Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1856-05-30


metropolis, most Of the bishops declared
again'thim. Nothing would suffice to bring
them To reason but the Intervention Of th,
ambassador of the Grand Duke Of Russia
and the insidious efforts Of Thclctius, patri.
arch Of Antioch, who had bccn gained over
beforehand to the cause Of Boris GodounofT
Furthermore, Jeremy dying the year FOL
lowing. the Grand Duke enticcd his success,
sor, Theophilus, by means Of golden prom,
iscs, u Moscow, where he confirmed the new
dignity for the second and las, time.
Such was the origin Of the pa;riarchatc
of Moscow, which was abolished century
later 10y Peter the Great.
The monarch who suppressed ii, replaced
it by a synod, which is the supreme authori.
~ in religious matters with the Russians.
Tho holy synod is a council composed Of the
heads the clergy, with whom however, i.
associated representative Of the Emperor,
whose rsio can anpul or suspend at will any
decision, however unanimous, of the synod.
This rcprcsentatiyc-will It b, bclicyed!-
isa general OF cayolry, General ProtasoH
The number Of the ecclesiastical members
OF the synod is indefinite, and the Emperor
may elect whomslcycr hc chooses. Gencr-
ally-aud this is at present the casc-the
holy synod is composed Of tho Metropolitan,
,hrcc ArcAbi'hop., a Bishop, tho Emperor
c0nfcssJr, au Archmandritc, the Almoncr.
in.Chici OF the Fleet, and an Archpricst.
It's unnecessary TO say that whatever may
hc the merit or tho personal character Of
each ono Of these dignitarics, they are CONE
plc,ely IN subsection to tho Emperor, rep
rosuatiyr,
In the Holy Synod, as elsewhere, the will
Of the Car Is the only torch which iIlu-
mine. a, well as thc only law which guides.
Thu, the acts Of the Holy Synod are fllci
with formulas such rs these According
70 thc most high will" ' 10 the most s)ye-
rri,u command" " Coni1rmablr 10 the all
powerful will Of Iii, Majesty" " Ills Maj.
c,ty hold, it proper" " According to su.
prone order" " "by supreme concession, "
" By supreme ORDER" etc.
It's curi1u, to examine the reasons given
BY the reforming autocrat Peter l., to jus
,i'y his attack upon :hc constitution Of the
Greek Church They are a, follows
"a spiritual authority represented by a
colr., wall never exert - much influence ia
a country as a personal head Of an ccclcsias-
teal order. The vulgar never cin comprc.
hcnI the difference between q spiritual au-
,horlty and that OF the secular sovereign.
Upon haholIlns the extraordinary honors
ayi.hci upon the supreme pastor, he Is car
ri,I away by admiration 10 the poiat Of be.
lrv.ns that the head Of the Church in an
other sovereign. whose authority is equal,
or even superior, to that Of the monarch ,
hcwil. believe, indeed that the ccclcsiasii-
cal orlor constitutes a species of monarchy
preferable to the other. Now, siucc it is
inli.putallr that tho common people DO
reason in this manner, what might not take
rnc, II the unjust teachings Of an ambitious
CLERGY should be adlcI 70 this, aud kinllc a
lam, ocrabcllion."
In d,,rccinc the institutions orihis synod,
Peter I. took care not to push tho aPplica-
ton u the principle to an extreme. That
which he attacked in the church was not IT,
natural autonomy, not it, legitimate cStcn.
sion, but it, tendency to leave is own sphere
and mcldlc with mundane Affairs. Hero,
he would suffer neither rivalry nor antas'n'
ism. but must b, absolute master. Now,
that which d,bas,, church is not 10 de-
priyc IL og il, cooperation in temporal mat
tors, hut on the contrary to force it to play
rart in them. For such things not being
within It's province, il i, evident that they
cannot demand from it any direct intcricr-
ancc; il, then, it takes part in thcm, il is
only by an impulse foreign to its nature,
and from that moment il is no longer an
agent but an ninstrumcnt-itsc glorious liberty
disappears, to give place to degrading ser.
yitndc.
This, ut least, is what Catharine H., and
moro especially Nicholas, have made Of the
Russian Church. Instead of allowing It to
act in spiritual matters, they have chained
it TO their own policy. 1t is not in order to
attain moral perfection, nor to reach heaven,
that the Muscoyltc has a religion, bu, to all
his sovereign to rob provinces and drp,'
nations. As soon as thcRussian knows ;ha;
God is God and the Gar his prophet, bis
religious education is completed. In order
TO maintain him in the paths Of morality,
appeals are made 10 an instructive natural.
ism, which might be equally as well thc
concern offs pagan rs Of a disciple Of Christ,
1t may be conceived from this, in what an
abyss Of Ignorance autocracy must permit
the people TO stasnatc, and how all the re-
li:pus feelings which do exist among them
must withdraw from the emptiness OF thc
urcyallIn: belief into the darkness Of secret
,ccts. In no country are there 50 many re-
li:ous sccts as in Russia; aud their Orsani'
,ation j. SELECTED with such profound secrecy
that It i, impossible accurately to give their
number. In the orthodox church itself
there arc no less than two hundred different
sect., whose members ar, known generally
by the names, Ra,lo'aid and Sdr5reri:i,
believers in the old faith,) but, which arr
characterized by an immense variety both