GREEK CHUECH. 



327 



But on descending to the particulars of the < con- 

 tents of the Prayer JBook, and of the distinguished 

 Confession of the Thirty-nine Articles contained in 

 it since in the perusal of them, both the statements 

 concerning the eternal existence of the Holy Spirit. 

 and those concerning the Divine Eucharist: and 

 further, those concerning the number of the Sacra- 

 ments, concerning Apostolical and Ecclesiastical tra- 

 dition, the authority of the truly genuine (Ecumen- 

 ical Councils, the position and mutual relations of 

 the Church on earth and that in heaven ; and more- 

 over the honor and reverence due from us to those 

 who are, in theory and practice, the heroes^ of the 

 faith the adamantine martyrs and athletes since we 

 say, these statements appeared to us to savor too 

 much of novelty ; and that which is said (p. 592, 

 Art. 19), " As the Churches of Jerusalem, Alexan- 

 dria, and Antioch have erred, so also the Church of 

 Home hath erred, not only in their living and man- 

 ner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith," de- 

 prives the Eastern Churches of the orthodoxy and 

 perfection of the faith (let us be permitted to ^say 

 that accusations of our neighbor are out of place in a 

 distinguished Confession of Faith) these statements 

 throw us into suspense, so that we doubt what we 

 are to judge of the rule of Anglican orthodoxy. 

 "We would therefore pray with our whole soul to the 

 Author and Finisher of our salvation to enlighten 

 the understanding of all with the light of His knowl- 

 edge, and to make of all nations one speech of the one 

 faith, and of the one love, and of the one hope of the 

 Gospel ; that with one mouth and one heart, as mer- 

 ciful children of one and the same Mother, the Church 

 the Catholic Church of the First-begotten we may 

 glorify the Triune God. 



May His saving grace be with y^our Holiness, dear- 

 ly beloved to us in Christ, and with all the God-be- 

 loved flock subject to you. 



September 26, 1869. 



The letter made a sensation both in England 

 and in the East, and greatly strengthened the 

 hopes of those who look forward to a final 

 union of the Eastern and the Anglican Church- 

 es. A French newspaper of Constantinople, 

 entitled Le Phare du Bospliore, edited by a 

 member of the Orthodox Church, says : " At 

 the time when Panslavism, represented by the 

 Orthodox Cabinet of the North, is inciting the 

 Bulgarians to rebel against the (Ecumenical 

 Church of Constantinople, and when the court 

 of Rome is assembling the chiefs of the Catho- 

 lic Church in order to strengthen, if possible, 

 the tottering basis of the temporal power of 

 the Popes, the union of the three namely, the 

 (Ecumenical, the Armenian, and the Anglican 

 Churches is being prepared, without either 

 pomp, demonstration, or noise. If political 

 circumstances, and the troubles in which Or- 

 thodox Jesuitism Panslavism have thrown 

 the (Ecumenical Church, have a little delayed 

 the smoothing of the path which leads to the 

 triple union of these Churches, we can easily 

 understand that for the future the three church- 

 es will do their best to attain their object. Tor 

 our part we most earnestly wish for the suc- 

 cess of this great end, and will never cease to 

 further it as much as is within our power." 



In November, 1869, another act of the 

 Patriarch of Constantinople gladdened the 

 hearts of the friends of the union movement. 

 The Patriarch and synod of Constantinople 

 addressed a letter to every bishop of the 



Patriarchate, directing each of them, in ac- 

 cordance with a request made by the Arch- 

 bishop of Canterbury, to issue orders to the 

 priests in the diocese to bury in the church- 

 yard of their parish, whenever so desired, mem- 

 bers of the English Church dying among 

 them. The Patriarch in this letter directs 

 that, when a priest of the English Church is 

 present, then the cemetery shall be given up 

 to him, and that, in the absence of any min- 

 ister of the English Church, two priests of the 

 Orthodox Church shall accompany the body 

 of every member of the English Church. The 

 Patriarch himself has selected from the long 

 office for burial because of its great length 

 rarely or never read entire such portions as 

 are in conformity with the burial-office of the 

 English Church. 



The greatest trouble which the Greek Church 

 has had during the present century proceeds 

 from the Bulgarian question, which has of late 

 obtained a political no less than an ecclesias- 

 tical importance ; for a proper understanding, 

 a brief history of the question is indispensa- 

 ble. After a long contest between the Bulga- 

 rians and the Greek Emperors, in the fifth cen- 

 tury, Bogoris, one of their kings, established 

 a peace with the Emperor of Constantinople, 

 and accepted the Christian religion. His peo- 

 ple followed his example, and the Bulgarian 

 Church was placed under the supervision of 

 the Greek Patriarch till fifty years later, when 

 Simeon became King. He broke the treaty, 

 marched against Constantinople and compelled 

 the Emperor, Romanus, to concede the com- 

 plete political and ecclesiastical independence 

 of the Bulgarian Church. The power of the 

 Bulgarians ended with Simeon. Overcome on 

 the North by the Russians, and on the South 

 by the Byzantines, they were again placed under 

 the Greek Patriarchs, and did not regain the 

 enjoyment of ecclesiastical independence till 

 the latter part of the twelfth century. In 

 1393 their country was conquered by the Turks. 

 For a while many of the Bulgarians became 

 outwardly Mohammedans, but, as religious free- 

 dom increased, returned to their earlier faith, 

 and the Bulgarian Church was made an appa- 

 nage of that of Constantinople. Good feeling 

 prevailed then between the Bulgarians and the 

 Greeks, and the Sultan filled the Bulgarian 

 sees with Greek prelates, who were accept- 

 able to the people. As the Bulgarian nobility 

 was exterminated and the people oppressed by 

 wars which followed, there was, until the be- 

 ginning of the present century, scarcely a sin- 

 gle voice raised against the foreign Episcopate. 

 But the national feeling began to assert itself 

 about fifty years ago, and the Greek Patriarch 

 was compelled to authorize several reforms. 

 Abuses continued, however, and the national 

 feeling increased, so that the Patriarch was 

 obliged, in 1848, to approve the erection of a 

 Bulgarian Church and of a school for the edu- 

 cation of priests in the capital. The demand 

 of the Bulgarians for the restoration of their 



