THE Greek Church comprises the great bulk of the Christian population of Russia and Greece, Moldavia and Wallachia, besides various congregations scattered throughout the provinces of the Turkish and Austrian empires, who acknowledge the patriarch of Constantinople as their head.

The opinions of this church bear considerable affinity to those of the Latin, or Roman Catholic. The fundamental distinction is the rejection of the spiritual supremacy of St. Peter, and the denial of any visible representative of Christ upon earth. In the view which it takes of the Holy Ghost it is also at variance, not only with the Roman Catholic church, but with Protestants.* It recognises, however, the seven sacraments; authorises the offering of prayer to the saints and Virgin; and encourages the use of pictures, though forbidding the use of images. It holds in reverence, also, the relics and tombs of holy men; enjoins strict fasting and the giving of alms, looking upon them as works of intrinsic merit; and numbers among its adherents numerous orders of monks and nuns. It allows, however, the marriage of its secular priests, and rejects auricular confession. It holds that modified form of the Roman doctrine of the eucharist, which is denominated consubstantiation; and apparently entertains some confused notions of a purgatory, in consideration of which it offers prayers for the dead. It administers baptism by immersion.

*The variation consists in the idea, that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son alone, and not from the Father and the Son.

The services of this church consist almost entirely of ceremonial observances.

Preaching and the reading of the Scriptures form but a small part of them; the former, indeed, was at one period altogether forbidden in Russia.

The origin of the separation which has now prevailed for many hundred years between two such important sections of Christendom as the Latin and Greek churches, approaching so near as they do in many of their fundamental principles, is to be attributed to the rival pretensions set up by the bishops of the two imperial cities, Rome and Constantinople, and dates almost from the foundation of the latter capital. The Roman branch continued, however, still powerful in the East, and the intrigues of the papal see were frequently successful; until in 1054, the mutual excommunications pronounced upon each other by Leo IX. and Cerularius, caused the final separation which has continued to the present day.

ROMAN CATHOLICS.

The following are the great points of Catholic belief, by which they are distinguished from other Christian societies; and these are the only real and essential tenets of their religion:

1. They believe that Christ has established a church upon earth, and that this church is that which holds communion with the See of Rome, being one, holy, catholic, and apostolical.

- 2. That we are obliged to hear this church; and, therefore, that she is infallible, by the guidance of Almighty God, in her decisions regarding faith.

3. That Saint Peter, by divine commission, was appointed the head of this church, under Christ its founder; and that the Pope or Bishop of Rome, as successor to Saint Peter, has always been, and is at present, by divine right, head of this church.

4. That the canon of the Old and New Testament, as proposed to us by this church, is the word of God; as also

such traditions, belonging to faith and morals, which being originally delivered by Christ to his apostles, have been preserved, by constant succession, in the Catholic church.

5. That honour and veneration are due to the angels or God and his saints; that they offer up prayers to God for us; that it is good and profitable to have recourse to their intercession; and that the relics or earthly remains of God's particular servants are to be held in respect.

6. That no sins ever were, or can be, remitted, unless by the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ; and, therefore, that man's justification is the work of divine grace.

7. That the good works which we do, receive their whole value from the grace of God; and that by such works, we not only comply with the precepts of the divine law, but that we thereby likewise merit eternal life.

8. That by works, done in the spirit of penance, we can make satisfaction to God, for the temporal punishment, which often remains due, after our sins, by the divine goodness, have been forgiven us.

9. That Christ has left to his church a power of granting indulgences, that is, a relaxation from such temporal chastisement only as remains due after the divine pardon of sin; and that the use of such indulgences is profitable to

sinners.

10. That there is a purgatory or middle state; and that the souls of imperfect Christians therein detained, are helped by the prayers of the faithful.

11. That there are seven sacraments, all instituted by Christ; baptism, confirmation, eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy order, matrimony.

12. That, in the most holy sacrament of the eucharist, there is truly, really, and substantially, the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ.

13. That, in this sacrament, there is, by the omnipotence of God, a conversion, or change, of the whole substance of the bread into the body of Christ, and of the whole substance of the wine into his blood, which change we call TRANSUBSTANTIATION

14. That, under either kind, Christ is received whole and entire.

15. That, in the mass, or sacrifice of the altar, is offered to God, a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the dead.

16. That, in the sacrament of penance, the sins we fall into after baptism are, by the divine mercy, forgiven us. Such is a succinct summary of the main articles of belief in the Roman Catholic church.

Mr. Pitt, in the year 1788, requested to be furnished with the opinion of the Catholic clergy and foreign universities on certain important points. Three questions sent to the universities of Paris, Louvain, Alcala, Douay, Salamanca, and Valladolid, were thus unanimously answered-First, "That the Pope, or cardinals, or any body of men, or any individual of the church of Rome, has not any civil authority, power, jurisdiction, or pre-eminence whatsoever within the realm of England. Second, That the Pope or cardinals, &c. cannot absolve or release his majesty's subjects from their oath of allegiance, upon any pretext whatsoever. Third, that there is no principle in the tenets of the Catholic faith, by which Catholics are justified in not keeping faith with heretics or other persons differing from them in religious opinions, in any transactions either of a public or a private nature."

In the history of the church, there have been seventeen general councils, and to these is attached, by Roman Catholics, infallibility. In the Council of Trent, the last of them, and which continued in session from 1545 to 1563, the tenets of their religion were embodied, and the summary is exhibited in Pope Pius's Creed, containing the substance of the decrees and canons of this council.

It may not be unacceptable to the reader to have this Creed inserted in this place. It is required to be subscribed by the members of this Church on various occasions:

"I, N. N., with a firm faith, believe and profess all and every one of those things which are contained in that creed which the holy Roman Church maketh use of. To wit. I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of

Heaven and Earth, of all things visible and invisible: And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages; God of God; Light of Light; true God of the true God; begotten, not made; consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. Was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures; sits at the right hand of the Father, and is to come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, and Lifegiver, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And (I believe) One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

"I most steadfastly admit and embrace Apostolical and Ecclesiastical Traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the same Church.

"I also admit the Holy Scriptures, according to that sense in which our holy Mother the Church has held, and does hold; to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures: neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.

"I also profess that there are truly and properly seven sacraments of the New Law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all for every one; to wit: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; and that they confer Grace; and that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Order cannot be reiterated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the received and approved ceremonies of the Catholic Church, used in the solemn administration of the aforesaid sacraments.