century, was appointed to sell these indulgences in Germany, which eventually brought about the Reformation.

We must not omit the mention of a tract on Popery, entitled "A Modest Apology for the Roman Catholics of Great Britain, addressed to all moderate Protestants, particularly to the Members of both Houses of Parliament." This piece came from the pen of the late Dr. Geddes, who has been already mentioned, and is written with learning and ingenuity. It is, indeed, a singular performance, and worthy attention. We shall just add, that the reader may form some idea of the present state of Popery, from a recent pamphlet published by Dr. Milner, the historian, of Winchester, and a Catholic bishop; it is an account of a miracle wrought on a poor maidservant of Wolverhampton, at the well of St. Winfrid, Holywell, Flintshire, June 28, 1805. . See also his Letters to a prebendary, the late Dr. Sturges, a work of considerable ability and information.

GREEK, OR RUSSIAN CHURCH.

THE Greek, or Russian Church, which now spreads itself over the eastern part of Europe, is ancient, and bears a resemblance to the Church of Rome. Denying, however, the infallibility and supremacy of the Pope, they are in com

munion with the Patriarch of Constantinople. Amongst other articles of belief, they are distinguished for these three: 1. The rejection of images in the worship of the Deity. 2. The doctrine of consubstantiation, or the union of the body of Christ with the sacramental element, 3. The administration of baptism, by immersing the whole body in water.

The Russian, or Greek church equals the Latin or Romish church in the number of ceremonies and superstitious customs; some of which are thus described in Chantreau's Travels into Russia: At the beginning of the year, the king's day is a singular festival, which the Rus--~ sians call the benediction of waters. On the Neva, then frozen, there is raised for the ceremony a kind of temple, of an octagonal figure, on the top of which is a St. John the Baptist, and the inside is decorated with pictures, representing the baptism of Jesus, his transfiguration, and some other parts of his life. There your attention is drawn to an enormous Holy Ghost, appearing to descend from heaven; a decoration common to all the Greek churches, which introduces the Holy Ghost every where! In the middle of the sanctuary is a square place, where the broken ice leaves a communication with the waters running below, and the rest is ornamented with rich tapestry. Around this temple there is erected

a kind of gallery which communicates with one of the windows of the imperial palace, at which the empress and her family come out to attend the ceremony, which begins as soon as the regiment of guards have taken post on the river. Then the archbishop, at the sound of the bells, and of the artillery of the fortress, comes out of the palace, and walks in procession, with all his clergy, to the little temple we have just mentioned. When arrived at the place where the ice is broken, he descends, by means of a ladder, to the side of the water. There he dips his cross three or four times, afterwards says some prayers, an orison to the great St. Nicholas, and the waters are then thought blessed. The prelate sprinkles the water on the company around him, and on the colours of all the regiments that happen to be at St. Petersburg. After this benediction, the archbishop retires. Then the people crowd towards the hole, by which this prelate has blessed the waters. They drink of them with a holy avidity. Notwithstanding the cold, the mothers plunge their infants, and the old men their heads, into them. Every body makes it a duty to carry away some for the purification of their houses, and curing certain distempers, against which the good Russians pretend this holy water is a powerful specific. While every one proceeds to this useful provision, four popes, who are at the four corners

of the sanctuary, sing a kind of litany, in which they rehearse all the titles of the empress, and to which the people answer by these words, Pameloi-Bog!-May God take pity on her!

"The Russians have a great number of abstinences, or fasts, and among the rest four Lents. The Greek priests have much more reverence and meditation in their way of going through divine service, than the Latin or Romish priests; and the 'discipline of their church directs, that when once a priest is at the altar, he must not remove from it during the time he ought to stand there, whatever may happen to him. For in-. stance: we are told, that the prelate Gabriel, at present metropolitan of Novogorod, and Archimandrite to St. Alexander Neuski, being one day engaged in saying mass at St. Petersburg, the house contiguous to the church took fire, and the flames reaching the steeple, Gabriel was warned of the danger he was in, and yet he stirred not, even although he was told a second time, that the bells would not be long in bruising him to atoms. As the cries of the multitude, conjuring him to remove from certain death, made no impression on him, one of his relations leaped towards the altar, and tore him from it. Scarcely was he twenty paces from it, when the steeple fell in with a great crash upon the sanctuary!"

Efforts have been made to join the Greek to the Reformed church; but hitherto they have failed of success. The Rev. Dr. John King published an account of the doctrine, worship, and discipline of the Greek church in Russia. There are several particulars to be found in the Russian Catechism, composed by the Czar, and which was published in London, 1725; in Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches, and in a work, entitled Secret Memoirs of the Court of Petersburg.

That the reader may form some judgment of the present state of the Greek church, the lastmentioned work presents us with the following fact, translated from the Imperial Gazette of Petersburgh.

"Petersburgh, 17 Dec. 1798.

"In 1796, a coffin was found at the convent of Sumovin, in the city of Trotma, in the eparchy of Volgoda, containing a corpse, in the habit of a monk. It had been interred in 1568, yet was in a state of perfect preservation, as were also the garments. From the letters embroidered on them, it was found to be the body of the most memorable Feodose Sumorin, founder and superior of the convent, and who had been acknowledged as a saint during his life, for the miracles he had performed." It is then stated, that the directing synod had made a very humble