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princesses marrying into the imperial family must also embrace the Russian creed. But, with all the fanaticism which distinguishes the Russian Church, the utmost regard is shown to the sacred rights of conscience, and "in the fair of Nijni-Novgorod, on the confluence of the Volga and the Oka, the Mohammedan mosque and the Armenian church stand side by side with the orthodox cathedral."

Public education in Russia is invested with an essentially religious character. The schools are generally under the direction of the clergy, whose influence, however, is not used to the prejudice of the State. There are three kinds of ecclesiastical schools-the district schools, the Government seminaries, and the academies of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kief, and Kazan. The first are devoted to the education of the children of the clergy, and are mainly elementary. The seminaries aim at a higher class of instruction, and their curriculum embraces the natural sciences, logic, psychology, the study of Holy Scripture, more especially from the apologetic point of view, with exegesis, and hermeneutics. The academies are colleges for the education of priests. It might be thought that the ecclesiastical impress given thus to the studies of the youth of Russia must necessarily issue to the disadvantage of that broad and catholic character which seems essential to intellectual progress. But the utmost licence is allowed to the study of the sciences and other subjects not strictly sacred. One might be naturally jealous of the scholastic influence of the Romish priesthood. The priest of Rome is led by his education and his instincts to subordinate all interests, even the interests of his country, to those of his Church. Romish priests are, therefore, in every land, an isolated caste, with alien sympathies. But the Russian priest is a citizen and a patriot. He has ties to his home and country strong as those of the warrior who goes forth to fight her battles. The civil institutions of his country are as dear to him as the institutions of his Church. Hence the entire history of the Russian Church is a history of devotion to Russia.

It must be confessed that for many centuries the character of the Russian clergy has not been high, either intellectually or morally. Imperfect education, wretched homes and stipends, the contempt of the higher classes, and many other causes have combined to sink the priesthood of the Russian Church to a level lower than that of other churches. But the reproaches which might fairly have been cast on the clergy

Proposals for Union.

395

of a century ago, and indeed on the clergy of a more recent date, on the score of their intemperance, ignorance, and immorality, are no longer applicable, excepting in rural districts to which the gathering light has not yet penetrated. The tone of the Russian clergy is far higher than it was twenty years ago. The progress of education, the civilising processes of national interchange, and the higher status now accorded to the clergy in the general estimation, have all tended to raise their moral and intellectual character. The clergy are now at the head of almost every progressive movement. Some of the ablest serials of the Russian press are under their direction, and a powerful society has been organised, under the presidency of the venerable and learned metropolitan of Moscow, entitled, "The Society of the Friends of Religious Instruction," the object of which is the fuller enlightenment of the people on religious questions. The means employed by this society are, the publication of religious works, the founding of a library for the clergy and people, the issue of a religious journal, and the giving of lectures on topics affecting the Christian faith and life. And if the past, with its deplorable immoralities and its almost heathenish ignorance, cannot be entirely dismissed, neither let it be forgotten that the Russian clergy have ever been true to their country, that the troubles of the empire have never arisen out of her Church, and that in the day of danger and distress the powers of the land have found among the priesthood their strongest inspiration and their most reliable stay.

We have not space to give to the literature of the Church, to her monastic institutions, and to the relations which she sustains towards other churches. Overtures have been made almost from the earliest ages for an amalgamation between the Russian and Latin communions. Such an amalgamation is simply impossible. The prejudice in the mind of a Russian against the see of Rome is deep and undying. Any approximation on the part of the authorities towards union would rouse the empire. Not more hopeful is the project of union between the Eastern and the Anglican Church. Recent eccentricities in the latter would lead to the assumption that almost any creed might find home and sympathy in her bosom. But anything like union between the Eastern Churches and English Protestantism is utterly and for ever impracticable. Those who favour the notion can have little idea of the real state of the case. The Churches of the East are as far distant from Protestant Christianity as

is the apostate Church of the West. And it is one of the most saddening thoughts which oppress the mind of an enlightened Christian of the present day, that outside the Christianity of England there is a Church numbering fifty millions of votaries, calling on the name of the same Saviour, invoking the aid of the same Holy Spirit, and worshipping the same Father, and yet that there is a great gulf between.

Reconstruction of the Irish Church.

397

ART. V.-The Irish Church Act (1869), with Observations. By CHARLES H. TODD, LL.D., one of her Majesty's Counsel, and Vicar-General of the Dioceses of Derry and Raphoe. Dublin: Hodges, Foster and Co., Grafton Street, Publishers to the University. 1869.

THE Irish Church is passing through the crisis of her history in a manner that is highly satisfactory and reassuring to the friends of Protestantism. It was very natural that a different result should have been apprehended, even by the most sanguine of her sons. The Bishop of Cork-who presented in his own case a singular example of the power of the voluntary principle, as minister of Trinity Church in Dublin, which had been raised and sustained by that principle, and which constituted a great centre of missionary influence -even Dr. Gregg, with all his constitutional ardour, with all his zeal for the Protestant cause, and all his faith in the power of the Gospel, wrote thus in the Charge which he delivered to his clergy in 1867 :

"Much apprehension exists in the minds of many, that the property of the Irish Church may be sacrificed to political expediency, or seized upon from exigencies of State. In abatement of this apprehension, it is said by some, but, I think, with very little sagacity, that the Irish Church would be as strong, nay, they confidently aver, stronger and more flourishing than ever, though all public endowments were withdrawn, and the Church left to depend for its support on voluntary aid. . . . . It would be utterly impossible, and it is altogether futile to expect it, to uphold and maintain the tenth part of the churches and ministers now upheld and supported by Church property in Ireland."

The University must follow the fortunes of the Church: "and if these fountains of knowledge and religion be stopped up by unhallowed hands, the land must inevitably become wild and sterile, only one dry and dreary waste." The Earl of Bandon, as Chairman of the Central Protestant Association, formed to resist Mr. Gladstone's Bill for disestablishing the Church, drew a most gloomy picture of the consequences of that measure. Speaking of his own town, Bandon, "the Derry of the South," famous for its Protestantism, he stated,

amidst loud manifestations of assent from an immense meeting of the nobility and gentry, representing all parts of Ireland, that the parish church would be closed and deserted, the sanctuary, hallowed by the associations of the past, would be desolate, the sound of the church-going bell would be heard no more on the Sabbath morning, there would be no minister to unite the people in holy matrimony, or to baptize their offspring, and the town would be abandoned utterly to heathenism and Popery. This spirit of despondency, expressed with more or less force, pervaded the whole body of the clergy and gentry. The Church resembled a timid and nervous person, who had never before seen the sea, and who was about to embark in a boat launched among breakers, trembling with terror at the very sound of the waves falling on the beach.

"The wide, the unbounded prospect lay before,

But storms, clouds, and darkness rested on it."

How different is the state of feeling now! We cannot express it better than in the words of the same Bishop, addressed to his clergy at his last annual visitation. He has no fear now that nine-tenths of the clergy will abandon their charges, or that their flocks will lapse into heathenism, or take refuge in the bosom of the Church of Rome. He said he had much reason to be thankful for the spirit that had been manifested through the diocese, by the laity and clergy, since the public calamity that had befallen them. The spirit of the Protestants was still unbroken, their demeanour was dignified, their love of country unabated, their attachment to the Church, if possible, increased. They were grieved for the breaches that had been made in their walls, but they were determined, as best they could, to repair them. "Some people thought that the Protestants of the country would succumb to the difficulty, and indolently and despondingly lie down under their load; but they who thought so mistook their men, miscalculated their spirit, and knew not the metal whereof they were made."

This is quite true; the conduct of both clergy and laity since the passing of the Act for the disestablishment of their Church has been admirable, manifesting a degree of moderation, practical wisdom, public spirit, and Christian unity, which has rarely been surpassed in the history of any church, even in those churches which may be said to have been freeborn, and which have grown up to maturity and strength in the habits of self-government. The truth is, that the

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