offices, it is true, present great difficulties, not only' to the peasantry but to the clergy themselves, especially some. of the "canons" translated froll1 the Greek, in \vhich the order of the ,yords in the original has been exactly preserved, although in Greek they were written in metre. But no one who- has any kno,vledge of the Russian peasantry ,yould n1aintain for a moment that the Old Slavonic language in itself is un- intelligible to the people. On the contrary, their ordinary con- versation is full of expressions cuUed frorn the service books; and if a foreigner resides a fe,v weeks amongst the peasantry, he will find on his return to the capital that he has caught many expressions which he ,vill be told belong to the Church language, and ,vhich appear to the ordinary resident of St. Petersburg just as stilted and pedantic, as the use of such. terms as "dearly beloved brethren" would seem in London society.l As for the music in the RU."5sian parish churches, Russia has, like ourselves, gone through a parson-and-clerk-duet period, except that the service has ahvays been sung, and never sin1ply read. But during the last fe,v years imn1ense pains have been taken t make the services n10re popular, and. not only in the country districts, but in the catl1edrals, the- services have in many cases been much n10re congregational 1 This subject is fully discussed in Chapter V.-[A.R.] THE DIOCESE OF Al\CH.AXGEL 43 than formerly. If anyone is inclined to dispute this state- ment, let him attend some of the early liturgies at the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, and judge for hinlself. I, at least, can answer not only for the church at Zachachevski, but for a good many of the village churches in these northern parts of the empire. At the end of the liturgy came Vladimir's sermon. As I think that a sermon delivered in this distant part of Christen- dom may be of interest to many of your readers, I give a translation of it in full :- Ser.mon on the Gospel for the Eleventh S'unday a jter Pe?? te- cost. St. )Iatt. xviii. 23-35. "In the Gospel ,,,hich has just been read, my brethren, the Saviour's parable of the ( unmerciful creditor' is put before us. This creditor, i mediately after he hin1self had been forgiven an immense debt by his lord, went to his fello,v-servant who was his debtor and began to beat him, demanding the payment of an insignificant debt. ''''hat was it that our Lord Jesus Christ, in laying before us this parable, ,vished to say to us ? ,vhat ,vas it that He wished us to learn from it ? The ans,ver is evident-mercifulness! In the parable ,ve read that a certain King (Tzar)-by ,vhich is nleant the Lord Himself- had conlpassion upon His debtor, and forgave hinl his debt. Yes, my brethren, great indeed is the compassion of God to us sinners! Of His unspeakable mercy the Son of God Himself came do,vn to earth, 'taking upon Himself the form of a servant'; of His tender mercy He as He journeyed from place to place in Palestine, satisfied the hungry, healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, raised the dead to life, and at last ,vas nailed for us to the Cross, as if He had been the most infamous of men. And all this for us sinners, us reprobates! All this He under,vent because of His infinite love for us! So 'gracious,' as the Psalmist David says, , and mercifuJ is the Lord, long suffering and of great goodness,' nor can any \"ords express the greatness of His love for us. This is the reason why Christ loved so often to repeat that 'He came into the 44 BIRKBECK AKD THE RUSSIAN CHURCH \yorld not to destroy, but to save that ,vhich was lost,' to de- li vel' sinful III en. This is why He preached to us, ' Be ye there- fore merciful, even as your Father in heaven is merciful '. This is why He says to us, 'If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses'. And \vhen on one occasion the A postle Peter asked of our Lord, 'Ho,v oft shall 111Y brother sin against me and I forgive him-till seven times?' the Lord answered him, , I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven,' by which He n1eant that we should always forgive all injuries, that ,ve should constantly be merciful without any exception. And shall not we, my brethren, obey Him? Is it possible for us to refuse to listen to the Lord, "'Tho calls upon us to be merciful? No, n1Y brethren, God forbid that it should be so. H But sorne may say, In ,,"'hat particular respects are we bound to sho\v mercy? The answer to this question ,ve 11lay find in the ,vords of Jesus Christ HiInself, T hich He speaks concerning His dread cOIning to judge the quick and the ùead, and saith unto the just, , I ,yas an hungred, and ye gave 1\le meat; I ,vas thirsty, and ye gave 1\le drink; I ,vas a stranger, and ye took IUe in; naked, and ye clothed l\Ie ; I ,vas sick, and ye visited Ic; I \vas in prison, and ye came unto 1\le'. These, brethren, are the works of love and lnercy, ,vhich ,ve have to fulfil in order to make our life ,yorthy of the Christian calling. But this is not all. Far from it. Our lnercy ll1ust extend itself even to our enemies. The Lord distinctly says, ' If ye do good to thel11 ,vhich do good to you, \vhat thank ha.ve ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye love them 'v hich love you, ,vhat thank have ye? for sinners also love those ,vhich love them. And if ye lend to then1 of ,vh9In ye hope to receive, ,vhat thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as nluch again. But love ye your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again' (Luke vi. 32- 35). Here you may see, lny brethren, how great our merciful loving kindness ought to be towards our neighbours. Then also our re,vard ,vill be great, for the Lord goes on to say, 'your re,vard shall be great, and ye shall be the children of TH:B DIOCESE O:F .ARCH....\NGEL 4.S the Highest' (Luke vi. 35). 'Blessed are the merciful for . they shall obtain mercy' (l\latt. v. 7). So great, my brethren T is the recompense for mercy. On the other hand, \Voe unto you who deal unlllercifully and grievously with your neigh- bours! Reinelllber in the parable \vhich \ve haye heard read to-day what the Tzar did to the unmerciful creditor: he de- livered hÏIn over to the tormentors, and commanded that he should bt' beaten, until he should pay all that ,vas due to him. (So like\vise,' says the Saviour, 'shall :àly Heavenly :father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses' (Matt. xviii. 35). " }ly dear Christian brethren, be ye likewise merciful to your neighbours! Let us, everyone of us, each according to his po\\rers, render them our best service. Let us obey the conlllland of our Lord, \Vho so often hath manifested His love to us, Who hath clothed us, and fed us. Let us bear in mind the example of the holy Philal'et,1 whose nlelllory \ve keep on December 1, ",.ho on account of his \vonderful practice of this virtue has received the title of 'the :\Ierciful'. This blessed Inan, \vhen he himself had corne to the uttermost extreme of poverty, never ceased to assist t.he poor, giving a\vay to theln his last ox. And for this the Lord granted him salvation. Iay He give us grace to follo\v his goo(l exanlple ! H The precept of charity and lIlercy is the greatest of all ; in it is contained the HUIH and ubstance of Christian virtup. \Vherefol"e it is indispensable for us to fulfil it in holiness. If we fulfil this great cOlllll1andluent, then the Lord also will have mercy upon us, \",ill forgi \-e us our sins, great as they are, and \vill give us His blessing in His hea\Tenly kingdom. A111en." This \vas VladinlÏr's sermon, \vhich ,vas listened to \vith the greatest attention by the village peasants, \vho had kno\vn hiTll fronl hi childhood, and of course were interested in his progress at the St. Petersburg Acaclelny. ::\Iany points in it lnay ,;eem strange to us, but the allusion to the J[agnificat 1 The blessed Philaret \vas a noble of Constantinople, who, like Job, at one time rich, lost all his earthly possessions, and afterwards recovered his position through his grandson marrying into the Empress Irene's family. 46 BIRKBECI AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH (He hath filled the hungry) which comes in the daily morning ,service of the Eastern Church, would not be lost on then1, and the mention of our Saviour's journeys "through the various localities of Palestine," ,vould C01l1e especially home to the in- habitants of a village lying on one of the main pilgriIn routes of Russia, through which many a devout peasant ,vho has been to the Holy Land passes on the ,yay to the shrine of SS. Zosima and Savvati at Solovetzki: As soon as the sermon was over, the royal doors opened, and the priest, accompanied by his deacon, brought the Holy Sacrament forth to the people, and a small child of about two years old was cOlllmunicated in his mother's arlllS, it being his birthday. The practice of com- municating infants, once the universal rule of the Catholic Church lnay seem strange to us, though it is difficult to see ho,v it is possible to condemn it, and to defend infant baptisnl. At any rate the Easterns quote one and the same act for both (St. :ThIark x. 14), and I must say that as a rule it is a most edifying sight, reminding one of many an old picture of our Saviour being brought by His mother to the temple. After this the congregation dispersed, and 'Tladimir and I went home, where ,ve found breakfast being prepared for us, consisting of bread and biscuits, and of course unlimited tea. Needless to say, that Anna Gerlnanovna was anxious to know what I thought of VladinlÏr's sermon, and for his old nurse it ,vas evidently a red-letter day. In a fe,v n1Ïnutes the priest, who had stayed behind to take the ablutions, caIne in, his four hours' service on an enlpty stomach seenled to ,veigh lightly on him, and he appeared to be in no hurry to break his fast. Indeed, he was far too busily occupie.l in preparing the banquet for the guests ,vholn he had invited to the nlidday dinner to Ineet me, to think of his breakfast, in spite of the solicitude of his sister and children on his behalf. At about n1idday the guests began to arrive. First there came Father J oann Rozanoft the head of the Blagochinie (a term answering very much to our Rural Deanery), with his wife, Father Popoff's sister-in-law. Then came Father Feodor I vanoffski, a priest from a neighbouring parish. The Abbot of 1'HE DIOCESE OF ARCHAKGEL 47 :Sijski ,vas also expected, but as it ,vas kno,vn that he was forbidJen by hi nlonastic rule to eat even fish during the fourteen Jays' fast before the " Repose of the [other of God " (August 15) ,ve began w'ithout him. After turning towards the icon of "the Saviour" in the corner of the roonl ,vhile grace was said, ,ve all sat do,vn to do justice to Anna Ger- JllanOVna's excellent yldlá, a fresh fish soup, well kno\vn to all travellers in Russia, and other dishes of fish in various forms. In the n1Ïdst of a lively conversation on the suqject of lilY visit to Solovetski monastery the week before, its shrines, churches, wall , ship , seagulls, pilgrÏ1ns, and services, and just ,vhen lilY stock of Russian names for the je,vels in the vest- lnents and mitres in t,he treasury was ,yell-nigh exhausted, we heard the tinkling of bells, and looking out of the windo,v we sa,v Abbot Antony's tarantass ,vith the three ,vhite horses driving up the village street, and in a fe,y moments he and his deacon entered, and after saluting the icons joined the party. "Second Vespers " have not as yet Inade their appearance in the Eastern Office-books, and there was no Sunday afternoon service, and \ve spent the afternoon chatting over glass after glass of tea, until the guests departed, all except Father Feodor, ,vho " as staying for the night. The evening we spent sitting out of doors on the grass in front of the par onage, and both priests asked me many questions concerning the English Church. They had read in the Tzerkovnyja Trj{dornosti that unlike the Gerlnans "\\"'e had Bishops, and that ,ve kept the festivals of the Church, and allo\ved no ,,"'ork on Sundays. They had also heard that we had a liturgy, but no saints, was this true? I eXplained to them that our Calendar contained the nalnes of a great many saints, and that our principal saints' days 'Yere those of each of the holy Apostles and the Evange- lists, ,vhile ,ve had two greater and three lesser feasts of the Blessed ,rirgin. After supper Father Paul returned to the .subject of the English Church, and asked me ,vhether the Psalter was read in our Church, "Thereupon I explained to him that the Psalter was recited throuO"h once everv month ð oJ , '\vhereas in the East it is read through every "eek, and that 48 BII{KBECK .A..ND TIlE IlUSSIAN CHURCH the song of the Blessed Virgin and the Prophet Simeon were with us, as with them, said every day. But the part of our service which pleased him Inost ,vas the Litany, owing no doubt to its close resemblance in places to the Ectenae in the Eastern services. He would not let me n1iss a single clause in it, and as I translated it sentence by sentence to hinl he re- sponded with Gospodi pOÎÎ ilui (Lord, have luercy) or Pod(Û Gospodi (Grant) 0 Lord) in the place ,vhere ,ve have" Good Lord deliver us" and "\V e beseech Thee to hear us) good Lord," respectively. rfhe next day my visit came to an end, and Vladimir and I had to start for losco'v. \Vhen the time to tart caIne near, the old priest came and tole I me that he 'vas going to church to pray ,vith .Vladimir before ,ve tarted. \Ve all ,vent across to the church, and the speciall5ervice for " A youth returning to his studies" was sung. 'rhese ,nolebens or services for special occasions are far more numerous in the Russian Church than in Greece, and are adluira bly dra,vB up. The Epistle read ,val'> Eph. i. 16-21, and the Gospel, lark x. 13-16, after \vhich Vladin1Ïr ,vent up to ki:--os the cro::;s and ,va sprinkled \\Tith holy \vater, and then the following prayer ,vas rt:ad :- "0 Lord, our God and Jlaker, 'Vho hast honoured lnankilld by creating hin1 in Thine ilnage, and hast taught thenl \VhOln Thou hast chosen to reverence all those ,vho harken unto rrhy doctrine, and hast revealed 'fhy ,visdom unto babes, and didHt instruct Solomon and all those \vho have sought after rrhy ,visùom: open the hearts, understandings, and lllouths of thel'ìp. Thy servants, that they Inay receive the Inight of Thy la\\T. that they may effectually learn the profitable doctrine which is placed before them, to the glory of Thy Inost holy Xan)(.., and to the use and edification of Thy holy Church, and that they may understand Thy blessed and perfect will. Deliv.-}" them fro III all assaults of the enelny, connrrll them in ortho- doxy and faith, and in all blessellness and purity all the daYH of their life, and grant that they nlay perfect themselves in t111 understanding and fultihnent of rrhy testÏ1nonies: and that, thus prepared they Inay glorify Thy lll0st holy N anle, and THE ])IOCES} O F .A11CH \XGEL 4B Dlay be inheritors of Thy kingdom. For Thou art our God, n1Ïghty in lllercy, and gracious in Inightiness: and to Thee is due all glory, honour, and ,vorship, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, no,v and ever, and to ages of ages. AUlen." Then, after being taken round to kiss the principal icons in the church, his father took him to his Inother':-; grave in the churchyard, and read a short service there ending ,vith the prayer:- "0 God of all spirits and of all flesh, \Vho has tlestroye f 1 death ana trodden do,vn Satan, and hast given life to the ".or1d: grant unto the soul of Thine handlllaid departed this life to rest in pleasant, happy, and peaceful places, from ,vhence pain and sorro,v and sighing do flee a ,yay. Forgive, o blessed Lord, Thou lover of Inankind, forgive the sins she hath cOlnmitted by thought, ,vord, or deed: for there is not a man that liveth and sinneth not: Thou alone art ,vithout sin, Thy righteousness is everlasting righteousness, and Thy \V ord is truth. For 'fhou, 0 Christ, art the resurrection and the life: and to Thee \ve offer up our praise together "ith Thine everlasting Father and Thy Inost blessed and life-giving pirit, no,v and for ever, even unto ages of ages. .A.IHen. .J ..A.fter this service \ve ,vent back to the parsonage to dinner, after ,vhich we sat talking tin the bel11'; of our tarantass COIn- ing do,vn the village announced that the hour of parting be- t,veen father and son ,vas COffiè. The table ,vas moved aside and all the household assen1bled in the 1'00111. The lalnps he- fore the icons ,vere lit and the fanlily knelt clo\vn to pray for a safe journey for UH, the old priest's ,.oice being conl';tantly in- terrupted ,vith sobs at parting ,vith his son, \VhOlll he ,voulù ha ve no chance of seeing again for two year , a long time to look for\vard to at hi tilue of life. He thanked lie again ana again for hringing Vladin1Ïr hOl11(> to him, ,vhile .L<\.nna Ger- Inanovna, in the midst of her tears, .nce n10re entreated me not to take Vladin1Ïr "across the frontier" with tHe \vhen I returned home. Nothing \vould satisfy her upon this point until I told her that no one could leave Russia ,vithout a pasH- port, and that the (}O\-ernlllcnt ,vould never allo\v D1e to carry- 4 50 BIRKBECK AKI) THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Vladin1Ïr off to England. The tarantass ,vas no" packed, and we went do"\vnstairs into the village street. As the priest eU1- braced me for the last tin1e he said: " God bless you for bring- ing me my son. May He ever be ,vith you and all those ,vho are dear to you, and send His holy angels to help and protect you on your journey." The jalllshchik cracked his whip and our three horses started in a canter, and in a -re\v n1Ïnutes Zachachevski was out of sight and we vvere once lllore driving through the dark fir forests to,vards .ßloscow. CHAPTER IV. THE BALTIC PROVINCES OF RUSSIA. As a discussion first started by Dr. \V right in his article in the .LVineteenth Oentury, on "Stanlping out of Protestantism in Russia," is now being carried on in the Guardian,1 a few Dbservations bearing on the c0111plicated religious and political question of the Baltic Provinces nlay be interesting to some of its readers. I do not attenlpt to give a definite opinion on the whole rights and \vrongs of the question. For this, it would be necessary to kno,v the Esthonian or Lettish language and spend some time amongst the people, ,vhereas I: have only ac- .cess to some of the German and Russian literature on the sub- ject, and have formed most of IllY ideas concerning it from conversations ,vith various Germans and Russians during two long journeys in Russia. SOllle of these impressions I have given in the following lines, together with SOlne statistics from Russian sources, ,vhich have not yet appeared in England. And I have prefaced the ,vhole ,vith a slight historical sketch, mainly with a vie,v to showing how inextricably religion and politics have always been internlingled in the past. history of these provinces. The three Russian Governments of Esthland, Livland, and Courland, commonly known as the Baltic Provinces, have for the last six centuries been governed, as far as their internal .affairs are concerned, by a Ger1nan oligarchy, ,vhich was .established chiefly by the conquests of the Teutonic Knights, and which in point of nunlbers has never, at the. 1l10St liberal COlllputation, exceeded one-tent.h of the ,vhole population. At I At the beginning of 1890. This article, signed by Birkbeck, appeared on 1\Iarch 19.-[A.R.] (51) 52 BIRKBECK A D THE RUSSIAN CHURCH the present time they nUlnber (if Leroy-Beaulieu is to be trusted) 160,000, ,vhile the Esthonians and Letts together amount to about 2,000,000. To show how c01l1pletely the Germans have had the government in their o,vn hands, it is enough to state that, in spite of the opposition of the vast majority of the population, they have t,vice been able to force an entirely new religion upon theIn, the service of ,vhich were in both cases at first extremely distasteful to the people, and conducted, moreover, in languages that they \vere totally unable to understand. The history of the first conversion is soon told. At first it seemed that these tribes would have received the Christian faith from the missionaries of the Eastern Church, ,vho had already founded a bishopric at ovgorod in 1035 and at Pskotf in 1132. But the energies of the Russians were cOlllplete]y paralysed at this time by the terrible life and death struggle ,vith the Tartar invaders frotn the ea1ìt which ,va1ì just beginning, and the Teutonic ] nights found the coast clear for them ,vhen they conquered these provinces early in the thirteenth century, and compelled the natives, who had hitherto been pagans, to enter the fold of the 'Vestern Church. The diocese of Riga ,vas founded in 1201, and in 1255 fornled into an archbishopric, ,vith the bishoprics of Gesel, Dorpat, anù Curonia as suffragan sees, together ,vith several sees in East Prussia. To this was added after\vards the diocese of Reval, \vhich had been founded by the Danes ,vhen Valdenlar II Con(luered Esthland in 1218, and had thus hitherto forn1ed part of the archiepiscopal province of Lund, in Denlnark, but ,vhich passed in 1346, together with the territory, into the hands of the Teutonic J{nights. The crusading nature of the Danish invasion of Esthland is evident froln the present Danish flag, the fanlous Dannebrog, a ,vhite cross upon a red ground, which the Danes adopted in this ,val' for the first tinle as their standard in place of the Raven. rrhe second conversion of the country took place in the first half of the sixteenth century, the Lutheran doctrines being introduced by Andreas Knöpken in 1521, and soon accepted by THE B..c\LTIC PROVIKCES 53 the donlinant cJass, and enforced throughout the three pro- vinces; and, though the ne\v teaching nlet with considerable opposition, the ancient Church seems to have completely dis- appeared w.ithin the next ten years. ::\Iean,vhile, t,vo new po,vers had been gradually coming to the front. Russia had now thrown off the Tartar yoke, and had consolidated her po,ver in all those northern districts which had already been brought to Christianity through the agency of her missionaries, chiefly lnonks, ,vho played the most important part in the colonisation of Northern Russia. But her progress was arrested by S,veden, an old rival, whom she had defeated under St. Alexander N evski in 1241, but was now once more to n1eet in the battle-f.ield. All through the sixteenth century S,veden was encroaching on the north of Russia, and before the end of the century the great monastery of Solovetzki, in the 'Yhite Sea, had to surround itself with fortifications, being threatened by the fate which already had befallen the Inonaster es of Pechenski in Lapland, and Valaam and Konevétz in Lake Ladoga. This ne\v rivalry ,vas soon transferred to the Baltic Provinces, ,vhich John the Terrible had attempted but failed to conquer, and w.hich fell, all except Courland, into the hands of S,veden. As is ,veIl known, they \vere finally annexed to Russia by Peter the Great, ,vho en- gaged hÏ1nself by treaty to respect the privileges of the Es- tablished Lutheran Church of these provinces. Courland ,vas granted similar terulS in 1795 by Catherine II, and thus they relllained until 1832, \vhen Xicholas I issued an order that the Greek Orthodox religion should henceforth be the Established religion, and that the la\v of these provinces in ecclesiastical matters should be assimilated to that of the rest of the enlpire. The bookshops at Berlin are full of violent pamphlets on the subject of Russian perfidy for not adhering to Peter the Great's pledge in this matter, and Dr. 'Y right seems to feel equally strongly on the subject. I must say that this seems to me to be taking rather an extravagant vie,v of the per- manency of such obligations. Of how many countries in Europe can it be said that they have adhered to the letter of 54 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH all their treaties since the eighteenth century? Certainly not of Germany, who in 1880, on the flimsiest of pretexts, openly repudiated an equally solemn promise given to Denmark in the Treaty of Prague only fifteen years previously, and has lately, in distinct violation of her pledge to Haln burg in 1871, forced that city much against her will into her Customs union. For this latter act the Germans offer exactly the same justification as do the Russians for the action of Nicholas 1- namely, that the time has come for a closer consolidation of the empire. The introduction of railways has n1ade in the same direction, both by bringing these provinces into closer relations ,vith the chief centres of t.he empire, and by trans- ferring much of the export trade of the interior fron1 St. Petersburg to Reval, Riga, and Libau, ,vhich are often free from ice n10st of the winter. The transfer of Russian trade has naturally attracted a considerable Russian population to these parts, and with theI11 has come the Russian religion; so that it was inevitable that sooner or later the san1e la,ys on religion ,vhich are enforced in the rest of the empire should be extended to these provinces. It ,vas inevitable also that at first the enforcen1ent of these la,vs should be attended ,vith some cases of hardship. Let us take, for instance, the ]a 'v ordering that the chilJren of mixed marriages should be brought up in the Orthodox faith. That this law has until lately been lightly enforced, and that such children ,vere frequently brought up in Lutheranis111 contrary both to the la,v and the n1arriage agreement, is adn1itted by both sides. Since 1885 the la,v has been put more strictly in force, and, if this has entailed hardship in many individual cases, the blarne ,vould seem to lie rather ,vith the parents who had broken their word, or their clergy, whether Russian or Lutheran, ,vho had neglected to remind theln of it, than ,, ith the Russian Bishop or officials ,vhose duty it is to enforce the law, however much they may approve or disapprove of it. I shall no\v give some statistics concerning the Russian Church in the Baltic Provinces \vhich I have collected chiefly from the Chief Procurator's last official report of all the dioceses THE B.A..LTIC PROVINCES 5.S of the Russian Church in the year 1886. The Baltic Provinces are all includetl in the diocese of Riga, in ,vhich, a,; ,ve have seen, there are rather over 2,000,000 inhabitants, of whom 216,618 are registered as 11leIllbers of the Orthodox Church. The total nUInber of parish churches given is 168, of which 12 ,vere opened during the years 1885-6. The parishes are di vided amongst the three Baltic GovernIllents as follo,vs:- 123 in Livland, 22 in Esthlalld, and 21 in Cour1and, and of these, 38 are in the principal to\vns, and 130 in country vil- lages. Out of the total nunlber, in 34 the service is perfornled both in the Russian and native languages; ,vhile, of the re- Inaining 134, 3 are exclusively Russian, 42 Lettish, and 69 Esthonian, according to the requirements of the parishioners: and these are served by 186 archpriests and priests and 30 deacons. There is an Episcopal selllinary and classical school, containing 109 and 174 pupils respectively, anlongst ,vhich 39 have passed in the Esthonian and 70 in the Lithuanian lan- guages. Besides these, t.here are 462 parochial schools, ,vhich are educating 17,795 children. The nunlber of fresh converts luade during the year 1886 gi\Ten is 5,797, of ,vhich 5,74.1 \vere fronl the Lutheran Church, and the reIl1aining 52 from various sects, of ,yhich 28, Dr. \Vright ,vill ,be consoled to hear, \vere from the ROlllan Catholics. Concerning these conversions the report gives the 1110st curious details (TTsepoddannéishij Otcket ::a 1886, p. 70), showing that in some districts, especially in the east of Esthonia, the villages are going over alnlost en 1nasse. For instance, in the village of Ristin, near Hapsal, 423 passed over in that year; in Thlerjalna and Rappel, and the neighbouring district, 457; and in the village \Yindau in Courland, 575; besides a large nU1l1ber of Sw.edes in the island of \V orms. Leroy -Beaulieu states that 'v hole villages often secede from antipathy to the Gerulan landlords; and I have given t.he nalnes of these villages in order that Dr. ',","right, \vho has apparently gone into the nlatter carefully, Inay be able to tate ,vhether this ,vas the reason, or ,vhether this i one of the instances ,yhich he has collected of fictitious con- verSIons. 56 BIRKBECI{ AND THE RUSSI.Lt\.N CHUltCH The fact is that during the time of their undisputed su- premacy the Germans, in marked contrast to the Swedes in Finland, failed to avail themselves of their opportunity. Whether after the Reformation they might as Dr. Wright puts it, "have Ï111proved the education of the people" (by which, I suppose, he lneans forced the Gernlan language upon thelu), and ,vhether, as he thinks, "it ,vould have been easy to have thoroughly Gernlanised the original races had that task been undertaken," or ,yhether, like the Swedes in Fin- land, they n1Ïght have succeeded in ,vinning the affections of the people, so as to accept with heart and soul their religion, I cannot say, though, to judge by the Ineagre success which other attenlpts to Gerlnanise a su ject population have achieved, I am inclined to doubt it. But it is certain that such an at- tempt was Hever so Inuch as contelnplated in these provinces until after the enlancipation of the serfs in the rest of the Russian Enlpire brought the question to the front. And then it was too late. The Russians " ere in the field before them. Whatever may be the rights and "Tongs of the case, and ,vhat- ever means 11lay have been used in the Enlperor Nicholas's reign, we nlay be sure that the discontent of the peasantry and their tendency to turn to the St. Petersburg Government for assistance is inspired by sOlnething Inore than bribes held forth by the Russian clergy. Indeed, these latter were in 1887 strictly forbidden by their superiors, at the instance of 1\1. Pobedonostzeff, to pron1Í e their converts any nlaterial advan- tage-a fact which Dr. \\Tright characteristically onlits to mention, although it is stated in Leroy-Beaulieu, \vhoIl1 he occasionally quotes as an authoritY- Then, that is to say, he can be quoted in favour of his att.acks upon the Russian Church. Even Russian Protestants allo\v that there are two sides to the question. \Yhen travelling this sumnler I hap- pened to be dining ,vith three Finianders, all of thelu Luther- ans, who were loud in their abuse of Russia, o\ying to the re-establishment by Peter the Great of the two monasteries on Lake Ladoga, which had been destroyed by the S,vedes, which are now nominally in Finnish territory. But when I brought THE BA.LTIC PROVIXCES 57 IIp the question of the Baltic Provinces a complete change of tone took place, and I wa regaled with ,,","hat I hope were .exaggerated statements as to the sufferings of the Esthonian people (who are Finns by race) at the hands of the German landlords, and with expressions of gratification that the Russian Government had taken up their cause [ In writing what I have concerning the Baltic Provinces, I do not mean to imply that I consider the Russians to be all in the right and the Germans all in the wrong, but rather to sho,v that the question is a very difficult one; that there are two sides to this as well as to every other question, and that it is our privilege as Englishmen and Anglicans, and not either Russians or Gerlnan , Protestants or Greek Orthodox, to be able to look at it ÌInpartially, and to write and speak of it without elnploynlent of either invective or slander. No one would deny that the Germans in the Baltic Provinces are in .an exceedingly difficult position, and no one that has had the privilege of coming into contact ,,'"ith them \vould deny that they are the most honourable race of tnen, and that they have served their Tzar and Russia on nlanyoccasions nobly and well. But the present age is not ,vhat the eighteenth century was, and the old order is changing, giving place to new. .Granting that the Gernlan population of the Baltic coast to,vns and the country gentry are in the Inatter of education far in advance of the ordinary Russian middle classes, we cannot ex- pect that the Russian Governnlent ,viII permit them to occupy an exceptional position ,vhich is now denied to the Russian nobility. The happiest thing that could happen to them would be that they should make up their lllinds to join the Orthodox Church. Dr. ',","right admitt; that free acce s is given by the Russian ecclesiastical authorities to the \Y ord of God, and no one can deny that the Liturgies of St. Basil and St. Chrysos- tom are nearer to those of the prinlitive Church, to ,vhich we all appeal, than any other now in use in Christendolll. Of course, this is quite impossible; but I am convinced that it is so rather on account of the past history of the t,,","o peoples and race hatred than for any other reason. Over and over again 58 BIRKBECK .AXI) rrHE I-\USSIAN CHURCH I have noticed ,vhile travelling in R ssia that it is impossible- for almost any Gerlnan to speak of the Russians \vithout using most unfair expressions of hatreJ and conten1pt. I renlember, on one occasion, when, on starting from the shore in a stealner, all the Russian peasants on board turned towards a church, and, according to their pious custon1, crossèd theIl1sel ves and sang" Holy God, holy and n1ighty, holy and iU1n10rtal, have mercy upon us," and prayed for a prosperous voyage. A Ger- man merchant turned to nle and said, " rrhe rasca}s, they cross' themselves with their right hand and steal \vith their left ". This is the generous way in \vhich the ordinary German mer- chant speaks of the Russians, and one is not surprised in the- country villages, when asked from what country you come and you reply" from England," that they say, " Glory to God, you are not a Gernlan "; or that occasionally, as I discovered in a church close to the \Vhite Sea, in pictures of the Last Judgment figures labelled "Germans" are depicted on the ,varm side, ste\ving bet,veell " Turks" and" Tartars"! These two instances are extremely characteristic of the present state of feeling between the two races, and should nlake one cautious in accepting the stateulents of either side without proof based upon personal experience. I need not stop here to discuss Dr. \Vright's theories on "the principles of religious liberty," though I entirely disagree with them. But belieye that if he kne\v III ore of Russia even he would admit that just as free- trade may be an ad vantage to one country and a disadvantage- to another, so free trade in religion would have the D10st disastrous effects in the Russian enlpire. This, at any rate,. has been the experience of the Finns, \vho, Protestants as they are, not only protect their country by law against the Ortho- dox Inissionaries, but also against foreign proselytism of any kind, as I recently learnt fron1 a circular of the Salvation Army begging for money to start their propaganda in Fin- land, in which an apology was Inade that the new sect ,vould ha ve to be started under an assullled n01n de guerre in the' Finnish language, as foreign sects had recently been forbidden by the Finnish Diet. It is humiliating to think that most of THE BA.LTIC PROVINCES 59 these self-constituted apostles, "quack soul" savers " as they have been aptly describeù by a distinguished Russian au- thoress, should come from England, and when one hears the English Church held responsible for their purely gratuitous vagaries, "Tith which she has nothing whatever in common, it is hard to repress one's indignation. The Russians and Finns leave England alone in this respect; why cannot ,ve do as ,ve. would be done by ? CHAPTER V. 'THE SLAVONIC LANGUAGE IN THE RUSSIAN CHURCH SERVICES.l ONE of the commonest charges brought against the Russian Church is that the Old Slavonic language, in ,vhich her services are read, is not understood by the people. It has even been said of her that in this respect she is worse off than the ROlI\an Church, inasmuch as not only the people, but the clergy them- selves are unable to understand what they read. If the follow- ing relnarks serve to modify the 111isunderstandings upon this matter which one constantly meets ,vith, even in highly educated circles, its object will have been attained. Dr. Neale ,vas probably right in saying that the Old Slav- onic is the Il10st perfect language for ecclesiastical purposes which the Christian \vorld has as yet seen. As subtle and flexible as Greek, as vigorous and terse as Latin, and as clear and precise as either of them, the Slavonic language has the great advantag-e over both, that when SSe Cyril and l\lethodius first applied it to ecclesiastical purposes, instead of being in a state of decadence, as was the case with the classical languages of antiquity at the titHe \vhen they \vere first used by the Church, it was in the full vigour and perfection of its youth. Accordingly the Slavonic Scriptures, and the Slavonic service- books which \vere translated in the tenth century, represent to Slavonic literature just what our Prayer-book and Authorised Version of the Bible represent to Anglo-Saxon literature-that is to say, the language in its highest and purest form. l)lore- over, owing to the fact that the service-books ,vere the begin- ning of Slavonic literature, and that the alphabet was invented by St. Cyril on purpose for theIn, they had the further ad, antage of a perfectly consistent phonetic spelling, which, with certain 1 This article appeared originally in the Guardian for !\Iay 16, 1894. (GO) THE SLA \YOXIC L..t\..NGUAGE 61 sinallinodifications connected \vith local dialects, they still re- tain. In fact, as a language for ecclesiastical use it could hardly be ÏInproved upon. The only lluestion is \vhether the people in Russia can un- derstand it sufficiently well to justify its retention in the Church services or not. To accuse the Russian Church, as her enemies are so fond of doing, of \vilfully obscuring the language of her services in order to keep the people ignorant, is as ,vanton and baseless a calu111ny as was e\yer invented. The English Church justly prides herself upon the ,vork that she has done of late years in translating her formularies into the languages of the various races \vhich she includes ,vithin her jurisdiction: but the Russian Church was already doing this long before the idea of adn1Ïnistering the Sacralnents in Eng- lish, far less in 'Yelsh or Irish, was even thought of in this. country. Frolll the days of St. Stephen of PerIn, ,vho in the fourteenth century began the conversion of the tribes in the- north-eastern districts of European Russia by inventing an alphabet for the Zyrianian language an(l then translating the ,vhole of the Church books into it, do\vn to the present tlay, when her services are read in more than a hundred languages, a service understanded of the people has always been her tradition; and I do not suppose there is any X atiol1al Church, not excepting even the Anglican Church, ,vhere the services are read in so rnany languages. The trouble and expense that the ecclesiastica.l authorities ,yill go to in the nlatter is quite astonishing. \Yhen I ,vas in St. Petersburg, in 1889, a com- n1ittee of experts \vere engaged in translating the liturgy for a small tribe in the north-east of Siberia, l1ulnbering under 5000 souls, ,vhose language contained little over 200 words in all, and amongst them none for" body" (that is to say corpus as distinguished frOlTI ca,ro) and nOlle for" bread," o that eyen the Lord's Prayer and the ,vords of institution could not be translated literally. And this being so, it would seen1 very improbable that she ,vould intentionally starve her Rus'3ian- speaking population by reading to theln in a language they cannot understand. ilß2 BIRKBECK AND THE HUSSIAN CHURCH But is it true that the Russian peasant cannot understand the Church language? One thing is quite certain, that while the Russian language as spoken in cultivated classes has since the time of Peter the Great been profoundly modified by con- tact \vith other European languages and 1110des of thought, the language of the peasantry has been hardly, if at all, affected by the change. I once heard Archbishop An1brose, of Kharkoff, in a speech upon Russian internal afl Ûrs, C0111pare the Russian nation to a train, the engine of ,vhich, by putting on too much steam in the time of Peter the Great, had broken loose from the rest of the train and left it behind; and this is certainly equally true of the language. Use, for instance, the word .Telígija (religion) to a Russian muzhik, and he will only shake his head in be,vilderment, and this not only at the word, but -at the idea "rhich the \vord contains, if you explain it to hinl. The word \vhich he uses is vjéra (faith), \vhich he understands well enough, and" n1en of a different religion" to hiInself he calls inovjértzy-that is to say, ÙÀÀÓ7rU5TOt, a word for which it is difficult to find an exact equivalent in any \Vestern language, but which is analogous to theSlavonicinovjazychjsk (ài\i\Óryi\WTTOÇ), or inostránetz, a foreigner. Both inovjéritz and inostránetz are used in comnlon conversation in modern Russian, and show the immense influence that the Greek Church has had upon .the growth of the nation; 1 but what I am no,v anxious to show is not so much this, but that the Old Slavonic language is, as a lnatter of fact, the best medium through which the teaching of the Church can reach the people, even down to the most ignorant classes. Let us first see how very near to Olle another the two languages are, ,vhen the sin1plest and 1110St familiar nlatter have to be expressed. I will take as an example the first four verses (Greek division) of }'Iagnificat, which is sung every -day at l\Iatins in the Eastern Offices, and in Russia is generally heartily joined in by the congregation :- 1 The most remarkable example of this is the word sOTak, "forty," derived from the Gk. THJ'CTap&KOJlTa, referring to the forty days of Lent, Ea.ster, a.nd -Christmas. All other Slavonic languages have the regular form chetyridesjat. 'I'H:E SLA ,TOKIC LAKGUAG-J1: ( .OJ h.J l\IODERX l{ GSSIAX. Gos- 1. \T elichit dushá Inojà GÓ - póda : 2. i vozrádoval ja dukh moi 0 Bógje Spasítelje Il10én1. 3. Chto prizrj él on na mirênij e rabý svojéj: íbo otnýnje bÚdut ub]azhátj menjá vsjé rÓdy : 4. Jáko sotvori 11lnje velíchije 4. Chto sotvoríl mnje velíchije Siljny: i svjáto ímja J egó. Síljny : i svjáto Ünja J egó. Now, if the Slavonic version be compared both ,vith the Greek original and \vith the modern Russian, it will at once he seen that the difierences bet\veen the first and the last consist Inainly in the ternlÏnations of the verbs. This is to be accounted for by the fact that the Old Slavonic possessed an aorist, which has practically disappeared in Inodern Russian. So lnuch for one of the more in1ple passages of Scripture. But it would not be fair to quote this as a sole exanlple. The next quotation shall be one in \vhich the Old Slavonic differs as far as it is possible to find frOll1 the 1l10dern Russian. \Ye will take Luke xxiv. 16, 17 :- OLD LA YONIC. 1 \T elíchit dushà lnojà poda: 2. i v.ozrádovasja dukh 11l0i 0 Bózje,' Spásje moéln. 3. Jáko prizljé na smirénije rabý svojejá: se bo, otný- nj e u blazhá tt n1j a vsi ródi : ßIODERN RUSSIAX. 16. No glazà ikh bJ li udérzh- any, tak chto Ol1Í nje uznali J egó. 17. Reché zhe k'nÚna: chto 17. On zhe skazál in1: 0 chëm sútj slovesjá sijá, 0 nikh- éto vy idjá razsuzhdáete zhe stjazáetasja k'sebjé 11lézhdu sobóju, i otchegó -idúshcha, i estádrjákhla? vy pecháljny ? N ow at first sight these two versions appear to differ so much from one another that it ,vould seCln hardly possible that a 11lodem Russian should understand the older version. Nevertheless, if we analyse the differences betw.een them, I think that ,ve shall conle to a different conclusion. OLD SLA VO IC. 16. Óchi zhe jej'Ú derzhástje- . sja, da J ehó nje poznáeta. 64 BII I{B}:CI{ _ XD THE RU88IA.N CHlJl CH I. In the first place, all the tern1Ïnations \vhich have been put in italics are those of the dual nlunber, which has entirely disappeared from lllodern RUHsian verbs, adjectives, and pro- nonns, and although retained in a certain limited sense in the nOlninative and accusatiye cases of nonns, may practically be said to have disappeared quite as cOHlpletely fronl the modern language as it had froIH the Greek of the New 'restament. 2. 81. Ochi, l\lod. BUR Olo)zà, eyes. O-chi (nom. and acc. dual. fronl óko), although, except in poetry, it has given ,yay in the lHodern language to yl((;zà, is still Hiuch used by the comlllon people. l\Ioreover, the modern language makes use of nlany of its derivatives-e.g., its din1Ínutive, ochki = " pectacles," and ochevídno (lit. seen to the eyes) = " evident ". 3. Derzhâstjesja (31'<1 per . dual. ilnp. pasRe) and byli udérzltny (3rt! pel's. plur. perf. pass.). This difference will (apart fronl the diff'erence of nuniber) be best describeù by comparing the forlner to tenebantur (Vulgate) and the latter to ?"etenti sunt. rrhe analogy is so close that in Russian, as in Latin, a prepositional prefix is neces:.:;ary if the perfect fornl be used. In passing it is interesting to notice ho,v the verb derzhatj, \vhich is equivalent to the Ok. lCaTÉXélv, provideR a conuection bet'YCell ÈlCpaTovvTo of the Gk. rrest. and tenebantu'ì" of the Vulgate. From it is derived the word de1.zháva (lCpÚTO(), inlperÌ\un), "po,ver," and sa'ì1 O d e?'zhetz (avToKplÍTWp), "an autocrat" . 4. S1. reché (aorist) : 310(1. Rus. On skazál (irnperfect). Here, besides the difference of tense we have t\VO different ,vords u ed. But the difference is exactly analogous to that bet\yeen "he spake" au(l "he said" in English, and would present no difficulty to a Russian. Indeed the Russian word for" a speech" is rjéchj, and ill ordinary conversation if you wish to say, "they are t.alking- a bout so-and-so," you would put in into Russian: rjéchy 'iclëï 0 torn tlit. the talk is going concerning so-and-so). 5. But in Rpite of all this, the 17th verse is evidently quite different in the t\VO versions. It does not therefore follow, however, that the people cannot u!1derstand the Slavonic rrHI SLA. 'VO IC LÁ\XG U...\.GR 65 version. The fact is that in the modern Russian the verse has been paraphraseù, whereas the Slavonic follo\vs the Greek word for \yord. If translated literally, the modern version would be: "Concerning \vhat is it, that you, in \valking, re3 on between yourselves, and wherefore are you sad? " 6. And now' we COlne to the only \yorù \yhich is used in the old version in a sense \vhich is obsolete in the Inodern language. Drjâkhla (nonl. dual. Inasc.), which is used for Gk. uKv()p(lJ7roí, \youl(l not in lllodern Russian Inean "sad," but more" sad- looking," "worn out," "broken dow.n," or "ùecrepid". It is used for an old luau, one \vho has "shifted into the lean allå slippered pantaloon," or for scents \vhich have lost their strength. Anyone \vho has travelled in Russia, and has eaten cold sturgeon, probably know's the nlealling of drjálchly khrjèn, or horse-radish sauce, ,vhich has been kept too long and has so lost its fl vour. But, after all, is not this the exact meaning of u/Cv()pw7rór;, as, for instance, used by Euripides in the expres- sion u/Cv()pW7rÒV ryrypar; (Bacch. 1252)? And is it not an appro- priate \vord for Inen overcome and beaten L1o\vn ,vith grief? I think that it \vill no,v be clear that as far as the Scrip- tures and the ordinary forms of the Divine office are concerned, the RUH ians can find little difficulty (provided that they kno\v their o\vn language, \\?hich is certainly the case with the Russian peasantry, efpcrto ere de) in foHowing what they hear- in church. The only exception ,vhich I ,vould luake to this assertion is in the ease Gf certain variable portions of the Proper of Saints, such as, for instance, those of the lllore elaborate canonR, which have been translated from Greek poetical compositions written in metrical form. The difficulty of understanding these lies in the fact that the translators, while they did not attempt to rpproduce the Inetre of the Greek original, neverthele :s retained the exact or(ler of the C reek ,vords, notwithstanding that the exigencies of Greek metrical composition often re(luired the disarrangement (e.g., the separation of adjecti,yes from their nouns) of the natural order of the words. A foreicrner , for instance \vill find much ð , more difficulty in reading the Slavonic translation of the. 5 6ß BIRI(BECK AX}) THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Acathist of the l\lother of God, wTitten by Sergius, Patriarch ()f Constantinople in the seventh century, than the Acathist ()f the " Iost sweet J esuH" written origir ally in Slavonic in Russia in the eleventh century. And although these t,vo Acathists are so falniliar to all Orthodox Russians, that eveD the first presents no difficulty to them, this is naturally not the case ,yith regard to SOllIe of the canons which are read once a year on minor festivals of the Church. But, after all, supposing that our o,vn peasantry were to attend the daily lnatins (the office at which these canons are sung) with any- thing like the regularity ,vith \vhich the mu::hilcs attend that service in Russia, \vould not they sometill1eS hear language which \vould be rather difficult for then" to understand? At any rate, I myself have heard a great nlany III ore quotations (and intelligent quotations too) nlade fronl the Slavonic canons translated frOlTI St. Cosmas and St. John Damascene than I have ever heard frolTI the Norfolk peasantry, amongst \vhonl I have lived all lilY life, from the Hebre\v prophets, ,vhich are read, or ought to be read, in all our churches throughout the months of September and October! With regard to the Russian clergy, the accusation that they cannot understand Sla vonic is a pure invention. Every priest has to go through a complete course in it at the diocesan seminaries before he is ordained, and, if one's own experience counts for anything, I may say that, \vhile in travelling in out-of-the-way parts of Russia I have frequently asked the local clergy to go through the services with nle before attending them, I have never once found any of them, even the poorest, unable to do so. I think, therefore, that it is certain that the people, although they nlay not understand the variable portions of some of the minor feasts, have no difficulty with the Scriptures, the Psalms, the Creed, the Canticles, or any other of the everyday portions of the service. Indeed, the choirs in the villages are chiefly composed of peasants, and, although in the rich churches in the large to,vns Illusic of a nature too elaborate to be congrega- tional is often employed, ,vherever it is possible one hears the people joining in the service. One nlorning this SUlllmer I THE SL.A\TQXIC L -\.KGUAGE 67 went into the !Cazan Cathedral early in the morning, and found that the liturgy ,vas being sung \vithout any choir at all: the large church was packed \vith people singing, Dot, as in Ger- many, hynlns more or less independent of the l\lass, but the actual \yords of the liturgy, including the proper of the day, which ,,"as the Feast of the Transfiguration. They sang these without any books and entirely by heart; but this is not 80 surprising in Russia, seeing that the Transfiguration is one of the t,velve principal feasts of the Orthodox Church. I think, then, that there is no doubt that the Russian peasants understand the actual ,yords of the Church services. Indeed, all the popular literature of the country is \vritten not in modern Russian but in the Church language. If anyone doubts this, let him look at the ballads (byliny) collected from the mouths of the peasantry and printed for the first time by the Slavophiles Hilferding and Kirêeffski during the present century; or let him listen to the labourers, even in nlodern towns, and the song which they sing ,vhile doing their ,york. The nlan who has merely nlasterecl the modern Rus:5ian gram- mar and dictionary, and has paid no attention to the Old Sla vonic will not understand very III uch ! It may, ho,vever, be objected that, ho\vever near the language of the peasantry may be to the forms used by the Church, they often do not understand the fulllueaning of these forms. But this is quite another question; and Russian peaHants are certainly not the only people in the world who sometimes misunderstand the meaning of the Scriptures or Church services when they hear them react But I will go even further. As far as Russia is concerned I anl inclined to think that the abandonment of the Old Slavonic in favour of nlodern Russian for the Church services would be a case of j urn ping out of the frying-pan into the fire. The following actually happened last spring: I_A Stundist (a sort of semi- rationalistic Protestant sect of German origin) preacher in the south of Russia had succeeded in converting nearly half of a village, and had persuaded thenl to burn all their ikons pub- 1 This article appeared originally in 1\Iay, 1894. . 68 BIRRBECK AX}) THE RUSSIAN CHURCH licly, and to believe in " the Bible, and the Bible only". One Sunday he was reading aloud to them from the last chapter of St. )lark in n10dern Rus ian in preparation for a sermon upon the r-:ame. He got as far as verse 12, ", here the Evange- list speaks of the Saviour appearing" unto two of them in another forin". Now, the ?nodern Russian translation of Èv fTf.pCf fLopcþfi is v' inóm óbra.lzje ; moreover the word óbraz nleans not only forma, but likewise imago, and is, as a matter of fact, the C0111illOn Russian ,yord for an eicon, or sacred picture; and although in the plural number one may dist.inguish between the t\VO meanings, inasmuch as it has a masculine and neuter forD1, of ,vhich the first (óbrazy) represents J1.opcþaí and the second (obrazá) EiJ(oVE , in the singular number there is nothing but the sense of the passage to distinguish between the two meanings. Accordingly, no sooner did their self-constituted teacher mention the ,vords v' inó1n ób-razjè than a long-bearded ?nuzhik arose and said, "But, little father, you have told us to burn our eicons (ob'ìYtzå) because the Bible forbid theIn, and yet no,v the Bible tells us tha:t the Lorù Hilnself appeared after His Resurrection in another eicon (v' inóm óbrazjè)." The result was fatal to the preacher, and the peasants, ,vith those simple and heep-like instincts ,vhich alone 111akc the den10- cratic institutions of the Russian rnir, or village assell1bly, a possibility, returned to their parish priest. This story, of course, n1Ìght very easily be uHed by the enen1Ïes of the Russian Church as an example of the ignorance of the Russian peasantry. It Inight also be used by her friends as sho,ving both ho,v im- portant it is that irresponsible proselytisel's should not be let loose upon such siInple-Ininded folk, and that the Radical and Progressist party in Russia, ,vhich, just as in this country, is trying to banish religious instruction from the village schools, should not be allowed to have it all their o,vn ,yay. Indeed, it ,vas in connection \vith the latter t\VO argulllents that the story was told to me, and I entirely agree. But my reason for quoting it is quite different, and refers much more directly to the subject of my paper. I ,yish to point out that while the preacher, by reading from the modern Russian text v' inó'nL THE SLAVOl\IC LAKGUAGE 69 óbrazje (\vhich, through a literal translation of Èv éTÉPlt p.opCÞf1, would not be free from alnbiguity to an uneducated man), laid himself open to n1Ïsunderstancling, if he had only taken the Slavonic version injèm óbrazo?n (ablativltS 'ìnodi), "by an- other form," there could have been no mistake to anybody about the meaning of the passage. CHAPTER VI. THE PROSPECT OF REUNION 'VITH EASTERN CHRISTENDOM IN SPECIAL RELATION TO THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH. IN January, 1894, we both went down to Gloucester to a meeting of the English Church Union. I gave the first address, on Eastern Christendom as a whole. .Birkbeck followed with a paper on the Russian Church. It seemed to me so admirable that I begged him to print it in extenso. This he did and sent a copy to Pobiedonostzeff who in his turn handed it to the Tzarevitch, soon to ascend the throne as the Emperor Nicholas II. All the circumstances connected with this episode cannot be stated; it is sufficient to say that on Birkbeck's next visit to Petrograd in 1895 he bad the honour of a private interview ,vith His Im- perial 1Iajesty who presented him to the Empress. Froln this tin1e forward "I van Vasilievitch," to give the affectionate name by which he ,vas known through- out Russia, was an honollred guest ,vherever he went in the dominions of the Tzar. I have been asked, in connection with the subject of "the Prospect of Reunion with Eastern Christendom," to say a few words a bout the Russian Orthodox Church. rhis Church, although in full con1munion with the rest of the Holy Eastern Church, and agreeing absolutely ",.ith it in all its doctrines, presents certain features which are particular to itself; and,. therefore, although I shall constantly have to speak of that (70) R} lTXIO "\VITH THE RUSSIAN CHURCH 71 \vhich Russia and Greece hold in common, it is to the dis- tinguishing features of the Russian Church herself and the false views concerning her \vhich are current in the \Vest that I shall chiefly refer. X 0 apology is needed for the selection of this one conlmunity out of an the other Eastern Churches for special treatment. A Church \vhich, without lllentioning her missionary dioceses in Japan and North America, extends her jurisdiction over the \vhole of the Russian Empire, that is to say, a sixth part of the habitable globe, which, according to the latest statistics (A.D. 1890), nunlbers considerably over 72,000,000 of souls,1 which, in that sanle year, baptised over 4,000,000 children, Inarriecl more than 650,000 couples, and "Those births exceeded her deaths by considerably more than 1,000,000, could never be a negligible quantity in any dis- cussion concerning the Reunion of Christendon1. But she has higher claillls than this upon the attention of all those \",ho are interested in the present and future prospects of Christianity upon earth. \Yhether we look at her past services to Christen- dom-such, for instance, as having borne the \vhole brunt of the Tartar invasions for 400 years and thus saving Europe- or at her present activity and influence for good, she is ,vorthy of our highest adnliration and gratitude; nor need the learning of her theologians, the eloquence of her preachers, or the zeal and success of her missionaries fear comparison with those of any other Christian community in the world. In the splendour of her sanctuaries, the solemnity of her ceremonial, and the beauty of her liturgy and Divine Office, she stands without a rival in Christendom; \vhile as regards the faith which she holds, it is the same which 'vas delivered to her Inore than nine centuries ago from the undivided Catholic Church, with- out alteration, mutilation, or addition of any kind \vhatsoever. 1 The exact number given in the Report of the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod's report for 1890 is 69,350,647, but this is without reckoning the Exarchate of Georgia and two other dioceses and the Army and Fleet, which in 1889 together amounted to 2,897,564, and of course have increased since then. The exact number of deaths given for 1890 is 3,001,5ß2, of births 4,035,438, and of marriages 657,055. The numbers are from the diocesan returns, and must be considerably under rather than over the truth. 72 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHL"nCH N O\V, I know that SOllle of these statelnellts ,yould certainly seeln to contradict the general opinion held in the ""1" est con- cerning the Orthodox Church, and especially concerning that portion of it about ,vhich I anl speaking. It is very nluch the fashion anlongst both Roman Catholics and Protestants to speak of the Russian Church as a corrupt, ignorant, and fossi- li ed body, ,vithout life, váthout learning, ,vithout energy-in fact, as a Church vvhich has long been perfectly useless to Christendolll, and ,,"hich, unless it speedily betake itself to the various remedies suggested by its Hlany candid friends in the West, is dooHled ,vithout doubt to extinction before the march of progress and civilisation. And, inasllluch as it is from Vienna or Berlin that our newspapers obtain most of their Russian news, it is unfortunately too often the case that English Churchmen take all that COllles to them frolll these Roman and Protestant sources, or even frolll the J e,vish press of Germany and Austria, as if it ,vere Gospel truth. But this, surely, is H, very foolish thing for us to do. \Ye certainly should think the Russians very credulous, and even very Hluch wanting in ordinary Christian charity, if they were to judge of the English Church entirely frolll the English N onconform- ist press-for instance fronl the 1'ablet, the Review of Reviews, and the Dai.l y J.Vews, or fron) the Jewish Chronicle. Let us therefore try first of all to realise how unlikely it is that ,ve should receive an unprejudiced account of Russia from Roman or from Protestant source . r rhat the Roman Catholics should not be fond of the Russian Church is perfectly natural. Fronl the tÏ1ne of the Grèat Schisln in 1054, at which tinle the RUf;sian Grand Duke ,vas at war ,vith Constantinople, and therefore n1Ïght naturally have been expected to nlake cause with the Pope against the Greek Emperor, do,vn to the present day, ,vhen their mutual dislike of the rrriple Alliance might Seetll to offer her a favourable opportunity, Rome has not ceased to cast longing eyes at this great National Church. l\lany of the Popes-Gregory -VII (1075), Innocent III. (1207) just to give two faluous instances -ha ve tried to achieve their end by llleans of negotiations REUXIOK WITH THE RUSSIAX CHURCH 7:1 with the Russian monarchs; other Popes, more especially since the foundation of the Order of Jesuits, by means of intrigue amongst the clergy and people, as during the troubles at the end of the sixteenth century, or in the reigns of Catharine II, Paul, and Alexander I; others, again, by persuading other nations, such as the Poles and Swedes, to undertake crusades against then1, ,vhich expedient was especially resorted to at periods when Russia ,vas being hard pressed by the l\loham- lliedan Tartars from the East, as in the time of St. Alexander Nevski, or later on in Russia's wars with the Turks. But all has been in vain. Every attempt has failed; the Russian Church and nation has throughout maintained a consistent and successful resistance against all attempts to' detach her frolH the Holy Eastern Church. Her differences ,vith the Papacy .are something much more than merely political. Her attitude to,vards Rome throughout her history and at the present day cannot be better described than in the words of the congratu- latory letter sent her by her converts in Japan on the occasion of the celebration at Kieff in 1888 of the ninth centenary of the conversion of the Russian nation. After referring to the well-kno\vn story of that conversion-to the various envoys that were sent frolH different religions in order to persuade the Grand Duke 'TJadÏ1nir to join them, and after pointing to the fact that they, the young Japanese Orthodox Church, had made the same choice as did the Grand Duke, they go on to speak thus of the other Christian Inissionaries in Japan :- "But we pray St. Vladil11Ïr, and beseech the Russian Church to intercede before God that the same choice which he made 111ay like,vise be rnade by our nation, and that God may not suffer the Japanese people [in forsaking their Pagan- ism]- to enter afresh upon a false religious path, but that He may enlighten them \vith the light of the true and divinely- giyen Faith. \Ve, indeed, ,vho have tasted of the s,veet, have no desire for the bitter, either for ourselves or for our country. But at the present tilne there are even n10re \vho offer us the bitter under the guise of sweet than there were in the tin1e of St. Vladimir. Behold, ,ve have before us one set of envoys 74 BIRI{BECK A:ND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH who offer their Creed for our acceptation; but to the question as to what exactly their dogn1as are, how can they answer but as follows? 'To-day we hold such and such doctrines, but \vhat may be added to them to-morrow we cannot tell; for perhaps at this very moment a man far away froln here, who has authority to do so, is preparing some new dogmas, which to-morrow ,ve shall have to accept and believe; in fact, there are many amongst us ,vho have not yet passed the limits of middle age, and who in our youth had two dogInas less to con- fess than we have at present, and perhaps we shall reach old age with two, possibly more than two, dogmas to believe besides those which ,ve have to-day.' How can these be the successors of those ambassadors, who' did not shun to declare- unto the people all the counsel of God? ' " Nothing that I could say could put the Joctrinal issue between Rome and Russia more clearly than this passage, and, if taken in connection with what I have already said as to the constant ill-successes of the Popes in their endeavours to induce the Russians to change their minds upon the subject, it will be. quite unnecessary, like Virgil, to invoke the l\luse in order to understand the causes of the ,vra th in those celestial minds which serve the Vatican. It is easy to see what majest,y of the latter it is ,vhich has been outraged, and has thus caused the whole Ultran10ntane press to attack the Russian Church, insignem pietate though even her enemies adn1it her to be, ,vith a more than J unonian hatred and spite I But let us now turn to the Protestants, and try and under- stand \vhy-quo numine laeso, quidve dolens-the Protestant. press in Germany and the Dissenting vress in England, which is generally content to copy that of GerInany, carryon a no less relentless campaign of calumny and misrepresentation against Russia, notwithstanding the fact that, after all, she is- the only great Christian nation which has never submitted to the Pope. First, as to the doctrinal position of the Orthodox Church with regard to Protestantism. I think that I cannot. do better than continue the letter of the Orthodox Church in. Japan from the point where I stopped:- REUXIOX "\VITH TH:E R"CSSIA_ CH-cRCH 75 It But behold, envoys of another kind appear before us. These answer the aforesaid question \vhen it is put to them (i.e., 'Yhat dogmas do you hold exactly?) in a totally difl rellt manner to the former. 'To-day, our doctrine is so-and-so, but what we may drop out of it to-morro\v we ourselyes know not.' And as they crumble and dissolve into sects, they \vipe out the truths revealed by Christ one after another, until the very first foundations of Christianity melt a \vay. And are men such as these the successors of those ambassadors to \vhom it was said, 'Go ye, and teach all nations, teaching theln to observe all things ,vhatsoever I have commanded you? ' " And then, sUlluuing up the difference bet,,"'een the Roman and the Protestant missionaries in Japan, and comparing the teaching of both with Orthodoxy, they continue :- " The one set, the further they go the more do they add of 'the wood, hay, and stubble' of hUlnan imaginations and in- ventions \vhich they have come across and picked up on their ,yay, unto the' gold, silver, and precious stones' of the Divine. doctrine; the others, the further they go the 11101'e do they fritter away of the treasure of the doctrine of God. Are not. both alike preparing for those \vho shall trust and follo,v after them the bitterness of error and disenchantInent, as ,veIl as a fresh search for the true Faith in time to corne? It is the Orthodox Church alone which can 'give to drink fron1 the fount of the sweetness of the 'Y ord of God' to those ,vho COllIe to her, for she alone has preserved the Divine doctrine just as it \vas committed to her, and will preserve it unchanged to the end of the ages, \vithout adding to or taking from it a single iota, inasmuch as she is 'the pillar and ground of the truth,' inaslnuch as the Spirit of God which dwelleth \vithin her preserveth her froln all error." But to return to the attitude of German Protestantism towards Russia. The above quotation is quite sufficient to show how utterly alien to the Orthodox idea is the genius of Protestantism. l\Ioreover the course of political events, especi- ally during the last t\VO centuries, has contributed considerably to this antagonism as far as Russia and Germany is concerned. 76 BIRKBECI( AND THE RUSSIAX CHURCH In order to describe these events, I hope you ,vill forgive Ine for making a very long digression upon the nature of the great national and religious nloven1ent of this century ,vhich is generally kllO\Vn under the nalne of Panslavism. At first, it may seem to be beside our subject, but I think that before I have done you ,vill see that it is quite as necessary for us to understand it, as it is for Easterns who ,vish for Reunion to understand Tractarianism and the religious and political move- n1ents ,vhich gave birth to and accolllpanied it. For historical reasons, far too c0111plicated to describe in detail, but which may be summed up under t,vo heads:- (1) dynastic marriages ,vith the Protestant fan1ilies of Germany, and (2) the annexation under Peter the Great of the German Baltic provinces, ,vhich together led to the admission of a large nU1l1ber of German Protestants into the most influential places in the State, German Protestantism during the ,vhole period '\yhich succeeded the refol'Ins of Peter the Great do,vn to the middle of this century held a nlost ad vantageous position in Russia. At the present tin1e, o'\ving partly to that great revival of national feeling during this century ,vhich is kno,vn as the Slavophile Illovenlent, partly to the elllancipation of the serfs, and the consequent "\veaken- ing of the influence of the often selni-Gernlanised nobility, partly to the adoption of a 1110re national and less coslllopålitan policy on the part of her rulers, this state of things is reversed. Gernlan influence, political, religious, and social, is decidedly on the decrease in Russia, and seenIS likely at no distant point of time to disappear altogether; ,vhile Russian ideas and interests, coupleò, as they have ever' been, ,yith the ailns and ideals of the Orthodox Church are supplanting then1 1110re and more every year. I hope you will not think that I aIl1 ,vander- ing a,vay fronl our subject-the prospect of Reunion ,vith Eastern Christendonl-or that I alll trespassing too far into the dOlnain of politics. After all, before we begin to discuss the possibilities of Reunion, ,ve lllust at least form SOlne idea of what that Church is ,yith ,vhich Illany of us ,vould like to see our Church united, and ,vhat are its relations towards that ]-tEUNIOX "\VITH TH} RUSSIAX CHURCH 77 nation of whose Inelubers it is cOlnposed. Let us, then, com- pare Russia ,vith the 'Vestern nations. The revival of national feeling ,vhich has taken place. during the present century in so many parts of continental Europe, and ,vhich, in such countries as Gerll1any and Italy i to be seen in those 1110velnents w.hich were consuIl1111ated in the re8toration of national unity, is represented in Russia oy \vhat is kno\vn as the Slavophile 1110Vement. X O\Y it is a re- 111arkable fact that in Orthodox countries, and in Orthodox cOUlltrie alone, the Church I has actively co-operated with, and even led, the national nl0Vell1ents of which \ve are speak- ing. \Yhat a contrast those ,vho have reaJ both ,,-ill have found bet,veen the wTitings of the Slavophiles of Russia, of the Ak akofts, of l{homiakoff, }Cireeflski, DanilefÌski, San1arin and PobiedonostzeH: and the policy \vhich they have advocated in respect to the Church of their country, and that of the Italian patriots, l\Iazzini and Ca vour, or of the Prussian states- Inen who brought about the unity of Gern1any! The very first act of the Prussian lnonarch in the direction of Gernlan unity ,vas an act of religious violence. It was to force his own I-Jutheran Church to abandon all those of its distinctive tenetH \vhich could give offence to the Gernlan Calvinists, and then to force an of the latter who resided ,vi thin his kingdom to do the saIne thing in favour of the Lutherans, after ,yhich he proceeded to alualganlate thenl into ODe body \yith himself a their Slf.,ìn?nLÆS Episcopns! ....\.s for the relation:::, bet\veen Church and State in Italy, during and since the attainlnent of national unity, they are too notorious to require any descrip- tion. \Ye all kno'y of the difficulties that Pius IX had in the forties \vith his rebellious subjects; and have we not all heard of the SOlTO\\? of "the prisoner of the \T atican " ? In a ,vord, in \Vestern Europe the national lllovements of this 1 It is true that the Roman clergy, both amongst the Slavonic nationalities in Austria and in quarters neafer home, have occasionally taken an active part in the national movements of the century. But these movements, so far froDl committing the Church of Rome as a whole, have notoriously been undertaken independently of orders from headquarters. "78 BIRKBECI{ AXD THE RUSSIA CHURCH nineteenth century have certainly not ,vorked ,veIl "\vith the Church. How different has been the course of the national nl0Vell1ent in Russia! The Slavophile movenlent, "\vhich, as far as its internal policy is concerned, 111ay be ,veIl described in short as -" Russia for the Russians, and not for the Germans or the Poles," was a distinctly religious and Orthodox, no less than a national and patriotic 1110vement. The very san1e Iuen who worked for the en1ancipation of the serfs in Russia, and for the eluancipation of the nation frolH the ascendancy of foreign ideas, in n1any cases also wrote theological treatises of the very first iInportance, an carried on long and learned controversies in defence of Orthodoxy against its enen1Ïes at honle and abroad: ,,-hile they themselves, both in deed and in life, were the brightest ornalnents of that Church ,vhich they loved so ,vell, and for ,vhich they suffered so 111uch. For it llH1St be remembered, that 80 long as the ascendancy of foreign ideas continued in Russia, as in the earlier years of the century, it was no light thing to take up the defence of the National Church. I(honlÍakoff had to publish all his theological works, no less than his politic -tl ,vritings, in foreign countries, for they were all forbidden by the Russian censorship to be printed or even read in Russia; while San1arin was actually thrown into prison in the Fortress of SSe Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, in the reign of the Emperor Xicholas, for venturing to ,vrite 8.gainst the Gerll1an Protestants in the Baltic provinces. At the present time, all this is changed. The ,yorks of Khomiakoff are to be found in every theological selninary in the country, and his controversial writings and those of Sall1arin have become the standard books of reference 'v hen ever a Russian finds it necessary to defend his national religion. The Governillen t is no longer either hostile or even a pathetic; in fact, the religious JllOVement, which began in Russia very much at the same tinle and for the sanIe causes as did our Tractarian l\Iovement, has not only gained toleration for itself in the country, but has actually been able to identify itself ,vith, and even to guide, all the highest political aspirations of the nation. R} uXIOX "71TH TH}: R-cSSIA:X CH-cI CH 79 In this li1Ïghty fact lies, in lilY opinion, all Russia's hopes for the future, just as in the history of her Church lies the secret .of all her greatness in the past. Russia, like other nations, has been deeply affected by the lllovements and tendencies of the nineteenth century; but \yhereas those tendencies else- \vhere have taken the fornl of a godless delnocracy alw.ays tending tow'ards atheislll and. anarchy, and at best only con- trolled by a brutal 111ilitary clespotisnl hardly less objectionable than anarchy itself, it is in Russia alone, of all Continental states, that the popular 1110Yenlent, from the very first, has been linked w'ith, and transformed by the elevating influences of a Church \vhich, \vhile thoroughly national in the fullest sense of the \vord, at the saIne tillle holds the Faith of Catholic Christendoll1 in its purest and 1110st ullcorrupt fornl. Here, .and here only, the nation, ,vithout either tralnpling upon the clerical estate, or being d01l1ineered over by it, has alJo\ved itself to be guided by the very spirit of the Church, and is not ashalned to OW'll to the fact. ..A.nd is not this just as it should be ? Perhaps SOUle ,vha are here present may remenlber the \vords of \varning which ... schylus put into the nlouth of Athênê, the patroness of his native city, in one of his tragedies, written just at the tÏ1ne \vhen the Athenian delnocracy \vere beginning to remove the old landmarks, and \vere about to .start headlong do\vn the incline to\vards that uncontrolled 10rnl of popular government \vhich \vas so s\viftly follo\ved by .the destruction of their Enl pire :- Tò fl T' åvapx ov , P. T ð U1T'OTOÚfl IIOIl àUTOî 7r pLUTiÀÀoUUL fjOUÀEÚCIJ uißEtv, \ , 's:.- ' '" ' À. t. ß "'It. '" Kat flTJ TO VEtVOV 1T'aV 1T'O ECIJ EçCA> aJ\ElV. Tí. yàp, ð ðoLK p..1JðÈv, ;lIðtKO ßPOT(;W; 1 U I counsel the citizens to reverence and maintain that which is neither anarchy nor tyranny, and not to cast forth all fear froHl the State; for \",hat Inan alllong mortals that feareth nothing is righteous? " These \yords of the Athenian poet are fully borne out in the 1 Æsch. Eum. 696-9. 80 I3Il\I{BECK Å D TH}1 RUSSIAN CHURCH history of the rise and fall of every nation, Christian or Pagan, \vhich the \vorld has yet seen. l National or politicallnovenlents, no less than goverllluents or individual rulers ,vhich cast aside TÒ ðE'tvóv-that religious a \ve, which, in the Holy Scriptures and even in Pagan writ- ings is termed" the fear of God" -are sure before long to end, either in an rchy, or in lnere brute rlespotism. Russia, it is true, is, as was the Byzantine Ell1pire, an autocracy. But it is often forgotten that, ,vhile in many respects the form of the Ilnperial Governnlent of ancient Ronle renlained the same after, as before, the conversion of the empire to Chri tianity, the theory upon \vhich the autocracy rested was profoundly changed. The enlperor ,vas no longer "ille Deus," but be- caIne BE'oû ðLáIC01JO . St. John Damascene, in his defence of the sacretl images, sho,yed that the ,yorship due to 11lonarchs, no less than to other E'ì1CÓVE' of the Deity was, not that of ÀaTpE'ía, as had been the case under the Pagan Enlpire, but of TLfL1JTt1C 7rpOffKÚV7jfftf\ ; \vhile the TÒ ðE'ff7/"OTOÚ}lE'VOV of Eschylus is exactly reproduced in his \vritings by Túpavvor;. Ana all this applies to "constitutional" gOyernnlents no less than to lllonarchies. I lllig-ht quote nUJUerOUH passages fronl the Slayophile w-riters, in ,vhich they Rho\v the fatal effect of the separation of national anJ religious aspirations aInongst the latest lllovemellts of West- ern Europe. But as this ,vould involve too lengthy an expla- nation of the particular events to which ,ye are in each case referred to, I prefer to quote once luore frolll .LE chylu . "He, ,yho of his own free 'v ill , and ,vithout necessity is just and rig-hteous, shall not he unhappy; utterly destroyed, at least he can never be. But I dec]are that the transgressor who ven- tures upon a course contrary (to righteousness) will throw all things ,vithout justice into confusion, and, in tiIHe, when trouble shall have seized his sails, and broken the rigging of 1 I am aware that Æschylus in this particular passage is referring to what we should term" constitutional checks" and not, immediately at least, to the restraints of religion. Still, if taken in context with the whole drift of the play (see e.g , the passage quoted below) there can be no doubt that he in- tended to imply the restraints of religious awe, no less than of the ancient in- stitutions of bis country. Rf:L;,:\fIOX '\YITH rfHE RUSSI \.N CHURCH 81 his mast, he shall perish by violence. There, as he struggles in the n1Ïdst of an unCOn(luerable ,vhirlpool, he invokes those \vho ,viII listen to his prayer no more; but the Deity laughs at the rash and self-confident Ulan, as he beholds hil11 now no 10nO"er boastino' but bound in a calalllit y from which there is b b' no escape, and trying in vain to n1ake his ,yay round the headland, ,vhere having dashed his former prosperity to pieces against the rock of righteousnet'is, un,vept, unknown, he peris les for ever." 1 No,v, although I have never een this passage quoted by the Slavophile "Titers, I believe it to represent exactly their ideas ,vith regard to government. It tallies exactly with the ,vritin s of Daniletfski and Leontietf upon the present political and religious state of 'Vestern Europe; while, with regard to J{homiakotl: the frientl of Pusey, Pahner, G. \Villiams, and nlany other early leaders of the Catholic movement, I can only say that I am at present translating a poem \vhich he "'Tote in 1836 upon England, in ,vhich he J,,"'ells upon those ominous synlptolns in the political and religious life of our country ,vhich called forth I eble's faulous serlllon upon our X ational A.postacy, and that I am quite at a lo s ,vhich line out of the ,vords I hay.e quoted to select as a heading to IllY translation, anyone of them \vould be so entirely a ppropriate. But I Blust d,vell no longer upon this: I \vill only say that, before there can be any question of Reunion bet\veen the Churches, the fact of this close relation between Russian national and religious aspiration must be realised and appreciated by English Churclul1en; and that, rather than abuse Russia for haying solved the nlost difficult f{uestion of the age, and indeed. or all ages-viz. the reconciliation of the secular and religious aspirations of nations, in a 11lanner ,yhich has re ulted in their bcinl!' able to ,york to(rether to the l )re-enlÏnent aclvantaO"e M b I Æsch. Eum. 550-û5. Birkbeck evidently refers to the poem" The Island," printed at the end of Russia and the English Church (cf. ibid. note, p. xxviii), but this was trans- lated by \Villiam Palmer. If Birkbeck retranslated it I know nothing of th work.-[A.R.] (3 82 BIHKBECK AND THE RUSSI...-\.N CHURCH of both Church and State, we ought to be glad that such is the case, and to rejoice ,vith her. Englishluen, whatever the political difficulties which they may have with her-and I do not deny that these are from time to time anything but in- significant, though perhaps this need not be so for ever I-have no reason whatever to ,vish to see Russia under an infidel Government, or that her Church should lose its influence in directing her destinies, or that her internal affairs should be directed according to the foreign ideas which obtained during the period of German Protestant ascendancy. I think that you ,vill agree ,vith me that the general feeling of the Church of England was not expressed ,vhen 1\11'. Shuttle,vorth, who formerly held a minor Canonry at St. Paul's, sent his curate last year to a meeting of the "Friends of Russian Freedom," a society founded at the suggestion of two or three well- known Nihilist refugees, to .give them his views upon Russian affairs, and these views contained an expression to the effect that bombs in Russia were just as necessary as parliamentary discussion in England, and meant much the sanle thing. It seems a strange thing for a priest of the Church of England to have said, who, every time he celebrates the Holy Eucharist, beseeches the" Almighty and everliving God" to "save and defend all Christian kings, princes, and governors"! Anyhow, as a rule, Englishmen do not care for this sort of thing, neither have they any reason to wish to see the institutions of Russia or any other country altered in a {lirection contrary to the desires of the nation itself. But it can be well understood that the Germans themselves, whether in or out of Russia, are not well pleased with their . loss of influence; and this accounts for the attitude of the German press to\vards Russian affairs. Binc illæ lacrymæ. 1'hey know full well that it is because of the strength that the Church has given to the national movement that they have lost that predominating position in the counsels of the nation which they formerly possessed, and which they had almost 1 These words were written just twenty years before England entered the Great War as the ally of Russia.-[A.R.] R}1 UKION "\VITH THE RUSSIAN CHURCH 8B begun to look upon as a right: and hence all their hatred and abuse is concentrated upon the Church and its officers, whether ecclesiastical or lay. Read, for instance, the German papers upon the subject of l\Ir. Pobiedonostzeff, the chief Procurator of the Holy Synod. Any Ineasure that may be taken by the Government which the Germans don't like, any fact about Russia, true or false, "Thich may get into the papers, any mistake that her officials may make, or may be supposed to have made, in administering the law, any act of injustice which may, or may not, have been perpetuated in the Empire, from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, is attributed to him. The recent legislation in the Baltic Provinces, and the so-called persecution of the Jews, are of course all of his contrivance, although the administration of all that concerns the non- Orthodox religious bodies is, as a matter of fact, controlled by a department of the Home Office, and has nothing whatever to do with the Holy Synod. The sanitary or insanitary con- dition of the Siberian prisons is of course lis fault, although he has just about as much to do with the prisons in Russia as the Archbishop of Canterbury's Apparitor-General has with the prisons in England; in fact, in Germany he has for many years been made a sort of scapegoat for all the sins, real or imaginary, committed by the Government, or its officials, in Russia. It is extraordinary with what light heartodness even serious ,vriters in GermaIJ.Y act upon the saying that "any stick is good enough to beat a dog with" in regard to this distinguished Russian Churchman. Even such a distinguished scholar as l\Iommsen, in a preface which he has lately written to an attack upon the Russian Government by a Belgium Professor, has not hesitated to apply the expression" Torquem- ada ressuscité" to him. vVhen you have heard the history of this nick-name, you \vill be better able to judge whether it was worthy of such distinguished patronage. It ,vas originally invented by the late editor of a Radical London evening paper, who had been to t. Petersburg in order to try and persuade 1\lr. Pobiedono tzefr to use his influence to obtain admission for the Salvation ArnlY into Russia. In this he naturally had 84 BIRKBECI{ ....\.ND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH failed, for the laws of Russia have never admitted foreign proselytism, and 1\lr. Pobiedonostzeff was not likely to go out of his way to persuade the }linister of the Interior to suggest to the Emperor a new Ia 'v in favour of the admission of these "quack-soul-savers," as a distinguished Russian authoress has called thel11; inasmuch as he, together with the vast majority of his fellow-countrymen, have as little love for spiritual as we have for 11ledical quacks. 'Vhat did 1\lr. Stead 1 do upon his return? He devoted a sixth part of his book on Russia to abuse of the Russian Church, calling 1\lr. Pobiedonostzeff the "Shado"v on the Throne," the "Grand Inquisitor," "Land Red'ivivus," " Torque1nada Redivivus," and what not. 'V ell, this, although rather ignorant, ,vas perhaps natural enough in 1\11". Stead's case. Nonconformist education in England as a rule does not afford luuch insight into the difficult problems of ecclesiastical history. He could hardly be expected to be able to distinguish bet,veen freedol11 of practice and belief in the case of a man's own religion, ,yhich \vas what Torquemada tried to prevent, but which Russia has ahvays allo,ved since the tin1e of Peter the Great (that is to say, much longer than England itself), and pern1ission to interfere lvith other people's religjon, that is to say, permission for every g-rotesque ignor- alnus, every silly self-appointed apostle to enter Russia and experin1ent upon the siu1ple-n1indecl Russian peasantry, ,vhich is ,vhat RUF;sia does not allow, and does not intend to allo,v. But all this, a serious historian like Professor l\lonunsen must kno,v and be able to understand as well as anybody. And yet, in giving his i?np'ril1Íiatur the other day to the above-lnen- tioned book upon the Jewish que!';tion, with ,vhich Pobiedo- nostzefl' has nothing whatever to <.10, inasmuch as he is not the IiniRter of the Interior, 310lnnlsen, the most distinguished historian now living in GerJnany, and Professor of the Berlin University, adopts Stead's ignorant soubriquet, and peaks of the Chief Procurator as " TOfj'oq1J.Ærrl1ada ressl scité". Nothing could lnore clearly show ho\v right SaluarÍn was in :-,aying that Russians, when they ,vent amongst Germans, always "found themselves confronted with a entin1ent of incorrigible hostility, 1 At this time editor of the Pall JIall Gazette.-[A.R.] REUXIOX 'VITH THE RUSSIAN CHURCH 85 and a contelnpt \vhich had become raised to the dignity of a national conyiction". 'Yhat should we think of one of our great historians, of the Bishop of Oxford or Professor Seeley for instance, if, in expressing their opinion of a German states- man (let us say, Prince Bismarck), it should turn out that the only reference quoted in making his charge against him was taken from the gutter journalism of the Paris Boulevards? Such, then, is the attitude of German Protestantism towards Russia. I have d\yelt upon it at great length, because I believe that the greatest hindrance to a growth or friendly feeling, which of course must precede any thought of ecclesiastical Re- union, is the fact that so many English Churchmen, and even high ecclesiastical dignitaries, seem to take all the so-called Russian news that is copied into our papers from the German and Austrian Press for granted, although the latter is known to be entirely in the hands of ROlnan Catholics, Jews, or Pro- testants. Of course, the Russians cannot expect every English- man to sift the evidence for this and that statement; but they have a right at least to expect, \vhen the highest authorities of our Church are constantly expressing a desire for Reunion \yith the East, that English Churchmen should not take every- thing that is said against their Church and country for granted. I have already said that the English Church is not committed by the eccentricities of individuals, more or less obscure, with- in her fold; but \vhen son1e of her n10re responsible leaders enter upon a similar course it is difficult to persuade foreigners that the Church herself is not con1prolnised. Fe\v things produced a 'w'orse in1pression amongst Russian Churchmen than the fact that six English Bishops took part in the deu10nstration three years ago at the Guildhall against the so-called religious persecution of the J e\vs in Russia. I was in Russia a fe\v \veeks after,vards, and one constantly heard expressions such as: "'Vhy, if the Archbishop of Canterbury really thinks that \ve Russian Orthodox persecute the Jews, did he "Tite two years ago to our l\letropolitan at I(ieff, and say that he \vould like to see the Anglican and Russian Churches one Èv Toî ÖEUfLoî TOÛ Eùa'Y'Yf.Àíov? If he really thinks 86 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH that we are a persecuting Church, why does he wish to be united with us?" As an example of how little the speakers on that occasion understood the question they were discussing, it will be sufficient to mention the Bishop of Ripon's speech at that meeting, in which he quoted as an instance of religious persecution the Sabbath candle-money (it must be remembered that it ,vas just after the Lambeth Judgment, when the au- thorities of our Church came to the conclusion that the English clergy were no longer to be persecuted for the ceremonial use of candles 1), ,vhereas this and many other supposed instances of persecution which he brought for\vard were in reality nothing more than taxes put upon the Jews in by-gone days by their own Rabbis, and for the support of their own religious schools, which laws have since received the sanc- tion of the State! 1 I remember writing at the time to a friend in Russia, who is interested in the relations between the English and Russian Churches, and trying to make some excuse for the part that some of our Church dignitaries took in the matter in their want of knowledge of Russian affairs. His answer to me was, "\V e in Russia think it disgraceful and shameful for a man to talk and \vrite upon a subject of which he knows nothing." And I can't help admitting the force of the argument. Englishmen, and especially EngJish Church- men, should remember that, though they for the n10st part cannot read Russian, most educated Russians can read English as well as German and French, and therefore if they have any respect for their own dignity, or pity for that of their country, they should be careful what they say upon Russian subjects. 1 The earliest legislation of the Russian Government upon this matter was in the year 1845. The law will be found in Levanda's Collection of Russian Laws Concerning the Jews, p. 634. CHAPTER VII. THE PROSPECT OF REUNION \VITH EASTER"8 CHRISTENDO I IN SPECIAL RELATION TO THE RDSSI<\N ORTHODOX CHURCH (contin.lwd). LET us now pass on to another point of constant luisunder- standing, ,vhich IUUSt be clearly understood before there can be any thought of Reunion. Nothing is luore common in England, and especially amonO"st HiO"h Churchn1en , than to hear the Russian Church b h accused of Erastianism-of being under bondage to the State. Son1etimes, even alnongst ,veIl-educated Church people, one hears the silly and ignorant expression" Cesaro-Papalism " Inade use of, ,vhich, originally invented, I believe, by a German Protestant, has been ,viùe]y adopted amongst Roman Catholic writers. 'Ve have already spoken of the relations ,vhich ought to exist bet,veen the governlnent and the religion of every country. Now let us see what is the actual form of govern- ment of the Russian Church. Since the beginning of the eighteenth century, ,vhen, ,vith the complete sanction of the four Eastern Patriarchs: the Patriarchate of losco,v was abol- ished, she has been governed by a Synod of Bishops, always sitting, entitled the Iost Holy Governing Synod. This body is constituted some,vhat upon the model of the ancient CEcu- Inenical Councils, but, o,ving to the fact that it has ahvays to be sitting, it is of course of much sn1aller din1ension . The three )Ietropolitans of St. Petersburg, Kieft: and )Iosco,v are ex-officio members of this body, as has also been the Exarch of Georgia since the annexation of that kingdonl to the Empire. The relnaining prelates are any ,vhich the Holy Synod itself chooses to sun1IDon, either as permanent melubers (chleny), sitting for a certain number of 1110nths every year, or as tem- (87) 88 BIRKBECI{ A..ND THE RUSSI N CHURCH porarily sUl1ll11oned to give their opinion upon on1e particular subject in which the Bishops in question lllay be experts. The number that Inay be sunlmoned is not fixed, but as a rule there are eight or nine Bishops sitting at the same time. The table at ,,"hich they sit, with the Elnperor's throne at one end and the book of the Gospels and the Cross at the other, had, when I last saw it, places for ten arranged, but it is seldoln that so rnany can be spared fronl their dioceses at the same time. As for the Emperor's throne, it means exactly as much as, and no nlore than, Constantine the Great presiding at the Council of Nicea, or his successors who summoned everyone of those Councils \vhich we all, Easterns and \Vesterns, ackno,v- ledge to be CEcumenica1. 1 The authority of the Holy Synod itself in all purely ecclesiastical questions, or matters of doctrine and Church discipline is absolute and supren1e: it is litnited only by the Holy Scriptures, the decrees of the Seven there is ahvays the same pleasing combination of natural dig- nity and unaffected sim pJicity. Belonging, as is well kno"'vn in Russia, to the older school of Russian theologians, and deeply imbued ,vith the traditions of the great Philaret of Iosco'v, of ,vhon1 he \vas one of the most distinguished pupils, he makes no secret of his uncompromising attitude towards all \Vestern confessions of faith, ,vhether it be tow.ards the great Latin Comn1union, or towards those bodies-at once her off- spring and her rivals a!::) he regards them--w.hich separated from her in the sixteenth century. Under these circumstances his great theological learning, COIn bined with his very COD-. iderable kno,vledge of the yal'ious confessions of the 'Vest and their respective weak points, render hiIn somewhat for- Inidable in conversations of a theological con1plexion, ,vhich, \\ hile he never attempts to force upon his guests, he is ahvays ready to engage in, if they 80 desire. And yet I ha ye never. heard of anyone coming a,vay froll1 one of these discussions ,vith any feeling of irritation or resentInellt. His ,vords, eyen ,yhen one has least agreed ,vith theIu, are alw"ays ,veIl worth renlelllbering, and leave behind thenl a no leRs pleasant in1'" 9 130 BIRl{BECI\: AND THE RuSSI._ N CHTTI rH pression than the gentle and kindly smile ,vith which they are accolupanied. However little such men may be fitted for taking the lead in that forward nlovement ,vith regard to the general destinies of Christendoln for which it seeins that Di vine Providence is preparing the Russian Church, it will indeed be an evil day for Russia ,vhen prelates of this school cease to exist. In the evening ,ve attended part of the" All Kight" ser- vice at the Cathedral of the Saviour. 'rhis magnificent build- ing, ,vhich ,vas consecrated at the coronation of the late Emperor Alexander III, represents the t.hankoffering of the Russian nation for the delivery of their country and capital frolH the army of Napoleon, the Russian nation, as has SOIIle- where been facetiously relnarked by an English ,vriter, cele- brating their victories over the French by a church, ,vhile the more business-like British nation COIDlnenlorates its victory .over Napoleon by a Inenlorial of a nlore practical character -namely, by a bridge acrOSB the Thalues! The service began at six o'clock, but we did not arrive until nearly half- past eight, \vhen \T espers ,vere ended and Iatins already nearly half-way through. The Ietropolitan had 1l10st kindly asked Ine whereabouts the Archbishop would like to be placed, and in view of the fact that after the fatigues of our journey we should only attend a short part of the service, and also of the magnificent vie\v of the church and the services \vhich is to be obtained from there, I had selected the great west gallery in preference to a place in the choir or behind the iconostasis. Accordingly, on our arrival ,ve found the Dean of the cathedral ,vaiting on the steps outside the cathedral in his cassock and cloth of gold epitrachelion, and ,ve \vere con- ducted up to the gallery, where ,ve found a carpet spread, and an arm-chair \vith crimson damask cushions prepared for the Archbishop. The sight \vhich met our eyes baffles description. All the chandeliers both in the nave and in the galleries round the church \vere lit. The" palIns," ,vhich in Russia as in England consist of boughs of budùing ,villow, 1 had just been 1 The willow is largely used in the East for the branches on Pa.1m Sunday, 80 much so that a.mongst the East Syrian (Nestorian) Christians the willow is TH1 L\I{CHBISHOI) OF Y011I\: IX IlUSSIA 131 distributed, and every ,vorshipper in the vast building, w'hich is calculated to hold over 5000, and \vhich \vas packed from end to end, had his branch ,vith a lighted taper fastened in the n1Ïddle of it. Oue of the Suffragan Bishops of l\loscow was officiating, standing in the midst of the nave surrounded by his attendants, "rhile the clergy of the cathedral \vere pass- ing to and fro in the fulfilment of the rite. 'Ve stayed for rather l110re than an hour, and heard the magni1ìcent Palm Sunday Canon of St. Cosmas faultlessly sung by the singers of the Chudoff I\Ionastery, the second best choir of l\Ioscow, and came avvayafter the Glo'ì"'ia in Excelsis. To describe the liturgical features of the service would take too long; but the troparion for the day is so remarkable for the skill ,vith \vhich it sets forth the connection of the feast of the previous day \vith the day itself, as well as with the Resurrection \vhich is of course commemorated 011 every Sunday of the year, that I cannot forbear froIn quoting it :- "Thou didst raise Lazarus from the dead, 0 Christ our God, giving thereby an assurance bafore Thy Passion of the general Resurrection. And therefore we, like the children, bear aloft the symbols of victory, and cry aloud to Thee, the vanq uisher of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." On Pal!n Sunday lllorning, after celebrating the Holy Com- Inunion early in the English Church, the Archbishop attended the Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Saviour, where the Ietro- politan himself was pontificating. The service ,vas performed with a splendour and solemnity appropriate to the day, which in the East is reckoned as ODe of the twelve great feasts of the year, the Liturgy of St. Chrysosto1n being used during Lent only on this feast and on Lady-day. It may startle some of our readers to hear that the letropolitan aDd all the priests, rgy is:-;ued forth in red and gold vest- 14 BII-{KBECK AND TIlE RUSSIAN CHURCH ments to announce the Resurrection-" Christ is risen from the dead, by His death having trodden down death, and be- .sto,ving life on those within the graves". The 'v ho]e cathe- .dral, almost before one could realise that Easter had come, ,vas .a blaze of light from thousands of candles in the chandeliers and the tapers held by the people, and we all started in pro- ,cession into the ICremlin yard, the ecclesiastics first, and then the Grand Duke, and next hilll the Arch bishop, follo\ved by .all of us ,vho had been standing in the nave in uniform. Out- side the scene ,vas indescribable. ':rhe blaze of light frorn the tapers held by the cro\vd and the illunlÌnatiolls, the people all embracing one another ,vith the Easter greeting of " Christ is riscn," ans\vered by, " He is risen indeed," the roaring of the bells overhead, ans,vered by the 1600 bells frOlll the illumin- ated belfries of all the churches of l\losco\v, the gUllS bello,ving fronl the slopes of the ICrernlin over the river, and the proces- sions in their gorgeous cloth of gold vestnlents and with crosses, icons, and banners, pouring forth an1Ïdst clouds of incense fronl all the other churches in the Krernlin, and slowly wending their \vay through the cro\vd, all combined to produce an effect \vhich none ,vho have \vitnessed it can ever forget. After going round the cathedral, the clergy and choir all stopped in the porch and repeatedly sang the Easter troparion, with verse:) from the P:;alm, "Let God arise, and let His .enen1Ìes be scattered," interspersed, and then we returned into the church, a.nd St. John Damascene's great canon, " The Day of Resurrection, earth tell it out abroad," \vas sung to the beautiful nlelody which all who have been in Russia in Easter- tide know so well, acconlpallied by the censing of the people . and the icons of the saints by every priest, one by one, in the building, in tokell that the Church on earth, unites ,vith the Church triumphant in COlnrnon joy at the victory of the Church's Divine Head over sin and death. 'rhe first part of the service 'vas brought to a close by the Easter salutation, .the l\letropolitan corning out from the screen, and standing in the nave with the cross in his hand, while first the Grand Duke and then "aU of us in our turn filed past, kissing the THE ARCHBISHOP OF l-ORK IK RUSSIA 143 cross and embracin rr hÜn three times, as he said "Christ is tI risen," and \ve replied" He is risen indeed". On the Inornil1g of Easter Day the Archbishop celebrated the Holy Conlillunion at eight o'clock, and preached at the midJay service in the English church. 'T espers ,ve attended in the Cathedral of the Assumption. A pleasing feature of the day ,vas the lneeting, after the solemn Liturgy in the ca- thedral, in the Chudoff l\lonastery of the l\letropolitan and some 200 of the principal clergy of losco\v in order to break the fast together. On the )[onday ,ve ,vere invited to attend the Liturgy in the Grand Duke's private chapel, \vith its beautiful iconostasis covered \vith ancient Russian icons and its sInali but perfect choir of six lHen: after ,vhich we had the honour of lunching \vith their Irnperial Highnesses. 'Ye ended the day by dining ,vith the Ietropolitan, \vho invited four Bishops and several others of the di tinguished clergy of )loscow to n18et the Archbishop and, amongst others, Father Clement, the learned and accomplished rector of the l\loscow Ecclesiastical Seminary. CHAP'rER XI. THE VISIT O:B' THE ARCHBISHOP OF YOUK TO nUSSIA (continued). V.-THE 'rRI ITY LAVRA AND OUH RETURN JOURNEY. ON Easter Tuesday \ye started froin ::\loscow for the great Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. Everybol1y ,vho kno\vs anything of Russia has heard of this famous 1110nastery, and the further one penetrates into the nlystery of the religious and national life of the Russian people the In ore conscious does one become of the extraordinary influence \vhich St. Sergius and his dis- ciples have exercised in nloulding the destinies of the Russian Em pire. 'V c left losco'v a little after mi.Jday, accolnpanied by Father 'rriphon and 1\11'. 3Iichael Sverbêett: All a]ong the railway "re ,vatched the pilgrinls nlaking their ,yay on foot to this famoùs sanctuary: this nlay be seen at any tilue of the year, but it is specially noticeable ill Easter \veek, as fe,,", or none of the pil- grims 'v ho come to i\losco\v froln distant parts of the elnpire for Holy 'Yeek and Easter \vould dream of returning to their hon1e ,vithout visiting the shrine of St. Sergius. At the station of the Lavra \ve found a large cro\Ytl on the platforrn a\vaiting the arrival of the Archbishop. 'Ye passed into the Ilnperial rooms in the station, \vhere the BGl'sar of the Lavra, Father Dositheus, \vas a\yaiting us, antI ,vho, after greeting the Arch- bishop in the nalne of the ....Varnjéstnilc, or Prior, conducted us to the carriages \vhich had been sent from the Lavl'a to n1eet us. The beautiful old nlonastery, \vith its \vhite \valls, red to\vers, and green roofs, and its gold and blue domes, was look- ing at its very be t in the bright spring sunshìne. The bells ,vere ringing, and all a]ong our road the cro\vds of people 1"'e- spectfuìly greeted our -\.rchbishop, relnoving their hatH and (144 ) TH E Al\CIIBISHOP O F YORK IN RUSSIA 145 crossin theulselves as they received his blessing. On arriving at the lllonastery hostel \ve found the suite of rooms \vhich is specially reser\yed for the Prior's use prepared for us, together \vith an excellent lunch, \vhich after our journey \ve lfiuch ap- precia ted. After a short rest \ye again started off in our carriage:s for the Lavra, and first \vent to pay our respects to the Prior, the ..A.rchiInandrite Paul, an old friend of 111ine. He received U::3 with his usual kindness and hospitality, and \ve \vere soon seated round his tea-table with several of the principal melnbers of the cOllununity, including the ÂrchiIuandrite Nicon, faluous throughout Russia as the originator and editor of the" Trinity Leaflets," a series of religious tracts upon every conceivable ubject, written in the simplest language for the use of the COlnffion people. He started this great undertaking eleven years ago in a very slnall way, the late Prior Leonidas having given hilll five roubles (about lIs.) in order to print a tract to distribute alnongst the pilgr'Ì1ns \vho can1e to the La vra. The success of this first attelupt ,vas such that the experilnent was repeated, and no\v the rt sult are seen in a great printing- press in the Lavra, from \vhich more than eighty millions of these leaflets Ita ve been ùistri buted in all parts of the enl pire, as \vell as some twenty lnillion sacred pictures. ..A.fter about half an hour' conversation, we left the Prior's lodging, and made our ,vay to the Iosco\v ecclesiastical acadelny, \vhich, although it has its o\yn adn1inistration, quite separate from that of the Lavra, is included \vithin its ,vans,. and accordingly differs frolH the other three ecclesiastical acaden1Ìes of the Russian Church in being surrounded, not by the llistracting influences of a great city, but by the Inost sacred ecclesjastical and historical a sociations of the natioll, combined \vith all the advantages of a lluiet country life. 'fhe Rector, the .A.rchilnanJrite Laurentius, \vas a ,yay for a few. days, o the Archbishop \Ya received in the speech-room by the in- spector of the acadenlY, the Archimandrite Arsellius, and by the ub-iuspector. Father Innocentius, as ,yell as all the pro- fessors antI students. 'Yhen the Archbishop reached the centr 10 146 BIRKBECK AKD THE RUSSIA"K CHURCH of the room, the ArchiInandrite stepped for\vard and addressed him in a short Latin speech, of \vhich the following- is the translation :- " Christ is risen! With this Easter greeting of peace and love which is COlllmon to all Christians, I welcome your Grace in the name of our acadelny. Your visit is all the nlore prized by us in that we recogllise in it a confirnlation of that syn1- pathy by \vhich like,vise in forlner tin1es your fello\v-country- Ulen \yere guided ,vho lllore than once haye vi..,ited our academy, and have held friendly intercourse \vith its represen- tatives upon various questions of COIDlnon interest. l\Iay our IJord Jesus .Christ be ,vith thee, and lllay His gracè assist thee ! " After the Archbishop had replied in a short Latin speech, the Professor of Ecclesiastical History, V. A. Sokoloff, aJ- rfect circle of monasteries. This fact struck rne even on my first visit, ,vhen, as I have already said, I kne,v nothing of Russia: and I remember on Iny return to England comparing, in conversation ,vith a friend, this circle of monasteries ,vhich surrounds :ßIosco,v and ",'hich Blust be passed through, ,vherever one enters the city, to the circle of detached forts through which one passes in the train on entering Paris, and saying to hinl that this fact was emblematic of the difference bet,veen France (and indeed all other nations) and Rus\jia; that is to say, that Russia's chief trength lies, not in her arn1Y, nor in her fleet, nor in her fortifications, but, in her Church. Let me before I go on, explain what I mean by this statement, anù secure Inyself against all possible Dlisunderstandings. In the first place I do not mean it to serve as a text for a serlnon, for this \vould be out of place before a Literary Society. In the second place, I have no intention to depreciate either the Russian Arlny or the Church of France; for both of theln have rendered services to their country for ,vhich any nation rnight envy then1. I simply \vish to point to the historical fact that \vhen her anny is destroyed and her capital occupied by an enen1Y, France has t.o COlne to terlll'3 ,vith him, and the saIne thing \ve constantly hear (if under the term army ,ve include the fleet) \vould be true of England; ,vhereas, even if the Russian Army ,vere defeateù in the field, only the first line of her defence \voul< 1 be destroyed; there \vould be the Russian winter and the Russian peasantry behind to take up the national standard: and even supposing all of these should fail (and history tells us that although some time or other they ha\"e êlch saved the country, there have been occa- sionR upon ,yhich they have all three been overcolne), there remains behind them the Church of Russia ,vhich has never failed her in her need, but which in her 10nO" and eventful b 184 BIRKBECK .LL\ND THE RUSSIAK CHURCH history, to use the words of one of her lllost illustrious sons, 1 " ha:-; given her strength to hold her o\vn, to Inultiply and in- crease, to bear the heavy yoke of the rrartars \vithout perish- ing under it, and at length to cast it off: to outlive and overcorne the anarchy which follo\veù the failure of the old royal dynasty, to \yard off' and dri ve back" the S\vedes, the Poles, the Austrians, and the Turks, to break the power of Napoleon and the arluy of t,yenty nations ,yhich accolnpanied hinl, and in general to becorlle the great nation that she is at the present day. This is what the Russian Church has done for the nation, and of ,vhich I look upon the circle of nlonasteries round !foscow as an obvious enlblenl: let us now consider a few nlore points in \vhich the nlonks and lllonasteries have con- tributed to this result. The Ê.rst thing that was accolllplished towards the future greatness of Russia by monks was the invention of the Slavonic alphabet, and the transl ation of the Scriptures and the service books of the Church into the Slavonic language by the t"NO Greek lllonks Cyril and l\Iethodius. rrhis ,york was completed, according to the best authorities, in the year 863, that is to say, just one year after the establishment of the Dynasty of Ruric at Great N ovgorod, and more than a hundred years before the Conversion of Russia to Christian- ity under St. Vladimir, in 988. This translation is (with but few changes) that ,vhich is in conlmon use in Russian churches at the present day. Nobody, even from a secular point of view, will refuse these two saintly Greek monks the credit of thus conferring a great blessing upon Russia, especially if he knows anyt.hing of the history of nlodern Northern languages, and the effect produced upon them by the translation of the Scriptures, and popular ,yorks of devotion into the vernacular. And the labours of these t\VO nlonks have borne fruit in other 1 His Excellency K. P. Pobiedonostzeft, Chief Procurator of the Holy Governing Synod. See his speech delivered at Kieft on 15 July, 1888, on the occasion of the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the Conversion of Russia. to Christianity under St. Vladimir. TJ-{}: 1\10X.A.STERIES OJ ' RuSSIA. 183 countries far beyond the Russian frontier. 'Yhen I \-vas at Prague last year, I happened to get into conversation with an old man in the Teyne lCirche on the su bj ect of SSe Cyril and ::\[cthodius. He said to me: u 'Ve still sing tw.o of their hynlns here n. " 'Vhich are they? " said I. He picked up a Bohemian hynln book, and amidst a n1ass of n10re or less unintelligible matter, as far as I ,vas concerned, pointed out t,vo hynlns, be- ginning respectively, "Hospodine, p0111ilui ny," and" Svjaty Bozhe, Svjaty krjépkij, Svjaty bezsmertny, pomilui nas". If these fragments have survived in a country ,vhere the ecclesi- astical authorities for Illal1Y centuries tried to destroy the memory of their very nanIes, ,vhat effect lllust these t,vo monks' ,york not have had in Russia ,, here from the n10ment that the country accepted Christianity it was gladly received and appropriated to the national use? And ,vhat lover of Russian literature ,vould ,vish to see the Kyrillic alphabet abolished in favour of such clumsy and barbarous makeshifts frolll the Latin alphabet as may be cen in some non-orthodox Slavonic lanJs ? ext we have the con version of Vladimir the Great and the christening of the Russian nation. I need not go through the story of this ,veIl-known event in Russian history. I ,vould only once 1110re point out that the Greek Church, many years before this time, hall instituted a rule that all its Bishops should be taken frolH the Ionastic Clergy, and that conse- quently Iichael, the first Ietropolitan of l iefl: and christener of the Russian people, anù every other Bishop who has occupied that, or al1Y other See ,vithin the confines of the Russian Church, has invariably been a monk. \Ve must next speak of the foundation of the great Pe.cherskaja Lavra at l{ieff. Thi took place in the eleventh .century in the reign of Jaro laff the 'Vi e, and during the Patriarchate of Cerularius, in "\vhose days the Great Schism bet"\veen East and 'Vest was finally accon1plisheù. In spite of the fa.ct that traces are to be found of relio-ious houses ð under St. Iichael and the other early I ieff 31etropolitans, SSe Antony and TheoJosius are the true founders of Russian 186 BIRKBECI{ AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH monasticism in the strict sense of the word. The former, a Russian, who had been to Iount Athos, after having there- recei ved the tonsure, returned to I{ieff, and for some time- lived as a hermit in a cave ,vhich had been previously occupied by Hilarion, the first native Russian l\Ietropolitan of Kieff. He was soon joined by others, including Theodosius, who, at Antony's appointment, became the superior of the young com- nlunity and introduced the rule of the Studium, the strictest. monastery of Constantinople, which, like all other Eastern monastic codes, ,vas the rule of St. Basil the Great, only ,vith additions adapted to the times and circumstances of the cas . Thus wag founded the Pecherskaja Lavra, the l\lother of all Russian monasteries, next to the Troitzkaja Lavra of St. Sergi us, without doubt the most venerated place of pilgrin1age. in Russia, and the home of some of the greatest men in both the ecclesiastical and literary world which Russia has produced. Amongst the earliest of these we must mention the chronicler Nestor, the Bede of Russia, to 'Vh01l1 ' e o,ve aln10st all that is known of the earliest period of her history. Here, also, dur- ing the Polish Conquest, ,vas lnade that great st:1nd against the religion of the conquerors, which proves lnore clearly than anything else could do, that the vulgar reproach so often directed against the Orthodox Church, viz. that without sup- port from the civil power she is incapable of maintaining herself, is devoid of all foundation. It is surely rather hard that t,vo such parties as Church and State, whose obvious in- terest, not to sp2ak of Christian duty, is to live together in peace and harmony, should be held up to obloquy for not liv- ing in a perpetual state of "cat and dog" the one with the. other. But the history of the Pecherskaja Lavra in the six- teenth and seventeenth centuries, n10re especially in the time of Peter }\;loghila, proves that, while the Orthodox Church is natural1y inclined to live at peace ,vith the civil power, yet, if vital religious principles are threatened by the latter, she is quite able to hold her O'Vl1. The monks of the Pecherskaja La vra on this occasion showerl themselves worthy of the part played by the monks of their mother house, the Siudium at THE l\IOXASTERIES O:F' RUSSIÁ-\ 187. Constantinople, during the iconoclastic controversies of the eighth and ninth centuries. But I must no"\v pass on to St. Sergi us; for though much might be said of the monasteries at Great K ovgorod, Vladimir, and other places before his time, it is to St. Sergius after all that Russia owes the most. He died just about five hundred years ago, but of hinl, if of anyone, it may be said that (( his works still follo,v him". \Vherever Russian monasticism exists his influence is felt. Originally a native of Great Rostoff, one of the oldest cities in Russia, he, ,vhen a com- paratively young man, left his native town and built himself a hermitage in the forests not far from Mosco,v. Everyone who has béen in Russia must have seen pictures of the good old hermit, sitting before his hut amongst the fir trees, shar- ing his dinner ,vith the bear, and indeed giving him the "Thole of it on fast days, for, as we may read underneath the picture, these are only n1eant to be kept by rational animals and cannot be understood by brute beasts! But the great signi- ficance of this hermitage, which soon attracted hosts of dis- ciples, or companions as St. Sergius preferred to call them, consisted in the choice of its position near rosco,v just, at the very tin1e ,vhen the capital, at the entreaty of St. Peter the Ietropolitan, ,vas transferred thither from Vladin1ir, by the Grand Duke John I{alita. 'Yhat does not the country owe to these three men, two of then1, be it observed, monks? J.lloscow is one answer to this question, and specially concerns St. Peter the :Thletropolitan; the 1 niting to J.lloscow of the whole o{ the districts north of the Volga to the Arctic Ocean, and for the most part their colonisation and civilisation is the second answer, and this ,vas entirely due to St. Sergius and his disciples. The history of this colonising work of the Russian monks has yet to be \\Titten; but I will n1ention just a f e,v exam pIes. Five of his disciples founded monasteries in the district round \.,. ologda, mo t of which exist to this day. The most irnportant is the Prilutzki Ionastery, which stands about three miles from ,.,. oloQda on the ArchanO"el Road and is so . 1 b' 188 BIRKBECI( AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH .called fronl the bo,v-shaped bend (luk) of the river in which it stands. Next ,ve must mention St. Stephen of Pernl, also a disciple of Sergi US, ,,,"ho invented an alphabet for the Zyrianian language, and translated the service books. He was the Apostle of the Zyrianians of Perm: making his way up the Ri vel' V ycherda to the mouth of the V ynl, he soon by his life and teaching persuaded the natives to destroy their idols and to accept Christianity. He founded three monasteries, in one of ,vhich, after having been consecrated Bishop at Ioscow, he resided. Thus he was the means of bringing the "Thole of these districts up to the Ural l\lountains into the confines of the EUlpire. N ext we have the Simonoff lonastery, just outside Ioscow, the resting-place of the two companions of St. Sergius who led the army of DU1itri of the Don on the occasion of his great victory, founded about 1370 by Theodore, a companion and nephew of St. Sergi us, afterwards Arch- bishop of Rostoff. His successor Cyril, wishing for greater solitude, resigned his post of Archinlandrite, and in 1397 settled close to the White Lake (Bjéloje Ozepo), some 250 versts to the N.'V. of V ologda, while his companion, Thera- pont, founded another monastery close by. Both these houses, Illore especially the former, have played a great part in Russian history, and have themselves given birth to lnany famous monasteries in the northern districts of the Empire. Spaso-Kamennaja Biélovinskaja Pustynj.-As early as the thirteenth century there had been a monastery on this island close to the N.E. shore of Lake Kubeno. As in so many other instances in these northern districts lof Russia (e.g. Valaanl and Konevetz, on Lake Ladoga), an island had been occupied by hermits at a time when the surrounding country was still heathen. The Prince of Biélozersk, an appanage of the Russian Grand Duchy, in crossing the lake on his way to Veliki U stiug, which forlned part of his domains, was overtaken by a storm, and made a vow that if he were saved he would build a church in honour of th8 transfiguration of the Saviour. He was wrecked on an island, the desolation of TI-I] :\IOX lHT] ltIl S OF RUf)SIA. 189" which is best described by its nanle St.ony Is1and, or Kamenny Ostrotr; and to his àstonishlnent discovered that it was occupied by a considerable nuruber of aged hern1its, ",,"ho had lived there for D1any years in order to escape from the world. In fulfilment of his VO 'l, he built theIn a church, and select- ing one of thcln as nastojatelj or prior, formed then1 into u Inonastic Cou1lllunity. This cornmunity ,vas still in existence- in the tÍ1ne of Delnetrius of the Don, \vhere we find it presided over by J)ionysius, a monk fron1 .J\Iount Athos, who seeD1S to, hav.e been a ll1an of great po\vcr, and to have raised the- 1110nastery to a high state of energy and excellence, and to ha ve thro\yn hirnself heartily into the monastic n10vement initiated by St. Sergius. On his promotion to the See of Rostoff, he \vas succeeded by Cassian, a n10nk froll1 Cyril's ne\v n10nastery near Biélozersk of \vhich we have already spoken. Unùer hÜn this monastery becalne t;till n10re im- portant. Its vigorous and energetic religious life attracted to. it the youthful appal1aged Prince Zaozerski to \VhOlll the landH surrounding the lake, and to a considerable distance in th north-east, belonged. He entered the COllllllunity and took the nalne J oa aph, and soon the \vhole of hit) territory \va covered \vith a llet\vork of nlonastic foundations, daughter- houses of the monastery on JCamenny Ostroff. I IHyself kno\v' of nine different houses '\vhich \vere founded froIl1 here in thic:; manner, some of \vhich exist to this day; and for all I kno\v there rnay be a great many more. rrhe saIne thing 11lay be saiL1 of the other nlonaRteries in t.his imnlense district. Take, for illstüllce, the )Ionastery of St. Cyrilllear Biélozersk In the course of the fifteenth century, besidçs renovating, a') W'O have alrea , ly seen the cOll1IDunity on Kalnenny Ostroff:. it foulldeù eight nc\v ulonasteries, some of ,vhich \vere of tìH: utmost Ï1nportallce, as, for instance, the famous Solovetzki )Ionastery on the 'Yhite Sea, of \vhich \ve shall have to speak later OU, anù thc Korniliett: KOlneljski close to Y' ologda, \vhich itself hecalllo in the follo\ving century the nlother of thirteen new houses. Such examples as these Inight be multiplied ad infinitv.nt.. 190 BIRKBECK AND '.rHE RUSSIAN CHURCH When I was travelling in 1889 in these districts, almost every town that one came to turned out, on investigation, to owe its existence in some manner or other to a monastic foundation, and to the consequent attraction of the native population and Russian colonisers to it as a centre of enlighten- ment and civilisation. But there is another point which must also be mentioned. This northern district of Russia was originally included in the territory not of the Grand Dukes of Muscovy, but of the Republic of Great No vgorod. All who have read Karamsin's novels (Povjésti), know the history of Martha Boretzkaja, the independent-minded Posadnitza of Novgorod, who, if she had been able, would have prevented the reunion of the territories of the Republic with the Grand Duchy after delivery of the latter from the Tartar yoke. All, too, who have travelled in the districts round the \Vhite Sea will remember how often one comes across the traces of this great and patriotic noblewoman's beneficence to the Church. But, to wh0111 was it that she confided her religious founda- tions ? Not to the monks of Great N ovgorod, but to the disciples of St. Sergius, the very pioneers of l\Iuscovite influence in the e parts. This single fact speaks volumes for the Trinity Lavra. If it was the army of Ivan III which reduced the brave old city Novgorod to submission, it was the disciples of St. Sergius ,vho, without any bloodshed, brought her vast dominions into the reunited Empire. What Russian is there, who, however much he may adlnire l\.1:artha Posadnitza, will not own that the monks by so doing conferred a benefit upon his country? I should like to have touched upon a great many other questions in regard to Russian Illonasticism, and, as it appears to me, the great benefits "\vhich it has conferred upon the country; but time will not permit. I know that in some Russian circles the monks are often spoken of as a useless idle body of men, but, although in the case of some of the numerous monastic communities in the country this may be true, I find that these accusations are generally made by those who have not taken the req uisi te measures for ascertaining the facts of the case, by visiting the more vigorous communities, stay- THE 1\IOXASTERIES OF RUSSIA 191 in<)' with theIn, and endeavouring to get a real insight into b their nlonastic life. Many of them are veritable centres of in- dustry, and contain excellent schools, workshops, and other institutions of the greatest value to the surrounding popula- tion. Take, for instance, the Solovetzki l\Ionastery in the White Sea, and the ,vonderful work which it does in educating the youth of the neighbouring district throughout the 'v inter every year. Indeed, in the North of Russia, you may see the same process going on, which I have tried to describe in the case of St. Sergius and his disciples. During the last ten years the monasteries of the GovernUlent of Archangel alone h3. ve founded three new monastic colonies, one at Péchengski in Lapland, on the N or,vegian frontier, another in N ovaja Zemlja, the northernmost outpost of Christianity in the ,vorId, and a third on the straits leading into the Kara Sea, lately opened up by Captain '\Viggins. Before concluding, let us take j lIst a glance at the life of one of these religious hOllses. If anyone wishes to see a nIodel Russian monastery, he should go to Valaam, an island in the middle of Lake Ladoga. The island, originally but a wilderness of rock and forest, has been converted into a gar- den; there are great dairy farnls of cows, and hay sufficient for their keep throughout the "\vinter, all harvested by the monks. They have built themselves two large steanlers which carryon the business of the monastery with the small towns and villages round the lake; even their engines have been made by the monks themselves, who have also built themselves a huge iron reservoir on a hill overhanging the monastery, into \vhich ,vater is pumped from the lake to supply the whole of the enormous buildings. This monastery, which is .a great pilgrimage resort, is probably one of the strictest in Russia. I stayed there for three days with a Russian diplomatist, who formerly held a high post at one of the principal courts of Europe. \Vhen \ye arrived, 've were shown into a large room in the guest house outside the monastery, ,vhich ,vas to be ours during our stay. \Ve ,vere given a printed list of rules to keep during our visit, amongst which we found the terrible item that smoking ,vas utterly forbidden, 192 BIRKBECI( A D THE RUSSI... N CHURCH not only in the Inonastery and guest house, but on the whole island, and even on the Inonastery stealners. My friend said to Ine: "0, this rule is only meant for the peasant pilgrims \vho come here, and ,von't apply to us ". Hardly, however, had we lit our cigarettes, \vhen the door opened, and in came the namjéstnik, or sub-prior, and requested us to put theln out. l\Iy friend in vain tried to procure an exception for nle as a foreigner and visitor. "I aln very sorry," said the nanljéstnik, "but the rule must be kept: people come here to pray and not to sllloke." In spite of the considerable wealth of the Inonastery, everything was conducted in the severest style; our meals consiRted of nothing- but 'inaigre dishes-for no Russian rnonk or bishop ever eats lneat-and \ve ate them off wooden plates; ,vhile the services seemed to go on the whole day, and ,,,ere attended not by a fe\v monks only, as one so often Rees in less strict Inonasteries, but by the whole cOlnmunity. It ,vas interesting to sec the Skhirnonakhi, or Inonks, \vho have taken the Sldìi'ìna, or great habit. l\lanyof these live in herlnitages about the island all by themselve8; and in S0111e cases they have taken a vow of perpetual silence, coming to the liturgy and standing ,,,ithin the sanctuary be- hind the altar. During our stay on the island one of the nlollks took us to visit one of these hern1itages, i!lhabited by an old monk 84 yearH of age, Father John by naH1e (not the fallIous Father John of Cronstadt of ,vhonl perhaps sonle of you have heard). I-lis history is as follo,vs. l\lany yearR ago the late Prior of the ll10nastery, considering that Father John talked too much to his companion nlonks, ordered him to observe absolute silence until further notice. Finding this a difficult rule to keep in the monastery, he asked and obtained perrnission to build himself a cell in the forest on the island, a bout four n1Ïles froln the 1110nastic buildingö. Here he remained for lllany years apparently forgotten by the Prior, ,vho, ho\vever, on his death-bed remembered the rule he had laid upon hÏ1ll, and sent a monk a fe,y hours before his death to release hilll from it. Father John's fault of talking too 1l1uch was completely rr}-I} :\10 .ADT:ERIES OIT RUSSIA 193 cured, and indeed more than cured by his long silence, for he seemed to a great extent to have lost the habit of speaking altogether, and it w'as only by giving hiln portions of the nlonastic office to rea(l, that he gradually got. back the ordinary use of his speech. He ,,"'as stili living in his cell in the forest \vhen I ,vent to see hinl: they have built hinl a mall chapel close by in ,vhich he celebrates the Liturgy, and he and au- other nlonk ,vho has no,v been appointed to live \vith him have malIe a small garden sloping do,vn to the edge of the lake, in which they cultivate just enough in the \vay of vegetables and fruit to live upon throughout the year. The old Inonk, who must have been a very handsolne man in his day, and still is of striking appearance \vith his long white beard and ascetic face, and picturesque Skhima, or monastic Great Habit, invited us into his cell. It consisted of t\VO tiny wooden rooms; the only furniture ,,-hich it contained \vas a chair, a table, and a \vooden plank for a bedsteafl, which had no covering of any kind except a great sheepskin rug. In the corner of the rOOITI, on a shelf, stood three icons, the first of the Holy Virgin and Child, the second of SSe Sergius and Gerlnanus, the two founders of 'T alaaln, and the third of the head of St. John Baptist, his patron saint, in the charger. Open on the table ,ve found a Russian t.ranslation of the I'Jnitation of Christ, ,\rhich he told us had been his constant cOlnpanion for the last few years, and ,vas the only book besides a book of ()ffices of the Church ,vhich he should ever read now, and indeed these t,vo books constituted the whole of his library.. He told us that it ,vas a great trouble to him being so much talked of and written about in the Russian ne\vspapers, and that it sometimes 11lade hÜn feel that his life nlight have been. a \v!"ong one, but that sometilnes he felt that he 'vas already tasting the s\veets of Paradise in his peaceful life in the midst of the silent forest. Old as he ,vas, he took us all about his garden and his little church, and then \\alked do,vn \vith us back to the edge of the lake, giving hi blessing to nlY Russian friend's little boy \vho ""as with us, a ,ve stepped into the boat to return to the monastery. 1:3 CHAPTER XV. RUSSIAN THEOLOGY.} HO"TEVER important the other portions of the Orthodox Eastern Church may be, it is \vith the Church of Russia that the question of reunion with the East chiefly rests. That greatest and n10st ÏInportant of all national Churches, with her little short of 80,000,000 D1embers, comprising almost four-fifths of the numbers, and at least nine-tenths of the learning of the whole Orthodox communion, and which, originating in a single bishopric, planted from Constantinople at Kieff in the tenth century, now extends from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, and from the Baltic to the waves of the Pacific, can never be a negligible quantity in questions of Christian unity. 1\Ioreover, there is no Church in the world with a better title to the intelligent and syn1pathetic investiga- tion of English Churchmen. Her firm and never-varying hold on Catholic truth, her enormous influence for good upon the teenlÏng masses over which her jurisdiction extends, a.nd the energy and success of her n1issions to the heathen and Mohamn1edans within her own sphere of action, stand without a rival in Christendom; while in the ability and learning of her theologians she is quite able to hold her own \yith even the most learned of Western communities. If this is not generally ackno\vledged in the West, it is, as Professor Har- nack has pointed out, owing to the fact that they write in a language not often kno\v.n by \Vestern theologians. In a review of a work upon Theodoret of Cyrrha, \vritten as an } A paper read before the Church Congress at Norwich, 1895.-[A.R.] (194) RUSSIAK THEOLOGY 195 exercise for his nlaster' Jegree by Nicholas Glubokoflski, a student in the Academy in the Troitza J\lonastery, near 1\Ioscow, Dr. Harnack says that that Academy has here pro- duced the most able patristic monograph which has been given to the ,vorld since Lightfoot's Ignatius. 1 And this is by no means a singular instance. It is, then, to Russian theology that I am going to devote myself to-day. It is not ahvays realised, but it is nevertheless a fact, that the Eastern Church, no less than the Roman Church and the various Protestant bodies, possesses a school of theology of its rthodox, ho\vever, led by St. John Damascene, pointed out that the Incarnation had changed this. The eternal, illimitable (å7reptópurroç;), invisible, uncir- cumscribable (à7repírypa7rToç;) \V ord of the Father, "the express image of His person," had willed for our sakes to take upon 1 Sir Thomas Browne, Religio j}ledici. 2 Khomiakoff. See Russia and the English Church, p. 221. 3 See Articles of Religion, Art. 1. RUSSIAN THEOLOGY 203 Him, not the nature of the angels, whereby, although He would have become limited, He ,vould still have remained invisible to the human eye, but the nature of man, by which He became not only lÏ1nited, but capable of being described or delineated. And thus the Church of the New Testament was free to use not only figurative language, but figurative art in her worship. As the contakion for the service on Orthodoxy Sunday (when the Eastern Church celebrates the final accep- tance of the Seventh General Council in the year 842) puts it :_1 f O " A ' ,.. II " ,.. a ' a7T'Ep""Ipa7rTOe; o,,/oe; TOU aTpoe; Ele uov, ÖEOTOleE, 7rEPU;- ,,/pácþ7] uaplCovpÆvoe;, leaì TijV PU7rWBEîuav EllCóva Eìe; TÒ àpXaíov , cþ , ,.. () ... , , t:: ' A "'\ "'\' f "'\ avajLop (J)uae;, Tcp Etcp Ka^-^-Et G"U"IlCaTEjLtç EV. ''-''' 0 jLOl\.O- "IoûvTEe; T1]V {J"lJ)T7]píav, Ëp,,/9:' lCaì ^-ó,,/9:' TaúT1}V ÙVtUTOPOÛjLEV. The cause at stake was in reality one of the same nature as that for which St. Paul contended in his Epistle to the Galatians. It only remained for the Church to set limits as to how far this worship might safely go, and this she did in the Seventh General Council, which, like the decrees of all the other Coun- cils, was a development, not of doctrine, but of statement of the Church's faith, not an enlargement of her boundaries, but a building up of her bulwarks-of a ,vall dividing the rock from the quicksands which surrounded it; so that, as St. John Damascene says,2 the Church need never return to the beggarly elements of the Law, or " be brought into great fear where no fear was," but might freely worship God in act as well as word, in the liberty of the Gospel. That is what the numer- ous martyrs and confessors, under the fury of the icono- clastic emperors, were contending for, and pace the sneers of Gibbon, it was a great and vital principle. Does the Church of. England really reject it ? Of course the 'Eastern Church does not expect us to adopt !l.ll her ceren10nial usages con- nected with it; she merely expects us to accept her explana- tion of her own rites, just as ,ve expect her to accept our explanation of our own formulæ. There are some sects in 1 Triodion, Contakion at Iatins of First Sunday in Lent. 2 St. John Damasc., De imaginiblts, Or. i. 2. '204 BIRKBECI{ AND THE RUSSIA..N CHURCH England ,vhich object to our removing our hats on entering a church, on the ground, I suppose, that the ltIost High" d\velleth not in tern pIes made váth hands". To this the answer of an Eastern ,vould be that (C the tabernacle of God is with men," and that our places of worship, no less than the tabernacle of the Hebrews, are a shadow or icon of this truth and are there- fore but venerated with TtJ.1/1}TtK 7TPOUKÚV7JUtC;. Can we devise a better answer? That there are dangers connected with the system none ,vil1 deny, but as a Russian writer 1 puts it, " Where is the man who condemns himself to perpetual silence for fear of uttering idle words? " In conclusion, I would say that in st.ating the views that I have met with in the writings of the Russian theologians, and in personal intercourse with them, I have had no inten- tion whatever to attack the Roman Church, still less to find fault ,vith the Church to ,vhich I lllyself belong, and to which I owe all that makes life ,vorth living for. ly aim has simply been to show that besides a vVestern, there is a dis- tinct Eastern way of looking at things. As it is our privilege in the Anglican Communion to be free from those embarrass- ments which seeln to compel Rome and the East mutually to exclude one another from the pale of the visible Church, it L'3 'veIl that we should realise this fact. :b-'or this very privilege of ours has its responsibilities. I can understand, though I cannot defend, members of the Roman and Eastern Churches not caring to know the truth with regard to each other's teaching and practice, but ,vhat I cannot understand is how English Churchmen, who believe both of them to be members of the one body of ,vhich Christ is the Head, can bear not to do their best to understand the doctrines which underlie the actions of these their brethren before putting a bad construc- tion upon them. I remember once an Englishman who has Ii ved all his life in Russia, telling me that even on Easter night the great feature of the Eastern Service was a hymn sung to the icons, while the priests offered incense to them! Last year I saw this service at l\Ioscow. The hymn in ques- 1 Khomiakoff. See Russia and the English Church, p. 5. RUSSI.A_N TI-IEOLOGY 205 tion, so far from being addressed to the icons, ,vas nothing Inore or less than St. John DaInascene's beautiful canon, The day of Resurrection, Earth, tell it out abroad r ,vith which we are all familiar, while all that the censing of the icons Illeans, is that the Church on earth joins with the- Church in heaven in her song of triun1ph at our Lord's victory over death. Is not this construction, ,vhich the Eastern Church herself places upon this beautiful rite, anù .w.hich all her chilùren perfectly understand, the pleasanter of the t,vo for us to place upon it? Divided as Rome anù the East are, Leo XIII hilnself has lately recollllnended the study of the great Eastern doctor, St. John Danlascene, to the theologians of the Latin COlnlnunion. Shan lve not join ,vith him in try- ing to drive a"\vay that ,vild boar of the forest ,vhich rooteth up the vine of the Lord-that "singular" or "solitary ,vild- beast" (s'ingularis fe1-us, j.LÓVlOÇ; arYPloç;), as the Latin and Sep- tuagint versions have it, and ,,'"hich St. Augustine 1 says means every nlan that says, " It is I, it is I, I alone aln right)" and thus rendH asunder the se(uuless coat of Chrißt ? 1 Enarr. in Psalms, Ps. lxxix. (lxxx.), v. 14 (13). "Et singlllaris lel.us Û('pastus est cam." Quid est, U singularis ferus"? Ipse aper qui devastavit earn, singularis ferus. Singularis, quia superbus. Hoc enim dicit omDi supcrbus: Ego sum; ego sum, et nemo. CHAPTER XVI. RUSSIAN IISSIONS TO THE IOHA IMEDANS.l AT an early hour in the morning, some t-\venty hours after starting from Nijni N ovgorod in one of the great Volga stealll- .ships, which run between that ancient outpost of l\fuscovyand the city of Astrakhan, the traveller sees a sight ,vhich he will not easily forget. On the flat surface of a hill with almost precipitous sides, ,vhich stands alone and rises straight out of the Volga, is built a to,vn, apparently consisting of even more churches than houses, surmounted ,vith domes of every colour of the rain bow, interspersed with beautiful green trees growing amongst its houses, or within the walls of its three monasteries. This is the ancient town of Svjazhsk, a fortress built in the year 1550, by the Tsar, I van the TerribJe, in order to guard his dominions against depredations from the neighbouring Tartar capital Kazan. The once terrible power of the Tartar Khans, who for centuries had held l\luscovy under their iron yoke, ,vas now broken. As early as the year 1480 Russia had finally estabJished her independence, and it was now the turn of the Tartars to tremble before the armies of the Tsar. The city of Kazan, which is situated less than twenty miles lower down on the opposite, or eastern, sidð of the Volga, and which comes in sight, with its white crenelated ,valls and cathedrals with their golden domes, very soon after passing Svjazhsk, was much too near I van the Terrible's new fortress for both to stand together for any length of time. The next year regular siege was laid to the Tartar capital: its citadel was taken by 1 This was read before a meeting of the Eastern Church Association held at Norwich during the Congress Week, 1895.-[A.R.J (206) ì\IISSIONS TO THE l\IOHAl\Ii\IEDAKS 207 8torIn, the cross was planted in its midst, on the very spot where the high altar of its principal cathedral, that of the Annunciation now stands and in which the relics of the first , , Bishop of Kazan, St. Juri, no\y repose in a silver shrine. The street fighting which followed ,vas long and desperate, and the DId Tartar ca pi tal was practically destroyed. All that remains of it is the curious brick to,ver of Sumbéki in the Kremlin, so nanIed after the couraO'eous mother of the last Tartar Khan o of Kazan: and here on Fridays the )lussulman Tartars may still son1etinles be seen mournincr for the fate of their ancient o sovereigns. The site of the old Tartar tow'n, built on a long ridge \vith steep slopes on each side, is no,v occupied by a regular Russian to\vn; but clo,vn belo\v there has grown up a new Tartar quarter in ,vhich there are something like 12,000 l\Iussuhnans and fifteen mosques. I went one evening to one of these, and obtained leave from the 1.1ullah, who . could talk a little bad Russian, to attend the service. At the end of it he came and asked nle whether it was Great Britain from ,vhich I caIne, and where Little B1 itain was. I told hiIn there ,vas no such place as Little Britain, and that no Eng- lishman could conceive of Britain being anything but great. " Yes," he replied, " your f:overeign is the Em press Victoria; she also reigns gloriously over 50,000,000 Iussuhnans in India. " \Vhen Ivan the Terrible conquered the Tartar Kingdom, the work of converting the )Iohanllnedan population was seriously taken in hand, and at first ,vith great success. \Vhen once their Inilitary po\ver of resistance ,vas crushed, the Tartars were treated \vith the greatest humanity and mild- ness; ,vhile the first Bishop, St. Juri, was all that a missionary Bi hop should be, combining zeal and saintliness of life with an intelligent kno\vledge of the requirements of his diocese. The conditions at that time were extremely favourable to an easy acceptance of the faith. The I(hanate of Kazan con- sisted of a mixed population. 'Vhile the don1Ïnant race, the Tartars, as also the Chuváshi, \vere of Turkish origin, and were already, as well as the Bulgarian population, fairly confirmed 208 BIRI{BECI\: A.ND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Iohammedans, the district, after an, contained but little real l\Iongolian blood. The aboriginal Finnish tribes of the district, such as the Mord vå, the Cheremíssy, and the V otiakì, ,vere still heathens, adhering more or less, as many of them do to this day, to the Shamanisln of their race, and even when they nominally accepted l\Iohammedanism, they often only did so in the sense of incorporating some of its characteristics into their former religion. Hence, at the time of the conquest of Kazan, just when their old religion was beginning to break up, it was everything that Christianity should get the start of l\foham- n1edanisln ,vith them. And at first both Bishop Juri and his successor, St. Gerlnanus, \vere most successful, and numbers were 'VOll over to Christianity. But evil times ,,"ere coming upon Russia. The later years of Ivan the Terrible'F; reign did not fulfil the pron1Ïse of its beginning. Reselnbling in n1any ,vays our Henry \",'111, \vhile taking at all times a deep interest in the religious affairs of his country, he latterly can1e to give hirnself up to every forn1 of yice and cruelty. St. Germanus vtas sent for to l\Iosco\v to attend the Synod ,yhich the tyrant had sUJnmoned in order to depose the l\Ietropolitan St. Philip, of loscow, who had '''entured to rebuke hÏIn for his excesses, and, being one of those Bishops 'v ho bravely dared to refuse his consent to this iniquitous act, ,vas thro\vn into prison and never returned to his diocese alive. He \vas said at the tiule to have died a natural death, and his relllains ,vere sent back to the great monastery at Svjazhsk, of \vhich he had been the f.irHt Abbot, but a recent examination of his relics, revealing unn1istakable marks of the axe on his neck and ja\v-bone, point to a more violent and glorious end. There he now lies in his silver shrine in the great abbey church. When I went last year ,vith a letter from the church authorities to visit the mona3tery, a young Russian. "Tho ,vas just going to be ordained, and intends to devote his life to lnissionary work amongst the l\Iohall1medans, asked me to allo,y him and his mother to accompany me to pray at this grave, which is so intin1ately connected with ,yhat is to be his ,york in life. I asked the A bbot to ha ye one of the popular services kno,vn as the )IISSIOX rro rHE ßIOH -\)r IED_-\XD 209 molebens for the boy; and, accordingly, the A bbot took us from hi lodgings across the peaceful Inonastery-yard under the shade of its trees, in \v hich the rooks were at that tinle building, ana \vhich had just burst out into their SUlnmer foliage, into the splendid old church, built by the saint himself, and full of frescoes, icons, and exquisite silver and gold \vork of the Russian sixteenth-century style; and there, before the open shrine, \vith the book of the Gospels held by a deacon over the boy's and his 11lother's heads, one of the priests of the rnonastery read the Gospel for a confessor Bishop, beginning, "I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep," the Abbot standing by our side, ,vhile a fe\v peasants in the church, some of theln with unmistakably Tartar faces, joined in the responses Inade by the choir. I think that if Englishnlen understood the exact bearings of this feature in the popular religious life in Russia, of the ilnportance of which, both fron1 a religious and national point of view, I am nlore and more cOl1yinced every time that I travel in the country, they ,voulcl be less inclined to carp an,] find fau] t ,vith the reverenCj ,yhich the Russians pay to the resting-places of their aints. A Inore apposite ,vay for a poo}" student to enter upon his missionary career could hardly be ÏInagined. But to return to the religious history of the 'fartars and other tribes of these part . After the death of St. GerlnanUs. little more ,vas done in the ,vay of Christianising them. The. extinction of the house of Ruric, and the troubles \vhich ell-- sued, the Polish invasions, and the deposition of the Patriarch icon, \vere nOlle of theul favourable to n1Ìssionary enterprise; still less the periotl or religious Ínùitference ,vhich followed upon the refonns of Peter the Great, and \vhich c]osely re- seul-bled that of the rest of the Europe of the eighteenth century.. j!eallw.hile the )Iohanlmeclans had. not been idle. The .:\lullahs had strengthened their hold upon the Tartar population, and' \vere carrying on an active and generally successful propag-anda, not only amongst the heathen tribes of this district, but also against the lately Christianisetl Tartars, ,vhose hold upon Christianity, so soon as Christian lnissiollary zeal dÜninished l 14 210 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH was not sufficiently strong to enable them to withstand it. There are to this day a large number-even whole villages-of " fallen-aways," as the J\;lohammedan Tartars \vhose ancestors once were Christians are called. It was not until after the Crimean war, when, together with the general a wakening of those tin1es, the Church of Russia entered upon a new period of energy and life which can only be compared to that ,vhich in our own country has grown out of the Oxford movement, that much was done either towards saving those ,vho were still nominally Christians, or in converting the professed Mohalnmedans. This movement naturally started from !Cazan, \vhere there is not only a university famous for its learning in the ,yay of oriental languages, but also an ecclesiastical acaden1Y which is the centre from \vhich aU the mission work of the Asiatic and Eastern European districts of the empire starts. The ,soul of the movelnent was Nicholas Iljlnínski, Professor of Oriental Languages in the University of Kazan, a man of portentous learning in the languages and dialects of all t.he races of this part of the empire, whether Finnish or Turkish in origin, and one of those many devout and enthusiastic laymen of \vhich the Russian Church, perhaps more than any other Church in Christendom, has such good cause to be proud. He came to the conclusion that the only hope of dealing with the situation, and of counteracting the influence of the l\lullahs, was to create a native Orthodox priesthood in each tribe, and to translate the Scriptures, services, and books of instruction into a form which ,vould make them perfectly intelligible to the people as contrasted with the l\[ohalnmedan Arabic forms used by the former. He accordingly first set to work to con- struct an alphabet., and, following the example of St. Stephen of Perm, who as early as the fourteenth century had done the same thing for the Zyrianian tribes in the forests of the north- east of European Russia, he used the Russian alphabet as far as it \yould go to express the various sounds, and for the rest used modifications of the Russian letters. During the last thirty years son1e five hundred religious books of various l\IISSIOXS TO THE l\IOH.Al\I:\IEDANS 211 kinds-gospels, psalters, and other service-books, catechisn1s, lives of saints, etc.-have thus been printed in the local ver.. naculars. The method 'v hich he adopted in translating I shall explain further on. There is at Kazan, in addition to the ordinary diocesan seminary for Russians training for the priesthood, a special sen1inary, started by Iljlninski, for the training of the native clergy and for the missionaries that are to work amongst them. They are, of course, taught Russian and Slavonic. ])11'. Bob.. rovnikotf, the present able and energetic director, took me to hear the students sing the Liturgy. Although one had simply to look at them to see that they belonged to different Mongolian and Finnish tribes, they sang the Liturgy throughout in Sla.. vonic; it ,vas only at the priest's Communion that they divided themselves up into five groups, each belonging to a different tribe, and sang St. John Damascene's great Easter canon, The Day of Resurrection, Earth, tell it out abroad! each division taking a verse in turn in its o,vn language, except at the Gloria Patri at the end of each of the eight odes, which, with the Easter Troparion following it, was sung by all five grou ps together in Slavonic. But even more interesting than this seminary is the Tartar school for boys and girls founded by Iljmínski at Kazan in order to train .school 111asters and 111Ïstresses for the Church schools ,,'"hich have lately been started all over this part of Russia. The pupils are selected from the best in the parish schools. When I ,vas there there were rather over two hun- dred children in all. The course lasts four years, and those of each year are instructed together in separate c]assrooms. Fathër Vassíli TimoféeH: who has charge of this school, is him- self a Tartar and a convert to Christianity. He was very anxious that I should examine the children in Russian, which I did, as far as my own knowledge of the language permitted, for I found that by the end of their second year they were better at it than I ,vas, although to the end of their lives they have a difficulty in distinguishing bet,veen " he, she, and it/' in- 212 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIA CHURCH asmuch as their own language has no genders, not even in the pronouns. Great pains are taken with their church singing, and I found that they could sing by heart the Troparion for almost any feast I liked to mention, both in Tartar and in Russian. The Troparion for the day represents very much ,vhat the Collect for the day is to our services. I had the good fortune to be at Kazan just before the boys left for their summer holidays; and so the follo,ving ,veek Father 'T assí1i Timoféeff offered to take n1e a short tour amongst the Tartar villages in the Government of Kazan, bet\veen the Volga anù the Kanla. \Ve st.arted on a Saturday morning. rrhe population the first part of the ,vay ,vas entirely Russian, but after driving SOIIle eighteen n1Ìles ,ve arrived at the first Tartar villages. \Ve stopped to rest at midday at a villag composed partly of Russians and partly of Tartars, and with both a church an(l a nlosque. In spite of the division of race and religion, they seemed to live very alnicably, and I was told that the n irr, or village comnlune, consisted of both ele- Il1ents. I found that here they alJ knew Russian. After ,this the country ,vas aln10st purely Tartar. 'Ve spent the night at the house of a Tartar priest, one of Father Vasslli's former pupils. A few years ago, except about forty Russians, there ,vas not a Christian in the village. But a rich merchant in Kazan had built a church and schools, and ,vhen I ,vas there there ,vere ninety-two pupils in the school, ,vhile 350 adult rartars had Blade their Easter Communion. The Sunday Inorning service, ,, hich ,vas very long, lasting from five till past eleven, \vith only a short interval bet\veen :\latins and the Liturgy, was beautifully sung, for the lnost part by the congregation in Tartar, although one side of the choir sang in Slavonic for the benefit of the fe,y Russian inhabitants, ,vhile several parts of the Liturgy, including the Epistle, Gospel Creed, and Lord's Prayer, ,vere read or sung in both lan- guages, one after the other. After the prie t's Comn1union, he preached a short serIllon on the Gospel for the day in both languages, and then sOlnething over thirty children of various ages under seven receiyed Communion. The service ended l\IISSIOXS TO rrHE l\IOHA.:\I:\IEDA.XS i13 by a distribution of the ant id01 on, \vhich is the first food taken. I never sa\v, even in Russia, a lnore devout congrega- tion, and it is quite difficult to realise that thirty years ago there was not a Christian in the village. The afternoon \ve spent driving through nun1erous vil- laaes some Christian , others l\Iohan1medan. The mission ð , \vork generally begins 'Nith the foundation of a school; "V herever a chool is started a con1munity of Christians is sure to forIn itself, nlore especially amongst the Tartar vil- lages which have forlnerly been Christian. Apart from the lnosques, \"ith their \vhite n1Ïnarets, with green extinguisher- shaped tops, one can always tell a :ß.lohammedan village at once from the people's less clean and prosperous appearance, the absence of women in the village street, and the shyness of the children. Besides \vhich IllY cOlnpanion \vas evidently ,veIl known and loved in all the Christian villages. As the sun began to set we carrie to a forest SOlne nine rniles across, full of splendid oaks, firs, birch, etc. 'V hen \ve emerged from it we were on a high bit of ground, in sight of Father Vassili's native village, though still some way ofl: During the last part of the journey he told nle the history of his life. The village, which had originally in the sixteenth century become Christian, but which hact fallen away, \vas in his youth either without religion or else )lohammedan. He himself was the son of a Tartar peasant, and his father knew nothing of Christianity. As a boy he had made friends with a pious Orthodox Russian woman in a neighbouring village, who was in the habit of going on pilgrimages to the various holy places in Russia; and, having learnt to read Russian, he used to borro"r the religious books of various kinds that she had brought back from the monasteries which she had visited. Little by little the-truths of Christianity can1e home to him, and at last he him- self resolved to take monastic vows, and entered the Ivanoff- ski Ionastery at !{azan as a lay Brother, and would have taken the full vo,vs had he not been obliged first to serve his time in the army. This \vas in 1861. \Yhile at the I vanoffski lon- astery he luade the acquaintance of Professor Iljmínski, of 214 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH whom I have already spoken. After his military service he no longer felt a vocation for the monastic life, but returned to his native village, married a Christian Tartar woman Ii ving in the neighbourhood, and pursued the unenviable profession of tax-collector. Notwithstanding, he began to teach Christianity and the Russian language to two or three boys in the village on his own account. During this period Iljminski came to him one summer with his first translations into the Tartar language, and these he helped him to correct and to render into an idiom entirely intel1igible to the common people. This work contained many of the commonest parts of the Church services, instructions in reading and in the use of the new alphabet, selections from the Gospels, the Little Catechism, etc. In the winter it was printed, and to Vassíli's joy, 300 copies were sent to him, which he distributed amongst his friends and acquaintances. He then returned to Kazan in the hopes of getting some employment more to his taste than tax-collecting. The I vanoffski l\lonastery could not help him, and at last he gladly accepted the post of bell-ringer in the convent of the Kazan l\lother of God. But Iljmínski did not forget him, and on realising his schen1e with regard to starting the study and teaching of the dialects of the neigh- bouring tribes in the ecclesiastical academy, he obtained for him the place of Professor of the Tartar language. The jUlnp from bell-ringer to professor was a great one; but Vassíli proved himself ,vorthy of Iljmínski's trust in him. Three of his former village companions begged to be allowed to come and live with him, and continue their instruction in Christian- ity under him. This he consented to, and these three turned out to be the beginning of his admirable school, which I have already described. After their summer holidays they brought back twelve nlore boys from the village, whom he also took in and instructed in Christianity. It ,vas just about this time- (1867) that he was ordained priest. The results of his work thus began may now be seen far and wide in this part of Russia. Sixty-five native Tartar priests all received their first training in his school, ,vhile it has provided the teachers, male )IISSIO:XS TO THE l\IOHA:\I:\IED.A.XS 215 and female, for 150 native schools, of ,vhich sixty are in the Government of Kazan. As far as his native village is con- cerned, there are now only two houses in it which have not accepted Christianity. He ended his story by saying: "Y ou shall see what :8ikolai Ivanovich [Iljmínski] and Konstantin Petróvich [Pobiedonostzeff, now Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, ,vho has taken the deepest interest in the movement from its very beginning] have done in thirty years; and what Inay it not, by God's blessing, grow to be in another thirty I) " years ! 'Ve arrived at the village at about half-past eight, just after sunset. The greetings, which hag been growing more and more demon strati ve in the various villages as we got nearer Father Vassíli's home, became a positive ovation \vhen we got there. ..A.s we drove through the streets the whole population turned out and follo,ved us to his former home, a wooden cottage, where his brother Jacob no,v lives vlÍth his \vife, sons, and grandchildren. A rumour had reached them that he might be soon coming, anù no,v he had turned up on the eve of the Translation of St. :Kicholas (to Bari), which, as the nearest church, some three miles off, is dedicated to that saint, ,vas a great festival ,vith them. No sooner had we got ùown from our tarantass than the people begged him to have t.he " All-night vigil," that is to say the service of Vespers and ratins combined \vhich is sung on Saturdays and eves of great festivals in the East.ern Church. There being as Ytt no church in the village, we started ofr t.o the school, but finding the room there already too full to admit of all ,vho ,vished to take part in the service, Father Vassíli said he would hold it in the open air. The icons of the Resurrection (it being Eastertide) and St. Nicholas ,vere brought out, and placed on a naloi, or sloping desk, with lighted candles in front, on a large plot of grass in the middle of the village, \vith one of the usual small square tables vested in coarse brocade in front, upon ,vhich was placed the book of the Gospels and the cross, and then the service began, the children front the school, boys on the right and girls on the left, acting as the choir. It was Olle of 21G BIRI\:BECI{ AND THE RUSSIAK CHURCH the most exquisite sights I have ever ,vitnessed; at least 400 Tartar peasants, the ',,"OIllen all in their bright colours and elaborate head-dresses covered with silver ornaments, the picturesq lie wooden cottages interspersed \vith the cherjó- ?nukha, a flowering tree, about the size of an elder, which grows in these parts, the sweet scent of ,vhich vied ,vith the still sweeter furnes of incense, all in the quiet t\vilight of a beautiful clear evening in l\fay, cornbinec1 to proùuce an ÏIn- pression \vhich can neyer fade from mel110ry. The vespers began with the Easter Troparion, (C Christ is risen," etc., sung in Tartar and Russian; then the children sung the Proæmiac Psalm (civ.) in Slavonic, accompanied by the usual censing and one or two of the Ektenai, or short Lita ies, were also sung in that language; as I afterwards discovered, for my special benefit; while the rest of Vespers, including the anti- phon of the first CathisIll, Psahns i.-viii., the "Lord I have cried" (Psalms cxlii., cxliii., CXXX., and cxvii.), ,vith its stichera, and the "Hail, gladdening Light," ,,-ere all sung in Tartar by the whole congregation. After the Gospel at Inatins Father V as íli eXplained it to us in a few extelnpore words, first in Tartar and then in Russian, and again at the end told us about St. Nicholas and his life in both languages. It was too dark to read the Canon of St. Nicholas, so instead of it they all sang the Canon of Easter, " The Day of Resurrec- tion," which every Orthodox Christian in Russia knows by heart, and which, although sung in r.rartar, of which I could not understand a word, I could follo\v perfectly by means of the nlelody to \vhich it ,vas set, which ,vas the san1e as that to which it is sung in Slavonic. At about ten o'clock the moon rose, so that JJfagnificat, Psalms cxlviii.-cl., \vith their proper Troparia, and Gloria in Excelsis, with which the Eastern l\fatins concluàe, ,vere sung without difficulty. The service was over soon after half-past ten, after which followed III ore greetings. The evening was brought to an end soon after eleven by Father Vassíli collecting the children in the school and all singing the hymn to the Holy Spirit, " 0 Heavenly l{ing, the Comforter," in Tartar. Thus ended illY first day in the Christian Tartar l\IIRRIOKS TO THE l\10HA)Il\IEDAKS 217 villages in Eastern Russia. I could add other experiences of the same kind, but I think that what I have said ,viII be sufficient to show that a very great and real work is here being done al110ngst the lohammedans, and that, so far from being an artificial or political scheme forced upon the population by the secular Government, it is a natural and .spontaneous religious movement originated and carried for- w&rd by the zeal and piety of individual meInbers of the Orthodox Russian Church in close connection with her best traditions inherited fronl the past. I have already mentioned how the l\Iohamlnedan mullah reminded me of the 50,000,000 ltlussulmans under British rule in India. Is not this fact in itself a reason for us Englishmen to take a deep interest in this ,york of the Russian Church, and to rejoice ,vith her at the victories which her missionaries are ,vinning for the -Cross of Christ? CHAPTER XVII. THE IDEA OF A NATIONAL CHURCH.l IN speaking of the idea of a National Church to-day, I intend, as I am quite sure is expected of me, to devote myself to vie,vs held upon this subject in the Holy Eastern Church, and to illustrate them more especially from the Church of Russia, which is by far the greatest of Orthodox, as well as of all National, Churches at the present day. The Russian Church is undoubtedly by far the most con- spicuous example which exists of the realisation of the idea ,vhich is the subject of our discussion-that is to say, of the double-sided character ,,-rhich of necessity belongs to a Church which is at once National and Catholic. That the Russian Church is a National Church I need not stop to prove. None that have read the newspapers this year can doubt of this for a moment. And that she is part of the Catholic Church is equally clear, and this not to her o,vn children only, nor even merely to the members of the other National Churches which are in full communion ,vith her. Her foes, indeed, may deny that she is Catholic, but then these consist either of those who deny the right of National Churches to exist, or else of those who have thrown a,vay the belief in the existence of any Catholic Church at all. That the English Church is not to be counted amongst these has been shown to the world in an unmistakable manner during the solemnities that took place in Russia last spring. These two elements, the National and the Catholic, permeate the ,vhole being of the Russian Church. Incleed it is upon 1 This paper was read at the Church Congress, Shrewsbury,. 1896.-[A.R.] (218) A. .ATIO .A_L CHTJRCH 219 this fact that her unity essentially depends. Such a statement may at first seem to be a paradox, and naturally gives rise to the question \vhether the National and Catholic elements in the Russian Church do not of necessity involve a contradiction, and \vhether it is possible for the one to be fully and freely developed without absorbing the other. The interminable antagonisms bet\veen Church and State which have charac- terised the history of all the countries of \Vestern Europe inevita bly suggest some such suspicion to every 'Vestern: and, inasInuch as he probably knows little of the ecclesiastical affairs of the Russian Empire, \vhereas political considerations can never allow her existence as a nation to be forgotten, he naturally believes those \vho tell him that in the Russian Church the Catholic element is s,vallo\ved up in the National, and accordingly he joins with them in describing her as a Cæsaro-Papalism, or Church governed by the Emperor as its supreme head, in the same sense that the Pope is the head of the Latin Communion. As a matter of fact, nothing can be further fronl the truth. In the Russian Church there is no contradiction bet,veen its National and Catholic elelnents, nor does either of them absorb the other. And the reason of this is that in agreement \vith the fundamental principles of the Orthodox Church, based upon the Divine command" to renùer unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's," the National is, indeed, subordinated to the Catholic element, but this without the latter in the least liIniting the legitimate freedom of the National element. For it must be remembered that the Russian Church does not claim to be the \vhole Catholic Church, but only a part of it. She teaches that the Catholic Church is the assembly of the faithful of all nations under the headship of Christ, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; and for the Church as thus understood she c1aillls the gift of infallibiJity, as properly be- longing, not to the hierarchy, still less to anyone nlember of it, but to the ,vhole Body of Christ, including, not only that part of it which is no,v upon earth, but also both that which is at rest and that \vhich is yet to be born. Nevertheless, that 220 BIRKBECI{ AKD THE RUSSIAN CHURCH part of the Catholic Church which is militant here upon earth can likewise clain1 to be infallible, inasn1uch as according to the Divine promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her, the Church upon earth can never be separated from the whole body or from its Divine head. A Russian writer 1 has pointed out that this conception of the infallibility of the Church im- poses no undue strain upon the intelligence, for although the infallibility of the Church is justly considered to be miraculous, it belongs to that order of the miraculous which of necessity manifests itself wherever the ilumediate working of Divine Providence is perceived. Thus, although historians may err -and, indeed, they have erred-history itself is infallible; for if it could err it ,vould cease to be history, and would be- come fable; and the infallibility of the Church is the same in kind, only differing frolu it inasmuch as in it Divine Pro- vidence is manifested in a more direct and in1mediate manner. And this infallibility expresses itself in everything that con- stitutes the voice of the whole Church, and, consequently, its clearest and most definite forn1 is to be seen in the decrees of <:Ecumenical councils. But the po,ver to assemble a council which shaH be certainly CEcumenical does not reside in any .secular prince, or in any individual patriarch, nor, indeed, in any authority in its separate capacity; for only that council will become truly {Ecumenical ,vhich is confirmed as such by Divine Providence itself; and inasll1uch as there are no outward signs by n1eans of which such a character can be a priorri assigned to it, only those councils have a right to be so reckoned ,vhich have been ackno,vledged as such by the conscious recognition of the whole Church-that is to say, which have been ratified by the Divine Head of the Church Himself, and by the Holy Spirit through the mediuln of the whole Church. This, then, is the Orthodox view of the Catholic Church and of its means of expressing its own infallibility, which it was necessary to enlarge upon in order to sho,v clearly my 1 Danileffski; the following passage down to the end of the paragraph is taken almost word for word from his Russia and Europe, p. 229. A XÅr.rIO AL CHUl=tCH 221 meaning when I said that in the Church of Russia the N ationa element is subordinated to the Catholic element. The Eastern Church, which, from her point of vie,v, no,v that the \Vest has. fallen away, is the ,vhole Catholic Church upon earth, consists at the present day of a nunlber of National Churches, such as the four Eastern Patriarchatef; and the autocephalous Churches of Russia, Greece, Rounlania, Servia, etc., all of ,vhich are in full communion ,vith one another. And whilst these, or at least some of them, have their recognised order of precedence jure ecclesiastico, they are nevertheless equal and independent in so far as no single one of them has any ilnmediate j urisdic- tion over another, nor the right to interfere in its national affairs; but for the settlelûent of any matter vitally affecting the doctrine, discipline, or constitution of the whole Church, each one of theln is subject to the authority of aU in their collective capacity, ,vhether ,vhen represented in a General Council, or, if this is inlpossible or unnecessary, ,vhen con- sulted in SOllle other Dianner. Russian history provides two extremely good object-lessons with regard to this point.. In the sixteenth century the increased ilnportance of the Russian Empire suggested the advisability of the prolno- tion of the l\Ietropolitical See of rosco,v to the rank of a Patriarchate. The initiative ,vas taken by the Tzar, but for a change of such importance, in the polity of the Orthodox Church, it ,vas necessary, upon Catholic principles, to obtain the c.onsent of the other then existing Orthodox Churches, in the person of the four Patriarchs. In the sanle ,yay, ,yhen Peter the Great ,vished to :-;ubstitute the Holy Synod for the Patriarchate, he obtained the sanction of the Eastern Patri- archs in a docun1ent which is to this day to be seen in the building at St. Petersburg- in ,yhich the Holy Synod lneets, declaring its constitution to be in accord \vith the principles of the Church. A sÎlnilar recognition ,vas obtained for the creation of the Holy 8ynod of Greece, and for that of each of the other Orthodox l1a tionalities as they freed themsel ves froln the Turkish yoke. So llluch for the Catholic side of the Russian and other 222 BII KBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Orthodox Eastern Churches. "\Ve must now turn to their National side. We have already seen that this is subordinated to the Catholic side; but it is more than this. Each National Church is in herself the bearer and exponent of Catholic doctrine, and accordingly in an {Ecumenical Council her spiritual representatives, the bishops, appear as witnesses of the Catholic faith, and assist in its definition. Accordingly a National Church, in order to remain faithful to the cause of the Catholic truth, must make it her ain1 and object to decide all national and local questions in a lllanner ,vhich strictly 'corresponds to the spirit of the whole Catholic Church. But this is the sole lin1it ,vhich is placed upon the freedom of the Orthodox National Churches. In local matters, for instance of language, or rites and ceremonies, they are free. Each one .of them is free both to preach the faith and to worship God in ,vhatever language she may deen1 most edifying to her -children; while with regard to rites and ceremonies, so long .as nothing is introduced which affects the dogma of the whole Church, or causes scandal to the faithful, she will be allowed .an equally wide latitude. But it is in matters of internal organisation that this Îreedoln of local Churches is most con- spicuously manifested. It is obvious that, under a Christian autocracy like Russia, .a Constitutional Government like that of Greece and some other Orthodox States, and an infidel Government like that of Turkey the interests of the Church must suggest different forms of ecclesiastical organisation. I shall not stop to show ho\v the problem has been worked out in the last two cases, I shall only say that in every case the National Church has suc- ceeded in doing so in correspondence with the canonical and un i- versallaw of the Church. I shall confine myself to Russia, whose .Governn1ent has inherited the original autocratic model brought over from Byzantium. All these relations are now concentrated in the Tzar, to whose position the idea of Cæsaro-Papalism is, as we have already seen, ascribed by candid friends in the West. But for Easterns, brought up in the traditions of their o,vn ,Church, a Cæsaro-Papalism is a thing quite inconceivable. A KATIÜXA.L CHuRCH 223 The Tzar is Inerely the representative of the secular side of the National Church, and that, moreover, only in so far as he remains a faithful exponent of the faith of the Catholic Church. This idea is clearly expressed in the coronation service, when, before he is crowned, in answer to the question, "\Vhat is thy belief?" he recites the Creed of the Catholic Church. If he betrays the faith of the Catholic Church, he thereby ceases to represent the faith of the National Church, and should he try to force heresy upon her, she \vill reject it, for otherwise she would cease to be the Church. If he cannot be sho\vn from the history of the Russian Church-for none of the Russian Emperors have ever attempted to force heresy upon her-the history of the Byzantine Church affords numerous proofs of this. Under the persecutions of the lonothelite and Iconoclast Emperors the Church remained no less free than she did under the persecutions of Nero and Diocletian, and this even at times \vhen her Patriarchs proved unfaithful. Had certain claims of \vhich we no\vadays hear a great deal been acknow- ledged in the fourth century, it \vould have gone hard with the Catholic Church \vhen Constantine forced Pope Liberius to acknowledge the semi-Arian Creed, and separate hÏ1nself from St. Athanasius; but when the Byzantine Emper- ors forced the Patriarchs to join in the Iconoclastic persecution, the result ,vas that \vhile Emperor and Patriarch ipso facto excluded themselves from the Church, by an abundant harvest of martyrdoms she only acquired fresh strength. But \vhat if, not the Emperor, but the head of the national hierarchy, prove false to the Orthodox cause? Then it \vill be the duty of the Sovereign, as the representative of the National Church, to undertake her defence. Russian history provides us with an example of this in the case of the l\ietropolitan Isidore of .l\Ioscow, \vho betrayed the Orth'Jdox cause by accepting the decrees of the Council of Florence. The Grand Duke Vassili the Blind summoned a council of bishops to investigate the case, and he was by them deposed. This is an example of an Orthodox sovereign, as representative of an Orthodox nation, defending the Orthodox faith; and in this he acted exactly as 224 BIRKBECI{ .AND THE RU8SIA CHURCH did the Byzantine Emperors ,vho sumInoned the Seven Councils which the Church has ackno,vledged as (Ecumenical. Again, the exact relation of the Emperor to the Russian Church is illustrated by the position of the chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, ,vho represents the Enlperor there. All questions of a mixed nature between the secular and spiritual authorities pass through hinl. But upon purely spiritual Inatters, though he nlay be present ,vhen they are discussed, he has no vote, nor even the right to speak. Is this Cæsaro- Papalism ? To conclude: for us 'Vesterns it is somewhat difficult to grasp the position ,vhich the person of the Tzar occupies in Russia, which nevertheless seems so reasonable and natural, not only to Russians, but to all other members of the Orthodox Church. They in their turn are so entirely permeated with the idea that mutual relationship bet,veen the National and Catholic elements in the Church ought to be neither that of tyrant and slave, nor that of cat and dog, but that of a 'ìnens sana in corpore sano, that they can only look upon the present condition of things in the 'Vest, or at least in the greater part of it, as an abnornlal state of affairs. According to their vie\v, the local national spirit of Rome, under the auspices of Charlemagne, unrighteously arrogated to itself a claim to be recognised as the ,vhole Catholic Church, and proceeded to fasten this claim upon the other National Churches of the 'Yest. But as time went on, and local national consciousness ùevelopecl, some of these Churches recogniseù the ullJustifiable and arbitrary nature of these claims and thre,v thelll aside, and attempted in their local nptionalisll1 to rediscover a primitive form of Christianity, and to forn1ulate it by means of local councils, ,vhich, however, made no clain1 to infallibility, and consequently were Jnerely illogical, half- ,yay houses to that cornplete individualis1l1 which at the present day is gradually devouring the Protestant Churches and sects of the 'Vest; while in the Latin countries the same principle is making its ,yay under the specious cry of " a free Church in a free State," ,vhic"11 is only another ,vord for the total destruction A \rrIO ...\L CHURCH 225 of National Christianity. This is the Eastern view of \Vestern Christendom. A very slight acquaintance w'ith Russian theo- logical " ri tings ,,"ould cause considerable surprise to the gentleman ,vho \vrote a short time ago to The Times to say that the Russian Church recommended the English Church to n1ake its submission to the Patriarch of the \Vest. 15 CHAPTER XVIII. THE ATTITUDE OF THE ORTHODOX EASTER CHURCH TOWARDS CERTAIN CONTROVERSIES AMONGST US IN THE \VESr. 1 IT is the good fortune of English Churchmen to be able to regard the Holy Orthodox Ea8tern Church from a standpoint entirely different to that from ,,'"hich it is regarded by any other Western cOlnmunity of Christians. Rome, by the logic of the position which she has assun1ed, can only look upon the East as an obstinate rebel; she is obliged to believe, or at least to preten to beìieve, that the Greek and Russian Churches are in heresy as well as in schism, and consequently she has to deny that, in the strict sense of the terln, they are Churches at all. As for thè various Protestant sects, having abandoned the very notion of their being any Catholic Church, they can only look upon Orthodoxy as a sort of fossi]ised variant of Popery, interesting, perhaps, froln an anthropological point of view, but of no practical concern to themselves. Very different is the vie"\v which, happily, we are able to take of the Holy Eastern Church. \Vith whatever feeling we n1ay look back upon that mixture of good and evil, known to history as the English Reformation, I think that everyone will admit that the new attitude which that movement en- abled the English Church to assume towards Eastern Christen- dom was indisputably a change for the better, and that we can all agree that one of the very best results of the Reformation ,vas the recognition of the Orthodox Churches of the East as con tituting true portions of the one Hol y Catholic Church of Christ. ] An address delivered before the \Vest London District Union of the English Church Union, 1898.-[A.R.] (226) "TESTERX COXTI{OV ERSIES '227 N" ow it is tiuite true that this change ,vas not brought about forIl1ally. As was lately pointed out by the Bishop of London, it has never been the habit of the English Church very definitely to formulate her relations to,vards other por- tions of the Catholic Church; and certainly alllongst the historical records of the Reformation ,ve find no act in which the authorities of the English Church refused any longer to be bound by Leo IX.'s unjust anù iniquitous excommunication of the Patriarch Cerularius, through ,vhich East and \Vest had in the eleventh century finally been separated. No at- tempt was luade by the English Refornlers to enter into friendly relations with the ancient Patriarchates; still less ""as the question of intercolllmunion nlooted. othing formal ,vas done in the matter. Personally, I cannot say that, things being as they \yere, I think that there is any reason to regret this. History provides us with an eloquent warning as to what may result from premature efforts in this direction. TO"\'lards the enù of the sixteenth century certain Lutheran divines in Germany entered into correspondence with the Patriarch Jeremias of Constantinople, with a vie\v to establish.. ing intercommunion between the German Protestants and the Greeks. The correspondence extended over seven years, and consisted of three letters on each side, ,vhich are in every way n10st instructive. They dealt ,vith nearly all the burning points of the Reformation, and it is abundantly clear that both sides were actuated by an honest desire to remove obstacles to unity. But while the Lutherans, who had been brought up in \Vestern habits of thought, argued against the Easterns just as they had been used to do against the Papists, one can see at once that in their replies the Easterns are not in reality approach- ing t4e lllatters in question from a \Vestern point of view at alL It was not till the seventeenth century that the Easterns began seriously to study Latin theology or to borrow its terms, and, consequently throughout the ,vhole of this contro- versy the Lutherans and Greeks ,vere speaking to one another at cross purposes, anù, as it 'v ere, in different languages. The 228 BIRKBECI( .AXD THE RUSSIAN CHURCH result ,vas ,vhat ,yas only to be expected. Of course, the Easterns got much the Lest of it from a controversial point of view-it ,vas a regular case of pot and kettle meeting in the stream. But if, after each collision, the pot separated from its companion ,vith ,vider cracks and deeper chips, it is undeniable that a considerable amount of temperature ,,,,as developed by the process in the kettle. As the controversy proceeds, the pious aspirations for Christian unity, ,vhich are so prominent in its earlier portions, ten(l n10re and n10re to fall into the background, the expressions concerning Christian Jove and charity becolne 1110re and l110re conventional, and the blo,vs harder and harder. Let me read the ending of the last letter of the Patriarch to the Lutherans. After dealing once more at S0111e length-the Jetter in the Russian translation occupies thirty-five pages-,vith the questions of the Procession of the Holy Ghost, of Free 'Vill, of the Sacraments, and of the In- vocation of Saints, the letter ends as follo,vs :- " In conclusion 've beg you not to bother us any l11ore, nor either to ,vrite or end to us upon this subject, so long as you give a ,vrong interpretation to the lurp.inaries and theologians of the Church, whom, although you may honour and exalt in word, in actual deed you rej ect, and prove that our ,veapons- namely, their Holy and Divine ,yords, by the aid of ,vhich w'e ll1ight still ,vrite and confute you-are of no a vail. So, on your part, save u,; from further annoyance. Go your 0"7n ,yay, and in future ùo not ,,"rite to us about dogmas, but only about friendshi p, if you have a Inind to it. Fare,vell." N ow, I ,vill not say that a correspondence bet"reell the Greeks and t.he English Reformers need have been nearly HO hopeless as this ,vith the Lutherans, but at the same time I can- not think that the final result at that till1e ,vould have been very different. He ,voulcl be a bolcllnan ,vho ,,",auld say that even yet the time has come to enter upon fornlalnegotiations ,vith the Easterns; it is quite certain that in the sixteenth century such a course ,yould have led to nothing but disaster. As a matter of fact, the change of attitude, ,vhich I have already n1entioned, of the English Church to,vards the East, ,vas "\YESTERX COXTRO,TRRSIES 229 brought about, just like certain other fruitful and enduring changes ,vhich have at various tin1es come to pass in the Eng- lish Church, not by any t1cfÌ.nite or forlnal act, but silently, almost ilnperceptibly, by Ineans of the logic of facts, and by the practicalJy felt requirelnents of the Anglican position. DirectJy the claiuls of the Papacy to universal dOlllÎnion had been repudiated, and the right of national Churches to exist \vithin the Catholic Church, and at the same tin1e to manage their o,vn affairs, had been asserted, the condelnnation of the East by the \Vest ipso facto fell to the ground, and the Eng- lish Church turned her back for ever upon the crin1e ,vhich the Popes had cOlllmitted in excomlllunicating their Eastern brethren. The immediate results of this change of attitude were, it is true, small; they \vere alu10st confined to the resun1ption of the old practice of borrowing from the Eastern service books- a practice once so con1nlon in the \Vest, but ,vhich had been entirely interrupted by the great schisnl. As to its full results, these certainly renlain yet to be seen. \Yhilst \ve believe the Orthodox East to be a true portion of the Catholic Church, to which we ourselves also belong, the out\vard realisation of the fact that \ve are members of the saIne body is as yet very far from having been accomplished. But it is a significant fact, which cannot be denied, that since the tin1e of the Reforma- tion the Holy Eastern Church has possessed an ever-increasing attraction for English churclllnen, and that the stages in the growth of thi attraction corre pond pretty accurately ,vith - periods of special gro,vth and activity in the English Church herself. And this fact I believe to be the surest sign that re- union ,vill come to pass in the fut.ure. A \vell-kno\vn historian of _ the English Reformation has observed that the English Church ,vas at first inclined to lllove in a Lutheran direction- that is to say, before she kne,,,, much about it, but that the more she got to see and know of Lutheranislu the less she liked it-a clear proof that the t\VO religious systems are essentially alien from and repugnant to one another. Em- phatically the contrary has been the case as far as the Holy 230 BIRKBECK AXD THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Eastern Church is concerned. The "\vritings of those of the Caroline Fathers ,vho studied her; the appeal of the Non- jurors to the East, ,vhich might have led to so much had Peter the Great lived a little longer; the large IluIllber of Eastern hymns which are to be found in our hymnals; the use of prayers from the Eastern Offices for the dead in such impor- tant and representative churches as the Queen's Private Chapel, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and St. Paul's Cathedral; the mutual interchange of visits between English and Orthodox ecclesiastical dignitaries which have taken place of later years, all tend in the saIne direction, and sho\v which way the tide is running. I believe that these methods are the very best way of promoting the cause of unity. Both sides must get to know each other much better before there can be any use in entering into formal negotiations for reunion. And as far as the English Church is concerned, it is really her duty, as ,veIl as her interest, not only to get to know more of the Easterns, but to allow herself really to be influenced by them. It has hitherto been far too common, when any burning question arises, to ignore the East altogether except \yhen, and just in so far as, she can be used as a weapon of defence or offence against Ronle. Very little pains have been taken to ascertain her real attitude towards the questions in debate, still less to be influenced and guided by it. Iy at- tention has very often been called to this fact by friends in Russia. In the East, if any important question arises in one of the Patriarchates or autocephalous Churches, before the rnatter is finally settled, the opinion of all the other Orthodox Churches is at least ascertained. And this is because they fully realise that they are all mernbers of one body, and that the eye cannot do without the hand. If the English Church is to make the best of her position she will assuredly not rest. content until this truth is fully recognised and acted upon. If we really believe the Orthodox Church to be an integral part of the Catholic Church, ho\v is it possible for us to settle any question without at least ascertaining "\vhat is her real attitude towards it ? As it is, our custom as a rule is quite otherwise. 'VESTERX COXTROVERSIES 231 SOIne of us sometimes "\\rant to attack Rome. Of course, there is plenty of material for this to be found in the East, and we freely avail ourselves of it, so far as it suits our purpose. But then perhaps SOllle of us ,vant to defend some modern Roman developnlent. \Yhat do ,ve do then? \Ve either ignore the East altogether, or else, together ,vith the Romans, try to twist Eastern language into agreeing \vith the novelty in question. Again, some of us ,vish to defend prayers for the dead-and here we run ,vith open arms to the East. But if we wish to -condemn invocation of saints, then, of course, ,ve shut our eyes, and do not even take the trouble to inquire whether the Easterns approach the question frorn exactly the same point of view as do the Latins. Another time perhaps our Protestantism takes a rather lnore extreme forln than the mere rejection of the invocation of the saints, and the same process is continued. Dean Stan- ley's work on the Eastern Church is full of instances of this. For instance, against" sacerdotalism" he quotes a passage from a Russian theologian upon Confirluation. I was amused last summer to notice that he had led Archdeacon Sinclair 1 into the same exquisite mare's nest. The passage is: "It (that is to say, the Sacran1ent of Chrism) testifies against the Roman, in- asmuch as it annihilates the wall of separation which Rome has erected between the ecclesiastic and the layman; for we are all priests of the l\Iost High, though in different degrees." I may say in passing that one ,vould hardly have thought Russia a very good place to find support for the Protestant view of the " royal priesthood" of the laity; and if it be remembered that the pa8sage from the Apocalypse in Russian reads: "and hath made us 'fzars and priests," I think that if he had asked a Russian layman if he considered himself a priest, he \vould have received the reply, Yes-that is o say, in the same sense that I consider myself a Tzar, \vhich is rather a different thing from considering lnyself the Tzar! But to return to the pas- sage from Khomiakoff. The passage in question, so far from being directed against sacerdotalism, is only part of a contest 1 The Archdeacon of London at the time this address wac; given.-[A.R.] 232 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSI""-1N CHURCH in which the hierarchical principle is as strongly as possible asserted. Let us give some more passages froln the same paragraph :- " The right of laying on of hands in the sacramental sense does not belong to the faithful in general, it did not in the time of the Acts of the Apostles belong even to the preachers of the faith, however great their personal sanctity: it belonged only to the Apostles, just as later on it has never belonged to anyone but the Bishops. Its meaning therefore is evident. The man who had been received into the Church at baptism but was still isolated upon earth, was admitted into the com- munity of the Church upon earth, and received his first ec- clesiastical degree through the imposition of hands. . . . Confirmation, by introducing us into the bosom of the COln- munity or Church upon earth makes us to be participators of the blessing of Pentecost. . . . \Ve see, then, that the imposi- tion of the Apostles' hands (that is to say, the Holy Chrism of the Church) witnesses against the Protestant in proving to us the in1portance of the Church upon earth in the designs of God, and it bears witness a ainst the Roman, inasmuch as it annihilates the ,yall of separation ,vhich R01l1e has erected between the ecclesiastic and the laYll1an: for \ve are all priests of the l\lost High, though in different degrees." It is quite obvious that the writer is merely stating that the Sacran1ent of Chrism is the comn1unication of the gift of Pentecost, ,vhich was not confined to the Apostles, but included the laity, and even 'V01l1en; and he is bringing it into con- nection ,yith the doctrine of the Eastern Church, ,vhich, just a little before the time he ,vas ,vriting, had been so ,veIl set forth by the Eastern Patriarchs in their reply to Pius IX, when they stated that his Holiness was mistaken in imagining that the custody of the Catholic Faith had been conul1itted to any individual Bishop, or even to any hierarchical order, but rather to the whole body of the Church in virtue of its union ,vith its Divine Head. For I lnay here say in passing that no Eastern could conceive of using such an expression as " going into the Church" as an equivalent of receiving Holy Orders, "-ESTERX COXTRO'TEltSI] S 233 neither, even if the Patriarch of Constantinople had possessed territories of his o\vn over \vhich he had exercised rights of sovereignty, would they, I am sure, eyer have been called , The States of the Church" ! The view of the Ea.sterns is, not that the East and \Vest, though telllporarily divided o\ving to an unfortunate quarrel, are both of thenl true parts of the Catholic Church, but that the \vhole of the \Vest has fallen a ,vay and is in heresy and schisnl. N 0\,," for a long tirHe the Eastern theologians found it nluch easier to use hard \vords like heresy against the \Yest than to describe exactly in what that heresy consisted. They felt themselves strong in their o,vn position, ,vith an absolutely unbroken tradition, ,vhile they ,vatched the \Yest, after her unity had been underlnined by the rationalistic speculations of the mediæval schoohnen, break up into anum bel' of contend- ing sects. They instinctively felt that the whole state of things there ,vas due to some one great heresy; but they still found it dif- ficult to put their fingers upon ,,,,hat exactly this heresy ,vas. I cannot stop no\v to trace the process by which at length in the present century a genuine Orthodox school of theology arose in Russia, and very soon drove out of the field the pre- vious t\VO schools of theologians ",,.ho had yainly endea' oured to found enduring schools of theology upon adaptations either of ROlllan or of Protestant systenls of theology. I ,villinerely gi ve the results at \vhich they arri ved. They recognised the fact that although the split had been caused by the addition of the ,,"oreIs F'ilioq1 e, or " and the Son," to the clause in the Nicene Creed w"hich stated that the " Holy Ghost proceedeth frolll the Father," it ,vas illlPossible to say that the doctrine itself constituted the \Yestern heresy. But it was nevertheless through this addition to the Creed that they traced the evil to its source. The Creed had been drawn up by a General Council, it had been accepted as the faith of Christendom by the ,vhole Church. But no\v a local Church in the \Vest had uncanonically introduced a new article of 234 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Faith into the Creed, ,vhich gradually spread to other loca1 Churches, and which, although for some time, in spite of Im-- perial pressure, resisted by the Popes, was at length accepted by Rome herself. N o\v ,vhat the Itussians say about this is that it was in itself a simple act of Protestantism. Such action on the part of a province of the Church differs nothing in kind from similar action on the part of single Bishops or, indeed, of private individuals. In whatever way we look at it, it certainly was a rejection of the authority of the Church. .A.s they rightly point out; there was at first no attempt to defend the insertion of the new clause on purely Papal principles: indeed, the change ,vas brought about in spite of strong Papal opposition. It was therefore either the assertion of the right of one province to alter the Creed in spite of the protests of the rest of the Church, or else it was the concession of the right of private judgment to individuals in order to work out their own dogmas; or, thirdly, it ,va the denial of the exist- eIlce of any certainty in the faith at alL For if Filioque ""as in the Creed, it ,vas obviously equally binding upon the con- science of every Catholic with the rest of the Creed; and, con- versely, if Filioque ,vas not binding upon the ,vhole Church, none of the rest of the clauses of the Creed were. From every side at which you can regard the matter, it was an act of Pro- testantism. The right to decide dogmatic questions had found itself suddenly shifted. Up to now it had resided in the uni- versality of the Church: it was now found to reside in a local Church. Some reason must be discovered for this. It must either be in consequence of the right of freedom of investiga- tion to reject the living tradition of the Church, or else it must be in consequence of a monopoly of the Holy Spirit being granted within certain geographical limits. The former prin- ciple, which as a matter of fact had been acted upon, could Dot as yet be admitted as a right; men were still living too Dear to the ancient life of the Church. The second idea was too vague, and, indeed, too monstrous for anyone to be able to maintain. The Papacy ,vas then pre- \' ESTER:N CO:XTROVERSIES 235 sented as the God out of the machine. The admission that a single see, and that the most ancient in all the 'Vest, and the most venerated in all the world, had a rnonopoly of inspiration,. saved appearances, and ,vas not so revolting to the human in- telligence. It is true that a General Council had condemned a Pope for heresy, but this had happened a long while ago, and by this time everybody had forgotten about it. l Soon this new principle was generally accepted, and thus \Yestern Protestant- ism sheltered itself unùer an external authority, a pheno- menon that ,ve constantly see repeated in political history. It could not be otherwise, for the authority of the Church had been rejected, the Divine Spirit had retired, and the reign of logic of a completely rationaJistic character had come. The innovation of despotism had arrest.ed the anarchy introduced by the previous innovation of the schisln founded upon the in- dependence of provincial opinion; but that anarchy would make itself felt hereafter. This passage, ,vhich, with the exception of a few abbrevia- tions, I have translated straight fron1 I(homiakofI: shows the vie,v that the Easterns really take of the whole question. The. 'Vestern herecsy is, in their eyes, a heresy against the teaching of the Church ,vith respect to her own nature. Hitherto the Church upon earth had been infallible in virtue of her sanctity and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit ,vithjn her as a part of the perfectly holy Body of Christ: now' her infallibility w'as tied up with a throne which n1Ïght be occupied by a man any- thing but holy. U The ordinary Christian individual was DO longer a n1ember of the Church-he was the Church's subject. He had no longer any part or share in her decisions. She and he were no longer one. He, ,vhile remaining in her bosom,. was really outside her. An earthly state had taken the place of the Church of Christ. The unique and liying law of unity in God had been replaced by all sorts of la W.S borro,ved from 1 Birkbeck refers to Pope Honorius (625-640), who unfortunately gave the wrong answer to an enquiry about our Lord's Divine and Human \Vills. He- was condemned by the Sixth (Ecumenical Council in 681 and was numbered amongst the heresiarchs for many centuries in the service-books of the- Roman Church.-[A.R.] 23ß BIRKBECI( AKD THE RlTSSIAN CHURCH utilitarianism and juridical relationships. Rationalism de- -veloped itself under the form of authoritative decisions: in- yenting a purgatory in order to explain prayers for the dead; 'Bstablishing a balance of duties and merits between God and man; taking the measure of sins and prayers, of faults and acts of expiation, sanctioning the exchange of so-called meri- torious actions-in short, introducing into the sanctuary of the faith all the nlechanism of a banking esta blishnlent." And so he continues: c. I think no\v that it "Till be quite clear what the Easterns mean ,vhen they say that ROllle and Protestantism are, in reality, only two sides of the same heresy; that Roman- i=->In is unity without liberty, and that Protestantism is liberty ,yithout unity; that "Thile the unity of the Church is that of ,a living body, to the life of which every member contributes, ,vhether he be living on earth, or be departed, or be yet unborn, the unity of Ronlanislll is rather that of a brick wall, in ,vhich each individual is cemented to another by an arbi- trary principle, but does not in the least contribute to the life of the others; while such unity as exists in Protestant communities is that of a number of grains of sand thro,vn to- gether in a heap." In another place l{homiakoH amusingly describes the German Protestant's conception of the Church as , a society of good nlen, differjng in all their opinions, but earnestly seeking for truth, with a total certainty that it has not yet been found, and with no hope at all ever to find it ". But to proceed. I think that if the Eastern view of the Church be worked out, and compared with that of the \Vest, it win be found that all such questions as the communion of saints and prayers for the dead will be found to assume a somewhat different aspect. l(homiakoff, in one passage, points out that while the conclusions of the Romans and Protestants upon these points are always different, the ground upon which their preluisses are based remains always the same-namely, that of rationalistic utilitarianism. "The Papacy says: 'The Church has always prayed for the dead, but these prayers would be useless if there were not an intermediate state, therefore pur- ,gatory exists '. The Reformation answers: (There is no trace 'V:ESTER COXTl{O.'/I l SI} S 2:37 of a purgatory in Holy Scripture or in the prÎInitive Church, therefore it is useless to pray for the dead., and I shan't pray for them '. The Papacy says: 'The intercession of the saints has been invoked by the Church, therefore it is 1tsefu.l ,. the'i'e- fore it completes the merits of prayer and of expiation '. The Reformation replies: 'Expiation by the Blood of Christ, ac- cepted by faith in baptislll and in prayer, is sufficient to re- deeIn not only all mankind, but all po sible " or ds, therefore the intercessions of the saints are useless, and ,ve shan't ask them for thmn'. The anctity of the comn1union of souls is alike unkno\vn to each of the adyersaries." I have, as far as possible, given these ideas in the actual ,vords of Russian \vriters. As far as my o,vn experience goes, they correspond exactly ,, ith the general feeling of the Rus- sian people upon these subjects. The Easterns, when they think of the Church, thiuk much lnore of it as a \vhoJe than is the custom in the ',""est. They like to quote St. John Chry- sostom's ,yords ,vhere he speaks of the body of Christ as the mCln bel's of the Church Ii ying, departed, and yet to be born; 1 they not only state in theory, but they really feel that these all forn1 oue body, the body of Christ, relativelY t.o man, in- deed, fuHìlling ib;elf in time, but in the sight of God alreaJy exi-;ting in its cOlnpletene s: its breath is the Holy Spirit of God, "yhile the lllutual intercession in Christ of individuab:, everyone of "hon1 is neeùed by all the others, is its life-blood coursing through its n}embers and quickening its being. One of the nlost solemn thoughts that I have met \vith in convers- ing ,vith HJussian is, that not only is each one of us assisted by the prayers of the Blessed Virgin and of all saints, but that the saints themselves, and even the glorious and ever-blessed }l.other of God, \vere a isted by the prayers, forekno,vD to God, of every men1ber of the: Church that has lived or ever ,yilllive upon earth. .And thus not only ,vill they say of our Lady: ., Thou art the salvation of the race of Chri tialls," au ryàp Eì 1} 15wT7}pía 70Û ryÉvovç; TWV XpuJ"Ttavwv (,vhich is the same thing as the ,vords of Irenæus, "obediens et ::;ibi. et uni verso 1 I l Epist. ad Ephes. cap. iv., Homil. x. L-[A.n.] 238 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH generi humano causa facta est salutis "), but that at the moment when she answered, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," and forth,vith became the 1\Iother of God, she was then being aided by every member of the Church ,vho e,-er has said or ever will say "Thy kingdom come". And if I may here say a few words upon the doctrine of the conlmunion of saints, I would point out that the Eastern in,?ocations addressed to the saints in glory do not in reality differ in practice any more than they do in theory from requests for intercession addressed to indi- viduals still living upon earth. I ,,,ill give an illustration to sho,v this. At the end of the Eastern Offices of Tierce and Sext there is a prayer which at ordinary tiDIes the pri st ends ,yith the request that their requests may be granted "through the prayers of our holy Fathers". But if the Bishop happen to be present this ending is changed into" through the prayers of our Lord Bishop N." There is one more matter upon which I should like to touch very briefly before I conclude. This is that the attitude of the Orthodox Church towards other Christian bodies is profoundly affected by liturgical considerations. 'Vith her the maxim lex supplicandi, lex credendi-the principle that the belief of the Church is best set forth in its public worship and prayers-is much more of a reality than it is in the West, where liturgical forms are far more meagre and bare. In the Eastern Church all the dogmas of the Church are set forth in the clearest way in the everyday services of the Church. The decisions of the bix General Councils, in which the Catholic faith as to our Lord's Divinity and Incarnation were affirmed, are day by day set forth in the ever-varying series of troparia, known as dogmatica; the final assertion of the Church's right and duty to represent the doctrine of the Incarnation " in deed as well as in word" -that is to say, in the ceremonial of the Church and in ecclesiastical art, as ,veIl as in her written formularies; as laid do,vn in the Seventh General Council, which regulated the veneration and censing not only of images, but of the altar, the book of the Gospels, and all other sacred .objects, is daily set forth in the clearest manner in the ordinary " RST:ERX COXTI{OV:EI{SIES 239 services of the Church; and all being read in a language understanded of the people, and surrounded with rich and solemn, but perfectly intelligible, ceremonial, the public services ha ve become a part of the life of the people to an extent ,vhich it is difficult to realise in the 'Vest. To apply this fact to the exigencies of the present day, I ,voulcl say that as a matter of fact the Easterns in the vie,vs which they take of the English Church are much more in- fluenced by ,vhat they actually find takes place in our services, than bv all the learned works that have ever been written 01 upon the su ject of the Anglican position. Our ecclesiastical atlàirs are being ,vatched extremely closely from Russia at the present time, and I may say, generally, if not quite alway , ,vith friendly eyes, but ahvays "rith eyes which look to the main point. I believe that the whole question of the ultimate reunion between the East and us rests upon the principle lex supplicandi, lex credendi. Thus, for instance, the orthodoxy ()f the Catholic Revival upon the subject of the Eucharist was lately defended by one of our friends in Russia mainly on the ground that when he was in England, in certain churches 7 he found the Haly Sacrament reserved for the sick. \Yith regard to another burning question, viz. incense, I remember ten years ago being asked by a monk at Kieft" ,vhether in the English Church incense was always used. In the Eastern Church there is no such thing as a Low )Iass, and there is never a service, be it Iass, V" espers, or :Jlatins, in which i.ncense is not used, or in ,vhich the altar, the book of the Holy Gospels, and other sacred objects, and t.he members of the congregation, are not censed according to t.he universal practice of the whole Catholic Church. Only a fe,v weeks ago an _article appeared in the official journal of the Holy Synod complaining that the O]d Catholics in Germany had abandoned the practice of censing the altar. "Ho\v," said the article, U can the Russian people ever recognise a Church as orthodox in ,vhich the altar is not censed according to the universal custom of the Church? " It seems to me that such facts as these are ,vorthy of at- 40 BIRKBECK .\ND rfHE RUSSIA. CHURCH tention. Perhaps at fin t sight it may seem that the Easterns are over punctilious on such matters. Of course there is no denying that what they say is perfectly true, and that the general practice of the English Church has too often of late been contrary to Catholic precedent in this and in Inany other matters. Still, it nlay be said by some that the Easterns ought to deal Inore gently ,vith our insular eccentricities and prejudices. It lllust, however, be reillembered that the Eastern Church, alone out of the three great divisions of Catholic Chris- ten'JoIn, has maintained a consistent tradition in these and most other lllatters, and that in the East, no less than in England, in the seventeenth century, objections have from tilHe to tÏIlle been raised against ceremonies-objections ,vhich at first sight appeared to be concerned with nlatters in thelIlselves entirely inùifferent, but ,vhich on closer inspection turned out to be " of dangerous consequence, as secretly striking at some estab- lished doctrine or laudable practice of the 'v hole Catholic Church of Christ." Such ,vas the iconoclastic controversy in the eighth century, ,vhich at first appeared to be only con- cerned ,vith cerelllol1Ïal, but afterwards turned out to be in- vol ved \vith the ,vhule Catholic doctrine of the Incarnation. These things scelU to 111e ,veIl ,vorth béaring in n1Ïnd at the present time. They are iUlportallt itenls in the attitude of the Holy Eastern Church to,vards eertain controversies anlo11gst us in the \Yest. CHA.PTER XIX. THg FULHA:\I CONFEB.ENCE ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST. I?OLLO'YIXG a Resolution of the London Diocesan Conference in 19UO Bishop Creighton called a Round Table Conference at :F'ulham Palace in October of that year to consider the doctrine of the Holy C0111- lllunion and its expression in Ritual. Fifteen theo- logians ,representing ,videly different schools of thought in the Church of England accepted the Bishop's inyitation to attend. In his o\vn ,vords his "desire ,vas to bring together various phases of theological opinion as represented by theologians ,vhose training enabled thell1 to talk a comn10n lan- guage". Each lnember \vas rerillested by the Bi hop to send hÍ1n "a statelnellt of his belief on the subject of the Divine gift in Holy C0111munion. The state- 111ent hould be p03itive not negative." Birkbeck's statelnellt is subjoined. In a letter', addressed to n1e on :!:1 October, 1900, he \vrites :- " The Round Table "Tas very interesting. I ,,,ish you had been there. JJy staten1ent I ene-lose. The first pa sage is sÏlnply \yord for ,,,"orLl from the Orthodox reception of Pro- testants into the Church: the re!-3t, as you \vill see, is nearly all Pahner-his very words-I don't think the subject has ever been treated better: of cour e I did it with a vie\v to w'hat the. Russians \vill say "'hen it is published, anù as Iny contributiun. ( -!1) lô 242 BIRKBECK AKD THE I{USSIAN CI-IURCH to the controversy upon Transubstantiation ,vhich is still rag- ing out there! "1 J.l') . Birkbeck's StateTilent of Faith in the Eucharist.ic Presence. "I believe that, in the Eucharist, under the Sacramental species of bread and wine, the faithful partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and unto everlasting life. And for the further elucidation of thit; mystery, I appeal to the belief and practice of the ancient un- divided Catholic Church of Christ, as they appear in the primiti ve Liturgies and the ,vritings of the Fathers of the Church. " In the ,vritings of the Fathers of the undivided Church, I find, firstly, that the' Gifts' or ' Oblations '-that is to say, t.he species of bread and ,vine-are said to be changed, trans- figured, transformed, converted, translnuted or transelemented into the Body and Blood of Christ. I find, secondly, that there are other occasions, ,vhen they say that in this Food there are two things, one heavenly and the other earthly; and thirdly, they sometin1es ay, though Illore rarely, that Christ made the bread to be His Body, that is to say, the figure of His Body, and that the bread does not depart from its proper nature. "It is self-evident that anyone of these three modes of speaking of the Holy Eucharist Inay easily be pressed to a point at ,vhich it ,yould exclude the other t,vo. As a matter of history, while I observe that, immediately after the division of the Church into East and '"fest, they actually Jid become the subject of controversy, I, at the saIne tinIe, take note of the fact that before the Great Schism, although they lnay hav(' been sOll1etimes ell1ployed as illustrations in other controversies, J The Greeks accepted the word Transubstantiation at the Synod of Bethlehen1, held under "\Vestern influences in 1672. The Russians received the ùecree of the Synod in a modified form, but the exact sense in which the word is used by the Easterns is still a subje..::t of cOlltrDversy. (See the end of this chapter, p. 246.)-[A.R.] 'TH:E EUCHARISTIC PRESF:KCE 4R these modes of expression thell1selves remained each of them unchallenged. From this, I infer, that unless we can ourselves make use of these expressions in the sanle sense in 'v hich the Fathers elllployed theIn, it is self-evident that in some respect we have shifted our ground frolll that of the undivided Church, and that dalnage has been done to the analogy of the Faith. " But further, it is not only ,vith reference to nlan's food in the Eucharist, but also ,vith reference to man hinlself in Baptisnl that we find the sanle three different forms of lan- guage, and in the same degrees of relative frequency and em- phasis; useJ by the Fathers. For first, the Fathers repeatedly say that w"e are in baptisln changed, transfigured, transformed, translnuted, transelelnented. The Fathers in using these say freely and ordinarily that the old man born of the flesh of Adam dies; that we are created anew and born again; that we are new creatures in Christ, nlembers of His Body, of His bones and of His flesh; that the old nlan is put oft: and is done a\vay. But they say also, secondly, on other occasions, that in the Baptised Christian there are t,,"o natures, t,vo lives, one frolll the first Adam, and another fronl the second; and that the second Adam must contend against the first until the ,vhole body of sin be abolished. And again, thirdly, they say, though more rarely, that the Baptised do not really die nor rise again, but by a figure are nlade partakers of Christ", and that they relnain after baptisnl the very sanle men, children of Adam as before. " It therefore seenu; to Hie that the doctrine of the Eucharist is {'apable of being evolved from the doctrine of Baptisnl (not by comparing the sanctification of the ,vater in Baptisll1 ,vith the sanctification of the bread and ,vine in the Eucharist, but) by yirtue of that correlation ,vhich exists between the life or living creature ,,,hich needs food and the food (in a sense con- fiubstantial ,vith it) that feeds it. There is a certain necessary re1ation between the thing, nan1e, and idea or generation or birth and the thing, nanle, and idea of food. If a nature needing food ,vas not in living' creatures ,yhich are born, such a thing as food could Dot be. _\.ccordingly, w.hen our Lord " 244 BIRI B} CK .A.XD TH:E RUSSI.A:N CHURCH announced the new b'irth, ,vhich ,vas to restore the life of Inan, a new food to sustain that life ,vould seeln naturally to follow. "But to natural reason the 'new birth' of a Ulan already born ,vas either a mere lnetaphor or figure of speech, or a con- tradiction in rterms, and an il11possibility. But our Lord answered Nicodelnus' objection not by 'I peak only figura- tively,' but, \vith a ùouble a severation, He repeated what He had said, and then only added, to ren10ve misconception, that this was not any'such natural or carnal birth as Nicodenlus understood, but a supernatural, heavenly and spiritual birth, not of flesh- but of spirit, that which it; born of the flesh being flesh and that ,vhich is born of the spirit being spirit, so that the t,vo interfere not the one with the other. " And thus. 've I arrive at the parallel bet,veen BaptisnI and the Holy Eucharist in all three .of the nIodes of speech already referred to. "In the case of the new birth ,ve haye, first, that w.hich is the object of faith and not of sense, nall1ely, that which being born of spirit as of a second Adanl is spirit; secondly, that which is the object of sight and sense, na1l1ely, the man that is already born, the flesh horn of the first AdanI; antI thi'ì dly, the union of these t\VO in one and the self-saIne subject. Anel ,ve may say the sallIe in regard to the new food. "If we speak according to the spirit ,ve shall say that the natural food, inasnluch as it is not said to be united to some other thing \vhich is lnade spirit of spirit, but is said to becolne and to be of itself the ne\v food, ,yill necessarily be changed; and changed too inwardly and essentially, not ont- ,vardlyor accidentally. ".,. e shall say that the natural food will have been done away, and ,,-rill have ceased to be, that it ,,-ill have passed into a ne,v thing. But if any Inisconception (like that of :Kicodemus respecting the hew birth) causes us to look back to the order of nature, to that \\Thich is after the flesh, we shall say that according to the flesh, that is, accord- ing to the order of nature, and as to its natural substance: the food relnains the saIne a before and has by no means under- TH:E EUCHARISTIC PRESEKCR 245 gone any physical change. And lastly, Rpeakil1g of the t\yO orders of grace and nature conjointly, w"e nlay Hay that there are in the food tw'o things, an out"\vard and an in"\vard, and in a: certain sense tw'o foods, the one consubstantial (in the sense that food is consubstantial \vith that \v}JÏch it sustains) \vith the first Adan1, natural, earthly, and corruptible, the other consuh.;tantia.l \vith the second AllaIn, supernatural, heavenly, and incorruptible, the earthly food after the flesh and the piritual food after the spirit; and these t\VO \vill not interfere the one \vith the other. "Subject to these considerations I adopt the language of the ancient Liturgies, \vhich aU of thell1 assert or imply the reality of the conversion of the bread and \vine into the Body and Blood of onr Lord. Thus the Liturgy of St. John Chry- sostom at the consecration of the isacred species prays the Father to send His Holy Spirit' upon us and upon these gifts presented before Thee, and make this bread the precious Body of Thy Christ and that \vhich is in this Cll p the precious Blood of Thy Christ, changing them by Thy Holy Spirit.' Again, the prayer which is said by both priest and deacon before receiving the Holy Communion and \vhich after\vards is again read on behalf of the laity \vho communicate, contains the follo\ving \\rords: 'I believe that this is Thy ll10st pure Body indeed, and that this is Thy precious Blood indeed '. " That the bread and \vine in the Holy Eucharist are after consecration Christ's Body and Blood, \yhjch they were not before, seenu; to me to be the constant doctrine of the whole Catholic and Apostolic Church, receiyed originally froln the lips of the Lord Hill1self, \Yho said, 'This is Iy Body,' and \Yho, having created an things, kne\y also how to employ ords, nor left it to any man to modify the force of His ".vords or to substitute otherq in t.heir stead. But while it is clear that this is so, and quite independently of the indivi- dual faith or disposition of individual recipients of the Holy Sacrament, I w.ould point out that there is nothing either in the teaching or the practice of the ancient undivided Church ,vhich inlplies a belief in a mere lnechanical conversion of the 246 BIRI\:BECK .A D THE RUSSIAN CHURCH sacred elements into that which they signify. That conver- sion takes place, as is so clearly shown in the language of the Liturgies, in answer to prayer; and ,vhile the benefits whereof we are partakers by receiving the Holy Sacrament depend upon our faith and God's grace, as appears in the prayer of our Church, that we 111ay , so eat the Flesh of Thy dear Son, J usus Christ, and drink His Blood, that our sinful bodies lnay be made clean through His Body, and our souls washed through His most precious Blood,' the Presence of our Lord in His Sacran1ent primarily depends neither upon the prayers nor the acts of individual 111en, whether they be priests or lay- Inen, but upon the prayers, and the faith (,vhich alone can obtain answers to prayer) of the Church herself. The priest and the laynlan have their part in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, appointed them by the Church; but it is the faith of the Church, and her obedience to the comnlands of her Divine Head, ,vhich enables her confidently to assure them that their prayer in respect to this and every other Sacran1ent will be, and is, answered. 1 I See note at foot of p. 355. CHAPTER XX. THE EPISTLE OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF RUSSIA TO THE PATRI- ARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE ON THE ATTITUDE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCHES TO NON-ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS IN 1903. 1 To the l\Iost Holy Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and <:Ecumenical Patriarch, the Lord J oachiu1 III, together ,vith the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Great Church of Christ at Constantinople, ,ve send a brotherly salutation in Christ. It ,vas ,vith especial joy and Jove that, the Most Holy Synod of All the Russias received the revered and Spirit- bearing epistle of your Holiness and of your Sacred Synod, in1pressed, as it ,vas, with that zeal for the welfare of the Church of God, and that invariable care for the salvation of all rnen, to which ,ve are accustomed from the throne of Chrysostom, and, like,vise, ,vith its especial love and affinity to the Church of Russia; and, after attentive investigation and discussion, it no"T proceeds to reply to your love, and to comluunicate to you its opinion upon the questions so oppor- tunely proposed by your ,vise solicitude. First of all, remenlbering- the ,vords of the Psalmist, "Behold how good and how joyful a thing it is, brethren, to d,vell together in unity," and the cOlllluandment of the Apostle "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bontl of peace," ,ve greet .w'ith love your thought, dear to God, as to the necessity of consolidating unity 3.nd extending the círcle of mutual intercourf-\e bet,veen those sisters in the faith, the local Holy Orthodox Churches of God, deelning that it is only in 11lutual love, and in constant and active comlnunication one with another, that the Holy Churches ,viH find the requisite support and strength for their great 1 As translated by Birkbeck for Anglican readers.-[A.R.] (247) 248 BIRKBECI{ AND THE RUSSI \K CHURCH " wrestling against the rulers of the darkness of this 'v odd " -against infidelity, indifferentism, and other noiso111e blasts. By far the best and most perfect expression of this holy fraternal love and most blessed comu1union of the Churches of God, and the most effectual means for the healing of our social disorders! would be, ,vithout doubt, special assemblies of Ortho- dox Bishops, and especially of the chief representatives of the Churches, and that they should confer ilnmediately together, " mouth to u1outh," upon questions which, at the tilne being, were agitating their spiritual flock. If the Bishops, ,vhen their hearts are so inclined, stimulated by the duties laid upon them as chief. pastor , asseu1ble thelnselves together, and, "rithout dissimulation, regarding theu1selves as before the face of Christ HiInseIf, 'Vho, in very truth, ha pron1ised to be in the midst of those who are gathered together in His nan1e, with a pure conscience, and ,vith unanimous prayer, pronounce before all the world the confession of their faith, or lay dow'n a decision healing the disorders and wounds in the Church, then the Holy Ghost, d,velling in the Church universal, and moving her, without doubt speaks in such a case by the mouths of the Bishops who have asseU1 bled then1sel ves to- gether in prayer, although each one of then1 acknowledge himself to be the most sinful of men. And if of old the place was shaken ,vhere the Church 'vas assembled together after prayer, and after having boldly invoked the all-powerful Right Hand of Divine Providence against the foes which sur- rounded her, so now, without doubt, the united prayer of the representatives of the Church like\vise "availeth much," nor would any forces of the enemy be able to ,vithstanc1 the con- fession of faith boldly proclaimed by their council; and the life of the Church, having found such a clear expression for itself, would without doubt shine forth ,vith an inexplicable light before the face of all the wor d, and would attract to itself the hearts of all who are seeking the tr th, rousing also at the same time the slum beril1P" consciences of those who o were begotten in the faith, but have forgotten, or waxen cold towards it. THE R"CRSIAK YXODAL EPISTLf: 249 But, how'ever desirable such an assemblage of all the Or- thodox Bishops 111ight be, at the present time, when the local Holy Churches are divided fron1 one another by the boundaries of States, and ,vhen every sort of inter-ecclesiastical relation Df necessity touches also upon international relations, it is scarcely possible that such an assemblage of Bishops, or any .such general and universal deliberation by them on Church questions, could be brought about. For the tin1e being one may pray and ,vish for this. But a more immediate under- taking for the local Holy Orthodox Churches, and for their wise representatives presents itself-to approach as near as possible to the bright ideal, just mentioned, of the æcumenical intercourse of the early Church, by maintaining one ,vith another a constant and living connection by means of written and other intercourse, exchanging brotherly Inessages upon the occasion of all joyful and sorro,vful events in their Church life, asking for brotherly counsel and information in difficult case , each sharing its own experience in the conduct of ec- clesiastical affairs \vith the rest. And 1110re especially is such an exchange of opinions a1l10ng the sister Churches indispens- able in questions ,vhich concern the essence of the faith and the fundamental position of the present organisation of the Church, or in such as have an inter-ecc1esiastical character. :ßlay it ever be that in cases ,vhen in some local Church any kind of reform has to be entered upon which deeply aflect the established orùer of the Church, when this local Church is re- quired to pronounce, or there has been already pronounced, a sentence upon any kind of ne,v religious luovement, more par- ticularly if its influence n1ay be supposed to extend beyond the bounds of the Church in question-nlay it ever be that on such occasions the representative of that Church, by means of an epistle or in S0111e other way, shall inforll1 the representa- tives like,vise of the other local Orthodox Churches, asking of their brotherly experience for their advice, and putting them in possession of the facts of ,vhat has taken place in his o,vn region. Such constant Inutual help and sharing in a common life will ,vithout doubt ser,.e as a real and living bond, 250 BIRI{BECI{ ...\ND TH} RUSSIAN CHURCH strengthening all the local Churches in the one body gro\ving up into "an habitation of God through the Spirit ". But likewise in its o\vn particular life each autocephalous Ortho- dox Church must always (as, indeed, it does at present) pre- serve the Inemory and consciousness of its union \vith the other Orthodox Churches, and of the fact that only in COlll- munion and agreement with them has it the pledge of truth and of eternal life, or n1anifests itself as the Church of God, and that, if it has lost this cOllul1union and union, it lllUSt perish and \vither as a branch which has fallen away from the vine. l\Iay the constant and active introduction into their life and ecclesiastical practice of this principle of æcumenicity (vselenskosty), the training of a feeling of its necessity in his ecclesiastical com1l1unity, be the subject of the special care of the wise representatives of the local Churches, and we believe that their unrelnitting and sincere zeal will not be slo\v in bringing forth abundant fruit in the blessed ReId of æculneni- cal union, enlivening at the same tÏIne the Church life of each local Church, strengthening the faith of its children, perfect- ing then1 in the hope of eternal life, and together with this like\vise revealing to all the world the truth in all its splendour,. and the power of the Orthodox faith of Christ. As regards our relations towards two great ra1l1ifications' of Christianity, the Latins and the Protestants, the Russian Church, together \vith all the autocephalous Orthodox Churches" ever prays, awaits, and fervently desires that those who in tiln(Js of old were children of lother Church and sheep of the- one flock of Christ, but ,vho no,v have been torn away by the envy of the foe and are wandering astray, " should repent and come to the kno\vledge of the truth," that they should once- more return to the bosoIn of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, to their one Shepherd. We believe in the sincerity of their faith in the All-Holy and Life-originative Trinity, and on that account we accept [as valid] the baptism of both one- and the other. \Ve respect the Apostolical Succession of the Latin hierarchy, and those of their clergy who join our Church we accept [as validly ordained] in the Orders which they then rTH:E RUßSI.AX SYNODAL EPISTL} 51 possess, just as \ve do in the case of Arrnenians, Copts, X es- torians, and other bodies that have not lost the Apostolic Suc- cession. " Our heart is enlarged" (2 Cor. vi. 11), and we are ready to do all that is possible in order to promote the estab- lishment upon earth of the unity \vhich we so much desire. But, to our great regret and to the comnlon grief of all true- children of the Church, at the present time \ve are obligeLl to think, not so nluch of the softening of our relations towards 'Vestern Christian!:;, and of a love-abounding dra\ving of their communities to union with us, as of the unwearying and ever- w'atchful defence of the rational [slovesnikh = ÀOryucwv] sheep committed to our charge frolll unceasing attacks and nlultifornl seducen1eI1ts on the part of the Latins and the Protestants. ,Yen kno\\yn to our dearly beloved and highly esteelued fathers and brethren are the secular desires of ROIHe, \vhich indeed in their time served as the cause of her apostasy; well known in history her various artifices, both open and secret, directed \vith the object of subjecting to herself the Orthodox East; and well kno\vn are the costl.r schools, the missionary '3ocieties, the special monastic orders and other institution , ,vhich indeed exist down to the present day, and ,vhose nUIU- bel' does not cease to gro,v, \vhose sole object is to ensnare, if possible, the children of the Orthodox Church. Upon Russia, in particular, the eyes of Latinism have long been directed. Not being able to seduce our common people, simple, but pious and devoted to the Church as they are, they turn to Inembers of the higher aristocracy, who have been accustomed to living abroad, and \vho, for n1any generations, have been in constant communion with the :::;pirit of the 'Vest, and by Ineans of secret propaganda, of literature, the press, etc., they strive to un- settle thenl in the faith of their fathers and to establish Roman Catholicisnl aillongst them. 'The conversion of Russia and of the Russian people constitutes the secret dreaD1 and unconceal- able goal of the yearnings of the Papacy of our tiDIes. There- fore, ho\vever pacific the speeches of the Latins D1ay be,. however assiduously they may express and eluphasise in all sorts of ways their especial love and respect" for the Orthodox 252 BIRI\:BECK .A.KD THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Church, and in particular for the Russian people and State, these fair words n1ust not, nor can they, conceal the real de- sires of Rome from our attention: and we, ofl necessity, shall only all the more increase our watchfulness and our deter- mination to stand steadfastly upon the imlllovableJsoil of Or- thodoxy and not to be lured a,vay by any appearances of peace falsely understood, notwithstanding all our longing for the union of faith enjoined upon all Christians by Christ our Sa viour HÏ1nself. And just as inaccessible, if not even more so, Protes- tantism shows itself to be at the present time. Having no understanding of Church life, and requiring for themselves external works evident to the senses, chiefly of a general social character, the Protestant con1munities look upon our Eastern Church as a region of ecclesiastical stagnation, of error and darkness unredeemed by a ray of light, not even stopping short of bringing accusations of idolatry against U , and therefore out of falsely understood zeal for Christ they do not Hpare material means and forces for the spread- ing of their Protestant errors amongst the children of the Orthodox Church, losing no opportunity of undern1Ïning the authority of the Orthodox hierarchy and of unsettling the faith of the people in the sanctity of the traditIons of the Church. Religious exclusiveness and even fanaticisn1, n1ixed \vith a contemptuous arrogance in relation to Orthodoxy, is the distinguishing Iuark of the Protestants, one lnay say, even more than of the Latins. Of course, n1uch of this may be eXplained by the secular prejudices and general narrowness of the horizon of the Gern1an school of theology, and, conse- quently, like\vise of the Protestant Church agents, and this fact in1poses upon our scholars the duty of revealing before the consciousness of the "7 est the true majesty and the really Christian purity of Orthodoxy. But until this onerous and thankless sowing of seed upon the stony ground of cultured pride and mutual misunderstanding shall come to bear fruit, it behoves us representatives of the Church, and especially {)f the Russian Church, to exert all our strength in the fight rrHE IlTJSSIA.K HYKO]).A..L J I)IsrTL} 58 against the llluitifornl allureJnents of this tlallgerous eneIny of the Church,luaking prayer ,vithout ceasing unto her Chief Shepherd to defend His faithful sheep against its assault . The \.nglicans aSStl1ne a son1ewhat different at.titude . to,vards ()rthodoxy. 'Vith rare exceptionx they do not aim at the perversion of Orthodox Christians, and upon every occasion and opportunity strive to sho,v their pecial respect for the Holy Apostolic Eastern Church, adn1Ïtting that she, and not Ronle, is the true conservator of the traditions of the Fathers, and in union and agreement \vith her seeking. a justification for thelnselves [i.e. for their own position]. Love and goocl\vill cannot but call forth love on our side also, and . nourish in us the good hope of the possi- bility of Church union ,vith thelll ill the future. But here, also, much still ren1ains to be done and to be explained, before that it \vill be possible to think of any sort of definite step in one or in. the other direction. And, first of aU, it is indis: pensable that the desire for union \vith the Eastern Orthodox Church should become the sincere desire not only of a certain fraction of Anglicanislll (the "High Church"), but of the \vhole Anglican community, that the other purely Calvinistic current which in essence rejects the Church, as \ve understand her, and ,yhose attitude to\vards Orthodoxy is one of particular intolerance, 'should be absorbed in the above-Inentioned pure current, ; and should lose its perceptible, if " e nlay not say exclusive, influence upon the Church policy and in general upon the \vhole Church life of this Confession ,vhich, in the main, is exelnpt frOln enmity towards us. On our side, in our relations to\vards Anglicans, there ought to he a brotherly readines'3 to assist them ,vith explanations, an habitual at- tentiveness to their best tle ires, all possible indulgence to- '\ ards misunderstandings ,yhieh are natural after age of separation, but at the saIne tiule a firJn profession of the truth of our fEcuInenical Church as the one guardian of the inherit- ance of Christ and the one saving ark of Divine grace. The so-called Old Catholics, "Tho courageously raised their \.oice against "hin1 that loveth to have the pre-eminence .2.)4 BIRKBECJ{ AND THE ItUSSIA.N CHURCH ,over theIn" (3 John 9) and to this day are not ceasing to Inake every sacrifice in their great fight for the truth and for -conscience, from the very first steps "Thich they took found sympathy for themselves anlongst our active Churchmen and representatives of thøological science, some of WhOlll took a very lively interest in their cause, ,vorking unweariedly on their behalf both in literature and at congresses. In response to a general desire a special Commission ,vas instituted in St. Petersburg for the investigation of the question concerning the Old Catholics and for intercourse ,vith thenl. (This Com- lnission, indeed, exists up to the present time.) Our ,yorkers 'v ere animated by the very best feelings to\vards the Old -Catholics, and, understanding all the diversity in national, historical, ecclesiastical, and other conditions and traditions, Inaintained throughout a patient attitude towards the di - agreenlents and misunderstandings of the Old Catholics which arose, and ,vere ready to do everything to s1l100th a 'yay for their entry into the Church. At first this nluch-to-be-desired ,york appeared to be near and realisable ,yithout any special difficulty. But time goes on. The chief pillars of the Old Catholic movement, brought up in traditions ,vhich, although not Orthodox, were at least ecclesiastical, are one after another passing a way from the arena of life, and giving place to new 1Hen, it may be, just as sincere and self-denying, but not so firll1 in their churchmanship, they not having lived a Church life; ,vhile they are surrounJed, for the most part, by a Pro- testant world, to ,,,,hieh, Inoreover, they are near, both in language and in a common civil life, and in University educa- tion, and, lastly, in their very struggle with Rome. To these nc,v men, not particularly firm ,in churclunanship, under the circlul1stances of their being far distant from the East, and of ha'Ting no clear but a dinl conception of it, the Protestant ,yorlcllnay naturally appear congenial and near, and it is not easy for thenl to bear up against its impe ceptible but constant influence. And this is the reason that our Russian Church, ,yhile not ceasing even no,v to synlpathi"'e with, and admire, the Old Catholics, or to co-operate in every way with their praisc,yorthy search for Church truth, is beginning to look THE RDSSIA.N blXO])AL EI)ISTL} 3.) ,vith some anxiety upon the future of this movement, and to .ask the question ,vhether the Old Catholics ,vill keep to their {)riginal re olution to belong only to the real CEcun1enicai Church, and \,ill aiu1 at union ,yith her; or \vhether, carried a"vay by an alluring day-dreall1, so natural to the rationalistic \r est, of reinstating the true Church an10ngst then1selves at hOlne by their o\vn powers of learning and by their intellect, they ,vill turn aside into the by,vays of Pro- teRtantislll, to the great grief of all their true friends? The task that lies before UH in respect to them ought, in our opinion, to consist in this-that \vhile \ve should not place superf1uou:s obstacle to union in their \yay by 111isplaced in- tolerance or suspiciousness, nor on the other hand be carried away by the easily understood desire to have useful and ex- trelncly learned allies against ROlne, \ve should seriously and steadfastl y, according to conscience and before Christ, reveal to thenl our faith and unchangeable conviction in the fact that our Eastern Orthodox Church, \vhich has inviolably preserved the complete depoHit of Christ, is alone at the present time the CEcun1enicai Church, and that thereby in very deed \ve should show' them \vhat they ought to have in vie,v, and upon \vhat they ought to decide, if they really believe in the savingness of abiding within the Church and sincerely desire union ,vith her. And, lastly, the question of the change, or lllerely of some refonn of the Calendar, has been troubling the ll1inds of the Orthodox in our country not a little for b01l1e tin1e past, just as it has \vith you. At the command of our )lost Religious Sovereign a Special Conlmission of learned representatives of the various branches of knowledge bearing upon this subject ,vas formed at the Imperial Acadeu1Y of Science expressly for the purpose of investigating this question. But the labours Df this COlnnlission, which are extren1ely complicated and ßlanY-bided, are up to the present not conclutleLl, antI it is. iUl- possible to say beforehand ,,,hat ,vill be their final result. It is only necessary. in our opinion, to keep in vie,,,. the fact that this question has nlallY sifles, ,yhich respectively a(lmit of an -elucidation a.nd sett.lelnellt by no lneans identical the one ,vith the other. rrhe application of the Xew' Style to the ciyil 25G BlltI{BEUK -\_XD rrI-IF RDSSl\N CHURCH reckoning of tilne only, without changing the Paschalia, anù \vithout transferring the Church festivals, but merely chang- ing the figure of the dates agreeably to the N e\v Style (i.e. the- day which is no\v dated January 6 \vould then be dated January 19, hut \vould still rèlnain the Feast of the Theophany) \vould, of course, not particularly affect the interests of the Church, inasllluch as in Church practice the Julian Calendar \vould still relnain in full force (except that the Feast of the :N e\v Year \vould then no longer coincide with the Feast of the Circulllcision of the I.Jord, but \vith the 11lemorial of St. Boniface the l\lartyl' on Decelnber 19 of the Old Style, just as is now the practice, for instance, in the Orthodox Church of J-apan, \vhich has to date its festivals by the :K ew Sty!e \vhich is used in Japan). But if \ve are to touch upon t.he question of the purely scientific \vorth of this or that reckoning of tÍ1ne, the scholars of lllOst \vpight amongst us incline rather in favour of the Julian Calendar, \v.ith Inerely certain corrections ê1(hnitted into it, and not at all to exchanging it for the Gre- gorian Calendar, which, according to the conclusion they have come to, is less skilfully contrived. And this authoritative voice of the scholars constrains us, the guardians of the Church, to Inaintain an attitude of gr at caution to\vards the desire of sonle people to change the calendar, if thereby is meant an alteration of the Paschalia and of the whole chrono- logy of the Church. Such a change, disturbing the Ï1nluemorial order of things ,vhich has repeatedly been hallow.ed by the Church, would, \vithout doubt, be accolllpanied by certain dis- turbances in the life of the Church, and nleanwhile, on the present occasion, such disturbances would not find sufficient justification fOl. theJllselves, either in the exclusive rightful- ness of the proposed reforln, or in the needs of the Church being ripe for the change. \Vherefore, for our part, we ,vould staud up for the conservation of the Julian Calendar in Church practice, a,chnitting- at the nlost only the formal alterations with regard to the New Year, and the renulllbering of the dates as ,ve have eXplained above. Proposing all that we have enunciated above to your love, and to Jyour ,vise and favourable judgment, \ve cannot help 1'H} RUSSIA.X SY:KODAL )1 PIRTLE 257 turning the attention of the representatives of the holy Churches of GOll to the sOlTo\vful fact that even within the OrthoJox Church itself we see a weakening of love worthy of tear:-;, clis ellsions, aUfl divi:Úon sometirnes goin:.; so far as a rupture of ecclesiastical cOilllnunion. Let our love be extended to our erring brethren \vho d\vell in our midst. Side by side with us stand those ancient Christian conllnunities, the N es- torians, the Ál'lnenians, the COptH and others, \vhich have been separated for many centurie. frolll the Church, but have not lost their Church organisation nor their hierarchy, and \vhich at the present time, in the persons of their leading members, are in S0111e cases beginning to arrive at a sense of the wrong- fulness of their apostasy. To dra\v once lllore into the bosom of the one Church these luen, \vho live side by side with us, and are extren1ely near to us in culture, manners, and customs, and more particularly in the fashion of their Church life and in the type of their religion, appears to be the lnost immediate object for our Church to undertake, and our direct and absolute duty, in fulfilling whic l \ve not only should revive these ancient comlllunities into a new Church life, but in time should dis- cover for the Church herHelf a ne,v source of trong and zeal- ous labourers in the comlllon \vork of the Church. 1\lost heartily beseeching our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that He lnay contirn} His Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in unalliInity and 11lay Htrengthen the principle of mutual love anJ COllll11Union \vithin her, and that He may grant unto your Holiness and the Holy and Sacred Synod surrounding you, together \vith all the great Church of Constantinople, peace and prosperity and good success in an things, \ve relnain, with brotherly love in Christ our God, ANTOXIUS: letropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga._ -YLADIl\llR, letropolitan of l\losco\y and Kolomna. VLADIMIR, Bishop of 'Tladikavkaz ancll\lozdok. NICHOl.AS, Bi hop of Tavrida and SimferopoL J OH , Bishop of Saratoff and Tzaritzyn. IARcELLus, Bishop. 23 Pcbruw.y, 1903. 17 CHAP1 1 ER XXI. THE EPISTLE OF THE HOLY SYNOD OF RUSSIA TO THE PATRI- ARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE (continued). (Co?n?nents on the Epistle by Mr. Birkbeck.) THE Epistle of the Russian Holy Synod to the Patriarch of Constantinople is a docun1ent of exceptional interest, not only as expressing the Inind of the Russian ecclesiastical authoritieH upon certain in1portant questions, hut as illus- 'trating the relations which exist bet,veen the various auto- eephalous Churches of which the Holy Orthodox Eastern Church is composed, and the means by ,vhich, under ex- ìsting circumstances, Orthodox unity is maintained. For English Churchnlen it possesses the further interest of being known to have been Inainly drawn up by the present presiding melnber of the Holy Synod, the l\Ietropolitan Antonius, of St. Petersburg, who, at that tÏ1ne Archbishop of Finland, repre- sented the Russian Church at the celebration of Queen Vic- toria's Dianlond Jubilee in 1897, and during his stay in this country Inade such an excellent iInpression upon all ,yith whom he caIne in contact. The Epistle was written in reply to a letter of inquiry, addressed by the (Ecumenical Patriarch, Joachim III, and his Holy Synod to the Russian Holy Synod, inforn1Ïng them of certain questions which had arisen in the Church of Constantinople, with regard to the attitude of the Ortho- dox Church towards Ron1an Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans, Old Catholics, and other non-Orthodox bodies of Christians, and asking for inforlnation as to the attitude of the Russian Church towards these questions and for brotherly counsel as (258) TH}: RUSSIAN RYXOD.AL EPISTLE 259 to the best Inoòe of dealing with them in accordance with the spirit of the Orthodox Church. 1'his method of securing unity of action between the various autocephalous ChurcheR of the Orthodox East by means of an interchange of information and counsel bet\veen their chief representatives, although it has often been forgotten by certain \Yestern bodies, ,vho, in their eagerness to introduce their wooden horses into the Orthodox citadel, have atten1pted to negotiate terms of reunion vtith one or other of them separ- ately, w'ill at once be recognised as no new departure by all ,vho are conversant with the history of the Eastern Church since the schislll of East and \Vest. Tell1 porary misunder- standings and petty jealousies of a racial, political, or personal character lllay indeed from time to time arise an10ng Ortho- . dox as alnong other Christian ecclesiastics or cOllununities, and a great many hard things n1ay be said or \vritten. But whatever Greeks and Russians, Roumanians and Servians may have to say about one another's shortcomings, and however little pains may be taken to conceal such differences from the knowledge of interested non-Orthodox foreigners, no sooner does any question assume a foru1 \vhich is likely vitally to affect the practice, constitution, or faith of the Church than all the fears of the friends, and the hopes of the ene1nies, of Orthodoxy are very quickly set at rest. Eastern Church his- tory is full of such instances of the failure of such intrigues, from the time "Then Jaroslav the \Vise gave refuge and hos- pitality to the legates of Leo IX on their flight froln Con- stantinople, do\vn to the present day. 1\lore especially has this mode of regulating their affairs, and of Inaintaining unity of faith and practice, been notice- ab e since the downfall of the Eastern En1pire, when the CEctunellical Patriarchate passpd under the dominion of the infidels. The recognition of the Russian Church as auto- cephalous inln1ediately after that disaster, t.he erection of a fifth Patriarchate at !\loscow-the 'c Third R0me "-in the sixteenth century, the troubles of the Ort.hodox at about the .same tin1e in Poland, the substitution of the Russian Holy 260 BIRKB:ECI<: ...\X]) frH:E RUSSI \N CRUllCR Synod for the Patriarchate of [osco'v in the time of Peter the Great, the relations bet,yeen the Orthodox Church and the British non-Jurors, an l nl.anyother instances ùown to quite recent times ulight be yuoteJ of a sin1Ïlar inte change of com- Inunications bet\veen the authorities of the Orthodox Churches upon Ï1nportant Inatters affectiug the life of the Church as a whole. The principles underlying this rnethod of deaiing ,vith fresh problen1s as they arise could not be 1l10re clearly set forth than in the earlier portion of the Russian Epistle. It is, in effect, an adaptation, of that \vhich Inakes the decrees of a general council to be the authoritative decision of the Church, to the circumstances of a tilne when the actual assemblage of the represent'ltiyes of aU the autocephalous Orthodox Churches in one place is not possible; the n1ain point being that the tra- ditions, teaching, and practice of every local Church should be ascertained before coming to a decision, and that that decision, when arrived at, should be accepted by the whole Church as a true expression of her mind. It is interesting- to notice that since the Great Schism be- tween East and \tV est, whereas the tendency of the 'Vestern Church has been more and 1110re to develop the Patriarchal authority into what Latin authors write of as " La l\Ionarchie Pontificale," and Eastern writers describe as "Papalo-Cæsar- ism," 1 and to leave less and less place or practical need in their ecclesiastical systeln for a General Council, exactly the opposite has been the case in the East. .A..t the tilne of the Great Schism, although the Patriarch of Constantinople was still in theory merely pri'ìnus inter pares among the other Eastern Patriarchates, the losses these latter had incurred through heretical defections and infidel conquests had practi- cally left him in a not dissÏInilar position in the East to that occupied by the R01l1an Pontiffs in the 'Vestern Church. The ] A very obvious repartee to the tenn "Césaro-Papism" which the Roman controversiaJists of the beginning of the last century applied to the Russian Church. The Slavophile defenders of Orthodoxy were not slow to make the most of De l\Iaistre's blunder in inventing the shallow and misleading soûri- que t. THE RUSSIA.K SYKOlJ.AL EPISTLE 2Gl daughter Churches, ,vhich ,yere after,vards to become auto- cephalous, ,vere as yet in their infancy, and ,vere entirely willing to relnain in a state of tutelage under the immediate jurisdiction of the (Ecumenical Throne. That the history of the \Vest ,vas not repeated in the East is lIue partly, indeed, to historical circumstances; but the lllain reason is to be sought in an entirely different conception of the nature of the Church and of the conditions of ecclesiastical unity. 'Yhereas in the \Vest the idea of the Church being divided into an ecclesia docens and ecclcsia discens becalne luore and more prolninent, and the former tended more ancllnore to a system of graduateJ hierarchical SD bordination under a ll10re or less autocratic head, the Easterns held fast to their belief that the cu tody of the faith ,vas conln1Ïtted to the ,vhole body of the Church, ,yhich could be expressed when needful through the voices of its local represent:1tives, ,vhether by means of their general as elnblage in a Council, or through an interchange of yiew by Ineans of letter. or personal intercourse. Accord- ingly the history of the relations bet\yeen the Patriarchate and its daughter Churche"'! presents a marked contrast to what occurred in the 'Vest. To take the Russian Church as an ex- ample. It began by being a completely Greek as the English Church of Augustine's tinle ,vas Roman. But first we find the services gradually translated fron1 Greek into Slavonic, and the Greek )Ietropolitans at ICieff no longer requiring Greek Looks aud singers from Constantinople. Next "\ve have native Russian )Ietropolitans, but still, ,,,"hen possible, conse- crated by the P<.ttriarchs. K ext we have :ì\letropolitans elected a.nd consecrated in Russia, but Rtill confirmed at Constantinople. SüIne time after ,ve find. the latter condition dispensed ,vith, .and admitted by the Patriarch to be superfluous; and lastly, at the end of 600 years, the See of Iosco'v is ackno\vledged as a Patriarchate equal in authority to the 1110ther see. To a.dapt Bishop Creighton's aphorism concerning England and Rorne to Russia, she retained the supremacy of Constantinople so long as she found it a help, and got rid of it so soon as she found it a hindrance. The difference between the two pro.. 262 BIRKBECI{ AND THE RUSSI...L\N CHURCH cesses consists in the fact that in Russia each stage was arrived at wit.h the full consent of the Patriarch, who found in it nothing that was not entirely consistent with Orthodox con- ceptions of ecclesiastical unity. The result has been that Russia, if lost to the Patriarchs of Constantinople as a merely dependent appanage, has not been lost to the Church of which they occupy the prin1atial throne, as the present interchange of letters very clearly sho\vs. \Ve have no,v arrived at that part of the Russian Epistle which deals seriatin1 ,vith the illcumenical Patriarch's in- quiries respecting the attitude of the Russian Church to,vards the various bodies of Christians lying- outside the con1munion of the Orthodox Eastern Church. In the first place, we have the relations of the Russian Church "towards two great ramifications of 'Vestern Chris- tianity: the Latins and the Protestants ". The first point to be noticed is that the Latins and Protestants are treated to- gether as representing merely two forms of one and the same apostasy (otpacljénije). If we are to understand the Eastern Church at all, it is essential that this attitude of hers should be realised. She is, indeed, proudly conscious of the fact that, while all other Christian bodies have either added to or sub- tracted from the faith of Christendom as once held by the undivided Church, she has maintained her traditions unbroken and her faith unchanged. But by this she does not mean that she looks upon herself as a via r;nedia, still less as a halfway- house, or a sort of con1promise between the conflicting ten- dencies of Rome and Protestantism. To her the separation of the 'Vest from the East presents itself as a great revolt on the part of the former against the authority of the Catholic Church as a whole, and the present divided state of \Vestern Christendonl as nothing more or less than the logical outcome of the principles which lay at the root of that revolt. This view has been worked out in detail by the Russian theologians of the last century. If one Patriarchate ignores the existence of the other Patriarchates, and takes upon itself to alter the Creed of the whole Church as decreed by the rrI-IF: RTTSSIA.X SYXOD .\L EPISTLE G3 General Councils ' tithout even consulting them, \vhat more natural than that the leaven of revolt shoulll gradually work its ,yay further in the isolated n1ass, and that ,vhole regions and provinces of that Patriarchate should clain1 a sin1Îlar right to Inanage their o,vn aff 1Ïrs independently of the rest, and that next the clergy should defy their Bishops, or even get rid of then1 altogether, or that the laity should repudiate the au- thority of the clergy? Again, the alteration of the CrecJ, although not initiated by the Popes, hall eventually to seek its justification under their authority, and they were thus com- mitted to clain1ing spiritual powers differing entirely in kind fron1, and altogether superior to, those of any other Bishop, or indeed of the collective Episcopate of the Catholic Church. The Russian theologians point out that, inasn1uch as "ye have not chosen 1\le, but I have chosen you," and" without contra- diction the less is blessed of the better," a Bishop, ,vhether he be the n10st insignificant of Suffragans or the most exalted of Patriarchs, Inust receive his spiritual powers fron1 a source ,vhich is essentially superior to hin1self and to every other Bishop. \Yhatever the local arrangements for his election to fill his particular see n1ay be, he receives his spiritual powers and Divine con1mission fron1 the whole Church, the Body of ,,,,hich Christ is the Head, at his consecration by a council of not less than three, or at least t\YO,l Bishops, ,vhose action she recognises as her own act for the purpose, just in the san1e way as \vhen she recognises the ùecree of a Council of Bishops concerning the faith as her own voice, she thereby makes it to be of æcumenical authority. But when once this order of things is reversed, and an authority over the whole Church is claimed by one \vho is pron10ted thereto by means of no sacra- !pental ordinance appointed by the Church, but owes his ex- ceptional spiritual po\vers as contrasted \yith those of aU other Bishops, and his plenary authority over them, to the mere 1 Can. Apost. 1. Conc. Carth., can. 60.-The Eastern Church does not ac- . knowledge the validity of the consecration of a Bishop by a single Bishop. On this ground the Russian treats the so-called "Austrian" succession amongst the Old Believers as null and void. 2G4 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH votes of those \vho, be they the people or clergy of his cathe- dral city, or be they a comlnittee of subordinates appointed for the purpose by his predecessors, are, in any case, "whether in- dividualJy or in their corporate capacity, his inferiors, ho\y does this differ in principle froln what obtains alnongst Protestant comnlunities, ,vhether it stops short, as in the old Lutheran States or in the lnodern Evangelical Church in Prussia, at such conventionalities as deriving the spiritual authority of the clergy frolH the appointInents of a secular sovereign, or whether, as in SOlne sects, the principle be carried to its logical conclusion, and each congregation claims to a p- point and confer spiritual authority upon its own mini:::;ter ? Froln this it will be seen that the Easterns regard Romanisln and Protestantislll as silnply two aspects of the san1e heresy, that heresy being tho rejection of the authority of the Church. The extrelnest forlns of Protestantism represent to then1 nothing more than the logical developnlent 1 of the false prin- ciples to which the \Vest conunitted itself in breaking away from the rest of Christendon1, and in claiming for the \Vestern Patriarch an authority superior to, instead of derived from, and therefore subject to, the Church of God. Before leaving this part of the Epistle, I would can at- tention to the very in1portant passage with reg-ard to the validity of Western baptislus. In this letter the Russian Church, for the first tÎ1ne, officially sets forth its definite theo- logical reason for not reba ptising vVesterns, as is still done in SOlne parts of the Greek Patriarchates. Passing over the whole dispute concerning Ï1nmersioll or affusi9n, as well as the historical and canonical side of the question, in silence, the Epistle siInply asserts that as both Rome and the Protestants believe rightly concerning the Holy Trinity, in \vhose Nan1e baptis1l1 is administered, their baptism is valid, and ought not to be repeated, as if it wer the baptisn1 of Arians or of some 1 The Russian theologians have traced the process in every department of the ecclesiastical life of the Western confessions-in the Sacraments, Invoca- tion of Saints, prayers for the departed, relations between Church and State, philosophy, etc., "but the su bject is too Jarge for the limits of this article. 1'H}: RUSSIA.X SYNODAL -EPISTL E 65 -other sect ,,,,hich rejected the Catholic doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Such a principle is capable of a very wiùe applica- tion, antI constantly appears in the controversial and apologetic wTiting of the Russian theologians of the present day. The section concerning the Anglican Church sho\vs an ac- curate kuO"wledge of facts, and contains nothing which ought to \vound the feelings of any English Churchman. Indeed, if ,ye remember that the Easterns are quite as sure of their position as the Latins, if not more so, the friendliness of its tOIle as compared \vith that assumed to,vards us by the ROlnan uthorities is most striking. If the Eastern ecclesiastical au- thorities are able to meet the advances of those \",ho are ()utside their conlnlunion in a friendly spirit, and to treat mis- understandings" \vith all possible indulgence" instead of ,vith ,a deternlination to lnake the very \vorst of them, the reason is to be sought in that fundanlental difference in their concep- tion of the nature oÏ the Church \vhich \ye have already Reen to exist between Easterns and Latins. rrhe Pope, by the very nature of his claims, is bound to look upon all those ",.ho are outside the ROlnan Church as rebels against his o\vn divinely besto\ved authority. "Parcere subjectis et debellare super- bos " must ever be his III otto : the more faithful he is to \vhat he believes to be the truth the less easy does it beconle for hinl and for his subordinates to enter into friendly relations \vith those ,,-..ho do not ackno\vledge hi'3 sovereignty. 'Vith the Eastern hierarchy it is quite other\vise. ß 0 member of it, not even the Patriarch of Constantinople hinlself, lays claÍJn to universal spiritual sovereignt.y; this \vould be, according to Eastern vie\vs, nothing more than to change the Church upon earth into a kingdoln of this \vorld. Accordingly, \vhile they ,are bound by their acred trust to guarù the frontiers of their Church and to Inaintain its doctrine and discipline, the Rus- .sian and other Orthodox Bishops are able to nleet any friendly acts on the part of nlembers of the English hierarchy in the spirit in which they were made. 'Yith regard to \vhat is said about the" Calyinistic current" in the Anglican cOffilnunity, no one \\"ho kno\ys anything of 2ßß BIRKBECK ...<\XD THE RUSSIA CHURCH the Eastern Church would expect her to adlnit Anglicans to' comn1unio.n as things are now. To do so would be to acknow- ledge the peculiar circulnstances of the English Church at the- present day, ,vhich are eminently local, and which friends and foes alike can see to be in a state of transition, as the normal and permanent condition of the whole Church of God. It. ,viII naturally be felt by English Churchn1en that there is some exaggeration in speaking of the" perceptible, if not ex- clusive, influence" of these Calvinistic tendencies "upon the Church poJicy, and, in general, upon the whole Church life " of Anglicanism. But if it be remen1bered that the :Thletropolitan Antonius' acquaintance with the English Church began in the. year 1897, that since then he has follo,ved the affairs of the- English Church \vith great care, and that during that time the most prominent official pronouncen1ents made in England have been Archbishop Ternple's Visitation Charge in October, 1898, and the two" Lambeth Opinions," the inference which he draws fron1 theln cannot be looked upon as altogether sur- prising. As the letter says, "much still remains to be done" before there can be a thought of any definite step in regard to reunion with the East) either for or against it. Time alone can show in which direction things are destined to move. The section concerning the Old Catholics \vill be read \vith additional interest in connection ,vith the articles on the same subject which have recently appeared in the Guardian. The section dealing with the heretical comn1unities in the East will meet with the complete approval of those Churchmen who are interested in the Archbishop of Canterbury's Assyrian lission 1 and other sin1Ïlar undertakings in the East. The paragraph concerning the change of the Calendar will disap- I This continued its operations, with headquarters at Urmia in Persia and at Qudshanis in Kurdistan, until the beginning of the Great War, when the Turks invaded the Persian province of Azerbijan and they and the Kurds: slaughtered the Christians on both sides of the frontier or drove them into exile. But it had been for some time apparent that the task begun by Arch- bishop Benson in 1884 had been fulfilled, and that the Orthodox Church, through the Russian branch, was in a position to take over these Eastern Christians, and this is recognised in the Synodal Epistle; see page 257 -[A.R.] THE RUSSIA HYNOD.. L EPISTLE 267 point the Roman Catholics, who in Russia anù other Orthodox countries have to keep their Easter SOlnetÏ1nes five weeks after it has been kept in the "\Vest. But the advantages to be gained by a change of style do not seem sufficiently great to justify the risk of retarding the return to the Church of the Russian Old Believers, who would certainly be scandalised by the change. CHAPTER XXII. THE PRESENT CONDITIONS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE IN RUSSIA 1 THE chief interest of Russia for English Churchmen con- sists in the existence there of a great national Church-the greatest that the world has yet seen, numbering close upon 90,000,000 of souls-in closest connection with the Ru')sian State, and independent from, but yet in full comn1union \vith, its l\Iother Church of Constantinople, to which it owes its birth 900 years ago. l\Iy object is to show the conditions under which she is at the present day maintaining her independence and nationality ,vithout forfeiting her catholicity. And, first, with regard to her governluent. In order to understand the changes which are now going on, it is neces- sary, briefly, to review the history of the Russian Church. At first a n1ere Eparchy of the Greek Church, governed by l\letropolitans, who were almost ahvays Greeks, appointed and consecrated by the Patriarchs of Constantinople, it gradually . developed, step by step with the growth of the Russian nation, into an independent Church. 1'his ,vas brought about with- out any breach of con1n1union with the Greeks; and it ,vas with the consent of the Patriarch that the Russians at last ceased even to apply for the confirmation of their newly- elected l\Ietropolitans. The occasiún was the capture of Con- stantinople by the Turks in the fifteenth century, and this nearly coincided with the time when Russia, freed from the Tartar yoke, became an independent power. Next, a century later, soon after the Grand Dukes of 1\108- covy had assumed the title of Tzar, the 1\letropolitalls, with 1 This paper was read at the Church Congress, Great Yarmouth, 1907.- [A.R.] (268) r eH} R USSl.\..N CHlTECH IX IH07 269 the consent of the four Eastern Patriarchs, assumed the tit]e- of Patriarchs of Iosco'v. The third change was in the time of Peter the Great, ,vhen the pre ent governlnent by the Holy Synod, \vhich Inay shortly be described as a small conllnittee of bishops, ,vith a layman to act bet,veen them and the civil power, ,vas subqtituted for the Patriarchs. Ecclesiastically, the Holy Synod represents the l\Iosco,v Patriarchate in Com- ll1Ïssion: it ,vas recognised as such by the other Eastern Patri- archs at the time of the change, the only condition being that it bhould continue to teach and lllaintain the orthodox faith; to this day they address it in any communications they may hold ,vith it as "our ,yell-beloved brother". Politically, it represents a part of those F;eries of reforms under Peter the Great to ,vhich the modern bureaucratic Government of Russia owes it origin: it \vas, in effect, the application of that systenl to the government of the Church. In Inany respects its constitution doubtless infringed upon the ancient adminis. trative rights of the hierarchy as formulated in the canon law of the Orthodox Church-quite a nluch so, I think, as any of the recent legislation of France has affected the rights of the Papacy. But, then, it must be remembered that the unity of the Orthodox Church depends ultimately, not, as it does in the Roman Church, upon hierarchical considerations, but upon unity of Faith. It is a great mistake either to regard the Russian Church as a Cæsaro-Papalism, \vith the Tzar instead of the Pope as its spiritual head, or to cOlllpare it ,vith the State-made Churches of the Protestant Reformation. Because in dogmatic questions, and matters of purely spiritual discipline, the Russian Church has alw.ays held its o\vn as an integral part of the ,vhole Eastern Church, nor has the State disputed her rights in this respect. As an illustration of this, I Inay Inention that twice during the reign of Alexander II considerable pressure ,vas put upon the Holy Synod to relax her Jiscipline: ill the one instance in her marriage la,v, antI in the other in her rules concerning fasting, so far as they affected the arlny. In each case the Holy Synod, after due consideration, and after consulting the 270 BIRKBECK AKD TH E RUSSIAK CHURCH Eastern Patriarchs and the authorities of the other autocephal- .ous Orthodox Churches, replied that the Church was unable to make the change asked for. And accordingly the change "'"as not made. This shows that in the East it is possible for .a local Church to be national, and at the same time to nlain- tain Catholic discipline. After what I have said as to the development of the gov- erIllnent of the Rus ian Church pari paSS1t ,vith the growth of the nation, it is not surprising that at the present time, when so many changes are taking place in the internal in- stitutions of the country, it has been announced that the Em- peror ,vill shortly sumlnon a council of the Russian Church to meet at Ioscow to nlake a fourth change in her governlnent. At the beginning of last year a commission of bishops, clergy, .and laity was appointed to prepare for this counciL It sat for many 111onths, and all its discussions were fully reported; and at the same .tinle the religious censorship of the Press ,vas relaxed in order to allow of the fullest expression of opinion, both clerical and lay, fron1 all quarters. It has been finally agreed that the coming National Councilor Synod shall con- sist of bishops, clergy, and laity, who will all sit together; all diocesan bishops will have a seat, or, if necessary, send a priest to speak and to vote as their substitute. Such suffragan or retired bishops as are invited by the Holy Synod will also attend. The clergy and laymen in the council will have the right to join in the discussion of every question brought before it; but the resolutions of the council will be finally drawn up, voted upon, and signed by the bishops or their official substi- tutes alone. The clergy and laymen win be elected as fol]ows : the clergy of each rural deanery will elect one of their own nUlnber for the diocesan electoral asselnbly, while each parish win elect a layman; these in their turn will, in each rural deanery, choose OIle of their own number for the diocesan electoral assembly; these diocesan assemblies ,vill each of them elect three clergy and three laymen, out of each of which the bishop ,vill select one to attend the council. The court and .army chaplains, the principal nlonasteries, and the ecclesiastical . THE RUSSIAK CHUI{CH I lU07 71 :.acaden1Ïes will be also repre ented and the Holy Synod is .authorised to summon any individuals, clerical or lay, whose learning- or interest in Church aftà.irð Iuay be of s rvice to the council's deliberation . 'Vhatever Illay be said of this constitution, it is at least an honest endeavour that the Natiollètl Syno(l should represent every interest ill the Church. As it has not yet 111et, I can- not f;ay ,, hat the result of its labours ,vill be. 1 But it is generally believed that it ,vill restore the patriarchal fornl of government in borne form: that a Patriarch, assisted by a Synod, chosen upon a ,vider basis than the present Holy Synod, "Till be given the suprelne governn1ent of the Church; that there ,viII be è1 considerable 11love in the direction of de- entralisation and local self-governUlellt; that metropolitans nd archbishops will beCOIl1e heads of organised provinces instead of, as they no\v are, possessors of merely honorary titles; and that provisions ,viII be nlade according to the eanons of the Seventh General Council for the frequent nleet- ing of local, provincial, anll diocesan synods. The divisions of un,vieldy dioceses ,vill also be taken in hand. 'Vein East Anglia know sOlllething about this question. But what ,vould you say to a diocese like that of Archangel, as large as the l\:ingdom of Prussia, ,vith only a single raihvay, and only two .01' three roads, hardly fit for-\vell, certainly not lllotor-cars, but even for a rough tarantass dra \yn by three horses abreast; .and where the only decent Illodes of cOIDIllunication-the rivers and sea--are frozen up for t\yo-thirds of the year? These and many other subjects-such as the financial ar- rangements of the Church, and the organisation of its acade- nlÍes and seminaries and other educational establi hments- \vill COllle before the council. It ,vill be seeD that these are nlainly adlllinistl'ative. As I haye already said, local hierar- chical arrangell1ents are not considered to aft'ect the divine prerogatives of the Church, and it is therefore an understooà principle that such Inatters are best left to national Churches to arrange for thenlselves. \Yhen they have been agreed 1 This Kational Synod never came into actual being.-[A.H.] 272 BIRI{BECI{ -,-.\ D THE RUSSI-,- N CHURCH upon, they ,viII be subn1itted to the Eastern Patriarchs and other autocephalous Orthodox Churches, who \vill doubtless. accept thell1 as they stand. It ,yould be a different matter if the council had before it any dognlatic question, or one seri- ously affecting the spiritual discipline of the Church. In this case the Russian Church ,vould not act alone, but ,vould con- sult the other Orthodox Churches, just as East and 'Vest used to consult one another before their fatal schisln in the ninth and eleventh centuries. I have already mentioned t,vo instances in \vhich this principle ,vas lately acted upon by the Russian Church; but one finds it applied again and again in the history of Orthodox Christendom, and, indeed, the only way in ,yhich a local Church can remain national, and at the same time 111aintain its catholicity, is for it to ackno\vledge the authority of the ,v hole Catholic Church as binding upon itself. This, I think, is the chief lesson that the Orthodox Church has to teach us to-day. It is not, I think, often enough realised amongst us tha t she does not regard herself as a via 1nedin, or sort of happy ll1ean bet,veen Romanis1l1 and Protestantisn1. On the contrary, she looks upon these as' two aspects or stages in the developnlent of the sanle heresy, nalnely, the rejection of be- lief in the authority of the Catholic Church-as a breach in the unity of a liying orgallislll of faith and love, that is to say, in the unity of that Body of \vhich every baptised Christian living, or departed, or yet to be born, is a Inelnber, and of which Christ is the one and only Head. This it ,vas which lay at the root of the Fil'ioque quarrel, leading to the separa- tion of East and ,'Test, ,vhen the 'Vestern Church took upon itself to alter and add to the æcun1(-.nical Creed of Christendom without consulting the other Churches. Fronl that 11l01uent the unity of common faith and Inutual love was broken, and the reign of rationalisIll had begun in the West. The autho- rity of the ROlDan See Inight for a time preserve an external appearance of unity, but the inner and moral principle upon which unity rested was gone. If one Patriarch of the Chureh, however exalted, takes rrHJ RUHSIA CHURCH IN ]007 273 upon hilnsclf to alter and add to the æcumenical Creed "\vith- out subn1itting that alteration to the judgnlent of the whole Church: say the Russians, it is naturally to be expected that ,vhole provinces of his patriarchate \vill in turn revolt fronl him, as happened in England: and, further, that the clergy will revolt against their bishop, as did Luther; that the laity ,vill in turn revolt against the clergy, as in the extreme forms of Protestantism, and that ultilnately the notion of the Church ,vill ceåse to exist, or else \vill come to be, as German Pro- testanti m has been described by a Russian theologian, "a society of good Inen, diffel-ing in all their opinions, but earnestly seeking for truth, with a total certainty that it has not yet been found, and with no hope at all ever to find it ". The Russians point to the rationalistic controversies upon the Eucharist, with \vhich the East has never been troubleJ,. but ,vhich arose in the West imnlediately after her separation frolll the East, as an exall1ple of the new spirit ,vhich had arisen \vithin her, and that fron1 the time of Berengarius on- ,yards they have continued to the present day, first in the Roman Church herself, and then in the various sects which have sprung frenl her. 'V hat more natural, say they, when the moral basis upon which the unity of the Church rests is once violated, that that Sacrament, which is the assurance that ,ve are uIenIbers incorporate in the Inystical Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, should becol1le henceforth the symbol, not of unity, but of discord? There is not tinle to follo,v the lnatter in detail. I ,yill conclude by quoting a reIn ark nlade a short time ago by a Russian friend to \yhOlll I had shown the Bishop of BOlllbay's charge insisting that bapt.ised children of Christian parents should be turned out of church when the holy mysteries are celebrated, just as if they ,vere unbaptised or -excolnlnunicate. " N O\Y you can see," saitl he, ",vhat we Jnean by Raying that Protestanti m is nothing but an extension of Popery. Our Church communicates as well as baptises in- fants; so did the Roman Church once, but after the schism it deprived its children of the Body and Blood of our Lord until they reach years of discretion-that is to say, on rationaJistic 18 274 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH principles-for \vho are they to judge of the spiritual capacities of a child, when the Gospel itself tells us of John the Baptist, even before his birth, discerning and exulting in the presence of Christ? N ext you have the Lutherans in the sixteenth century putting off first communion still later-from the age of seven to about the age of sixteen, likewise on grounds of utilitarian rationalisln; and now in the twentieth century you have a Protestant bishop moving a further stage, never dreamt ,of even by the Lutherans, and saying that the little children, whose angels always behold the face of their heavenly Father, .are not even to be present at the showing forth of their ,Saviour's death." It is this sort of thing which Russians mean when they say that Protestantism. is merely the natural developlnent of the principles upon which the Latin schism rested, and that all Protestants are in reality Cryptopapists; and whatever -English Churchmen may think of it, the point seems to me well worthy of consideration. CHAPTER XXIII. POSSIBILITIES OF I TERCOl\I IUNION WITH THE HOLY ORTHO- DOX EASTERN CHURCH ANGLICAN ORDERS.l IN the year 1865 the well-known ltletropolitan, Philaret, of )Ioscow, wrote the following ,yords:- "How greatly to be desired is the union of the Churches. But how difficult it is for a movement, started with that end in vie\v, to ,ving its flight ,vith the desire pure and simple of arriving at the truth-a desire altogether free from any bias or partiality towards preconceived opinions " 2 These words forlH the last paragraph of a long- letter, ad- dressed to the Chief Procurator of the Russian Holy Synod, concerning some negotiations in ,vhich the letropolitan him- self had been taking an active interest, and which had then been going on for several years between certain leading Churchmen in America and Russia with a view to establishing Intercommunion between the Anglican and Orthodox Churches. The letter deals with certain compromises in matters of faith which had been pressed very persistently from the American side, but which the Russian ecclesiastical authorities had been unable to accept. The position was clearing itself. Just as in the 'forties \Villiam Palmer, of l.Iagdalen, had been re- fused admission to the Sacraments in Russia as an Anglican, the reason given being'" that it was impossible for an indivi- dual, whether priest or layman, to be in union at the same time with two Churches which were not in union with one another," 3 so now in the 'sixties the Easterns found inter- communion between the American Church and themselves I A paper read at the Pan-Anglican Congress, HI08.-[A.R.] 2 Philaret, Collection of Opinions and Extracts. vol. v., p. 696. 3 Ibid., p. 687. (275) 2â{j BIRKB ECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCJ-I impossible, so long as the t,vo Churches had different faiths and different symbols of faith. The concessions demanded of the Easterns had practically amounted to the denial of the <.Ecumenicity of the Seventh General Council, and the relega- tion of Eastern teaching ,vith regard to the Eucharist and other Sacraments, the Communion of Saints, and other vital points \vhich they hold to be of the essence of the Church's faith and life, to the category of doubtful opinions or open questions. It meant to them the abandonment of their own position, and the substitution of the position of one school or thought in the Anglican Church, friendly indeed to the Easterns) but formulated in tern1S sufficiently vague not to exclude other Anglican schools of thought with \vhich they had but little in conlnlon. This is what Philaret meant by " partiality towards preconceived opinions ". Is this attitude of the Easterns, when once clearly stated, unreasonable? I think not. At any rate, their standpoint is precisely that which \ve English Churchmen are ourselves trying to n1ake our K onconformist brethren understand at the present tin1e in our controversies over what is called "undenominational" education. Intercomlnullion, \vhen it COllIes, will COlne, not at') a preliminary step to'l.oards, but as the consequence of, per- fect unity of faith in matters deemed essential not only by one, but by both of the two Churches. Another point which was brought out at this time ,vas that this unity of faith nlust also exist, not only bet\veen the two National Churches of Russia and America \vhich were then negotiating, but also betw"een all the Churches \vith which they were each respectively in communion. The Americans had adn1itted that the Filioque "as no essential part of the Catholic faith and had no business in the Creed, but pleaded that it should, nevertheless, be left in their Creed for the pres- ent, for fear of raising difficulties with their l\Iother Church of England. On this proposal Philaret remarks: " The Russian Church also has a n10ther, and a rather strict one too: the Church of the Greek Patriarchates ".1 1 PhiJaret, Collection nf Opi'nions and Extracts, vol. V., p. 538. INTERCO :\1:ßIUNION 277 Again, \vhen Palmer, in 1841, asked a certain Russian Bishop to adn1Ït him to Holy COlnu1union, Philaret puts the case in this way: "Is the union of two Churches to begin by the communion together in the Holy:ßlysteries of a Bishop of the one and a deacon of the other? In reply to this will not the English Church, or the lnajority of her members, say: , We can't trust that deacon, for he has entered into com- munion with a Church with \vhich the English Church is not in communion'? And won't the Russian Church likewise say: 'Can a Bishop remain in our cOlnu1union, who has entered into COlnmunion with a n1cnlber of a Church which is outside of the communion of our Orthoùox Church and holds doctrines \vhich do not agree with hers'? Thus, instead of the \vished-for union of the Churches, the practical result will be that each of these parties to a pretended union will in- jure his unity with his o\vn Church. The union of divided Churches cannot be rightly or surely brought about by the particular action of private individuals: for this, regular com- bination and the action of the Episcopate are necessary": 1 and in another place he says that " it will have to be the sub- ject of the deliberations of a future Council but cannot be settled by private individuals ".2 But in spite of their failure to obtain their ÌInlnediate end, it is impossible t.o over-estimate what the sacred cause of re- union o"\ves to the work of the single-lninded Palmer and those noble-hearted An1ericans. rheir venture proved to be the beginning of a Inovement ,vhich has never ceased down to our day, and ,vhich, if we only be faithful, 111USt in our Lord's own tin1e be crowned with success; for it is His will that all who believe in Him lllay be one. If, indeed, it sho,ved that the ob tacles in the ,yay of reunion were greater than they had expected, this in itself was a gain, for after all facts are facts, and the sooner they are recognised as such, the better. On the other hand, they were the first to prove that Anglicans anù Orthodox could meet and discuss questions of Reunion 1 Philaret, Collection of Opinions and E:ftracts, vol. Hi., pp. 47, 48. 2Russkij Archit'., 1894, No.5, p. 93. 278 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH and Intercommunion in a perfectly friendly spirit. That this is possible even between the highe3t dignitaries of the two Churches is, of course, largely due to the fact that according to the Eastern view the unity of the Church depends upon unity of faith and love, and not, as in the Latin Church, upon subordination to any particular See. Accordingly the heads of the Eastern hierarchy, even if they cannot regard us as. members of the Church, so long as dogmatic differences separate us, are not compelled by the logic of their position to regard us in the light of revolted subjects. It is by means of frequent intercourse of this kind, by means of mutual ex- planations, by willingness to learn what each side may have to impart to the other, that the road to Intercommunion will gradually be prepared, and not by impatience to find short cuts. Take, for instance, the question of Anglican Orders. It is of no use for individual Anglicans to press individual Orthodox dignitaries, however exalted, to settle this question in the name of the Orthodox Church. This can only be done by the authority of the whole Church. Nevertheless the guestion has advanced a very considerable stage during the last twelve years. In 1897 the Archbishops of Canterbury and Y or k sent their Responsio to Leo XIII to all the principal members of the Russian hierarchy for their consideration, and at the same tilne, by using the titles " Ever-Virgin" and " Mother-of-God " of the Blessed Virgin l\lary in their cover- ing letter, showed that the Church of England held exactly what the Easterns do on the subject of our Lord's Incarnation. 1 At that time, a Professor of the l\loscow Academy, Vasili A. Sokoloff: was just completing a long and learned work upon Anglican Orders,2 in which he had not only decided in their favour from the historical and liturgical side, but had torn Leo XIII's bull into shreds, showing that neither it nor the reasons it contained had any significance from an Orthodox point of view. The only doubt was whether the Anglican 1 This letter is given on page 112.-[A.R.] 2 An Enq'ltiry into the Hierarchy of the Anglican Episcopal Church. V. A. Sokoloff. 1897. The passages referred to are given below. INTERCOl\llVIUNION 279 Church regarded Holy Orders as in any sense a Sacrament. So soon as some representative body of the whole Anglican Church, the Lambeth Conference, he suggested, should state that they regarded Holy Orders, though of less significance than Baptism and the Eucharist, as a true Sacrament, in the Hense of necessarily conveying Divine grace, Orthodox theologians would have no difficulty in acknowledging their validity. The significance of this conclusion, more especially as corrJÏng just after our Archbishop's letter, increased, when Professor Sokoloff's work was placed before the Russian Holy Govern- ing Synod as his "exercise" for the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and when after ten months, for there ,vas at first Rome difficulty, the degree was actually conferred upon him. The next step, therefore, rests ,vith the Lalnbeth Conference. After all, it does not seem unreasonable that, before coming to the conclusion that Anglican orders are valid, the Russian Bishops and theologians should wish to kno,v in what sense the Anglican Bishops then1selves believe in them. Lastly, may I make one suggestion to Russian writers- that they bhould find some other expression than" Articles of Faith" for our" Thirty-nine Articles of Religion"? Could not some Russian equivalent of the Greek "ApBpa or KecþáXata 8P7JUKEVTUcá be used? After all, when an Anglican child is asked in the Catechism, "Rehearse the Articles of thy belief," he recites the t,velve articles of the Apostles' Creed, not the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, just as when before the Tzar is crowned, when the question is put to him: "What dost thou believe?" he recites the Nicene Oreed, not the" Spiritual Regulations" of Peter the Great's time, under which the pres- ent Russian Church is governed. If they could come to look upon the Thirty-nine Articles from a historical point of view, hot as a Creed, but as a sixteenth-century working systen1 for the clergy, the controversial þ0rtions of which ,yere concerned not with the East, but with contemporary local questions in the \Vest, I do not say that all, but that at least many difficulties ,vould disappear. To give but one instance: the article about the Churches of Jerusalem, Alexandria, etc., having erred, 280 13IRKBECI( AND THE RUSRIA.l\ CHURCH which al,vays gives such offence in the East, ,vould then be seen to be in no sense directed against the EaHtern Church, but Inerely a staternent that individual .Apostolic Sees, however exalted, Rome included, were not exelnpt from error, and had as a Inatter of fact at one time or other in their history been occupied by heretical prelates. l The follo,ving is a translation of the COlnmencement and the conclusion of one chapter in Professor Sokoloff's ,vork cited above, of which the heading is:- Has the Laying-on of Hands of the English Church the Sign ficance of a SaCra1J1-ent Conferring GrClice? "The imposition of hands united ,vith prayer, or the so- called visible side of the Sacran1ent of Orders, in itself represents only a means ordained by God Himsplf to men, in order that, in making due use of it, they might hand on to those ordained the gifts of Divine grace. This visiblë side [of the Sacrarnent], however, has not in itself so luuch power as to be able, by its mere application alone, to suffice to effect the grace of the Sacrament. However exactly and regularly all the conditions of the visible side of 'XEtpoTovía (ordination) may have been observed, the mere observation of these in itself by no means affords a warrant that the person ordained has really acquired the grace of the priesthood. The Divinely-instituted outward rite of the laying-on of hands, all-important as it is, can only have a grace-bestowing significance when, together with it those inward conditions are also fulfilled upon which the validity of the Sacrament depends. In order to convince oneself of this by an obvious example, one has only to turn one's attention to 1 The verb in Greek would be rendered fJ/J.apTPJI, 1íl-'apTE, not 7Jl-'apT.qKa(TL, 111-'&pT1]ICE. If there had been any intention to condemn the Eastern Church it is quite impossible that the article should have omitted to mention Con- stantinople. All the article states is, that just as the Apostolic Patriarchates of the East have at one time or other fallen into error (Semi-Arian, l\Ionophy- site, etc., e.g. Dioscorus), so the Apostolic See of the West-the See of St. Peter-is not exempt from error, and has, as a matter of history (e.g. Honorius), er ed before now. Constantinople is left out, not, of course, because it has never h3,d a heretic on its throne (e.g. Nestorius), but because it has not an Apostolic See. ANGLICAX ORDERS 281 the Lutheran ordinat.ion, t.hat is to say, to that form of service by '\vhich the clergy of the Lutheran confession of fait.h are instituteù to their office. Their service of ordination fully satisfies all the requirements of the visible side of the Orthodox Sacrament of Orders. The whole assembly of those who are performing the ordination lay their hands on the head of hiIn who is t.o be instituted, and together '\vith this the presiding l' superintendent" pronounces the appointed prayer. l Accord- ingly the instit.ution is accomplished by means of the imposition of hands, joined '\vith prayer. The prayer in itself includes all those elements, which, from the Orthodox point of vie'\v are necessary for the accomplishment [of the Sacrament]. It usually begins with an address of supplication to the Lorù God: it makes a clear indication as to who it is that is being instituted: it makes mention of the fact that he is being called to be a minister of the \V ord and Preacher of the Gospel, and finally prays of God that He would" endue him with the gifts of the Spirit," and '\vould "coll1nlunicate to hin1 all the qua]i- fications required for a fruitful fulfilment of so important a service," and '\vould "abundantly besto'\v upon him the Holy Spirit ".2 The visible side of Lutheran ordinations, accord- ingly, is entirely sufficient, and does not give rise to any doubts. \Vhy, then, is it that, in spite of all this, neither the Orthodox Eastern Church nor the Roman Catholic Church ac- knowledges, or ever has ackno'\vledged, the Lutheran super- intendents and pastors to be possessed of any hierarchial significance? Just because Lutheranism has preserved nothing but the external [side] of ordination, and has completely changed its inward signification. It has rejected the hierarchy in the sense of its being a body of men invested by God with special Divinely-besto'\ved powers, has excluded X tpoTovía {Orders) from the number of the acraments, recognising in it 1 Daniel. Codex liturgicus eccle::;iæ uniyersæ in epitomen redactus. Tom. ii. Codex liturgicus ecclesiæ lutheranæ. Cap. ix. De ordinatione et investitura, pp. 5:21, 5:29, 534, 539, 549, 551. Lipsiæ, 184:8. Here are collected seven forms of Ordination of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and nineteenth .centuries. 2 Ibid., pp. 521, 529, 532-33, 540-4:2,543, 551. 282 BIRI{BECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH only a mere rite, while its spiritual pastors it regards merely as persons elected to perionn certain official duties, but not as possessing any rights given them from above, or Divinely- bestowed qualifications, such as in their very essence would raise them above the rest of the faithful. It is self-evident that under conditions such as the'Se, no matter how satisfactory the order of the Lutheran ordination services may be, there remains in them nothing but the external form, without its essential inward meaning. But a form without contents cannot, of course, have the requisite value. " It pleased the Lord God, for the Sanctification of men, and in order to render their salvation possible, to besto,v upon them certain means of grace, and at the same time to appoint the mode of their employment. It depends, of course, upon Inen themselves whether they will make use or not of these means which God has appointed. Grace is the gift of God, and like every gift, it may either be accepted or rejected. The man who accepts this gift may also enjoy its blessed fruits, but for the man who rejects it its fruits also are unattainable. So it ever was and still is with the Divinely-instituted lEpapxía (hiera.rchy) and Sacraments. Not all of those who believe in Christ the Saviour acknowledge the necessity and the grace-containing significance of the hierarchy; neither do all assign the signi- ficance of a Sacrarnent to the sacred laying-on of hand . It is self-evident that in not accepting this gift they deprive them- selves of its fruits. In this sense the idea that a Sacrament takes place by the faith of the Church is perfectly correct. l 1" Khomiakoff," vol. iL, 134. The following is KhomiakofI's passage: " Mais aussi l'Eglise ne s'est jamais demandée quels sont les rapports du corps de notre Seigneur et des éléments terrestres de 1 'Eucharistie; car elle sait que l'action divine dans les sacrements ne s'arrête pas aux éléments, mais en fait des intermédiaires entre Ie Christ et son Eglise, dont la foi (je parle de toute l'Eglise et non des individus) fait la réalité du sacrement. Evidemment c'est ce que ni les romains ni les protestants ne peuvent plus comprendre, car ils ont perdu l'idée de la totalité de l'Eglise, et ne voient plus que les individus qui, disséminés ou agglomérés, n'en restent pas moins isolés. De là viennent leur erreur et leurs doutes, et les exigences scolastiques de leurs catéchismes. De là vient aussi qu'ils ont rejeté la prière, par laquelle l'Eglise a, dès les. I. .ANGLICA.N ORDERS 283 The hierarchy can only be grace-[ conferring], vlhere not only the ritual 2 externals of the laying-on of hands are observed, but together with these the faith in its sacramental grace- giving significance is preserved. In the present case what we have to undertake in this investigation is to Inake it clear whether the Anglican Church has this belief or not. " Whatever may be said about the Thirty-nine Articles of Faith (sic 3) they still remain up to now an exposition of faith recognised by the Anglican Church; their authority, resting upon the rlecrees both of Convocation and of Parliament, has unquestioned legal force, and agreement \vith them is of ob- ligation required of everybody who enters the ministry of the Anglican Church. The very same Conference.( which appar- ently to a certain extent minimised the significance of the Thirty-nine Articles, in not requiring obligatory agreen1ent with theln as a condition of union with the Anglican Church, at the same time confirmed their authority, placing them in the same line with the Book of Common Prayer, the Catechism, and the Ordinal, as one of those formulæ, ,vhich collectively serve as the expression of the Church's teaching. So long as the Articles of Faith (sic) occupy such a position, so long as the Anglican Church ha not g-ot rid of or altered them, the investigators of her teaching must of necessity have to reckon w{th them; and we in particular are obliged to pay special attention to what is said in thenl in one way or another upon the subject of the Sacrament of Orders. But although we do premiers siècles, consacré les éléments terrestres, pour qu'ils devienment corps et sang du Sauveur." 1 1 [Footnote to sanle.] De là vient que Bunsen et toute l'école à laquelle il appartient ne parviennent pas, malgré leur scjence, à comprendre leB a,:p.ciennes liturgies. Les Anglicans se doutent de la verité et ne peuvent ce- pendant pas la saisir, parcequ'au fond Hs ne parviennent pas à être quelque chose eux mêmes. N.B.-In the Russian version this passage is: The Anglicans go round a.bout the truth, and cannot seize it, because they arc in general unable to define themselves in an ecclesiastical sense.-[W. J. B.] 2" Ritual" is here used in its technical sense, including" form )# as well as" matter"; not in the mere sense of" ceremonial ".-[\V. J. B.] 3 See Birkbe k's comment on page 279.-[A.R.] Lam beth Conference, 1888. 284 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH not consider that we have the right to minimise the importance of the Thirty-nine Articles, we are at the same time in com- plete agreelnent ,vith the idea that the expositions of faith of one and the same Church Inust necessarily be eXplained by putting thell1 together, in order that, if any sort of disagree- nlent appears between them, by means of such a comparison it may be eXplained and got rid of. And to "\tvhat result does such a putting together of the Book of COIDlTIOn Prayer and the Articles of Faith lead with regard to the question in which we are interested? The first of these expositions of faith assigns, as we know, to Orders all the marks of a Sacrameut, but the second decisively declares that the Sacraments are two in number, and contains no sort of reference to Orders as a Sacrament. .They tell us that the Twenty-fifth Article must be understood through the guidance of the teaching which is to be found in the Ordinal. But why are ,ve to give preference in this case to that particular idea of the teaching concerning Orders which is sho,vn in the Ordinal? \Ve have no decisive grounds ,vhatever for doing so. On the contrary, we remem- ber certain facts in the religious history of England that oc- curred very lately, and "\tvhich involuntarily give us reason for a certain amount of reflection. The Conference of 1888,1 as ,ve have already seen, nlinimises to a certain extent the import- ance of the Thirty-nine Articles, but, nevertheless, with re- spect to the Sacrarnents it openly endorses their teaching. In .one of its resolutions, for example, it enumerates those points which, in its opinion, must form an indispensable ground of ecclesiastical union. An10ngst these points we come upon the following: "1'he two Sacraments instituted by Christ Himself -Baptism and the Lord's Supper-which are accolnplished by the unchangeable use of Christ's efficacious words and the ele- ments ordained by Him ". Of any other Sacrament not a word is said. This resolution is exactly reproduced in the Encycli- calletter issued in the name of the Conference. 2 The question 1 I.e. the Lambeth Conference of that year.-[A.R.] 2 Ibid., p. 386. The point stated is thus: ., Sacramanta duo a Christo ipso instituta-Baptisma scilicet et cenaln Domini-dun1modo Christi verba. in .ANGLICAN ORDERS 285 involuntarily arises: 'Vhy did the Conference, in repeating the teaching of the Articles about t\yO Sacraments, not consider it necessary to make some sort of addition such as \vould give some ground for thinking that one IHust understand and de- velop this teaching under the guidance of the Ordinal and of the Book of Comlllon Prayer in general? The late reply of the Anglican Archbishops to the Bun of Leo XIII, \vritten, according to its ow'n declaration, \vith the purpose" to lnake it plain for all time \vhat is our doctrine with regard to Holy Orders and the other 111atters connected w,ith this subject," 1 ought also, as it seems to us, to have given a final explanation with regard to this question. Ho\vever, it did not. " The Pope," says the Archbishops' reply, "maintains that the Sacrament of Orders is denied and subverted by us." In respect to such a directly stated accusation, we might have expected an equally direct declaration that the Anglican Church does not reject the significance of Orders as a Sacra- ment. But any such declaration we do not find in this docu- D1ent, and the Primates of England do not once, in the name of their Church, speak of Orders as a Sacrarnent. Even the Book of COlnmon Prayer itself, \vhere the laying-on of hands is delineated with all the lllarks of a Sacran1ent, calls the ritf?- only" ordering" and "consecration," and never once gives it. the appellation of a Sacralnent. Such silences un\villingly cause one to think that they have a specialllleaning, \vhen \ve remember the clear declaration of t.he T,,"'enty-fifth Article that there are two Sacrarnents. "The question," we are told, "is not as to whether we call Ordinat.ion a Sacrament (this is in its essence a question of words), but whether the Anglican Church understands under the laying-on of hands the same thing as the Ron1an Church understands under the Sacran1ent, and to such a queHtion the ans,ver must \vithout doubt be in the affirrnative." 2 It is <]uite true that it is really a question of \vords; but in the difficulty of deciding it, and in the eS- prima institutione usurpata, et elementa quibus ipse usus est semper usur- pentur ". 1 Responsio, p. 8. 2 Lacey, Ch'lI1'ch Review, No. 1830, p. 726. 286 BIRKBECI( AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH sential necessity of receiving an indubitable conviction of the .soundness of this decision, one must inevitably have recourse to words, as the only available means we have in the present ease of arriving with certainty at establishing the true sense of the question we have to investigate. Directly that we see on the one side the clear declaration in the Article that there are two Sacraments, and on the other side we meet with a per- sistent avoiding of the use of the word "Sacrament" in rela- tion to Orders, the question naturally arises as to whether we have the right to explain the Twenty-fifth Article of Faith (sic) in that sense in which Orders are represented in the Ordinal? It may be that we ought to lead our interpretations in an exactly opposite direction-that is to say, to explain the Order of Ordination and Consecration under the guidance of the teaching of there being two Sacraments as laid down in this Article of Faith (sic). In this case we should, of course, have to cOlne to the conclusion that the Anglican Church recog- nises only two Sacraments, and that the Order of Ordination and Consecration is nothing but a rite, although possessing in what it contains a very great deal that is analogous to the order of perforlning- the Sacran1ents. This analogy, in our opinion, has not in itself any decisively convincing significance. We can point to a rite in the Orthodox Church which serves .as a sufficient confirmation of the idea we have expressed- namely, the Office of the "Great Hallowing of Water on the Feast of the Theophany ". In the contents of this rite, if ,ve wish to, we may find all the marks of a Sacrament. The bles- sing of the water is here placed in direct connection with the sanctification of the waters of Jordan by the Lord Himself at His Baptism, and in the prayer pronounced silently by the priest mention is made eveD of the "Divine promise" united with water. The visible side consists of the matter of blessed water and the caning down in prayer of the grace of the Holy Ghost upon it, which is expressed with special elnphasis by the priest: " Do Thou Thyself, then, 0 King that lovest mankind, come now also by the infusion of Thy Holy Spirit, and sanctify this water": "Do Thou Thyself now also, 0 Lord, sanctify ANGLICAN ORDERS 87 this \vater by Thy Holy Spirit". A.nd lastly, mention is fre- quently made in this office of the saying and grace-giving action of the blessed water upon all \vho make use of it. And yet, in spite of all these appearances, we do not reckon the Great Hallo\ving of the Water to be a Sacrament, for the Or- thodox Church clearly states: " \Ve believe that in the Church there are Sacraments of the Gospel, seven in number. Neither less nor more than thi number of Sacraments have we in the Church." 1 " They are as follo\vs: Baptism, Chrism, the Euchari t, Penance, Orders, honourable larriage, and Unction of the Sick." 2 \Vhatever marks of a Sacran1ent the office of the Great Hallo\ving of the Water n1ay contain, so soon as the Church says that there are seven Sacran1ents, and clearly enumerates theIn, we have an indubitable assurance that it is not a Sacrament, but only a sin1ple rite. But who can assure U'3 that the Anglican Order of Ordination and Consecration is not only a rite, although it has the appearance of a Sacrament? Inward marks alone, included in the contents of the Office of Ordination, in the present case, ,ve do not consider it posssible to recognise as sufficient. The question is one of such impor- tance, that, in our opinion, it is in1possible to ground its solution exclusively upon the results of a scientific analysis of the Order of Consecration and Ordination. Some such guarantee as would have an entirely incontrovertible character is indispensable. .A.ccording to the belief of the Orthodox Church" Sacraments are instrun1ents ,vhich necessarily act by grace upon those who COlne to them ".3 In this unfailing action of Divine grace is included the great pre-eminence of the Sacraments and their essential distinction from rites in which, although the grace of God be invoked with prayer, there nevertheless i no certain assurance that it actually is con1municated. 4 Hence the great importance will be understood of the solution of the question as to \yhether the AnO'lican Office of Ordination and Consecra- o 1 Letter of the Patriarchs. Art. xv. 2 Orthodox Confession, Answer to Question 98. 3 Letter of the Patriarchs. Art. xv. 1\facarius, iv., 93; V., 46, 48-49. Justin, ii., 333. 4 Ignatius, on the Sacraments, p. 3S, 39 [and four other Russian authors]. 288 BIRKBECI( AXD THE RUSSIAN CHURCH tion is a S crament, or only a rite. The question evidently comes to this: Is Divine grace undoubtedly comlnunicated to those persons ,vho receive the laying-on of hands according to the Anglican Order of Consecration and Ordination, or not? Consequently it ,vill not be possible to speak of the grace- giving significance of the hierarchy in the Anglican Church, until it shall be established beyond all doubt that she ackno\v- ledges the laying-on of hands to be a Sacranlent. It is self- evident that, ill order to be assured of this, those sOlne,vhat precarious scientitìc deductions ,vhich nlay be extracted fronl an investigation into the .A.nglican Office of Ordination and Consecration are insufficient. It is indispensable, ,ve repeat, that there shoulJ be SOl1le ::-;uch guarantee as ,,"'ould have an en- tirely incontrovertible character. But ,vhere can we find such a guarantee? Only, it seems to us, in the voice of the Angli- can Church herself. Her belief is in question-it is asked ,vhether she ackno\vledges Orders to be a Sacralnent or only a rite. And who is there, except it be she herself, that can testify ,vith regard to her o,vu belief? In her expositions of faith which exist do,vn to the present there is, as ,ve have seen, SOllle \vant of correspondence, and in general her teaching upon this subject is set forth so ullclearly that fron1 an Ortho- dox point of vie,v it leaves rOOln for doubt. If the Anglican Church wishes to relnove this doubt \ve ,vould a:-;k her to bring her expositions of belief into complete agreelnent ,vith one another, and to explain her teaching ,vith regard to Orders, and the Sacraments in general. " It is not, of course, for us to indicate to her the ,yay to do this, but it seems to us that it is clear to e\ erybody \vho is acquainted with the contelnpOraJ y circumstances of Anglican Church life. Thirty years ago the proyincial Church Council in Canada conceived the iJea that for the benefit of the Anglican Church it ,vould be extrenlely useful lor the representatives of her various branches, scattered in all parts of the world, to Ineet together some time for the Inaintenance of brotherly unity and for the collective discussion of any general Church question "7"hich Inight arise. This idea, placed before the Prin1ate of .A.XGLIC.AX Ol DERS 89 England, ...\rchbishop Longley, received the approval of the Convocation of Canterbury, and quickly was carried out. At the invitation of the .Archbishop of Canterbury, seventy-six BiHhop of Eng'land, Scotland, Ireland, AlTIerica, Australia, N e\v Zealand, and the various other Colonies assembled at the Archbishop's Palace at Lambeth, anrl thus the first Lambeth Conference ,vas opened ill September, 1867, that is to say, the first conll110n assembly in Council of the Bishops of the Anglican Church. SOlne ten years later, in 1R78, under Archbishop Tait, once more at the initiative of the Province of Canada, the 8econd Lalnbeth Conference took place, \vhich over a hundred Bishops attended. Froln that time it became a regular custOlll that this Pan-Anglican Council should Ineet every ten years, and the Conference of 1878 itself appointed the next COll- ference to 111eet in 1888. Agreeably \vith this, the third Con- ference took place in J uly, 1 88, under Archbishop Benson, in \vhich as many as 145 Bishops took part. Gradually, in the deliberations of these assen1blies such an order was developed that progralllllles of questions \vere dra\vn up beforehand, and then these questions ,vere submitted to the treatInent of special COllunittees fOl'lned out of the Bishops attending the Con- ference, after \vhich the reports of the COlnn1ittees ,vere sub.... Initted to the judgment of general meetings of the Conference,.. ,vhich deliyered its decisions upon theu}. Finally, the results, of the deliberations "ere issued in the form of an encyclical letter addressed to all the faithful. The t,vo first Conferences, evidently not as yet fully confident in their success, tried to act ,vith all possible guardedness, confining t.hemselves ent.irely to questions of Church practice, and purposely not touching upon, lloctrinal sUQjects, But the Conference of 1888, it appearH,. already so fully realise(l the strength of it position and it established authority, that it boldly concerned itself with qUeH- tions of the Church's teaching, laying down decisions upon it& sources, upon fonns of exposition of the faith, upon the Sacra- Inents, etc. Everyone ,yill certainly say that these no\"\"" firmly established and properly sununonecl Pan-Anglican CouncilR lnay ,vith perfect right be called the representatives of their lÇ) 2üü BIRI{BECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH Church and con1petent exponents of her vie\vs. Bishops from all ends of the world assemble at them as witnesses of the faith of the Church cOilllnitted to their charge, and therefore the decrees of the Lambeth Conference, may, in our opinion, with sufficient ground be acknowledged as the voice of the whole Anglican Church. "At the present tiine the day is approaching for the meeting of the Fourth Lambeth Conference, which has been summoned in July of the present year 1897. If the examples of the pre- vious Conferences show that with every ten years the number of its melnbers increase more and lllore, we Inay conclude that the present Pan-Anglican Council will in numbers and solen1- nity far exceed its predecessors. The time of its assembly co- incides with notable jubilee festivities, both of the Ang]ican -Church and of the British Ionarchy. The Church will cele- ibrate the Jubilee of the 1300th year of the arrival in England -of St. Augustine with his missionaries, the conversion to Chris- tianity of the Kentish King, Ethelbert, with his I(ingdom, and the foundation of the See of Canterbury; while the British Monarchy is celebrating the completion of the sixtieth year of the reign of its venerated Queen. These solen1nities will without doubt, show their influence upon the present Confer- ence, and will give it special brilliancy and Ì1nportance. It is just this Conference \vhich, as it seelns to us, lnight turn its attention specially to the explanation of the teaching of the Anglican Church as regards the Sacraments in general and Orders in particular. Its competent voice is capable of re- moving that doubt which troubles the Orthodox people of the East. Anglican divines assure us that their Church, in setting forth its teaching about two Sacran1ents, has only in view to express the idea that these Sacraments have a pre-eminent importance and a visible sign instituted by Christ the Saviour Hilnself; but that, together with these, she has always ac- knowledged, and still acknowledges, that the relnaining five are also Sacraments, which, although they have less ilnpor- tance, also necessarily con1municate Divine grace. If this as- surance of theirs corresponds with the real fc1cts, the Anglican ANGLIC...-\N ORDERS 291 Church, at her Council, has the full possibility, if, of course, she wishes to do so, to declare that she always has believed, and still does believe so, and that she confesses it in the hear- ing- of all. By such a decJaration that which from the Ortho- dox point of view is by far the principal hindrance to the recognition of the validity of the Anglican hierarchy would be removed; and, in our opinion, as we shall show later on, this hindrance lnay really be acknowledged to be the only one which exists. Y.. SOKOLOFF." CH.A.PTER XXIV. RUSSIAN ICONS AND THEIR USE IN THE RUSSIA ORTHODOX CHURCH.l IF there is one feature n10re than another by,vhich ,ve English- men, by the common consent of friend and foe, are distinguished froIn other nations of Europe, I think it may be safely said, that ,ve as a nation are the nation par excellence of travellers. FroIH one cause or another, there are fe,v Englishmen belonging to the educated classes, ,vho if time and circuillstances permit, do not spend a certain portion of every year a,vay from the in1mediate surroundings of their daily life. l\loreoyer, ,ve are possessed of another peculiarity, that, Inore distinctly than any other nation ,vhich possesses a history of its o,vn, we like to take our annual holiday abroad. Indeed, to us Englishrnel1, the ,vord ,. abroad" has COine to have a meaning all its own. There is, I believe, no exact equivalent in any foreign language ,vhich, ,vhile reproducing its literal Ineaning, at the same tin1e expres anlongst the country villages; one in the flat country south of Lemberg, the other t"ro anlongst the villages in the Car- pathians ,vest of Lenl berg, inhabited by that part of the Ruthenian population ,vhich is known as the "Lemki," a naIne derived fro III a peculiarity in their local dialect, in \yhich the ,yord le'Jn is uRed in place of the ordinary Russian ,vorJ lishj (" only"). 312 BIRI{BECK AND rilHE RUSSIAK CHURCH The objective of IUY first expedition in these parts ,vas the village of Grab. l\Iy reason for selecting it ,vas that, ,vhile it ,vas one of the cases of persecution mentioned in Count Bobrillsky's letter to The T'imes, I had heard that his Polish opponents were making luuch of the fact that he had never hinlself personally visited this part of Galicia, and were say- ing- that he had l11erely repeated the statements of "political agents" on hearsay. An acquaintance, whon1 I had made in Lelnberg, accompanied me, who, although he had not lately been in those parts, had passed his childhood and youth there, ha ving been the son of a U niate priest in a neighbouring village. He therefore knew the country well; and, indeed, without some such assistance, it would have been impossible, travelling in a teliéga (or four-,yheeled peasant's waggon) to find one'f} way about the rough 111ountain-roads from village to village. "he result of my in vestigatioll was that I found out that what Count Bobrinsky had written to The Tirnes ,vas the truth .indeed, but not the half of it. 1\Iatters have moved since he ,vrote, and five other villages 1 had joined Grab in rejecting the Union and going over to the Orthodox Church. I talked to about forty peasants in Grab itself, and to about twenty in another village, and to several casual natives v{e met on the road as we pas:;ed through two other village:::;. There ,vas no difficulty in entering into conversation with any one wholn I nlet, any n10re than there is "Then travelling in the villages in Russia itbelf, 'v here the peasants no less than the gentlefolk al"rays receive a friendly foreigner with open arnlS. Even after dal'k- for it ,vas late in the evening before we reached IllY friend's old honu.:, where ,ve were to pass the night-as one passed through the villages, one heard the greeting " Sláva Iisúsu Khristlt " (Glory to Jesus Christ), which is the expression used by these peasants where we should say "Good day," or the Russians Zdrávstvyjtje (the Latin Salvete) ; 1 Their nalnes are (I give the names as I was told them, with the alter- native Polish spe ling in the maps): Vyshevatka (1Vyszo'lVadka) , Do]goe (Dlugie), Lipna Chernoe (Czarne) , and Nezaevo (l\'ieznamva). I visited three of these vilJages, and talked with the peasants in them. A VISIT TO G.ALICI SIR and directly one had replied ,vith the custon1ary "SlÚva i nýnje i vo vj(fki" (Glory, both no'v and for e\'er) they ,vere ready to talk to us as if we had been old acquaintances. It would be Ï1npossiblc here to relate a tenth of the grievances ,vhich I heard. This I hope to do more at length elsewhere. FJ"'heir revolt began ,vith the attempts of a priest, 'v horn the Bishop had sent to Grab, and ,vho is a bitter Ukrainophil partisan, to introduce Latinising innovations which are not in their service books, and also to force a language upon thelTI ,vhich the Polish nlajority in the local Galician Parlianlent has made official, but which is not actually the language of any part of Galicia, and ,vhich alllongst the Lemki is actually unintelligible. Thi "language" is an aIllalgam of three Little RURsian dialects Rpoken in Galicia, as ,yell as of -other dialects spoken in V olhynia and Little Russia itself, ,vith a liberal admixture of Polish \vords and expressions. It is, in fact, an artificial jargon, a sort of local Esperanto; .and the Inain object both of its structure and of its ortho- graphy is to construct sonlething which shall be as dif- ferent as possible from ordinary literary Russian, in order that, by forcing this upon the children in the schools and in their religious instruction, the authorities may gradually render Russian literature inaccessible to theIll, and then, by means of books of devotion containing Latin prayers trans- lated into the new language, sever thenl frolll the Orthodox traditions hitherto preserved in their Church. The process involves the further result that it likew.ise cuts thelll off from being able to read or understand the old Slavonic in ,,"hich (a in Russia) their services are read. This policy of the Poles, of course, suits the Jesuits very ,veIl, as, if it ever succeeded, and the people could no longer understand ,,,,hat ,vas being read in church, it ,yould afford an excellent excuse for the substitution .of the Latin for the Slavonic language. But it is exasperating to the Ruthenian peasantry in Galicia, \vho both understand and love their church services, and where congregational .singing in the churches in the old Slavonic language is ,vell- nigh universal. In fact, the language grievance in these 314 BIRKBECK A D THE RUSSI.A. CHURCH villages loomed almost as large as the ritual grievance. I ,vas told by one man after another that the Ukrainophil priests talked a language in the pulpit and in the confessional which he could not understand; that they tried to separate children from their parents by teaching then1 to pray in it; and that the spelling which their boys were being taught in the schools prevented thern fron1 reading the epistle and the psalter at the services in church when their turn canle, as their fathers and forefathers had always done. A version of the Lord's Prayer in this new "language," ,,"l1Ïch is being forced on these children instead of the old Slavonic version to ,vhich they have al,vays been accustomed, has given particular offence. The Alnericanisn1 "\Vho," instead of ,,\\Thich art in heaven," ,vhich sOlne,vhat jars upon most Englishmen, finds its exact counterpart in the substitution of kotrij for izhe. But this is by no means all. Out of the fifty-three ,vords \vhich for nine centuries they have been accustonled to use in the Lord's Prayer, twenty-one have been changed, and in seventeen more, ,vhere the Slavonic text could not be altered, the spelling has been changed, so as to lnake the ,vords look different to the ,vording of their authorised service books; so that only fifteen ,vords in the ,vhole prayer remain untampered with. \Vhen the Lemki peasants sho,ved it to me, ,yhile I could see that this ne,v version contained several tasteless and vulgar colloquialisms, the terms "pagan" and "blasphe- mous," ,vhich they used of it, seerned to me somewhat over- strong. Not being myself an expert in the exact shades of meaning of the various local dialects, I some ,veeks after- wards sho,ved this yersion to a good scholar in Little Russian dialects at Thlosco\v, and specially pointed out to him the word nekhái, to ,vhich they had most objected, and which is substituted for the Slavonic optative particle, da, in each of the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer. He burst out laughing, and said: "\V ell, I don't ,yonder that they object there to nekhái bÙde 'vúlja Tvojá: if I \vere arguing with you in Little Russian, and lost my temper, and wished to say, , bother you, have your own ,yay,' those are the very ,vords I .A. VISIT TO GA.LICIA. 315 should u e". And this is the expression ","hich the Uniate children are being taught to use, instead of the familiar and (lignified words, w.hich all people of Slavonic race perfectly understand, da búdet vólja Tvojá for, "Thy ,viII be done". So far as the language ,vhich the peasants talk is con- cerned, I again found my experience to coincide ,vith Count Bobrin ky's account. 1\11'. Stepanko,vsky tells your readers that" there is no Russian language spoken there ". All I can say is that, although Russian is the only Slavonic language ,vhich I aIU able to speak, and the Old Slavonic, or Church language, the only other Slavonic language "hich I have seriously studied, I found that I could converse \\""ithout much difficulty with these peasants both in this 'Yest Carpathian part of Galicia and also in the neighbourhood of Lenlberg, ,vhere another local dialect is spoken by the COll1ll10n people. rrhose two dialects differ fronl one another just about as 11luch as do the local dialects of K orfolk and Yorkshire; and they both differ from ordinary literary Russian as spoken in l\Ics- cow just about as luuch, and as little, as the Norfolk and Yorkshire dialectR differ fronl ordinary literary English. The difficulties ,yhich I found in conversing ,,""ith them ,,"ere just of the sanle kind and extent ,vhich I have noticed foreigners, ,vith a fair kno,vledge of English, ,, ho have tayed ,vith me in Norfolk for hooting or other purposes, to find in convers- ing ,vith a :Norfolk ganlekeeper or gardener. They at once- understood everything I said; in all the conversations I had ,, ith theln I was never once asked to repeat a sentence, and every question I asked ,vas ans"ered to the point. \Yhile I, for lny part, often had to ask them to repeat a sentence, and still more often had to ask them to speak slo,vly and quietly and one at a tÏ1ne, I seldom had nluch difficulty in n1aking out their nleaning. As is the case ,,,,ith Engli h as it is spoken with us here in :x orfolk, so also there, in many words the vowels are pronounced more or less differentl y to the ordinary Russian pronunciation, and occasionaUy ,yords, not used in ordinary Russian, turned up, ,yhich I had to ask ll1Y friend to explain to ll1e. Talking on religious luatters ,vas conlpara- 31G BIRKBJ1:CI( AKD THE RUSSIAN CHURCH tively easy, as their ecclesiastical terlninology is largely shaped from their service books ,vritten in the Old Slavonic. I saw and talked ,vith some forty peasants in the village of Grab alone. The cause of all the trouble there has been a priest, Kislévsky, who has been forced upon theIn, and who is a violent Latiniser, and bitter Ukrainophil politician. I heard their cOlnplaints against his conduct, in and out of church, ,vhich were both varied and nUlnerous. I cannot now go into them all. The two last straws Seell1 to have been, first, that in 1910 he had arbitrarily cut the word "Orthodox" out of the prayer at the Gre:1t Entrance in the Liturgy: "l\Iay the Lord God remelnber all of you Orthodox Christians in His l{ingdoln," although it is printed in the service books ,vhich by the written law of his Church he is bound to use at the altar; and, secondly, that he had refused to register his people in thß parish list as Russians. " \Ve were always Russians and Orthodox, and so were our fathers and forefathers before us; ,ve kno,v no\v that Ukrainisll1 is a bridge to lllake Poles of us, and that the Unia is a trap to turn us into Papists (Katoliki) : we have left the Unia for ever, and they may fine us and rob us of our cattle, or even hang us and cut us up, but we ,vill llever go back to it." rrhey had invited an Orthodox priest, Sandóvich, a nátive of the village of Zhdynia, twelve versts away, to come and n1Ïnister to them, giving him a house and SOlne land, and thelnselves providing: for his Inaintenance. The local authorities, in spite of the Austrian constitution pro- viding for p3rfect religious liberty, had refused them permis- sion to build a church. The services, held in a private rOOln, had been constantly interfered with by the gendarrnes, who, .after having brought Father San(tóvich into court, and having got him fined on various occêtsions, had on Easter Day last surrounded the house ,vhile he was celebrating the Holy COlnmunion and arrested hÏ1n iU1111ediately afterwards (w.e were then in the r00111 in a peasant's cottage where this had taken place), and he ,vas thro\yn into prison at Leulberg, and has relnained there ever since. I told the peasants that the reason that I had come to see theln ,vas because I wished to A. VIt;IT rro G.ALICIA. 317 kno\v the truth of ,vhat had been written about thelll in the En lish papers, and that I particularly ,vished to know ,vhether ,vhat Prince Sapiéha had ,vritten ,vas true, viz.: that Russian propagandists had been aI110ng them, and ha( 1 been paying then1 from 50 to 100 roubles a head to change their religion. The effect of this question \vas intlescribable. The Inen clenched their fists, the ,vomen burst into tears. " It's a lie," they said. " No Olle fron1 independent Russia (de'ì zh(ívnoi Rusi) has ever been here, nor did we ever see a single rouble in our lives. \Ve get no 1110ney for being Orthodox: the Poles take our 1110ney, and our cattle, and our goods, and the gendarmes tell UH that they will go on doing so until ,ve- go back to the U niate Church. But ,ve \vill starve to ùeath first." The question \vill naturally suggest itself to Eng1ish readers, How such a state of things can be possible in a country like Austria, ,vhose Constitution provides for COll1- plete freedoIl1 of conscience for all her subjects? I llo not ,yish to luix English politics up in this n1atter, but it is ÍInpossible not to ask Englishn1en to take ,yarning fron1 \vhat is now going on in Galicia. In the 111jddle of the last century Galicia ,vas granted by the Austrian Governn1ent a fornl of Honle Rule almost exactly like the project ,yhich is at present before the House of Comn10ns. N O\V, in the Galici"111 Parlia- ment, or Sej1n, the Polish party have a penuanellt and over- ,vhehning n1ajority; and, as the police and the \vhole adminis- tration is in their hands, they are able to ignore altogether the tolerant provisions of the Austrian Constitution. )loreoyer, as Galicia, out of the 120 l1leIl1bers ,vhich it bends to the Reichsr(tth at Vienna, contributeH a solid phalanx of 70 Polish Illembers, and they happen just to hold the balance or parties in that House, any Governn1ent ,vhich attelnpted redress ,vould instantly run thè risk of being thro\vn out of office. Under the la\y, leave has to be got in Galicia, aH else- \vhere in Austria, fronl the local authority, for anything of the nature of a public u1eeting. It is quite easy, under such con- ditions a I have described, to apply this la,y to religious 318 BIRI\:BECK AXD 'rHE RUSSIAN CHURCH gathering for \vorship, even \vhen held in private houses, and, Dn the pretence of their being illegal 11leetings, to inflict fines or Î1nprisollment on those who attend them, when, as in the 'case at Grab, there are six Polish gendarlnes at the disposal of the priest J(islévsky to bring the peasants up before the Courts in the district to\vn of Zmigrod and the county town of J aslo, the personnel of these Courts being' likewise at the disposition .of the Polish 11lasters of the situation. Iore than sixty fines. have been in1posed on the peasants of Grab on this ground alone. Besides this, the Orthodox peasants are fined on all sorts of other pretexts, and ,vhen they point out that those ,vho relnain in the Uniate Church are riot subjected to the .same penalties, the gendarmes tell thenI quite frankly t.hat t.hey had better return to the obedience of Kislévsky. One wonlan t.old me that she had been fined 50 crowns for allo\v- ing thistles to gro,v in her field, and I found aft.erwards that this ,yas a fa vourite ,yay of putting the scre,v upon the Orthodox in that neighbourhood. Altogether, on one pretext or another, 400 of the Orthodox peasantry have been mulcted in the last eighteen months of sun1S ranging fron1 50 to 400 cro,vns; that is to say, from 2 2s. 6d. to 18, sunIS which are a serious lllatter for such very poor people. As Count Bob- rinsky wrote in The TiroÆs of the people in the viHage of Telige, so also in the village of Grab, many of them have had to sell their goods and cattle and even clothes (thick coats for winter ,veal') to meet these inIposts. The peasant Silvester Pavelchak, ,vhose house ,vas one of those that I visited, had gone that very day to Zn1Ïgrod to sell his only cow to pay a fine of 50 cro\Yns, which he, and eleven other peasants as well, had incurred for holding (according to their custom) lighted tapers in their hands at a service in his house on the eve of St. Kicholas Day last Decelnber. The Court at Zn1Ïgrod had con- demned thenI on the pretext of there being a danger of setting the village on fire. The peasants had appealed in the County Court at Jaslo, and the Je,yish la,vyer, whom they had en1- ployed to defend them. had pointed out that in every Jewish ,cottage in Galicia Sabbath candles are ,veekly burnt \vithout .A. ,or ISIT TO G A-\.LICIA 319 any interference. But all in vain: the decision was upheld, and no\v Silvester had to sell his co,v to pay the fine and the costs. Their houses are searched by the police for Russian literature, and anything ,vritten in Russian, ho\vever renlotely removed frolll religion or politics. is confiscated. One luan told 111e that the gendarmes hall taken fron1 hiln some poenlS by Pushkin, another, Taras Bulbct, by Gogol; another, a popular tract in Russian upon the cultivation of small hold- ings. It is not surprising that indignation is spreading, and that the five other villages already luentioned in the neigh- bourhood have left the Unia, and have declared themselves Orthodox. And the sallIe thing is going on all over the .country. Two days later I attended an out-of-door meeting in another part of the Carpathians, ROlHe t\venty n1Íles to the East of Grab, in \vhich 1\11'. ICurilóvich, melnber of the Aus- trian Re'ichsrath for that district, and other :speakers spoke very plainly upon the subject to an enthusiastic audience of near upon a thousand peasants. This gave me the oppor- tunity, before and after the Ineeting, of a good deal of COll- \J"ersation with peasants frolll another set of villages to those ,vhich I had already visited. The stories they had to tell ,"vere 111uch the same. Sonle fifteen of theln had been in America as en1igrants, and could talk English. A fine young Inan, over six feet in height, and ,,"'ith long yello\,y moustache and blue eyes, ,vho had been lllining in Pennsylvania, told me that he had come back to help his father on his farm, hut that, on his father's death, he intended to return to America, as it ,vas a country ,yhere he ,vas allo,ved to practiðe his Q"\vn religion, and ,vhere he could read and teach his children his own language ,vithout interference by the police. In Aillerica, over 40,000 of the Galician en1igrapts bave left the Unia and joined the Orthodox con1n1unity undèr the Russian .L-\.rchbishop who resides in K e'\ l ork. I "ronder ,vhether Prince 8apiéha ,vould maintain that a Russian political propaganda, and sunl .of 50 and 100 roubles, are aU-po\verful in the U llited States? If he were to do so, I think that lllost El1glisllluen would '3mile. One man, \vith 'VhOlll I spoke, had been in Canada, 8 O BIRKBI CK ...\XD TH}1 RUSSIA_N CHURCH and he said: "'Yhy does not our Government treat us as the English Government treats the French out there? " This leads nle to Iny last point. The French in Canada are SOllle of the nlost faithful of the subjects of the British CrO\Vll; but it is rlifficult to believe that thf'Y would long remain so, supposing that the Canadian Government ,vere to attempt to Anglicanise their church seryices, to force upon their chools, instead of French, a jargon COll1posed of a Inixture of Provençal anll Italian dialects, or were to send the police to search their houses and confiscate volumes of l\lolière, Racine, and Corneille. And, supposing anything so impossible to occur, it is hard to believe, however much we at home are all agreed that our colonies are best left to manage their own atiairs, that the English Governluent would have nothing to say in the matter. Let the Austrian Government take the Inatter in hand, and put a stop to this abominable and co,vàrdly persecution before it is too late. The desire of the present Russian Governnlent to live at peace \vith Austria is ,yell kno,vn. But Russians have hearts, and ,yarnl hearts, too, and they feel on this subject just \vhat we should fee], were Englislunen in any part of the \vorlù being treated in such a \vay a these peasants all over Galicia are being treated. It is an odious calumny to accuse these poor people, just because the religion they \yish to practise happens, amongst other countrie , to be practised in Russia, of being" Russian agents " anà " }luscovite spies," and conspirators against the Austrian Government. During the tin1e I was in Galicia, although I heard plenty of plain speaking, both about the local adminis- tration .and about the Galician ecclesiastical authorities, I never heard a word of disrespect for the venerable Austrian Emperor. At the political n1eeting \vhich I attended he ,vas spoken of with perfect loyalty and devotion, and amongst the peasants in the villages 1110re than one assured me that, if " our Tzisar" kne,v what \vas going on, he would soon put matters right. They are proud of the day on which, soon after he ascended the throne in 1848, in the midst of the revolution which ,vas then raging throughout the Âustrian Empire, and in Vienna  VI IT fro G \LICIA 321 in particular, the Ruthellian guard ,vas on (luty at the Hof- burg, antI the ElllperOr :-\aid: "To-day I can sleep in peace, for my faithful Ruthenians are standing on guar(l in the Burg" ; and they often refer to this incident, and also to the fact that the Austrian GO\Ternnléllt it"elf at that tÎIue de:..;ignated the}n u the Tyrolese of the East," as being conspicuous, in contrast to the Polish an( 1 Hungarian rebels, for their loyalty. At Grab they tolllll1e, ;( 'Ye are the faithful children of our Enl- peror (viérnyi diiti 1 nashego T is{trja), we gladly give him recruits anù \yould die for hinl ". On the Ell1perOr's birthday, the choir in the church of the Stavropigia at Lelnberg sang at the end of the service a verse of the X ational Anthem in the loc 1.1 dialect to Haydn's \vell-kno,vn tune, the translation of ,vhich is as follo\ys: "God, be Thou protector to the l(aiser (Tzisarju), and to his llolnains ! A ruler, strong in the faith, Jnay he \vÜ;ely lead us! The crO\Vll of his ancestors ,ve ,viU defend against the foe. Closely ,vith the throne of the Haps- burgs the destiny of Austria is bound." It \vas heartily taken up by the co gregation, lllany of thelll kneeling or crossing themselves. I anl con,.inced that the story of Russian propa- ganda ,vith Russian roubles is pure nonsense. It is quite possible, though I do not kno,v it, that inllividual Russians Inay subscribe to SOllIe of the private institut.ions known as " burses," "".here provision is Inade for children who are at- tending schools in the towns to live in their o,vn Ruthenian surroundings instead of being turned into Pole:-; or Ukraino phils by the schoohnasters appointed by the local Goyern- ment: if I "yere a Russian, and had the opportunity, I nlyself should certainly au so. I can only say that, haying gone out to Galicia \yith every ,yish to take an unbiassed vie" of the question at issue bet\veen the three correspondents in The Times, I foull(l that Count Bobrinsky's letter contained the 1 I retain the correct Russian spelling. with English equivalents (ié and y) for the lettersjatj andjelý, although with the Lemki, as in some of the other Little Russian dialects they are both pronounced very much like i. On the other hand, the termination of the nom. plur. of the adjective with i iustead of the ordinary Russian ja is a genuine grammatical variant of the dialects lIt these districts. 1 322 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH truth, and, if not the whole, nor even half of the truth of all that I saw, at least nothing but the truth. l 1 This essay was written in 1913, a little more than a year before the Great War broke out. The fate of Galicia now (1917) hangs in the balance. As in the Balkans, the mixture of races and religions makes a settlement satisfactory to all parties almost impossible.-[A.R.] CHAPTER XXVI. THE CENTENARY OF BORODINO.1 THE Russians during the late summer have been celebrating the centenary of the deliverance of their country fronl Na- poleon's invasion in 1812. All such celebrations in Russia take a religious forlu. \Vhile ,ve Englishnlen comlllenlorate our victory over Napoleon by a bridge across the Thames in London, the Russians comnlenlorate theirs by a Church, the Cathedral of the Saviour in l\Ioscow, by far the nlost splendid ecclesiastical building which the nineteenth century produced. Every year, in every church in the Enlpire, there is a thanksgiving service, as it is described in the service books, ,. for the deliverance of the Russian Church and the Russian 1Ionarchy from the attack of the Gauls and the t,,"elve nations which accompanied thenl ". 'Vhich these twelve nations were I need not enumerate, but they included almost every State in Europe except the English and the Swedes. The nunlber "twelve" is arrived at by the stanlps or the initials of the various European monarchs on the guns which were left in the snow during the retreat of the great arnlY fronl l\Ioscow, and which 111ay no\v be seen, over 900 in nU1l1ber, piled up outside the Arsenal in the Kremlin of that city. I shall not attempt to describe the Napoleonic invasion of Russia in detail. Suf- fice it to say that there is a nlonument on the nliddle of the field of Borodino, \vith all inscription saying that here, out of an army of 110,000, 15,000 Russians were killed and 35,000 ,vere wounded in defence of their country, and that 1 This article appeared in The English ChU,TCh ReriRw, February, 1913.- [A. R.] (3 3) 324 BIRKB}JCK .AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH the enelny crossed the frontier with 550 000 n1en and recrossed it with 79,000. Borodino ,vas chosen as the spot on ,vhich the first part of the celebrations should take place, and a happier choice could hardly have been made. This battle was fought by the Russians about 100 miles west of Ioscow in order to save the ancient capital from falling into the hands of the enelny; and in so far as the French were left in possession of the field, and further efforts to save loscow "' ere afterwards abandoned, it is to be regarded as a French victory. But there was no rout of the Russian Army, ,vhich retired in perfect order; and it was only for strategical reasons that the fight was not renewed further east. It was a con1men10ration, therefore, of a practi- cally drawn battle in which French and Russian alike could take part; and, as a n1atter of fact, a French deputation came there for the dedication of a 1110nUnlent to their dead which the French nation had erected, and of which during the solemnities the Emperor of Russia himself performed the openIng ceremony. As I had the privilege of receiving a gracious invitation to these solen1nities, and, with the exception of the French de- putation, was, I believe, the only foreigner that took part in them, I think that son1e of your readers n1ay perhaps like an account of what took place. I arrived in the station of Boro- dino at eight o'clock in the morning of 25 4-ugust (O.S.), that is to say, the day before the anniversary of the battle. The first person I sa, v on the platform ,vas I. Sazonoff, I the Russian JHinister of Foreign Affairs, an old friend of 111ine, who had arrived a few minutes before me, and "rho pron1ptly invited me to stay with hin1, during the two days' festivities, in the train which had brought aU the linisters from St. Petersburg. This ,vas a great relief, as there was no accom- modation at Borodino beyond a few tents and te porary sheds. In fact, by far the greater number of the 3000 invited guests only arrived from Ioscow early in the morning of the day itself, and I had been told that, if I can1e on the day before, I 1 Appointed, in 1916, An1bassador to Great Britain.-[A.R.] BORODIKO 325 must be prepared for tne possibility of some discomfort. As it was, I was in clover; that is to say, in a conlfortable Russian railway sleeping compartment. At eleven o'clock the Emperor arrived. As he descended from the train he was met by the local authorities of the village of Borodino with the cllstolllary offerings of bread and salt. He then, with the EIllpress and their august daughters, ,valked up the platform, where we were all standing, to receive a sin1Ïlar offering from a deputation of the nobility of the neighbourhood, and to be- sto,va fe,v kindly ,vords upon the school children ,vho were assenlbled to greet them. After this the whole Imperial fanlily ,vent to perform their devotions at a large convent, "rhich was founded on the (Russian) left ,ving of the battle- field, by the widow of a general, ,vho had been killed in the battle, on the spot ,vhere he had fallen, and of "rhich she her- self became the first abbess. After an early lunch, my host and I proceeded in a Inotor on to t.he battle-field, and were sho,vn the principal points of interest. Unlike the field of Waterloo, ,vhere, in addition to the artificial mound surlllounted by the monulnentallion to commemorate the battle, the site has been considerably altered and spoilt by new roads and boundaries and fresh buildings, the field of Borodino remains exactly as it ,vas 100 years ago. As one surveys it from the lo,y natural hill in the centre, on ,vhich had been the Rajevski Redoubt, the centre of the Russian position, ,vhere the very thickest of the fight took place, one sees a beautiful undulating plain for about a mile in all directions, bounded on all sides by birch ani 1 fir forest. The sUlllmit of this hill, ,vith the monunlent to the battle, already Inentioned, in its nlidst, forllled the centre of all the ceremonial ,vhich took place in connection ,vith the celebration. \Ve gathered there at about two o'clock in the afternoon. The scene, on a faultless bright summer's day, ,vith just a slight breeze to mitigate the heat, was en- trancing. At the SUll1nlÏt of the hill had been erected the actual travelling tent which the Enlperor Alexander I had UBell during the call1paign. It ,vas open on three sides, and had been fitted up as a temporary chapel, containing the 326 BIRKBECK AND THE RUSSIAN CHURCH icons, or holy pictures of Christ, His lother and His Saints, which had accompanied the Emperor and some of his generals during the war. At the foot of this hill, drawn up in three sides of a square round it, were 16,000 troops of various kinds, consisting of a company from each of the regiments which had fought in the battle, as well as two battalions of the Se- menovski regiment of the Guards, which in the battle had been nearly annihilated (they lost 2600 men) in defence of the Rajevski Redoubt on the spot where we were standing. At about 2.30 the bells of the convent began to ring, and in a few minutes we saw from the hill the Imperial party ap- proaching in motors amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the thou- sands of peasants and pilgrilns \vho had assembled, not only from the neighbourhood, but from distant parts of the vast Empire, to take their part in this great national thanksgiving. When they arrived at the foot of the hill below us, the Emperor and the Grand Dukes mounted thei r horses, and the Em press with her august children entered State carriages and proceeded along the lines of the troops to inspect them. While this was going on inlmedia tely beneath us, and \ve were surveying the battle-field from our point of vant.age on the top of the hill, there came into view, at the spot where the road from Smol- ensk emerges from the forest on the far western side of the field, a wonderful religious procession. A 11 round me I heard the words, Vladýchitza prishlá: "Our Lady has arrived!" Immediately every head \vas bare, and people \vere crossing themsel ves; for the "Smolensk" icon, or sacred picture, of the Holy Virgin and Child had come into sight. I would say, with regard to the Eastern veneration of the holy pictures, \vhich so much puzzles and even shocks Englishmen when they see it for the first time (for as Bishop Creighton used to say, by superstition an Englishn1an means any act of religious worship which he is not himself in the habit of practising), that to the Eastern it means just as much, and no lTIOre, than when an Englishnlan takes off his hat on entering a Church. \Ve do not mean, \vhen we take off our hats on entering a church, that "the Almighty dwelleth in temples made by BORODIKO :=327 hands," but that the House uf God is a syn1bol of His invisible presence an10ngst us. Good old Sir Thonlas Bro\vne, of N 01"- ,vich, wrote that \vhen he saw a crucifix he could "dispense \vith his hat, but not with the thought or 111elllory of His Saviour"; so \vhen the Russian reverences or kisses the pictuI'e of the Holy Iother and her Divine Child, he n1eans that he believes that our Lord ,vas incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the 'Tirgin ltlary, and was made Ian; and this is the Russian's \yay of sho\ving his love, and worshipping God and adoring HiIn for it. This particular icon 1 had, 100 years ago, accompanied the troops În their retreat after Napoleon ha(l Rtormed Smol- ensk, and in the evening before the battle (as readers of Tolstoi's TVar ctnd Peace \vill relnelnber) the Russian General Kutuzoff had taken it round the troops to encourage them, and to remind them that they ,vere going to fight for their holy faith as wel1 as for their country. It was a beautiful sight as the icon, \vhich had been eight days on its journey, carrieù by the peasants from village to village, emerged fron1 the forest on the Smolensk road, and preceded by nun1erous silver gilt metal banners, blazing in the summer sun, and a large choir, and follo\ved by a host of clergy in gorgeous cloth of gold vestments and numerous monks and nuns, slowly wound its \vay across the plain towards \vhere ,ve \vere standing, and then through the cro\vds of people ,yho were attending the fes- tival. \Vhen it arrived at the foot of the hill, the Emperor left the troops, and, dis1l10unting from his horse, paid his de- yotions before the sacred picture, and then followed it up the hill to the chapel, formed, as I have already said, out of Alex- anJer I.'s travelling tent used in the campaign of 1812. A solemn ervice iU1mediately follo,ved for the ouls of Alexander I, for Kutuzofl: and for all who had fallen in defence of their -country, containing, amongst other things, the Kontaldon, 1 The" Smolensk :Mother of God," which is one of the three icons in Russia which are traditionally connected with the Evangelist. St. Luke, was brought from Constantinople, in the twelfth century by Anne, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine, when she married V sevolod, Prince of Chernigoff. It has several times played an important part in Russian histor}. 328 BII KBECJ( AKD THE RUSSIA} CHURCH " Give rest, 0 Christ, to Thy servant" \vith Thy saints," Rung to the same melody to which its tran lation is now frequently sung in St. Paul's Cathedral, St. George's, 'Villdsor, and Hlany other places in England; and the beautiful "Everla:-;ting memory," sung very softly three tÍInes over, everybody kneel- ing. The Emperor then took the SI1101ensk Virgin round all the troops, just as Kutuzoff had done on that very afternoon 100 year ago. Detachments froln each cOlllpany carried it in turn, the choir inging in front, and the Elnperor follo\ving ilnmediately behind on foot and bare-headed. The enthusiasnl and the enlotion produced were indescribable. I think that there were very few dry eyes anlongst those who ,vere present. The follo,ving lTIorning began ,vith a splendid celebration of the Liturgy in the convent church, at \vhich the l\Ietro- politan of l\Ioscow, assisted by five other Bishops, pontificated, the choir being the nlagnificent Synodal choir from l\losco,,'" containing eighty of the best voices in Russia. The Emperor and EIU press and the lnlperial fan1ily were present, and though there was not 1'00111 for lllore than about 200 of the guests, I was 1110st kindly provided ,vith a place. After the Liturgy, a procession ,vas formed, the choir and the clergy going first, then, immediately behind, the l\Ietropolitan, the Emperor and his four daughters follo,ving on foot, next the G-rand Dukes, and then all of us invited guests. The Elnpress ,vas driving in a carriage ,vith the Tzesarévitch, a dear bright little boy of eight year's old, \vhose late dangerous illness has called forth the sYll1pathy of all Englishlnel1. The procession proceeded at a slo,v pace for about a mile Lack to the Rajevski Redoubt; and there, when ,.,e arrived, the gre t thanksgiving service, already referred to, for the deliverance of the Russian Church and l\lonarchy 100 years ago took place. It "vQuld take too long to describe the ervice in detail, ,vhich ,vas ac- companied by all the splendid cerenlonial for ,yhich the Eastern Church is so famed; but I cannot help 111entioning the Scrip- tures which were read. It must be ren1embered that the invasion of Kapoleon was feLt to be sOll1ething lnuch more than a luere contest between BORODIKO 329 two rival nations. On crossing the frontier, Napoleon had issued a bOJnbastic proclan1ation to the Russian people, telling thenl that he had come to " deliver" theIn froln their hitherto .authoritie in Church and State; and, indeed, the deliberate desecration of the churches throughout the calnpaign brought hOlne to the Russian people, in a lnanner that nothing' else could have done, that the real issue at stake ,vas ,vhether the principles of the French Revolution or of the religion of the Incarnation should prevail. In view of this, and of the over- weening pride of the invader, and the awful catastrophe ,vhich befell him, what could be 1110re appropriate than the Old Testa- 111ent lection? (Is. xiv. 13-17, 24-28) :- "Thus saith the Lord unto the King of Babylon: thou hast said in thine heart, I ,vill ascend into heaven, I ,viII exalt In)'" throne above the Rtars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the uppermost parts of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the n10st High. Yet thou shalt be brought do,vll to hell, to the uttern10st parts of the pit. They that look upon thee shall narro,vly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, IH this the tHan that lnade the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdon1s; that made the world as a ,vilderness, and de- stroyed the cities thereof; that let not loose his prisoners to their hOlue? Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: Surely as I have thought, so shall it C01l1e to pass: and as I have purposed 80 shall it stand: that I "Till break the Assyrian in my land, and upon n1Y mountains I will tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart frolll off theIn, and his burden depart from off" their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the ,,-hole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon a l the nations. For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and ,vho shall di8al1nul it? and His hand is l'itretched out, and who shall turn it back? " This ,vas follo,ved by the Epistle (Heb. xi. 32-34; xii. 1, 2): "Brethren, time ,vould fail me to tell of Gideon, anù of Barak, and of Saillson, and of J ephthah, of David also and Samuel, and of the Prophct : who t1 rough faith subdued 330 BIRI{BECK AND THE RUSSIA.X CHURCH kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained proD1ises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of the fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the army of the aliens. Wherefore seeing \ve also are COIn passed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every ,,"eight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the- race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Then callle the Gospel, solenlnly read by the l\fetropolitan of l\loscow himself (l\Iatt. xxiv. 6-8, 21-22): "The Lord said unto His disciples: Y e shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise- against nation and kingdoD1 against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquake::, in divers places. AU these are the beginning of sorrows. For there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the ,vorld to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saveà: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." I have given these Scripture readings in fulJ, in order to show the character of Russian services on such an occasion. I have been privileged to assist at several other solemnities on great occasions in the national life of Russia, and the tone of then1 is always the san1e. There is nothing of the" l\lafeking " spirit about theIn; this would be quite a1ien from the spirit of the Russian people, and of their Orthodox Church, to ,,"hich they owe all that has made them the great nation that they are. The prayer ,y hich follo,,"ed the Gospel, recited by the Metropolitan, both he and everybody present on bended knee, brings this out, in such passages as: "Thou hast not dealt with us according to our iniquities, 0 Lord, neither hast thou rewarded us according to our sins," and" After having left us for a short time, of Thy great mercy didst have pity upon us, and having visited our trangressions with the rod, like as a father pitieth his children, so didst Thou have pity upon us. BOIlODINO 331 rl'hou didst look upon our grief, and upon the tribulation of the Imperial city [l\Ioscow], in the ,vhich from years of old they called upon Thy name, and upon our prayers," etc. The service was brought to an end by the Te De'urr , followed by (( Many years " for the Eluperor and all the Imperial Family, a short prayer, with the "Everlasting l\Iemory," for the souls of Alexander I and those "rho fen in the war in de- fence of their fatherland, and then a second "1tlany years" for the "Christ-loving soldiery of th victorious army of All the Russias ". Then followed a great review and march past of all the troops, after which the Elnperor entertained all the invited guests at lunch. The Borodino celebrations were brought to an end by the Emperor opening the monument erected by the French nation to conlmemorate their soldiers ,vhich had fallen in the battle. I hope that this account may give some idea of the im- mense hold which the Orthodox Eastern Church has upon the affections of the Russian people, and the power for good which it exercises upon the national life. CHAPTER XXVII. THE DOCTRINE OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH. BIRKBECK'S last article ,vas published in 1915 in Lectur.es on tlte Russian Church (S.P.C.K.). Though he repeats portions of previous papers, notablr the address of the Japanese Orthodox Church to the Ietropolitan of Kieff in 1888, setting forth the dif- ference bet,veen Romanisn1 and Protestantisln, it seelns best to print the lecture entire so as to pre- serve the continuity of his argunlent. ly subject is the" Doctrine of the Russian Church ". By this, it is not meant that there is any doctrinal difference to be found bet\veen the Russian Church and the Church of the Eastern Patriarchates, or the other autocephalous Churches of the Orthodox East. I am merely proposing to put before you certain points of vie,v upon doctrinal questions ,vhich I have come across in Russian theological literature, and in personal intercourse ,vith Russian Churchlnen, which I think are worthy of our consideration. They are inevitably of a somewhat polemical con1plexion, but I think that the great merit of the Russian controversial writers of the last hunch-ed years, as contrasted ,vith much that ,vas ,vTitten by Russians and Greeks in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, whether against Rome or Protestantism, is that these polemics consist not merely of negations, but that they are eminently constructive, and enable one to arrive at the true doctrinal position of the Eastern Church. The first time that I carne into connection with Russian ecclesiastical affairs ,vas at the celebration at. K.iev in the year ]888 of the lnth Centenary of the "Baptisillg of the Rus- (332) DocrrRIXE O:F -'HE RUSSIA_ CHl-;RCH 333 ian nation": that is to say of the Conversion of Russia to Christianity under the Grand Duke St. Vladimir. :Many letters of con