554 



GREECE. (CHURCH.) GREENLAND. 



am your patriarch ;" and, in 1721, the whole church 

 government of his empire was intrusted to a college 

 of bishops and secular clergy, called the holy synod, 

 first at Moscow, now at Petersburg. Under this 

 synod now stand, beside the metropolitans, eleven 

 archbishops, nineteen bishops, 12,500 parish churches, 

 and 425 convents, fifty-eight of which are connected 

 with monastic schools for the education of the clergy, 

 and, for the better effecting of this object, are aided 

 by an annual pension of 300,000 rubles from the 

 state. The Greek church, under the Turkish do- 

 minion, remained, as far us was possible under such 

 circumstances, faithful to the original constitution. 

 The dignities of patriarch of Constantinople, Alex- 

 andria, Antioch, and Jerusalem still subsist. The 

 former, however, possesses the ancient authority of 

 the former archbishop of Constantinople ; takes the 

 lead as oecumenical patriarch, in the holy synod at 

 Constantinople, composed of the four patriarchs, a 

 number of metropolitans and bishops, and twelve 

 principal secular Greeks; exercises the highest 

 ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Greeks in the 

 whole Turkish empire, and is recognised as head of 

 the Greek church, by the (not united) Greeks in 

 Galicia, in the Bukowina, in Sclavonia and the Seven 

 Islands. The other three patriarchs, since almost 

 all the people in their dioceses are Mohammedans, 

 have but a small sphere of action (the patriarch of 

 Alexandria lias but two churches at Cairo), and live, 

 for the most part, on the aid afforded them by the 

 patriarch of Constantinople. This patriarch has a 

 considerable income, but is obliged to pay nearly 

 half of it as a tribute to the sultan. The Greeks, 

 under the Turkish government, are allowed to build 

 no new churches, have to pay dearly for the permis- 

 sion to repair the old ones, are not allowed to have 

 steeples or bells to their churches, nor even to wear 

 the Turkish dress, generally perform religious ser- 

 vice by night, and are moreover obliged, not only to 

 pay tolls, from which the Turks are free, but the 

 males also pay to the sultan, after their fifteenth 

 year, a heavy poll tax, under the name of exemption 

 from beheading. 



For a long time the attachment of this church to 

 old institutions has stood in the way of all attempts 

 nt improvement. Such attempts have given rise to 

 a number of sects, which the Russian government 

 leaves unmolested. As early as the 14th century, 

 the party of the Strigolnicians seceded from hatred 

 of the clergy, but, as they had no other peculiarity, 

 soon perished. The same was done with more 

 success, by the Roskolnicians (i. e., the apostates), 

 about 1666. (See Roskolnicians.) This sect, which, 

 by degrees, was divided into twenty different parties, 

 by no means forms a regular ecclesiastical society, 

 with symbols and usages of its own, but consists of 

 single congregations, independent of each other, 

 wiiich are distinguished from the Greek church by 

 preserving, unaltered, the ancient Sclavonian liturgy, 

 &c. ; have a consecrated clergy ; and, having retired 

 from early persecution, have become numerous in 

 the eastern provinces of the Russian empire. The 

 different parties conform, more or less, to the 

 peculiarities attributed to the Roskolnicians in gen- 

 eral, such as declaring the use of tobacco and of strong 

 drinks sinful, fasting yet more strictly than the ortho- 

 dox church, refusing to take oaths ; and are, from a 

 fanatical spirit similar to that of the former Anabap- 

 tists, inclined to rebellion against their rulers. 

 I'ugatschew, himself a Roskolnician, found most of 

 his adherents among them in his rebellion. At pre- 

 sent, they liave relaxed much of their strictness on 

 these points, as well as their fantastic notions with 

 respect to marriage, dress, the priesthood, and martyr- 

 dom, and seem to be gradually merging among the 



orthodox. The Philippones (q. v.) were exiled 

 Roskolnicians, who settled in Lilhiianiu and East 

 Prussia, under Philip Pustoswket. Farther removed 

 from the belief of the Greek church are the Ducho- 

 borzy, a sect settled on the steppes beyond the Don, 

 which rejects the doctrine of the Trinity, and 

 receives the Gospels only, has no churches nor 

 priests, and regards oaths, as well as warfare, unlaw- 

 ful. Antitriuitarians, of a similar kind, are the 

 Russian Jews, as they are called, in the government 

 of Archangel and Katharinoslav, of whom it is onl 

 known that they worship neither Christ nor the saints, 

 reject baptism, and have no priests nor churches. 

 Respecting the ancient schismatical and heretical 

 religious parties in Asia and Africa, that have 

 proceeded from the Greek church, see Copts, Abys- 

 sinia, Jacobites, Nestorians,Maronites, Armenians. 



GREEK FIRE. See Fire, Greek. 



GREENya river of Kentucky, which rises in 

 Lincoln county, and flows into the Ohio, sixty-one 

 miles above the Wabash, 173 below Louisville. Its 

 course for about 150 miles is westerly ; it afterwards 

 has a course N. by W. Its whole length is upwards 

 of 200 miles, and it is navigable for boats, at some 

 seasons, nearly 150. The tract through which it flows, 

 called the Green river country, is remarkable for its 

 fertility, beautiful scenery and stupendous caves, in 

 which are found great quantities of nitre. 



GREEN BANK; one of the banks near the 

 island of Newfoundland, 129 miles long and forty- 

 eight wide. Lon. 53 30' to 55 30' W. ; lat. 45 

 30' to 46 50* N. 



GREEN BAY, or PUAN BAY ; bay on W. side 

 of lake Michigan, about 100 miles long, but in some 

 places only fifteen miles, in others from twenty to 

 thirty, broad. It lies nearly from N. E. to S. W. 

 At the entrance of it from the lake is a string of 

 islands extending N. to S. called the Grand Traverse. 

 These are about thirty miles in length, and serve to 

 facilitate the passage of canoes, as they shelter them 

 from the winds, which sometimes come with violence 

 across the lake. Green bay is termed by the inha- 

 bitants of its coasts, the Menominy bay. The 

 country around is occupied chiefly by the Menominy 

 Indians. 



GREEN CLOTH ; a board or court of justice, 

 held in the counting-house of the king's household, 

 composed of the lord steward and officers under him, 

 who sit daily. To this court is committed the 

 charge and oversight of the king's household in 

 matters of justice and government, with a power to 

 correct all offenders, and to maintain the peace of 

 the verge, or jurisdiction of the court royal, which 

 is every way about 200 yards from the last gate of 

 the palace where his majesty resides. Without a 

 warrant first obtained from this court, none of the 

 king's servants can be arrested for debt. 



GREEN GAGE ; a variety of the plum, the reine 

 claude of the French, usually considered the most 

 delicious of all. It is large, of a green or slightly 

 yellowish colour, and has a juicy, greenish pulp of 

 in exquisite flavour. 



GREENLAND (Groenland) ; an extensive coun- 

 try of north America, belonging to Denmark, the 

 extent of which is unknown. Since lieutenant (now 

 Sir William Edward) Parry advanced from Baffin's 

 bay into Lancaster sound (1819), it has been supposed 

 to be an island. As far as it is now known, it ex- 

 tends from lat. 59 38' to 78 N. Its southern 

 point is cape Farewell. On the western coast lie 

 Davis's straits and Baffin's bay. It is divided into 

 two parts by a chain of mountains passing through 

 the middle of the country from north to south. 

 Greenland was settled 800 years ago, by two 

 olonies from Norway and Denmark, of which tha 



