The new North-west., 1888-04-06

ST. 1SAACS CATHEDRAL.
Vladimir went OH conquering to the end
of his life, and is known in Greek history as
''Saint Vladimir" He left twelve sons, who
fought till most of them were killed or driven
into exile; then Sviatopalk killed his three
remaining brothers and became king. About
800 years of almost incessant war followed;
then the Tartars invaded the country and
completed the desolation. When the whole
region was almost bare of inhabitants the
Tartars (MongolS left it, but came again
when the population increased, nor were
they entirely excluded till the time of Ivan
the Great Q462- 2-1505), who may be said to
have refounded the Russian monarchy, and
was the first called "Autocrat of all the Rus
sias" In 1000 13 all the direct line of Rurik
and vladimir became extinct, and the no
bles chose for ruler Michael Feodorovitch
Romanoff, first czar of the present ruling
line Peter the Great, from 1852 to 1725,
raised Russia to a high rank, and for 100
years past it has gained territory faster than
any other power in the world.
It was a very poor sort of Christianity
which Vladimir and his people accepted in
9SS, and apparently had little effect on the
Russian character for some centuries After
the separation Of the Roman empire and the
fall of the western power, the eastern, or By
zantine Roman, empire lasted for l, 900 years,
in state Of almost perpetual decay. Civili-
3ation never elsewhere assumed SO despicable
an aspect. But while court and city were
sunk in corruption that cannot be described,
pure Christianity maintained a feeble ex-
istence, and the Greek bishops soon began to
assert their independence of the Roman
Christians Political and sectarian feelings
combining, each discussion widened the
breach. At length the western church now
known as the Catholic church) declared as a
dogma that the Holy Spirit proceeded from
the Son c'Filioque') as well as the Father,
and in time this became the main point Of di-
vision. The eastern. or Greek, church went
On 10 forbid the use Of limoges and maintain
the marriage of priests, and was at length
formally separated and separately organized,
declaring the patriarch of Ccnstantinople to
be its true head and rejecting the DEGREES of
all the general councils after the first seven.
After many temporary reunions and long
separations the complete schism was finally
declared on July 16, 1864, when the Roman
legates so;emnly laid on the altar of st.
Sophia, at Constantinople, the sentence Of
accommodation against the Patriarch
Caerularius and all who should adhere to
him. In the meantime, however, the Greeks
had converted the Russians and Bulgarians,
and as Russia grew she naturally became the
patron and political supporter Of the Greek
Catholic church.
It would fill many columns like this to give
the merest outline Of the quarrels, complica-
tions and wars that have grown out Of the
Russian assertion Of right to protect the
churcl -Four hundred years after the final
separation, the Turks captured Constant
nople and ended the eastern empire, but after
the first arrogance of triumph the sultans
usually tolerated the patriarchs One by
one the little principalities on her northern
border have broken off from Turkey and
gradually become independent; SO, between
the seat of tho patriarchates and the great
Greek Catholic power, Russia, now intervene
Servia, Roumania, Bulgaria, etc., whose
people are chiefly or largely Of the same faith
with the Russians, and thus religious SYM
pathies and animosities enter into and color
all the varying phases of that eastern ques-
tion" which is such nightmare to Europe.
Landed interests also come in, and SO we
have the curiously contradictory facts Of
Episcopal England in alliance with Moham-
medan Turkey and semi Catholic France
against the Russian Christians; the Russian
czar prosecuting the Roman Catholics in
Poland and encouraging them elsewhere;
branch of the Greek church working for an
ecclesiastical alliance with the British
church, another (very smalD branch acknowl-
edging the supremacy Of the pope, but re-
jecting the ritual, and at one time all the Rus
SLAMS politically fighting those they were re-
igiously seeking union with.
As the Greek church forbids images in the
places Of worship, and is not specially partial