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in the composition of its people. Its geographical extent should also be considered. It stretches from the land of the vine and olive to the frozen ocean; from the Baltic sea across the Eastern hemisphere, beyond the Pacific, nearly to the confines of Oregon. Its two-headed eagle rides supreme on the Caspian; and, though recently driven from the Black Sea, will never rest till it has returned. Russian energy is pressing outward, with unwearied exertion, in all directions; and, although checked now and then at some point, Russia has not been prostrated or discouraged. No defeats which her armies may experience along her distant borders, can ever persuade her to give up the belief, wrought into the national mind, that the harbors of the Mediterranean are destined to be her entry-ports. Nothing but a domestic revolution some general uprising of the people against the fixed policy of the government can ever oblige her to desist from these aggressions. But of such a revolution there is hardly a probability. "Is there not the tie of kindred in the great nucleus of the empire? Is not the whole well annealed and firmly joined? Is it not cut off and separated from the rest of Christendom by its peculiar church discipline? Is it not Is it not one and undivided by its descent? Is it not bound together by having the same military heroes, the same saints, the same recollections, civil and sacred? Next to France it is, of all the states of Europe, the one which is safest against division." Every nation on the borders of Russia, either obeys it or fears to provoke its wrath. That portion of Poland which fell to the Czar at the time of its dismemberment, has become an integrant part of the empire; and those Poles who remain under the Prussian monarchy, are said to sigh for the better fortune of their countrymen in Russia. Many of the dependents of Austria would be glad to transfer their allegiance from the House of Hapsburg to the Czars. But even if Russia should be assailed by her neighbors, could she be overcome? What invading army has ever penetrated to the centre of her territory? This has never been accomplished

1 Bancroft's "Studies in History."

save in one instance; and to Napoleon belongs the honor, such as it is, of the achievement. According to the saying of Napoleon himself, it was a sublime undertaking and a ridiculous failure. The retreat from Moscow proves that Russia is invincible. If the records of historians may be relied on, it is the only country within the borders of civilization, which still remains in the hands of its original possessors. Its recovery from barbarism is not due to colonies, planted by other nations within its territory, but to the elevation of the indigenous races. It has been so wise an imitator of surrounding nations as never to become their prey.

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We often speak of the youth of the Russian empire. It is young, as a member of the family of civilized States; but it has a traditional history, which goes back to the beginning of time. The Eddas, from which we obtain our knowledge of the religious belief of the Scandinavians, give a detailed account of the creation of the world. That cosmogony, though rugged in its forms of expression, as we might anticipate from the kind of natural scenery amid which it grew up, has yet more intrinsic dignity than some of the cosmogonies of the ancient classic poets. The Russian mythology is as old, as wild and grand, as that of Rome. He roes and gods were the founders, and are now the patron saints, of the empire of the Czar. Greek fable contains but little, which is really more captivating than the stories of Valhalla, of the Ygdrasill, of Odin, and the thunderer Thor. And what is more, this vast antiquity has never been yielded up to a foreign power. Russians still rule Russia, as they did in the ages of Solon and Lycurgus. They have never lost their faith, either in their own strength or that destiny which they believe is with them. Nevertheless, a century and a half ago Muscovy was almost unknown to the world. She must be named among the youngest of civilized States. Thus, to all the advantages of a history reaching into the remote past, are added the advantages of a vigorous, aspiring youth. The Russian monarchy, throughout the long periods of its concealment, has been, so to speak, developing under ground; thrusting abroad, and striking down into

the soil, the roots of the tree which has at length attracted the gaze of the world. If it be such in the germ, what shall it be in its maturity? We tremble to think of the manhood of that nation which, after existing two thousand years, is yet a child. As long ago as the time of the Athenian Republic, the foundation of the present power of Russia began to be laid; and while other nations have been springing up, growing old, and perishing around it, this preparatory work has gone steadily forward; and though only the lowest stones of the superstructure have as yet been placed, it already awes or excites the jealousy of half the world.3

2

Such is the power with which the Greek church, after its many misfortunes, has at length become connected. The type of mind which it represented in its early ages, can be traced back to the beginning of the history of redemption. Christianity grew less Oriental, in its modes of expression, as it made further progress among the nations of the West; and when the spiritual authority of Rome became worldwide, like her temporal dominion, the Eastern Christians very naturally were disturbed. While Occidental tastes only

1 "The Russian, therefore," says Mr. Bancroft, after stating the case, "is of all the present European peoples the one which may lay the best grounded claims to antiquity of residence in its present abodes. In the darkness of ancient centuries, extending over vast plains, into which the genius of Greece and the arms of Rome never penetrated, this people were slowly ripening to nationality during the ages of classic splendor, when Solon gave laws to the Athenians, and Rome strove after principles of public justice and liberty."

2 There have been domestic revolutions; yet these seem to have been peaceful comparatively, and to have resulted uniformly in the greater prosperity of the nation. All is tradition and vague conjecture up to the time of the republic Novgorod. That lasted till sometime after the middle of the ninth century, when the dynasty of Rurick commenced, which was succeeded by the Romanow family.

8 Many persons predicted that the Russian empire would begin to wane after the death of the late Czar. Nicholas. Such, however, does not seem to be the fact. The present emperor has already distinguished himself in his negotiations with other powers; and by his efforts to recover from the effects of the late war, to elevate his people and develop the natural resources of his empire. Should he. or any other Czar, prove false to "the destiny of Russia," we may infer from the cast what the consequences would be. Some secret means would probably be moloy d o hry him out of the world, and a more energetic member of cond take his place.

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were consulted in the ecclesiastical regimen, they felt themselves neglected and more or less trammelled. A different nationality, language, and intellectual habit; different social customs and impatience of a foreign yoke, alienated them, or rather prevented them from ever agreeing with the Latins. Upon the founding of Constantinople, these peculiarities began distinctly to show themselves. Neither party desired a separate organization at first, but only to become predominant over the other. For a time, owing to temporary causes, the struggle turned in favor of the Greeks; but ultimately Roman will, aided by a powerful prestige and the nations of Western Europe, triumphed. Thereupon the Eastern church was excommunicated, and has ever since been regarded as a schism by Romanists; just the reverse of which would probably have been the fact, had the conflict terminated in favor of the Orientals. After the conquest of the Eastern empire by the Turks, the Greek church lay in an utterly prostrate condition for want of a civil protector. At length, however, it has found a champion in the great Northern power of Europe. It possesses resources, and is beginning to breathe a spirit such as gave the victory to the Latin church in former times. Nothing but expansion, and a firm establishment in the country of the United States, can save the papacy from decaying, through the same causes which proved fatal to the Greek church in a former age. With Russia, this latter organization is now destined to rise, and flourish, and reign; not to reign in any high and scriptural sense, for how degraded must the most powerful church appear when it is but an instrument in the hand of secular authority; but destined to reign in a better sense, more permanently, and on a broader scale than when it enjoyed the protection of the Eastern Cæsars. Its history is yet to be written; the most brilliant parts of that history are yet to be acted. If the facts to which we have just adverted may be taken as the shadows of what is to come, the Greek church need not be disheartened on account of its reverses heretofore. It can be patient. It can afford to wait. Calmly and cheerfully may it bide its time. A prospect is opening

before it, in the anticipation of which it can smile on the past. If the omens of the future be not very deceptive, the day is coming when IT shall be the triumphant, and Rome the down-trodden, church. Then Greek Christianity shall have its partial historians, who, with unwearied pen, shall tell the story of its conflicts, its reverses, and its final victories-ever and anon throughout their ponderous tomes, ablaze with the successes and oblivious of the errors of their mother church, pointing the reader to some dishonest footnote, which shall allude to the great Italian schism with a pious sneer; and Protestantism, in its battles with this last corrupter of the truth, shall forget the falsehoods and usurpations of the papal power.

ARTICLE II.

THE TRUE THEORY OF MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN.1

BY REV. W. W. PATTON, CHICAGO, ILL.

A THOUGHT lies behind every deed, an idea is illustrated in every achievement. The ideal may be but dimly revealed in the consciousness of him who labors at the practical; yet by it is his work guided and his toil sublimed. Plans which are comprehensive in their scope, should find their justification and encouragement in true theories; for, if advocated upon false grounds, they will either entirely fail of success, or will be feebly prosecuted and attended by mortifying and disastrous imperfections. No cause can permanently triumph, which does not vindicate its claims to the minds of intelligent men. Action, to be vigorous and sustained,

1 Christian Missions: their Principles and Practice. for July 1856.

Westminster Review

Christian Missions. North British Review for August 1856.

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