336 



GREEK CHUKCH. 



The official appointment of Mgr. Innocent, Arch- 

 bishop of Kamtchatka, to the dignity of Primate oi 

 Moscow, in the room of the late venerable Philarete, 

 is announced. The new archbishop, who was but a 

 simple priest thirty-five years ago, had devoted him- 

 self to the holy mission of converting to Christianity 

 the idolatrous population of that Asiatic country, 

 and by his untiring zeal and eloquent language ob- 

 tained results so important that in a few years there 

 arose a necessity to raise Kamtchatka into a new 

 diocese. The worthy missionary, who was then 

 named Jean Veniaminof, was married, and the father 

 of several children. He repaired to Moscow to lay 

 before Mgr. Philarete the requirements of the new 

 see. During his stay in that city he received the 

 news of the unexpected death of his wife, whom he 

 had left in good health. Having thus become a 

 widower, he was in the condition required for the 

 episcopacy, and Mgr. Phi] arete did not hesitate to 

 confer on him the dignity to which, in no circum- 

 stances, would his modesty have allowed him to 

 pretend. Madame Potemkin. who is always ready 

 when there is a work of charity to perform, under- 

 took to bring up the missionary's daughters, educate 

 them, and marry them honorably. The simple 

 priest then became a bishop, under the title of In- 

 nocent, and returned to Kamtchatka, where he exer- 

 cised his apostolic zeal for thirty years. For some 

 years past he had become archbishop, and has now 

 been called to the highest functions in the ecclesias- 

 tical hierarchy. 



In Turkey, the Greek Churches of Bulgaria 

 continued their struggle for the organization 

 of a National Bulgarian Church, and the Turk- 

 ish Government encouraged the hope that 

 their demands would be complied with in the 

 course of the year 1869. 



In October, the Patriarch of Constantinople 

 addressed a letter to the Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs on the subject of the Roumanian con- 

 vents, in which, after giving an historical sketch 

 of the question, he enters an energetical pro- 

 test against the sale of the property, which 

 had already begun. A European commission 

 on this subject, which had held, during ten 

 months, sessions in Constantinople, had ceased 

 its labors when Prince Cousa was dethroned. 



The Patriarch demanded that, as a large 

 portion of the property had passed into other 

 hands, proper measures be adopted to protect 

 the interests of the Church. 



In Prussia, a number of Greek dissenters, 

 living in the district of Gumbinnen, had in 

 1867 joined the " Orthodox Union Church," 

 which is in communion with the state Church 

 of Russia. Some of them emigrated to Rus- 

 sian Poland, where the Government supplied 

 them with land. The chief instrument in 

 bringing about this change of creed was a 

 travelling preacher, named Paul the Prussian. 

 A theological paper edited by Paul, and called 

 The Truth, which had heretofore been print- 

 ed at Johannisburg in Prussia, and had been 

 forbidden hi Russia, was, in 1868, with the 

 permission of the Russian Government, trans- 

 ferred to Pskof, in Russia, which is the centre 

 of a large population of Greek schismatics. It 

 is now edited by Golubof, an adherent of 

 Paul. 



GREENE, ALBERT G. 



GREENE, ALBERT GOETON, a jurist, poet, 

 and bibliophile of Rhode Island, born in Provi- 

 dence, R. I., February 10, 1802 ; died in Cleve- 

 land, Ohio, January 3, 1868. He was a child 

 of great intellectual promise, and, after enjoy- 

 ing the hest school advantages of his native 

 city, graduated from Brown University in the 

 class of 1820, at the age of eighteen years. 

 "While in college, and hut sixteen years of age, 

 he wrote a ballad which, from its pathos, quaint- 

 ness, and genuine humor, has become a classic. 

 This hallad was the universally famous " Old 

 Grimes is dead, that good old man." Soon 

 after leaving college, he entered the office of 

 the late John Whipple, and was admitted to 

 the Providence bar in 1823. In June, 1832, 

 he was chosen clerk of the Common Council of 

 the city, and held that office for thirty-five 

 years. He was also chosen at the same time 

 clerk of the Municipal Court (the Probate 

 Court of Providence) and retained that position 

 till 1857, when he resigned, and the next year 

 was chosen judge of the same court, and con- 

 tinued to preside over it till March, 1867, when 

 in consequence of failing health he resigned. He 

 was remarkable for the clearness of his legal 

 perceptions, and his ability to put his ideas on 

 these subjects into the most practical and per- 

 fect language. The school system of Provi- 

 dence, and the law on which it was based, both 

 as nearly perfect in their way as any in the 

 country, were drawn up by him without con- 

 sulting any precedents or analogies. But, while 

 he was an able and strictly upright judge, his 

 reputation must rest largely upon his literary 

 character. His extreme modesty and reticence 

 led him to be more chary 6*f the publication 

 of his poems than could have been desired. 

 Those which saw the light were marked by a 

 delicacy of wit, a refinement of taste, a com- 

 pleteness of finish, and a thorough mastery of 

 language, which challenged admiration. " The 

 Baron's Last Banquet " has been pronounced by 

 able critics one of the finest poems in the Eng- 

 lish language. " To the Weathercock on our 

 Steeple " is replete with grace and wit ; and 

 " The Militia Training " is a curiosity in litera- 

 ture and artistic marshalling of provincialisms. 

 In 1833, Mr. Greene commenced the publication 

 and editorship of the Literary Journal, a most 

 admirable newspaper, which, though continued 

 but for a year, has ever since formed one of 

 the literary traditions of Providence. He was 

 very fond of historical studies, and had been 

 President of the Rhode Island Historical So- 

 ciety since 1854. He was an ardent lover of 

 books, and had accumulated one of the largest 

 private libraries in the country, numbering over 

 20,000 volumes. This library was very com- 

 plete in many departments, especially in its 

 collection of American poets, and of the old 

 English poets and dramatists. His collection 

 of pamphlets was very large, and many of 

 them were of extreme rarity and value. 



