254 



EASTERN CHURCHES. 



society is unremittingly working for the accomplish- 

 ment of that divine word" That all may be one." 

 That earnestness of yours is assuredly blessed by Him 

 who gave us the commandment to love one another, 

 and is recognized with joy by his Orthodox Church, 

 which prays night and day for the union of all. And 

 I now, on my return home, shall fulfil a most sacred 

 duty in reporting to all the most reverend hierarchs 

 in those parts what I have seen and heard among 

 you ; and in addition to this, also, your love and 

 sympathy for the Orthodox Eastern Church, which 

 not only possesses the privilege of reading the heav- 

 enly doctrine of the New Testament in the language 

 in which it waa originally written, but has also been 

 counted worthy of the divine grace to preserve that 

 very doctrine uncorrupted and unadulterated, and 

 " rightly to divide the word of truth." But, in par- 

 ticular, I shall most gladly fulfil your request in re- 

 porting to his Holiness the Oecumenical Patriarch 

 your respect and good-will; and, in fine, I will 

 leave nothing undone, beloved brothers in Christ, to 

 bring to a happy accomplishment, so far as in me 

 lies, the truly evangelical and God-approved design 

 which your society is pursuing. 



The Patriarch of Constantinople received 

 the report of Archbishop Lycurgos on the 

 progress of the intercommunion movement in 

 England with great joy, and thus expressed 

 his feelings in a letter to the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury : 



Gregory, by the mercy of God Archbishop of 

 Constantinople, the new Rome, and Oecumenical 

 Patriarch, to the most holy Archbishop of Canter- 

 bury. Primate of the Christians in Great Britain of 

 the Anglican Confession, the Lord Archibald Camp- 

 bellj peace from God ana the brotherly salutation in 

 Christ. At the most revered and world-saving feasts 

 of the immaculate Passion and of the life-bearing 

 Eesurrection of the Lord, we entertained here in joy 

 and gladness of heart the Lord Alexander Lycurgos, 

 the most holy Archbishop of Syra and Tenos, our 

 beloved brother in Christ and fellow-minister, on 

 his auspicious return from your renowned and Christ- 

 loving country, and were gladdened in spirit, and 

 revelled in the joy of mutual conversation, while he 

 narrated and told at length, and we with aifection 

 and eagerness made inquiries, and listened to his 

 account of all the good things that were said of our 

 unworthy self, both by your Holiness, whom we 

 highly regard in Christ, and by very many wise and 

 powerful men, especially by the most eminent and 

 distinguished Lords Gladstone and Eedliff Kaningk 

 [Lord Stratford de Eedcliffe], as they praised and 

 magnified our state here. It was with pleasure that 

 we lieard of all the conspicuous honors, kindly acts, 

 and hospitable welcome, which were shown to the 

 holy and accomplished Greek Archbishop by private 

 individuals and by men in authority, by clergymen 

 and divines, by members of the universities, and by 

 almost all the noble and most hospitable people of 

 England, not even its august and powerful Queen 

 herself excepted being proofs, and genuine and 

 bright reflections, of the approved conversation in 

 Christ, and of all the evangelical love amd brotherly 

 affection of the English people. But especially in- 

 terested were we in hearing of all that his Holiness 

 saw and heard in person throughout the whole ex- 

 tent of England, truly admirable and godly deeds 

 and words, all characterizing the ardent and lofty 

 reverence and sympathy toward the holy and Ortho- 

 dox Eastern Church, which, glorying in the Lord 

 over the long and terrible persecutions and conflicts 

 of martyrdom, the heavenly bridegroom, having 

 pitied and loved, did not deprive of the bright mys- 

 tic candlestick, and of all the perfect and unsullied 

 treasure of the faith the apostolic and God-delivered 

 faith, which, alien to profane and vain babblings and 

 new dogmas, and to stratagems of error and compul- 



sion being wholly spiritual, heavenly, and radiant, 

 is the one and indivisible soul of the one Church 

 which the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, sancti- 

 fies, quickens, nurtures, influences, and rules, to all 

 ages. These, beloved and most honored brother, 

 these are the things good and profitable to men, faith 

 pure and undefiled, and one only, working through 

 a love bearing many branches and every fruit. These 

 things straighten, smooth, and prepare beforehand 

 the ways and the paths of the spiritual unity and 

 fellowship of the iaithful everywhere, in the one 

 faith ana hope of our calling, who are as branches 

 growing together on the one tree planted of heaven 

 and watered of God, as inseparable members of the 

 one Christ-bearing body, the Church, as bright 

 morning stars of the light of truth. In return, then, 

 for all these works and words, these good and broth- 

 erly sentiments and dispositions, which the whole 

 Anglican bodv, eminently weighty and pure, and its 

 most devout shepherds and rulers, exhibited, whether 

 in the person of the said Orthodox Eastern Arch- 

 bishop, or in our humble person, toward our Eastern 

 Orthodoxy and true Catholicity, which by the mercy 

 of God reverently keeps to the old paths, with the 

 Holy Scriptures and the august Oecumenical Coun- 

 cils in return, we say, for all these things, we ren- 

 der, as is due, and with all zeal, our hearty thanks, 

 and call down that rich blessing and recompense 

 which comes from God our Saviour, upon all the 

 Christ-loving, glorious, and heroic Albion, which 

 with such- eagerness and in an unfettered spirit of 

 freedom marvellously recurs to customs handed down 

 from old time and genuinely apostolic ; and we put 

 as a seal to our prayers the apostolic words of St. 

 Paul, which are at once a prayer and a command : 

 " Speaking the truth in love, let us grow up unto Him 

 in all things, who is the head, even Christ." May 

 His grace and boundless mercy be with your Holi- 

 ness, for whom we entertain deep regard and affec- 

 tion, and with all who are under your pastoral charge. 



GEEGOEY. 

 April 30, 1870. 



A similar letter was on June 20th addressed 

 to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the Synod 

 of the Church of Greece. After thanking the 

 English people for their interest in the conflict 

 of Greece for freedom, and the English Church 

 for the honors shown to Archbishop Lycurgos, 

 the letter of the Synod continues : 



Accordingly, the Sacred Synod of the Church of 

 Greece, wishing to give some sure token of brother- 

 ly love toward the English Church, and being of one 

 mind with the Holy Synod assembled round the 

 most Holy Oecumenical Patriarch, has determined 

 by encyclical letters to direct the sacred clergy under 

 it to show as far as possible brotherly kindness in all 

 things to the Christians of your confession, and if 

 any such Christian should die at a place where no 

 priest of their own Church should happen to be 

 present, to render them fitting burial, and the prayers 

 of our Church for their souls. 



In the Church of Russia considerable prog- 

 ress has of late been made in the circulation 

 of the Bible. The Russian Bible Society has 

 been formally authorized by the Government 

 to resume its operations. The Holy Synod has 

 its printing establishment fully occupied in 

 preparing editions of the Scriptures. These 

 are sent forth in such variety of form and type 

 as to meet all requirements of popular tasto 

 and preference. From this source the. agency 

 of the British and Foreign Bible Society pro- 

 cures books. The circulation by that agency 

 amounted, in 1868, to 64,830 volumes. They 





