-V—

Rcfe^SSH SE

^v,

This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in
cooperation with Yale University Library, 2008. You
may not reproduce this digitized copy of the book for
any purpose other than for scholarship, research,
educational, or, in limited quantity, personal use. You
may not distribute or provide access to this digitized copy
(or modified or partial versions of it) for commercial purposes.

KOMANISM IN RUSSIA.

WOEKS ON EE-UNION,
PUBLISHED BY J. T. HAYES.

First and Second Series. In Two vols., each 5s., by post, 5s. id.
1. SEEMONS on the BE-UNION of CHEISTENDOM. By
Members of the English, Homan, and Greek Churches.
Price 6s. ; by post, 6s. id.
2. ESSAYS on the BE-UNION of CHEISTENDOM. By
Members of the English, Roman, and Greek Churches. With an Intro
ductory Essay on LTJTHERANISM. the SCANDINAVIAN BODIES,
and the CHURCH of the UNITED STATES, by the Rey. Dr. Posey.
Price 3s. 6d. ; by post, 3s. lOd.
3. The HOLYEASTEBN CHUBCH: a Popular Outline of its
History, Doctrines, &c. With Preface by the Kev. Dr. Littlbdale.
Price Is. ; by post, Is. Id.
4. A BEIEF COMPAEISON of the FUNDAMENTAL DO0-
TitlNES of the ANGLICAN and GREEK CHURCHES. By Rev. J. 0.
Bagdon, late English Chaplain at Zante.
Price 7s. 6d. ; by post, 8s.
5. The ARMENIAN CHUECH: a Sketch of its History, Liturgy,
Doctrine, and Ceremonies. By E. E. K. Eoetescue.
Price 5s. ; by post, 5s. 5d.
6. The LITUEGY of the CHUECH of SAEUM. Translated
from the Latin. By C. Walkee.
Price 5s. ; by post, 5s. 5d.
7. SANCTA CLAEA on the THIETY-NINE AETICLES.
Edited by Rev. Dr. Lee.
Price 4s. ; by post, 4s. 3d.
8. EEV. E. S. FFOULKES'S LETTEES to AECHBISHOP
Mansiho : I. The Church's Creed or the Crown's Creed ; II. The Roman
Index. Price Is. ; by post, Is. Id.
9. Is the WESTEBN CHUECH under ANATHEMA? By
Rev. E. S. Efoulkes, B.D.
Price 6s. ; by post, 6s. 4d.
10. The VIEGIN MAEY and the TEADITION of PAINTEES.
By Rev. J. G. Ciay, British Chaplain at Messina.
Price 2s. 6d.; by post, 2s. 9d.
11. The HYMNS of the EASTEEN CHUECH. Translated by
Key. Dr. Neale. Price 6s. ; by post 6s. 4d.
12. The PEIMITIVE LITURGIES, IN GEEEK, of S. MARK,
S. CLEMENT, S. JAMES, S. CHRYSOSTOM, and S. BASIL. Edited by
Rev. Dr. Neale, with Preface by Rev. Dr. Littledale.
Price 4s. ; by post, 4s. 4d.
13. The TEANSLATIONS of the PEIMITIVE LITUEGIES.
By Rev. Dr. Neale. Price 16s. ; by post, 17s.
14. The VALIDITY of the HOLY OEDEES of the CHUECH
of ENGLAND MAINTAINED. By Rev. E. G. Lee, D.C.L., F.S.A.

ROMANISM IN RUSSIA:
AN HISTORICAL STUDY.

THE COUNT DMITEY TOLSTOY,
MINISTER OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION.
TRANSLATED BY
MRS. M'KIBBIN.
WITH PREFACE BY
THE EIGHT EEV. EOBEET EDEN, D.D.,
Bishop of Moray, Eoss, and Caithness, Primus.
VOL. I.

LONDON :
J. T. HAYES, LYALL PLACE, EATON SQUAEE ; AND
4, HENEIETTA STEEET, COVENT GARDEN.
1874.

LONDON
SWIFT AND CO., REGENT PRESS, KINO STREET,
REGENT STREET, W.

R7

PEEFACE.

Nothing could te more opportune than the appear
ance of .these interesting volumes at this moment.
The union of the Eoyal and Imperial Families of
England and Eussia, by the marriage of the Duke
of Edinburgh, son of the Queen of England, with
the only daughter of the Emperor of Eussia, has
shown, together with that of the Prince of Wales
' with a Princess of Denmark, that our Eoyal alli
ances are no longer restricted to the Protestant
families of Germany. But this marriage is not
only a union of Eoyal and Imperial families j it
is also (and this invests it with an intense in
terest) the union of a son of the Church of
England with a daughter of the Eastern Church.
This fact cannot fail to awaken in the minds of all
Englishmen, a desire to know something more
than they do at present of that Church, of which
the youthful Duchess of Edinburgh is a devout

VI PREFACE.
and faithful member. To that knowledge the pre
sent volumes will largely contribute.
The prevailing notion in the minds of most
Englishmen has been, that the Eussian Church,
which is the most powerful branch of the great
Eastern Church, is, in doctrine and discipline,
much the same as the Church of Eome, although,
I fear, it must be admitted that at present they
know very little about it. When English travellers,
who have witnessed on the Continent the Eites and
Ceremonies of the Eoman Church, have passed into
Eussia, and have witnessed there, for the first time,
the striking Eitual of the Eastern Church, so dif
ferent from the undemonstrative Eitual of their own,
in their ignorance ofthe characteristics of all Eastern
worship, they have jumped to the conclusion, that
Churches which exhibit such gorgeous Eitual in the
celebration of Divine Worship, and whose members
reverently and devoutly cross themselves, cannot
be very different from each other ; and they have
thus raised an unfair prejudice against the Eussian
Church, a prejudice which has stood in the way
of that approach towards Intercommunion between
the Anglican and Eastern Churches which is so

PREFACE. Vll
earnestly desired by many members of both Com
munions. Any information, therefore, which can
serve to weaken or break down that prejudice, will
contribute towards drawing these two Churches
into closer communion. So long as it exists, and
that the differences between the two Churches are
supposed to be insuperable, so long will our ap
proach towards each other be barred. "If," as
the saintly and large-hearted Philaret, the late
eminent Metropolitan of Moscow, said to me in
the year 1866, " If the people of England think
that the Eussian Church is like the Eoman, I am
not surprised that they should entertain a very
strong feeling against it." Yet so little did that
great Prelate think that the revival of Intercom
munion between the two Churches was impossible,
that he expressed to me, in a very solemn manner,
his deliberate opinion, that " the Bishops and
learned men of the two Churches might be able to
reconcile the differences." In the new and near
relations into which we have now been brought, is it
too much to hope that an attempt may be made to
bring together, for such an object, " the Bishops
and learned men of both Churches ?" The subject

V1U PREFACE.
is one well worthy of consideration, in the prospect
ere long of another " Lambeth Conference."
It must, however, be clearly understood, that
the revival of Intercommunion with the Eastern
Church does not of necessity imply Union with
that Church. We all know what Union with
Rome means. It simply means absorption. Eome
rejects Intercommunion with any Church which
will not accept all its dogmas, and recognise, not
only the Supremacy, but now also the Infallibility,
of the Pope. The fatal adoption of this latter
heresy by the Church of Eome, has rendered the
re-union of the rest of Christendom with that
Church an impossibility. The Intercommunion
which we desire to see revived amongst the Or
thodox Churches of Christendom, is such Inter
communion as that which existed between the
members of independent Churches in the early
days of Christianity ; when differences, which were
not of Faith, were not allowed to break unity ;
when Polycarp could communicate with Anicetus ;
when the Christian subjects of one Bishop passing
into the Diocese of another Bishop, and carrying
with them letters certifying that they were in full

PREFACE. IX
communion with their own Bishop, were received
as brethren, and were readily admitted to the
Holy Eucharist. We are quite free to admit that,
in the present divided state of Christendom, the
revival of such Intercommunion must be the result
of a mutual understanding between the Bishops of
the different Churches, after such a Conference as
that suggested by the venerable Philaret. And if,
with the aim of accomplishing, in God's good
time, the object of our common Eedeemer's last
prayer, that we " all may be one," the many points
on which we agree are suffered in such a Con
ference, to have their due weight, as against the
comparatively few on which we differ, such a
mutual understanding may, with God's blessing, be
arrived at.
That the eminent and distinguished Statesman
who has given to us this Historical Sketch of
" Eomanism in Eussia," should have sanctioned
its translation into English, is an evidence of his
desire that Englishmen should understand the
relation in which the Eussian Church has, from
its earliest days, stood towards that of Eome, and
in which it stands at the present time. Eome, be

PREFACE.

it remembered, had no part in the conversion of
Eussia to Christianity. That was the work of the
Eastern Church, and hence the Eastern character of
the Liturgy, Eites, and Ceremonies of the Eussian
Church, retained to the present day with a tenacity
beyond all praise, in spite of the endeavours of the
Eoman Curia, continued through many centuries,
to bring that Church under the Papal sway, and
to compel her to surrender those very Eites and
Ceremonies which she had received by tradition
from her Mother Church. The whole history of
that Church is indeed a noble protest against the
claims of Eoman supremacy, which cannot fail to
attract the sympathies of English Churchmen.
Just cause, indeed, had the Eussian Church to
complain of Eome's incessant efforts to proselytize
her members, and thus create a schism amongst
her children. It is then to be hoped that, in the
closer relations into which we shall now be drawn
with that Church, she will never sanction any
such attempts in England, or awaken the suspicion
that she holds as a principle that there is no
salvation out of the Eastern Church. It must not
be forgotten that important differences do exist be-

PREFACE. XI
tween us ; differences, however, which may, we
trust, be reconciled by "the Bishops and learned
men of both Churches." And if it be found that
we do indeed hold the " One Faith and One Bap
tism," let us hope and pray that we may, ere long,
be united in one common Eucharist, and thus
present to the World an objective unity which has
not been witnessed for a thousand years.
E. E.
February, 1874.

CONTENTS. VOL I.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Attempts of the Courts op Eome to convert Eussia
to Boman Catholicism, from the Tenth Century
till the close . of the sixteenth ... 1
CHAPTER II.
The Czar John IV. (The Terrible) and the Jesuit
Possevin ..... ... 33
CHAPTER III.
Bole of Catholicism in the troubles of Eussia at
the beginning of the Seventeenth Century. —
Embassy of the Czar Alexis to Eome . . 84
CHAPTER IV.
Eomanism in Eussia from the Beign of the Czars
Peter and John until the Annexation of the
Western Provinces ...... 122
CHAPTER V.
Sketch of the History of Catholicism in Lithuania
under the Polish domination . . . 184

XIV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI. PAGE
Apercu History of the Dioceses in Lithuania . 244
CHAPTER VII.
State of the Latin Church in Eussia during the
Eeign of the Empress Catherine II. . . . 327

ROMAXISM IN RUSSIA.

CHAPTEE I.

ATTEMPTS OP THE COUBT OP EOME TO CONVEET
EUSSIA TO EOMAN CATHOLICISM, PEOM THE
TENTH CENTUBY TILL THE CLOSE OF THE
SIXTEENTH.

Contrast between the Eoman and Greek Clergy. — Useless
efforts of the Popes to convert Eussia to the Eoman Church
from the tenth till the fifteenth century. — Intrigues of the
Popes against the Eussian Princes. — Aversion of the Eussians
to Eoman Catholicism. — Writings of the Greek Clergy in
Eussia against Bomanism from the tenth till the twelfth
century. — Eoman Catholicism at Novogorod and at Pskoff. —
Eoman Catholicism at Eieff. — Latin Church at Novogorod in
the fifteenth century. — At this epoch Eome continues her
attempts at conversion. — Council of Florence. — Marriage of
John III. with Sophia Paleologue, arranged by the Pope with
the intention of converting the Eussian Prince to Eomanism. —
Eelations of the Grand Dukes of Eussia with Eome during
the sixteenth century. — Mission of the Dominican Schomberg,
1518. — Mission of Zacharie, Bishop of Gardieu, 1519. — Double
voyage of Paul Centurion, merchant, in Eussia. — Mission of
John Francis, Bishop of Scaren, 1526. — Invitation to Eussia
to take part in the Council of Trent. — Count Heberstein and
Sternberg sent to Eussia with this aim, 1550. — Instruction
VOL. I. B

53 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
given to the Venetian, Giraldo, 1561. — Tenacity of Eome. —
Cardinal Maronius and the Eussian envoys at the Diet of
Eatisbon. — Instructions given to Clenchen, agent of the Court
of Eome in Eussia, 1576. — Conviction of Cobenzi, agent of
the Emperor (Eoman), as to the facility of converting the
Eussians to Eomanism. — Error of Cobenzi. — Attachment of
the Eussians to their faith and their aversion to Eoman
Catholicism. — Testimony of Heberstein and of Herdenstein.
In uniting herself to the Greek Church which was
the cradle of the Faith, Eussia became not only
Christian, but received from her principles and
institutions different to those which reigned in the
West, and which, under many circumstances,
determined her position with regard to other
European powers. It was not so much the
dogmas of the hierarchical order, the spirit and
the tendencies of the Greek clergy, which sepa
rated Eastern Orthodoxy from Western Eomanism ;
Asceticism, the strict observance of Church pre
scriptions; reserve in all that concerned the
religious affairs of other Churches and the complete
absence of violent propagandism ; such- were the
characteristics of the Greek clergy.
The Eoman priesthood, on the contrary, subtle,
active, and proud, after having recognised their
Patriarch as the visible representative of the
Saviour Himself, endeavoured without ceasing to
confirm his spiritual power at home, and to
propagate it abroad.

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 3
The clergy at all periods, and particularly at the
foundation of the empires, exercising a great
influence upon the people, the character of the
Orthodox priesthood contributed to give the history
of Eussia a peculiar physiognomy, the traits of
which differ essentially from those of the histories
of Western nations. In the latter, the ecclesias
tical corps was perpetually at war with the temporal
power — with a nobility privileged and powerful —
in nearly every page of whose chronicles we find
kings, princes, and people excommunicated by the
Pope or the bishops. The Eoman priest pro
pagated his faith by the sword ; violence he raised
to a social institution through the Inquisition ; he
made the Compelle Intrare, falsely interpreted, the
principle and the base of his zeal. In the history
of Russia the contrary is to be found. The clergy
united their influence to that of the government ;
they sympathised with all classes of society, and
more than once saved their country. During the
space of ten centuries, the Patriarch Nikon was the
only one who placed himself in opposition to the
Czar, and — a significant fact — the antagonism of
the two powers was not the subjection of the one
to the profit of the other. The prince interfered
.as little in spiritual matters as the clergy in
political affairs. The two authorities marched side
b 2

4 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
by side in their respective spheres, and were only ;
rivals for the good of their country.
If Orthodoxy spread itself slowly, it was that
the clergy, strangers to violent propagandism,
applied themselves particularly to the care of the ¦
faithful, and had the good sense never to dream
of the unstable conquests upon which the Eoman
Church prided herself with so little reason. The
zeal of the priesthood was to be enlightened and
prudent, and their sole aim the glorification and
perfection of their own Church. Such was the
zeal of the Orthodox clergy.
With tendencies thus opposed, the two priest
hoods met at the period when the history of
Eussia commences.
Our first Christian King, Vladimir, had not yet
entered the Greek Church when the Pope proposed
to him to be baptized, and to introduce Eomanism
into Eussia. Tq the envoys of this mission
Vladimir repHed, " Eetum home ! Our fathers
never would accept it."* Later, Vladimir, being
already a Christian, having joined the Church,
determined to convert his people and disseminate
Christianity throughout his dominions, the Court
of Eome in 988 made proposals to him to- recognise
* "Eussian Annals." Edition of the Commission Archeolo-
gique. Page D6.

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 5
her supremacy, and sent delegates to present him
relics by way of a bribe. These attempts were
equally ineffectual. When Eussia had already
become Christian and her Church actually in
communion with that of Constantinople, Eome
continued her efforts, and the Eussian chronicles
report in the years 991 and 1000 the arrivals of
new envoys.
The ancient history of our country repeatedly
mentions the missions and epistles of the Popes
towards the same end. At all those epochs when
the country was in danger, when she was a prey
to calamities, the Popes were always there to
propose their good offices, and to promise the
assistance of other powers, under the express
condition that she should embrace Eoman Catho
licism. In 1075, the celebrated Pope Gregory VII.
took advantage of the request addressed to him by
the son of the Grand Duke Isaislaff; he begged
the King of Poland to re-establish Isaislaff upon
the throne, on condition that after being con
vinced of the power of the Pope, he should submit
to Eome. In 1164-66, Pope Alexander III.,
despatched a Bishop to Eussia, under pretence of
learning that which for a very long time Eome well
knew, the difference which existed between the
Greek and Eoman Churches. But the Metropo-

6 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
litan John, after having demonstrated in very
modest terms that the Eoman doctrine had no
foundation, adroitly counselled the Pope to address
himself to the Patriarch of Constantinople for
more precise information, as this bishop was the
principal pastor of the Eastern Church. "It is
better for your Holiness," he wrote to Alexander,
" to ask the Patriarch of Constantinople, your
spiritual brother ; you must display all your zeal to
dispel false doctrine, in order that we may be
united and have the same rites."*
In 1169, new ambassadors arrived again; but
the greatest efforts of the Court of Eome to dis
seminate her doctrines, took place in the first half
of the thirteenth century. The political circum
stances of the time and the progress of Eoman
Catholicism in other countries, seemed to presage
certain success. In 1204, Constantinople having
been taken by the Crusaders, a Latin Patriarch
replaced the Patriarch Greek. In 1201, the Order
of the Porte Glaives was founded in Livonia, not
far from the Eussian frontier ; and in the com
mencement of the same century, the Tartars began
to ravage the country. Eoman Catholicism tri
umphed, and Eussia stood on the brink of ruin.
*" Monuments of the Eussian Literature of the twelfth.
century." Page 209-211.

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 7
The Popes profited by circumstances so advan
tageous for them. The same year of the taking
of Constantinople, a legate of Eome presented
himself to Eoman, Prince of Galiez, invited him to
embrace Eomanism, and promised him many
temporal advantages. This embassy met with
little success. Drawing his sword, from its scab
bard, Eoman demanded of the legate, "Is the
sword of Peter, which is in the possession of the
Pope, like this ? If so, he can take towns for
himself, and give them to others ; but his conduct
will be contrary to the word of God, for the
Saviour forbade Peter to carry a sword. As for
me, I have the weapon which God has given me,
and while it is at my side, I have no occasion to
purchase cities otherwise than by blood, after the
example of my ancestors, who have enlarged the
limits of Eussia." Three years later, Cardinal
Vitalis arrived in Eussia on a mission to convert
the clergy and the laity to Eomanism. This at
tempt was equally ineffectual. In 1227, Honorius
III. addressed an invitation to all the Eussian
princes, and in 1231, Gregory IX. took the same
step with regard to the Grand Duke George
Wsrewolodowiez. Their epistles remained un
answered. The attempt to convert the Grand Duke

8 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Alexander Nevsky completely failed. In 1248,
Pope Innocent IV. sent two cardinals with a
letter to this prince, in which he intimated that
in submitting to Eome his power should not be
diminished but considerably augmented. "We
know the true doctrine," replied the Prince to this
Pope, " and decline to accept yours. We shall
not even recognise it." In 1255 the same Pope
sent the crown royal to Daniel, Prince of Galiez,
on condition that he should accept it from the
Court of Eome, his envoys promising assistance
on the part of the Pope. The better to dispose
the Prince to embrace Eomanism, Innocent
blamed the bishops of the West for interfering
in the Greek Church, and promised to convoke a
council to reunite the two churches. Daniel,
hoping to receive succour against the Tartars
through his intervention, decided to accept it
from his hand, but soon finding himself deceived
in his expectations he broke off all negotiations,
and the exhortations of Alexander IV. had no
effect on this Prince. History again mentions
that in the year 1387 the Papacy once more
directed envoys to turn their steps towards
Moscow.* * " Historica Bussias Monumenta." Book i. p. 84.

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA,. 9
Convinced by the experience of several centuries
of the uselessness of trying to convert the Eussians
to Eomanism, the Popes began to excite other
princes against them; sometimes forbidding the
Catholic monarchs of Christendom to make
alliances with them ; sometimes exciting these
against them. In 1231, Pope Gregory IX. forbade
the Bishop of Semigal to conclude an armistice
with the Eussians, without the consent of the
Legate. The following year he wrote to the
Archbishop of Gnesno that the Polish Princes
should not in their wars take the Eussians, whom
he called Catoliccea field inimicos, as allies.*"
Pope Alexander IV. authorised the Grand Duke of
Lithuania to make war on Eussia, and unite
her provinces to his possessions ; hut this autho
risation had no result, as peace was concluded
between Mindogwie and Daniel, Prince of Galiez,
the same year.
At last the same Pontiff had recourse to another
expedient to propagate Eomanism ; he sent the
Dominicans into Central Eussia.
What was it that induced this aversion of the
Eussians to Popery ?
In a biographical manuscript of the Grand Duke
* " Historica Russia Monumenta." Book i., p. 33.

10 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Alexander Nevsky, preserved in the library of the
Ecclesiastical Academy in St. Petersburg, we find
amongst other information " La Confession de
Saint Alexander Nevsky," containing a very
succinct enumeration of the differences between the
Greek and Eoman churches. Does this confession
actually appertain to the Grand Duke ? Is it not
a secondhand dissertation ? No matter. It has
its importance in an historical point of view, as we
see by it how the contemporaries of this prince
regarded Eoman Catholicism. In examining the
manuscript we find that no attention is paid to the .
political side of the question, that is, to the
Supremacy of the Pope, while there is an elaborate
mention made of the doctrines of that church ;
but it, was the rites or exterior side of the divine
office which repulsed the Eussians. For example,
the Azymes are called " stupid " in the manuscript.
This production is an exact expression of an epoch
when Theology, still in its infancy, attached more
importance to the form than to the spirit — when
the Liturgy appeared of more consequence than
the dogmas. After a brief expose of the orthodox
doctrine, the manuscript finishes thus : " Behold
our faith ! Those who do not profess it, or
profess otherwise, be cursed ! And thus we
curse you, miserable Latins." The envoys of

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 11
the Pope on hearing these words went confusedly
away. One cannot doubt that the higher order of
the clergy, and the princes their disciples, knew
perfectly well the differences which existed between
the two Churches. Accepting this fact, we shall
therefore limit ourselves to a citation of some of
the ecclesiastical works of that period which are
still extant : the writings of Leon, Metropolitan of
Kieff, who lived at the close of the tenth century,
and which treats of the Azymes ; * the letter of
Theodosius to the Grand Duke Isaislaff upon the
Latin and Varague religions ; the controversies of
George, Metropolitan of Kieff, 1065-79, with the
Latins ; the letter of the Metropolitan, John II.
1080-88, to Pope Clement III. ; and three epistles
against the Latins, attributed to the Metropolitan,
Nicephorus, addressed, one to the Grand Duke
Vladimir Monomach, one to a Prince whose name
is not mentioned, and the third to the Prince of
Mourome, Jaroslaw Swiatoslawiez, 1096-1129.
Desiring to understand the causes of the separa
tion of the churches 'of the East and West,
Monomach addressed himself to the Metropolitan,
and the response to this question was the subject
* " Annuaires de la Societe d'Histoire et d'Antiquites de
Moscow." Tom. v. 2, p. 1-18.

12 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
of the letter of Nicephorus, in which we find the
twenty principal points of separation enumerated,
with their explanations. In conclusion, the Metro
politan expresses himself thus : " And read this,
my prince, not once or twice, but many times,
thou, thyself, and thy sons. It behoves princes,
the elect of God, called to profess the true faith,
to know thoroughly the words of Christ, and the
fundamental basis of religion, that they may
defend it, preserve it in all its purity, and spread
it by every means in their power, amongst the
subjects whom God has confided to their care." *
In the eleventh century, the Grand Duke
Isaislaff Jaroslowiez sent the same question to
Theodosius, Prior of the Convent of Peczersk.
The treatise upon the Latin Church, which was
written in reply to this question, and to which we
have alluded elsewhere, contains not merely an
exposition of the exterior differences, which most
forcibly struck contemporaries, but also an expla
nation of the points of ecclesiastical discipline
which separated the two churches, and accused the
Eoman clergy of grasping and worldly tendencies,
such as absolutions purely exterior ; their custom
of going to battle sword in hand; proselytism,
* " Monuments de la Literature Eusse du douzieme siecle."
Page 163.

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 13
extreme and violent, unflinching and inveterate,
which never tolerated the exercise of another
religion ; and the celibacy of the clergy, so
extremely repugnant to the Greeks. A contem
porary better describes the ideas of the epoch : —
" They do not ask God but the Priests to pardon
their sins, they do not take legitimate wives, but
live in concubinage, which state does not hinder
them performing the holy offices of religion,
for in this state of concubinage they see no
crime ; their bishops openly keep mistresses ; they
go to war, and wear rings on then- fingers. Great
are the persecutions which they (the Latins') oblige
Christians of other denominations, who live amongst
them, to endure." Theodosius deduced Lorn this
that the Latin, or as it was then called in Eussia,
the Vareque religion, was pernicious, and its laws
impure. He counselled the prince to be upon his
guard, and exhorted the Orthodox not to be
caught by the tricks of the Propaganda. " There
fore," he adds, " fly the religion of the Latins ;
hold not with their customs ; imitate not their
genuflexions, and do not listen to their sermons,
for their doctrines are all false." In con
sequence of this view of the Eoman Church,
we find the Eussians forbidden to contract
marriages with Eoman Catholics, and to have as

14 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
little intercourse with them as possible. "It is
forbidden," he again says, " to take wives from
amongst them, or give thy daughters to them
in marriage, to become then sponsors, to fraternise
with them, to embrace them, or eat with them
in the same vessel. To those of them who ask
alms, give, for the love of God, but in their own
dish ; and if they have none, use thine own, but
after they have eaten, wash it and purify it by
prayer ; for he who shall hold himself aloof from
them, and guard his faith pure, shall be admitted
to the right hand of God, and enter into his
eternal rest. But those who pass over to them,
shall be found on the left hand of God, in the
midst of eternal tears, for there is no eternal life
for those who live in the Latin religion."
These instructions, as well as those which follow,
prove that the Eussians of the eleventh century had
frequent relations with Eoman Catholics, and that
the spirit of Latin propagandism was already per
fectly known to them. The Eussian clergy tried
to preserve their 'flocks, as much by then advice as
by /the temporal power of the State, which was
constantly allied with and sustained the Church.
But, if on the one hand, the Eussian clergy defied
the Eoman Propaganda, on the other they preached
pity and demanded protection for the Eoman

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 15
Catholic. They protected their own estate, and
desired not that of another. " One should not
praise then religion," continues the prior, "for
he who praises then doctrine, indirectly blames his
own ; he who eulogises a religion different to the
Orthodox faith has two beliefs, and therefore
approaches heresy. And thou, my son, guard well
thy actions, be not seduced by their dogmas, fly
from them, cease not to value thy creed, and
fortify thyself with good actions. Be charitable,
not only to thy co-religionists, but to strangers.
If one be naked, clothe him ; if hungry and in
distress, pity him. If amongst them there be
heretics, even Latins, have the same mercy on
them, save them from misery, and the recom
pense of God shall not fail thee. God himself
nourishes and supports the world, the Pagan as
well as the Christian. My son, if thou assist at or
take part in a controversy between an orthodox
and a heretic who would seduce the orthodox from
the true faith, fly to the assistance of thy brother
in the faith, sustain him, like a good pastor, save
thy flock from the roaring lion ; for if thou art silent
thou wilt drive him from Christ and give him up to
Satan. If such a one say to thee that God has
given this religion, reply " Believest thou, mis
creant, that God has two religions ? Dost thou

16 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
not know, to understand the dogmas of their faith,
cursed and perverted by a false belief, that it is
written, the Saviour hath said, " There is only one
God, one baptism, and one faith."*
The other works referred to of the Eussian
clergy upon the Latin Church contain nearly the
same ideas. It is unnecessary to make a more
detailed mention of them.
According to several authentic documents, one
cannot doubt that from the twelfth century there
were Eoman Catholics in several places in Eussia,
and not only Catholics but even priests of this
Church, as well as chapels, particularly at Novo
gorod. It is from this period we date the
commencement of the real Latin Propaganda in
this country.
In the chronicle of Laurent, 1154, mention is
made of an invasion of the Polowzi on Pereiaslaff
and its environs, when several A'illages and a
Eoman Catholic chapel were burnt.
In the chronicle of Nikon, 1174, we find the
Grand Duke of Kieff, Jaroslaw Isaislawier, im
posing a tribute on the inhabitants of that city,
and amongst others "the Latins" who resided
there. At Ladoga there was a Eoman church
* Manuscript belonging to Monsieur Pogodin, to be found
in the Public Library of St. Petersburg.

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 17
called Nicolas. At Novogorod some Eussians even
commenced to baptize their children according to
the rites of the Eoman CathoMc religion, for
which they were subjected to public penitence for
six weeks — "as people who had, so to speak, two
religions." On the other hand, there were ac
cording to all probability also cases of conversion
to the Greek faith; for we find at this epoch
detailed instructions as to the manner in which
Eoman Catholics should be received into the
Orthodox Church.
In general Novogorod and Pskoff as free and
commercial towns, in constant communication with
the Hanse, the neighbourhoods of Lithuania, of
Livonia, and of Sweden were, more than all the
other cities of Eussia, exposed to Eoman prose-
lytism. Thus in the time of John Calita the
Swedes tried to convert the Novogorodians ;
similar attempts on the part of Lithuania and
Poland were repeated on several occasions. It
seemed that the Propaganda might count upon
eventual success in commercial cities, where for
the most part the theological knowledge of the
local clergy was not extensively developed, ac
cording to the testimony of the chronicle. But
the case was altogether different at Kieff, where
for a very long period the Eussians had had
VOL I. c

18 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
relation with foreigners, and the clergy were much
more civilised. "We hear," said one of the
chroniclers, "that actually in Kieff there are
theologians and learned men who write replies to
different heresies and base them on the Holy
Scriptures. Every one there learns and even tries
to argue on and to defend orthodoxy against the
attacks of strangers of other religions, and the
Eussians of the South learn from infancy to
understand well the dogmas of their faith.
With us, on the contrary, religious education is
completely neglected ; there are even priests
who do not know how to recite the symbols
of their faith, and dread even to speak of a
religion which it puzzles them to explain. Do
such men deserve even the name of Christian
pastors ? It is necessary to be Christian not only
7
in name but in fact; for it is written " Show me
thy faith by thy works." To confirm the people
in the doctrines of the Greek Church, the bishops
of other dioceses frequently visited and sojourned in
these cities. Thus, in 1382, Nile, Patriarch of
Constantinople sent Denys, Bishop of Sousdal to
Pskoff and Novogorod, and he taught the people
with the permission of the bishop of the place,
in order that God might fortify them, writes
the chronicler, against the seductions of late

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 19
years, that their faith should not be tainted by
heresy. In the fifteenth century we find a Eoman Catho
lic Chmch actually in Novogorod, about which a.
curious tradition is preserved. In 1416, with the
consent of the Possadniks of Novogorod, several
foreign merchants built a church in the Slave
Street for the use of their factory, but not content.
with the celebration of the divine office for them
selves, they conceived the project of making it an
instrument of the Latin Propagand ; and without
informing the bishop, they agreed with a painter
(Eussian) to paint the southern side of the exterior
with the images of the Saviour and SS. Peter and
Paul, and thus attract the population of the locality
by its resemblance to the exterior ornaments of
the Greek Church. " They caused these images
to be executed by a Eussian painter," adds the
chronicle, "as all orthodox Christians have a horror
of what is made by the hands of the Latins."
" When the images were finished," says tradition,
"there arose a terrible tempest, followed by
thunder and lightning ; hail and rain struck the
painting and effaced it completely ; shortly after a
calm set in. The designs of the Latins were
abortive, and orthodox Christians glorified God for
this great miracle.
c2

20 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
The Latin Propagand in the Eussian possessions
had naturally its source in Eome. Two letters of
the year 1418 exist, by which Pope Martin V.,
named the King of Poland, Vladislas Jagellon, as
well as the Grand Duke of Lithuania, his vicars
general in the countries of Eussia, exhorting them
to exert all their efforts towards the re-union of the
Eastern Church to Eome, and to bestow particular
attention upon Novogorod and Pskoff.
These attempts of the Propagand were not
particular or local. The scheme of the general
conversion of Eussia to Eoman Catholicism had
already been conceived for a long time ; and the
Court of Eome, always faithful to its system, never
ceased to send ambassadors into the country.
The council of Florence, if without any other
result,* had in appearance forced the Court of
Eome to postpone to a more opportune period the
execution of her designs, without altogether
abandoning her favourite view of seeing Eussia
converted to Eomanism. With this aim, Pope
Paul II. negotiated, in 1472, the marriage of
Sophia, niece of the last Emperor Constantine
Paleologue, with the Grand Duke John III. Was-
sitiewich. When Greece became a conquest to
* Histoire du Concile de Florence, by M. Gorsky, based
upon the testimony of Syropoulo.

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 21
the Turks, the Princess Sophia left it with her
father and went to Eome, where she was educated
in the principles of the Council of Florence. The
Court of Eome founded on her its hopes of drawing
the Grand Duke to Eomanism. This point gained,
the Pope did not doubt of the possibility of
converting the Eussian people subject to thewill
of their sovereign. He was so much the more
disposed to believe in the possibility of this result,
as the alliance of a Eussian prince with the
Imperial Greek house would give greater eclat to
autocracy. A legate of the name of Antoine
accompanied the princess to Eussia. Once more,
however, Eome saw all her schemes and combina
tions frustrated. Sophia became a fervent ortho
dox in Moscow.
In the sixteenth century, the relations of the
sovereigns with Eome were frequent enough.
Eome was the more induced to seek an alliance
with Eussia, and contract lasting bonds with the
Czars, from her constant fear of an invasion of the
Turks in Western Europe. At this epoch, the
Popes comprehended perfectly that such an alliance
would not be durable, unless based on a re-union of
the East and West, — religion then directing and
giving an impulse to politics. With this
view we find the frequent embassies of the

22 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
legates and agents of Eome, which followed
each other so rapidly in the course of the
sixteenth century.
In 1518, Pope Leo X., intending to proclaim
to the Council of Lateran a crusade against the
Sultan Selim, sent the Dominican, Nicolas Schom-
berg (afterwards Archbishop of Capua and a
Cardinal), on a mission to persuade the Grand
Duke Basil to accept the decision of the
Council of Florence, and to fight the Turks, con
jointly with the other European sovereigns. He
enjoined him to promise the Grand Duke, as a
recompense, the crown royal, and to give the
Metropolitan the title of Patriarch. " All that
thou shalt promise the Czar for the adoption
of the Eoman Catholic religion," he wrote, in
his instructions to the Dominican, " shall be
infallibly and positively confirmed by us without
the least change. Be persuaded that the perform-'
ance shall justify the veracity of thy promises.
This embassy carried out according to the Pope's
intentions by the Grand Master of the German
order of Albrecht, had nevertheless no success. The
Grand Duke ordered his envoy Z amy ski to inform
the Grand Master, " Our sovereign desires amity
and good relations with the Pope ; but as he has
always been firmly attached to the Greek religion,

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 23
inherited from his fathers, he intends, by the grace
of God, to hold to his faith." *
Notwithstanding this check, Leo X. the following
year, 1519, sent a new delegate, Zacharie, bishop
of Gardieu, who was then at Wilna for the
canonisation of St. Casimir, to make the same
propositions to the Grand Duke. This mission
had as little success as its predecessors.
In 1524, Paul Centurion, a Genoese merchant,
arrived in Eussia, furnished with letters of recom
mendation by Leo X. His intention was to
explore a passage to India for commercial purposes
in spices, and he was enjoined to endeavour to
induce the Court of Eussia to adopt the idea of the
re-union ofthe two churches. This same Genoese
was despatched a second time to Eussia. by Pope
Clement VII., to induce the Grand Duke to
acknowledge the supremacy of Eome, with the
¦habitual bribe of the Crown royal. According to
the testimony of Paul Jovius, Centurion persuaded
the Grand Duke to send Guerassimoff, or as he
was called by strangers, Erasme, as ambassador to
Eome — a man of already advanced age, who had
been educated in Livonia, and who held the
position of resident (Minister) to the Kings of
* Correspondance des Papes avec les Souverains de Eussif.
16me siecle. P. 94-100.

24 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Sweden and Denmark, Grand Master of the
Prussian Order, and of the Emperor Maximilian.
This embassy, to which Centurion united him
self, arrived in Eome in 1526, with letters from the
Grand Duke. In these epistles he expressed his
disposition towards the Court of Eome, and his
readiness to ally himself to the other Christian
sovereigns against the infidels, but made no
allusion to religion. This mission was therefore
only one of simple politeness, and, notwithstanding
the exquisite affability of the Pope and the attentions
paid the Eussian Envoy, had no other result.*.
They had prepared for the Eussian envoy an
apartment in the best part of the Palace of St.
Peter ; and Francis Cherato, Bishop of Aprutino
received commands to accompany him through the
city of Eome, and point out the antiquities, t
In 1526, the same Pope, Clement VII., at the
time of the departure of Guerassimoff from Eome,
sent with him Jean Francois, Bishop of Scarene,
as his ambassador to Eussia. The principal aim
of this ambassador was to induce the Grand Duke
to conclude an armistice with Sigismond, King of

* Correspondence of the Popes, &c, p. 15-16.
+ Fragmento concernenti la legazione de Demetro Erasmo
mandato a papa Clemente VII. de Basilo gran duca di
Moscovia.

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 25
Poland ; the bishop succeeded ; and an armistice
was concluded at Mojaisk for six years, and the
same year the Grand Duke sent as ambassadors to
Eome Troussoff and Ladyguin.* Details of this
mission fail, but it is quite certain that it did not
succeed. From this epoch to the middle of the sixteenth
century there was no relation between Eome and
Eussia. During this interval the Eeformation had
spread rapidly, not only in Western Europe but in
Poland. Luther and Calvin had become more
dangerous to Eome than the Sultans themselves.
The interior organisation of the Eoman Church
was in peril, and war with the Eeformation had
become the principal pre-occupation of the Court
of Eome, which believed itself destroying all op
position by convoking the famous Council of
Trent. At the time of the first convocation of
this Council, 1545-47, they thought not of
Eussia. But when the newly-elected Pope Julius
III. again assembled this Council in 1550, after an
interruption of three years, he despatched an
embassy to Moscow composed of Count Her-
berstein and a certain Sternberg, who had already
made a journey to Eussia. These envoys were to
* Correspondence of the Popes, &c, p. 25.

26 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
persuade the Grand Duke to adhere to the reunion
of the churches, and they were strictly enjoined to
insist on his sending an ambassador to Eome.
Historical Eussian Monumenta and the official
acts have not preserved any further details of this
mission, but we know that it was altogether
fruitless for the Pope, for the Czar Jean Was-
siliewich sent nobody there. In the month of May,
1552, -the proceedings of the Council of Trent
were again interrupted without having terminated
the grave affairs for which it had been called ; and
this time it was adjourned for a lengthened period ;
for ten years later the successor of Julius III.,
Pope Pius IV., convoked it anew in January, 1562.
This pontiff sent another ambassador to John with
an invitation to the clergy to take part in the council.
But we do not find in the Eussian archives any
details of this mission ; we do not even positively
know who were designated by the Pope to go
to Eussia. We only know that at the commence
ment of the year 1561 in the month of April, the
Pope had designated as his envoy, Zacharie, Bishop
of Farene; and that, in the September of the same
year, he charged the Venetian, Jean Giraldo, to go
to Moscow with the same propositions. It is
probable that this bishop for some reasons unknown
did not go to Moscow, and that he was replaced by

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 27
the Venetian. Giraldo was charged to say that
the Pope was gravely afflicted at the . progress of
the Lutheran heresy in Germany and other
countries, and prayed the Czar to send Eussian
ministers to discuss the re-union of tho two
Churches. He desired also that some Eussian
youths, well educated and endowed with capacity,
should be sent to Eome to finish their studies,
learn the Latin language and the rites of the
Eoman Church, so as to be able in time to become
the instructors of their fellow-countrymen. This
idea, as we shall see hereafter, was never abandoned
by the Court of Eome, and was put in execution,
not with regard to Eussians, it is true, but to the
united Greeks. All the efforts made by the Popes
to attract Eussia to the Council of Trent were
fruitless; the Council of Florence was too well
known and too well remembered by the Eussian
clergy, and they comprehended perfectly well what
sort of re-union the Papacy would establish between
the Churches at the Council of Trent.
Let us, nevertheless, render justice to the pro
digious tenacity of the Court of Eome, which would
take no rebuff during several centuries, notwith
standing the continual checks experienced in her
system of propagandism. Any other government
after so many fruitless efforts, would have abandoned

28 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
all projects against so distant a country, possessing
customs and laws different to those of the West,
of which the religion, the national existence, and
the interior political organization had an exceptional
character. Eome had more perseverance ! She
continued the same insinuating manoeuvres, the
same subterfuges, and the same seductions in
nearly the same forms ; hoping always for success,
and consoling herself for all these checks in think
ing that the Papacy lost nothing in reality.
Cardinal Maronius,* at the Council of Eatisbon,
met the Eussian envoys, and desiring to form
relations with the Muscovite Government on the
subject of religious affairs, requested them to take
charge of letters for the Czar John, and for a
certain Klenchen, then named agent in Eussia.
The plenipotentiaries replied that they were
expressly forbidden to receive anything in the
shape of letters, if not from the Emperor. The
missives of Maronius did not, therefore reach
then destination. Klenchen, doctor of theology,
was sent to Eussia in 1576, with detailed
instructions composed by Cardinal Maronius by
order of Pope Gregory XIII. These instructions
are extremely curious. They discover the inten-
* Bishop of Modena, President of the Council of Trent,
died 15G0.

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 29
tions of the Court of Eome, and the means to be
employed for success. Klenchen was ordered not
only to induce the Czar to contract an alliance
against the Turks, but what was particularly of
more importance to Eome, to obtain the re-union of
the two Churches; and to effect this, he was
enjoined to represent to the Czar, with the greatest
artifice and the most exquisite address, all the
advantages of such a re-union ; to explain to him
that the Pope had exalted several sovereigns to the
dignity of royalty, and that he should also attain the
same by complying with the requisitions of Eome.
He should remind the Czar that the Patriarch of
Constantinople, chief of the Church in Eussia, was
a subject of the Sultan, and that consequently it
was much more convenient and useful for Eussia
to submit to Eome. Cardinal Maronius being con
vinced that the Czar would eagerly consent to these
propositions,* ordered Klenchen to carry the answer
to the Pope himself, and, supporting himself by
anterior examples, persuade the Eussian govern
ment to send an embassy to Eome, as that would
be very agreeable to the Pope and the cardinals,
* Maronii Cardinalis ad magnum Moscovia? ducem et ad
Bodulphum Clenchen epistolas. " Non dubitamus magnum
ducem pro sua prudentia sponte id facturum quod cupimus."
Vide La Correspondance des Papes avec les Souverains de
Kussie.

30 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
writes Maronius, and serve as the first link in a
union so much to be desired. As far as one can
judge by the historical Monumenta of contempo
raries, the mission of Klenchen remained only a
project, probably in consequence of the death of
the Emperor, which happened the 12th October,
1576. The views of the Coiut of Eome with respect to
the conversion of Eussia to Eoman Catholicism
were participated in by other Catholic sovereigns,
as we find by a correspondence between Cobenzi,
the agent of the Eoman Emperor, in 1576, and a
Latin bishop. Proselytism appeared easy to
Cobenzi, as the Eussians were very religious and
attached to their faith. According to him, it
sufficed only to persuade them to put aside the
differences existing between the Eoman Catholic
and Greek doctrines, and in passing over thus to
Eomanism, they would preserve the same religious
spirit, the same zeal for the Church. It would not
be difficult, he thought, to bring about this con
version, as the Czar desired a political alliance as
much with the Pope as with the Eoman Emperor
and other European sovereigns. He could assure
him that the Eussian people had no aversion to
Eome ; on the contrary, many of them desired to
see the city with its sacred places, which reminded

ATTEMPTS OF ROME TO CONVERT RUSSIA. 31
them of martyrs for whom they had even more
veneration than the Latins themselves — particularly
for the Holy Virgin of Loretta, who was more
known to the Eussians than to many French and
Germans. Cobenzi further believed in the possi
bility of this re-union, as the Eussians much
disliked the Lutherans. When he expressed a
wish to see the image of St. Nicolas, the permission
had been accorded, because he belonged to the
Latin religion and not to the Lutheran. " Al
though the Eussians do not recognise purgatory,"
he wrote, " nevertheless they pray for the dead in
such a manner that the only difference between
them and Eoman Catholics lies only in the
words." Cobenzi rejoiced not a little at the possibility of
such a brilliant future for Eoman Catholicism.
The acquisition of Eussia would not only cover all
the losses of Eome in France and Germany, in
consequence of the Eeformation, but the compensa
tion would be to her advantage. One single
consideration frightened him ; it was that the
Eussians, only recognising the seven Oecumenical
Councils, and rejecting all others, could not
venerate the Pope as universal Head of the
Church. Such ideas about the Greek doctrine and those

32 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
who professed it, prove perhaps not so much his
ignorance of the state of Eussia as an exaggerated
zeal for his own faith, and led Cobenzi to believe easy
that which even for a more determined spirit offered
insurmountable difficulties. Strangers who visited
Eome before and after the correspondence quoted,
testify to the attachment of the Eussians to their
own Church, and their aversion to the Latins.
Herberstein relates that the Eussians recognised
as heretics and schismatics all those who did not
strictly adhere to the seven Oecumenical Councils,
and that they mistrusted them more than Ma
hometans, seeing in them only traitors to the
universal and primitive Church. After him
Heidenstein reports the same thing. " The
Eussians fly from the Latins as from a pest," he
says, " and will have nothing in common with
them." We find the opinions of the Eussians of the
sixteenth century still more plainly expressed in
the acts of the Czar John IV. (the Terrible), and in
his discussions with the legate of the Pope,
Possevin.

( 33 )

CHAPTEE II.

THE CZAE JOHN IV. (THE TEEEIBLE) AND THE
JESUIT POSSEVIN.

The war with Bathory, and his successes. — John, Seeing
nothing else possible, determines to apply to the Pope to arrange
terms with Poland. — Advantageous position of the Polish
King. — The Pope receives John's overtures, and sends an
envoy to conduct negotiations. — Wary conduct of John, and
his private views as to the designs of Borne. — Possevin. — Inter
view with the councillors of the Czar. — Possevin negotiates
peace with Bathory, and returns for his reward. — Possevin
taken up by John on the return of the envoy. — Their inter
view. — John menaces the envoy with his heavy stick. —
His kindness to Possevin afterwards. — 111 success of the
envoy's mission to convert John. — Eepeated attempts to do
so. — His views as to the probability of converting the
Eussians at some future time.
When Bathory, King of Poland, after seizing
Polotsk and Soukol, advanced towards the ancient
provinces of Eussia, the Swedes on the north, the
Turks and Nogays on the south, threatened the
frontiers of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. John
IV., seeing the impossibility of defending his
newly-acquired provinces with success, decided to
' try the mediation of Eome. Having neither allies
VOL I. D

34 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
nor forces sufficient to arrest the progress of an
enemy as active as Bathory, John believed that he
might count upon the influence of the Pope to ter
minate the war. But his adversary being a Eoman
CathoHc, and governing a people professing the
same faith, had received the Pope's blessing to
make war on Eussia, and even been promised tho
support of other Catholic sovereigns. The in
tervention of Eome, therefore, in the pacification
of the two countries was of the highest importance ;
his very inaction would be useful in the difficult
position in which John was placed. On the 25th
August, 1580, Istoma Schevriguin was consequently
despatched to Eome to negotiate. Theodore Poplin
accompanied him.
John foresaw that in return for any succour
Eome might accord, she would exact, not terri
torial or material concessions, but concessions in
matters of faith, and these might be of such a
nature, that considering the attachment of the
people to their faith, he could not, and would not,
grant them. Positive evidence exists as to the
Czar's knowledge of the views and tendencies of
Eome — that he comprehended that in case she
consented to aid him, her aim and ambition would
be his own conversion and that of his people to
Eomanism. He would therefore leave Eome to

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 35
her future experience on this subject, and make no
engagement. This policy is evident throughout
the instructions given to Schevriguin in the letter
written by John himself with the greatest prudence
to the Pontiff, and in the order given to the Pris-
taw who should accompany the Pope's envoy from
Smolensk to Staritska. This order expressly for
bade the discussion of religion with the envoy, the
Pristaw replying that he knew not how to read,
and not even to mention religion. In his letter to
the Pope and in his documentary instructions to
Schevriguin, the Czar does not make the most
distant allusion to this subject, and commanded
his ambassador not to hold any conference on
questions not specially mentioned in his instruc
tions. If asked, had he any private communication
to make, he should answer "only about the letter."
Schevriguin fulfilled conscientiously the commands
of the Czar ; he adroitly eluded all approach to
religious subjects, preserving the government on
the one hand from all reproach on the part of those
Eussians who might disavow promises incompatible
with the doctrines of the Greek church, and on the
other side from all recrimination on the part of
Eome for promises not fulfilled.
In the very circumstantial account which
Schevriguin has given of this embassy, we cannot
d2

36 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
discover a single negotiation on the all important
question. Possevin himself, the Pope's envoy,
does not make allusion to any engagements, and he
would scarcely have failed in remembering such, as
religion was the principal object of his mission to
Moscow. On Lis arrival in the capital, Possevin
handed in a memorandum of the affairs with which
he was charged, not omitting the grand point. On
this latter, however, John declined discussion, and
it was only on this point that Eome was induced to
take an active part in the affairs of the two
countries. John, by way of conciliation, had pro
posed an alliance of the Christian sovereigns of
Europe against the Turks; the proposal was not
contrary to his own faith, and it compromised him
in nothing with regard to Eome. But at heart he
could hardly entertain such an idea, as the position
of his own country was serious enough, and
exclusively claimed all his energy ; but he would
manoeuvre with Eome to attain certain ends, so
that the very term "alliance" should open up a
vast field for the hopes of . propagandists of
that Court. In a political alliance, Eome
would naturally see a preliminary step towards a
religious union. Besides, he had still another bait,
another reward for any services he might receive
— the concession of a free route to Venetian

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 37
merchants and others through Eussia to Persia.
Eome had for a long time desired this concession,
as Catholic missionaries usually accompanied the
merchants. Fully comprehending the consequences
of such a concession, John had refused it at the
time of the Pope's first overture to reconcile
him with Bathory; but he afterwards intimated
to Schevriguin that if similar proposals were
brought forward, he should advise the sending
by the Holy Father of a special ambassador to
Eussia, to arrange this business, or take upon
himself the commission when he should be return
ing home. By such means, John hoped for the
Pope's succour in assisting him to preserve the
integrity of his empire. The Eussian ambassador
was received in Eome with great pomp. The most
magnificent equipages were placed at his disposal,
and he was taken to see all the marvels of the
ancient capital of the world, especially to see all
that might impress him with the excellence and
the splendour of the Eoman Church, and the
expediency of the concentration of all Christian
confessions in her. He was introduced into a new
church built to receive the relics of Saints John
Chrysostom and Gregory. They invited him to
inspect a college where the Greeks studied Latin
theology — intended to facilitate the union of the

38 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
two churches — and, in fact, to see everything which
demonstrated the power and the omnipotence of
the Eoman Church and the Eoman Pontiff. He
remained in the Holy City more than a month, in
which interval nothing was spared that could strike
the senses or exalt the magnificence of the suc
cessor of St. Peter. But the Eussian was not so
easily trapped. It was neither the riches of the
churches, nor the pomp of the Latin services, but
the uselessness of many of them, that impressed
his mind; and the very means which the Court of
Eome counted on to allure and dazzle his senses,
consequently to secure his influence in the
momentous affairs in hand, produced only the
contrary effect.
The overtures of John were received with much
suavity. More than once Eome had endeavoured
to extend her power to Eussia, but this was the
first time that the sovereign of that empire had
seemed to anticipate her wishes, so at least she
flattered herself. At the close of May, 1581, the
Jesuit Possevin was selected to proceed to Moscow,
to negotiate a peace between John and Bathory,
and to sow the seeds of Eomanism in Eussia.
Antoine Possevin was born at Mantua, 1534, and
died 1611, at Ferrara. His ability and success in
the conversion of heretics was well known ; amongst

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 39
others attributed to him is that of John, King of
Sweden, who, in 1577, was said to have secretly
embraced Catholicism. The aim of his mission,
and the means to be practised towards its attain
ment, are amply detailed in his instructions.
Bathory was first to be induced to conclude a truce
with Eussia, but the affair was to be so arranged
that John should perfectly comprehend that he
owed it to Eome ; afterwards he was to be
influenced to form an alliance with the Pope, the
Emperor, and the other Christian sovereigns of
Em-ope, against the Turks. Having inspired John
with animosity against the infidels, this pohtical
part of the programme should terminate, and they
should pass smoothly over to the other and, to
Eome, more important bearing of the question;
Possevin proving to the Czar that an affiance could
hardly be durable or solid without union of Spirit,
and that this union could not exist unless he
adhered to the Catholic Church and recognised the
Pope as its Head and as Christ's Vicar upon
earth ; adding, that from the earliest Christian
epochs he had been acknowledged to as such by all
Christian monarchs, Eome being considerated the
most exalted of all Christian ecclesiastical Sees.
His arguments should be based on the Council of
Florence, a copy of the acts of which in the Greek

40 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
language was forwarded for his use ; and he should
prove that this Council had unanimously recognised
the Bishop of Eome as Head of the Church. The
decisions of this council could not be expugned,
the most enlightened theologians of the time taking
part in it ; and the Greek Emperor himself had, in
the name of all the East, recognised its com
petency, its authority, and its indisputably wise
resolutions. The Papal sovereignty had been
discussed to its foundation, and with the assistance
and intervention of the Holy Spirit, this Council
came to a decision which confirmed fully and
for ever the Pope's supremacy. The role of the
Jesuit, however, was principally to play upon the
passions of John, exciting his self-love, his vanity,
his political and religious fanaticism, and twisting
each and every weakness he might discover into a
string to pull him in the desired direction.
Assuredly the part allotted to Possevin in this
great scheme was one not unworthy the well-known
ability of the Jesuit. John's pride was to be
attacked by a representation of the dependency of
the Patriarch of Constantinople upon the Turkish
Sultan, and his pwn shameful position as the
dependent on the vassal of the Infidel — a position
unworthy his exalted rank, his wisdom, and his
power. How much better to acknowledge the

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 41
Pope as chief of the Church, whom all other
Christian monarchs submitted to, and who was in
truth the Vicar of Christ !
Supposing that the principal obstacle to such
schemes might be found in the Eussian clergy,
who, partly through then hostile disposition towards
the Latin Church and partly through their desire
to preserve their own influence, would spare no
pains to retain their sovereign in the faith of his
fathers, the Pope charged the Jesuit to exert
himself to conciliate and attract them. He was
also specially commanded to procure permission
for the construction of one or more Churches in
Moscow, without which, he should add, foreigners
could hardly come to open up a commerce with the
country. With these instructions, Possevin arrived in
Eussia. John's idea ran diametrically opposite.
He knew that the chief object of this embassy was
his own conversion to Catholicism, but he knew
equally well that such hopes were vain. He
resolved that he would not, and indeed could not,
promise anything concerning spiritual affairs, but
convinced of the orthodoxy of the Church to which
he belonged, he would fight Eome with her own
weapons, and actually endeavour to convert the
Legate, sent to convert him, to his own belief.

42 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Possevin and Schevriguin left Eome, and travelled
together as far as Prague, from whence the latter
departed for Denmark, while the Jesuit went to
Wilna, from which city he must pass through
Smolensk, on his way to Moscow. Accordingly
John wrote a letter on the 27th July to Sylvestre,
Bishop of Smolensk and Briansk, in which he
commanded him to permit Possevin on his arrival
to visit all the churches and convents, and person
ally to see beforehand that everything was in the
greatest order. If the Legate wished to see the
Church of the Holy Virgin, the Bishop should, at
that very time, himself officiate there with a full
chapter, and with the utmost pomp. But although
graciously receiving a stranger, the bishop should
not put himself on the same level, and the Czar par
ticularly enjoined that- Sylvestre should entice the
Legate to kiss his hand, but not to give him
apostolic benediction, as to other Christians, nor
even, though permitting him to enter the churches,
to let him approach the altar. This order of the
Czar was, without doubt, altogether unnecessary,
as it does not appear that the Jesuit tried to
see any of the churches, although we know by his
own words that he was presented to the Bishop of
Smolensk. Nevertheless the letter of John com
pletely expresses the ideas and intentions of this

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 43
sovereign with regard to the reception of the
Legate of the Pope.
Having learned the state of affairs at Wilna, and
augmented his suite by several Polish Jesuits, fur
nished with guides and a safe conduct by Bathory,
Possevin on the 18th of August arrived at Staritza,
where the Czar then was, accompanied by a
numerous retinue. He was received with all the
honours usually paid to the plenipotentiaries of
powerful sovereigns, this distinguished reception
being due no doubt to the politic consideration that
John saw in the Pope the only possible mediator
between himself and Bathory, the Emperor of Ger
many having declined to have anything to do with it.
Two days afterwards, Possevin, presenting himself
to the Czar, handed him the Pope's letter, in
which, while accepting the proposition to arm
against the Turks, Gregory XIII. explained
that the sole base of an affiance between
Christian sovereigns was love founded on the
doctrines of Christ, of whom he himself was
the earthly representative — that the Council of
Florence, one hundred and fifty years before, as
well as all the bishops of the Greek empire, and
the Emperor Paleologue himself, had concurred in
the supremacy of the Pope, but that those Greeks
who had not recognised the authority of the Holy

44 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
See had been punished by all sorts of calamities,
and had fallen under the yoke of the Infidel ; that
to act in concert with his Christian allies, against
the Turks, and to consolidate his empire, he should
be reconciled to Eome. Gregory also sent him a
copy of the proceedings of the Council of Florence,
requesting him to peruse it attentively, and to
order the clergy to do so likewise, assuring him of
its unquestionable value as good and true. In
conclusion, he expressed his earnest desire to see
John embrace Catholicism, promising him after
that the fulfilment of everything likely to augment
his earthly glory, and the happiness of his king
dom. Nor did the Holy Father forget the
members of the Czar's family : he wrote to the two
sons of John and to his wife, thinking that such
compliments might assist the difficult task of the
Legate. On his first interview with the Privy
Council, the Jesuit from the outset advocated the
re-union of the churches, stating, while recapitu
lating the contents of the Pope's letter, that the
first four Oecumenical Councils had recognised the
supreme authority of Eome, and the dogmas of
the Latin theology, but that the Greek bishops
had intentionally misinterpreted the decisions of
these councils. As a proof of the opinions
of the early Fathers concerning Catholicism, he

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 45
referred to the fact that the relics of St. Chrysostom
and St. Gregory lay in the Church of St. Peter at
Eome — those of Saints Athanasius and Nicolas at
Venice — while, moreover, the autograph works of
the Fathers attested the verity of the Latin
Church, a corroboration of which was to be found
in the fact that, the heathen converted during the
primitive days of Christianity adhered to this
faith. The Greek Church he said being based
upon the decisions of the Fathers, and these holy
men recognising, as he pretended, the creed of the
Eoman Church, there was really no difference
between the two beliefs ; farther, that the Council
of Trent, which he urged should be regarded as
legal authority, had completely expressed and
confirmed the dogmas of the two Churches. In
conclusion, he offered to copy out the works of the
Greek Fathers for the Czar, or in case he should
have to go to Bathory, that the two Jesuits who
were with him should do it, and that while
remaining for this purpose they could teach Latin,
and at the same time learn Eussian. He spoke of
the colleges at Eome established for young clergy
men, wherein there were to be found pupils from all
quarters of Europe, even from Greece, suggesting
that some young Eussians should be despatched,
and that the Pope would educate them at his own,

46 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
expense. In acknowledging the Latin Church,
John would acquire incomparably more glory
than by the conquest of Tartar provinces — his
authority over his own subjects would be consoli
dated, and all other Christian sovereigns would
respect and look up to him ; and that through the
intercession of the Head of the Catholic Church,
God would confer on him every terrestrial blessing,
with power to annihilate the enemies of his
empire. The counsellors charged by the Czar to conduct
this negotiation did not reply to the arguments
of the Legate, but conversed generally about the
affairs of Livonia, just then a source of inquietude
to the government.
But the Jesuit was not so easily repulsed. On
the 1st September he remitted a memorial, in
which, while reviewing the subject of religion, he
tranquillised the Czar by demonstrating that the
union of the two Churches did not demand, as a
necessity, changes in the Greek ceremonies and
rites. He again reiterated that Eome was indis
pensable to his alliance with the rest of Christendom,
and attributed the silence opposed by the govern
ment to his first propositions, to the fault of the
translators who had not comprehended his ideas,
hoping that the present memorandum would be

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 47
attended to, as he should have to communicate
with his own chief. Besides this he intimated a
wish that the Czar in replying to the Pope's letter
should style his Holiness " The Vicar of Christ,"
as it was customary among other sovereigns to do,
and as the first four Oecumenical Councils and
the writings of the holy Greek fathers warranted ;
this Possevin affirmed at least, though he knew
without doubt that what he stated was untrue.
This memorial remained unanswered, and from
this time the Jesuit despaired of success. He wrote
to Eome, that not only did the Czar decline to listen
to his propositions, but that he had even forbidden
the translation of the despatch which he had
presented on this subject. But on the 10th
September he received a short and evasive reply to
the effect that the Czar would himself converse
with him personally on his return from the mission
to Bathory. As to the alliance with the other
sovereigns against the Turks, he scarcely succeeded
better. " What alliance with Christian sovereigns
is possible at this moment," said John, "We arm
against the Infidel, and Bathory marches against
us!" Thus Possevin was placed in such a position
that not only could he not hope for success in his
negotiations on the question of religion, but he

48 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
could not even begin before having concluded
a peace between John and Bathory. The conver
sion of Eussia to Eomanism, the affiance of John
against the Turks — in a word, the chief object of
his mission, plans so dear to Eome, all depended
on the ability with which he should quickly conclude
a convention between Eussia and Poland. From
this point only could he in reality commence
operations, and it was exactly from this date that
John intended his relations with Eome to
close. The Jesuit next turned his attention to the
concession of a free route through Eussia, for mer
cantile speculations and intercourse with Persia, a
concession much desired by Eome for purposes
especially her own. Not the Venetians only
availed themselves of the commercial road to the
East — missionaries invariably directed their foot
steps towards the same quarter, and Possevin
calculated that this route would neither be so
dangerous nor so expensive, while it would certainly
be much more advantageous for commercial pur
poses. He, therefore, in negotiating this point,
said that on his arrival in Venice he should labour
to convince the authorities of these advantages,
and decide his Holiness at Eome to influence
them to transact their commercial undertakings

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 49
by way of Eussia. John, as wo know, foresaw
the designs of the Jesuit, but would temporise
with him up to a certain point.
When the Legate left to go to Bathory, the
Czar had promised this route to the Venetians and
the ambassadors whom the Pope might send to the
Schah of Persia, as well as to any missionaries who
should accompany them ; but he distinctly gave
the priest to understand that his requests on this
head could not be realized until after the conclusion
of peace with Poland. Possevin himself com
prehended this perfectly. "There is another route
towards India through Poland and Lithuania," he
said, with regard to the subject, " but it is
impossible to avail one's self of it from the con
tinual hostility of the rulers of these countries,
who cannot live in peace and love with each
other." Hopes of ultimate success led the Legate
to follow the direction indicated by the Czar, and
he industriously applied himself to the task of
putting ,an end to the war. There is reason to
beheve that the epistle of John to Bathory was
couched in such terms as to excite the hopes
of Possevin as to the certainty of his success
afterwards, as it alludes to the close resemblance
of the doctrines of the Eastern and Western
Churches. Without any further loss of time the
VOL. I. E

50 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Jesuit quitted Staritza on the 14th of the same1
month, en route to Bathory.
The Jesuits Etienne Drenotzky, and Michael
Morien, remained in Moscow as his representatives,
and received elaborate regulations for their conduct
in political and religious circumstances during his
absence. They were enjoined to keep a journal of
everything they saw and heard ; to watch every
thing ; to avoid all religious discussions, and to
compromise themselves in nothing. They were
particularly commanded to avoid all interviews
with the Metropolitan, to postpone the distribution
of works specially prepared by Possevin on theo
logical subjects, until his return ; not to make
processions, as they were likely to excite the
ridicule of the Lutherans, or even produce an
emeute amongst the Eussian population that.
might lead to their own expulsion. If questioned
as to their faith or the rules of their Church, they
should adroitly pose questions themselves, instead
of directly replying, so as to embarrass their
opponents; but if driven hard, and no answer
suitable to or consistent with the views of their
order was ready, they should postpone it till the
following day. As a general rule they were to
speak more of moral principles than dogmatical
questions, and especially to evade the topic of

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 51
the Greek Saints, pretending their ignorance on
this head.
Suspecting from what he already knew of the
Czar, that he might tamper with these two Jesuits
while he was with Bathory, Possevin took pre
cautions against such an eventuality, and com
manded them neither to kiss the hand of, or
accept the benediction of the Metropolitan
either in the Churches or in private houses,
confining themselves, if presented to him, to a
formal salutation. Thus the role of the
Jesuits, left in the capital as his representatives,
was determined on with remarkable art, and was
carried out under the guise of a prudent reserve,
while waiting the time when their chief, returning
from his mission, should base his propositions
upon its result.
At this epoch, the King of Poland, on his
victorious way towards Novogorod and Moscow,
besieged Pskoff, and as he was well provisioned,
he continued the siege, notwithstanding the ener
getic defence of the Eussians. Bariatensky had
been vanquished by Prince Eadzivill, who had
seized Porhoff and reached the banks of the Volga,
and placed himself under the walls of Mojaisk.
Livonia was occupied by the Swedes ; Narva had
been taken, and the envoy of the Turkish Sultan
e 2

52 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
was actually in the camp of Bathory to propose
him succours. John's position was almost
desperate ; for not only had he to struggle against
outward enemies, but to contend with the revolts
of the Boyards, always hostile to his authority,
who, profiting by the misfortunes of the war, had
entered into a conspiracy against him, in which his
eldest son, the heir to the throne, was concerned ;
and it was under such disadvantages, that Possevin
forced the proud conqueror, who had already
refused even proposals for an armistice, to sign a
treaty for ten years between Eussia and Poland.
The active part which the Jesuit took in this affair
is testified to by the treaty itself which is counter
signed by him, and by the repeated attestations
and acknowledgments which on many occasions he
received from John afterwards.
This mission successfully brought to a close,
Possevin hastened to return and claim the reward
of his services. His arrival at Moscow dates 14th
February, 1582. John had now a difficult card
to play, in that having profited by the services of
the Legate, he could hardly evade the compensation
without clashing with Eome, and perhaps exciting
anew the war just terminated. He at once took
up his position however, and waited the march of
events.

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 53
On the 16th, Possevin renewed the propositions
he had formerly made to the Council, in a memo
randum to the Czar himself — viz., the armament
of John against the Turks — the union of the
churches, Hberty for Latin priests to reside in
Eussia, and the expulsion of the Lutherans from
Moscow, to whose inspiration Possevin attributed
the conduct of John with regard to the Pope ; and
last but not least the despatch of students to Eome
to study languages and theology. Such was the
memorial presented by the Legate, which closed
with a request that the Czar should first read
an Expose upon religion, which he also presented
at the same time, and accord him an audience to
discuss matters personally. He guaranteed that
the Eussian students educated in Eome should be
brought up in the Greek religion, and afterwards
sent back to their native land ; that the Lutheran
clergymen residing in Moscow should be replaced
by other and worthier German ecclesiastics, but
Catholics; the final wind up being an energetic
attempt to procure a written undertaking that the
.Venetians and other Eoman Catholic residents
should in Eussia enjoy the full exercise of their faith.
On the 21st of February, it was officially an
nounced to Possevin by the Boyard Nizita
Eomanowitch, in presence of the Court, that as

54 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
an acknowledgment of his active and successful
services in bringing about the peace with Bathory,
the Czar consented to enter into an alliance against
the Turks as soon as the other Christian sovereigns
had concluded the terms of such an alliance
between them ; the Venetian and German traders
might have their clergymen, " but they should not
spread their doctrine amongst the Eussians, or
erect churches ; that every one should remain
in his own faith." " In our empire," added the
Czar, " there are many sects whom we can
not deprive of liberty ; but as to churches, until
the present day none have been built in the
country." There existed no reason why the
Lutherans should be expelled ; and as to the
students for the public schools of Eome, it was
evasively stated that it would be next to impossible
to find in so short a time suitable young men, but
that when found they should be despatched. The
greatest difficulty of all now remained to be dealt
with, — the discussion on the subject of the church,
to which the Czar had pledged himself, once the
treaty of peace was concluded with Bathory. But
if he Would not consent to it at an epoch when his
empire was torn and devastated — when his only
hope of rescue lay in the Legate of Eome, he was
certainly less inclined to concede it after the

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 55
restoration of peace, when he had scarcely longer
need of the services of Possevin or Possevin's master.
The priest was consequently politely informed that
as the Czar had not his Privy Council near
him, it would be particularly inconvenient to discuss
religion. " These discussions," the Czar intimated,
" could hardly have any result, as every one is
attached to his own opinion ; defending it might
lead to useless disputes, which would only mutually
irritate and annoy ; who knows if they might not
even interrupt the good understanding iust estab
lished between Eussia and the Court of Eome ! "
When the determination of John was made
known to the Legate, the latter, comprehending the
position in which he was placed, perceived that
his only hope lay in the skill with which he might
manoeuvre direct communications with the Czar.
He accordingly expressed a wish that he might be
permitted to have the communications, which the
sovereign would personally make him, in writing,
that he would reply to them ; but that in requesting
an interview, he did not pretend to solicit a private
audience, but to be received before the Boyards, as
he knew that the Czar would no more be without
them, then the head without its members. He
affirmed that he did not come to dispute or argue,
though at the same time he must remark that he

56 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
could not conceive how anything disagreeable
could result from a mere conversation ; he meant
only to prove the dogmatical analogy between the
Greek and Latin Churches, and demonstrate that
if some contradictions were found amongst them,
it was owing to inequal translation by the Greek
theologists ; that the Council of Florence had
virtually united the Churches, and that it would be
well to carry out this union without delay. If the
Czar would not receive him, he then begged leave
to present another Expose of his ideas on religion
the following day.
Seeing the incessant solicitations of the Jesuit,
and considering that written discussions might be
indefinitely prolonged and also lead to further
solicitation and inconvenience, John resolved to
put an end to the affair. He therefore commanded
Possevin to present himself and verbally explain
what communications he had to make. In re
ceiving him personally the Czar intended keeping
the path he had chalked out for himself before the
peace, namely — to manoeuvre Eome, and avoid the
question of religion. He had no intention of
entering into preliminary negotiations on this
point, but to convince the Legate that explanations
were impossible, and by this means end an em
bassy that was as fatiguing as useless.

JOHN IV. AND POSSET/IN. 57
Possevin was received before the Boyards and
some of the appanaged princes ; but the Stolniks,
Pristaws, and gentlemen of the Court were dis
missed. After the usual ceremonial, he thus
addressed the Czar :
"Eminent Sovereign, Czar and Grand Duke,
My Master, Pope Gregory XIII. accepts the
proposals of alliance which thou hast sent to him,
the Inheritor of the Sovereignty of the Apostle
Peter, by thy ambassador Schevriguin, in all faith
and love, seeing no difference between the Greek
and Latin faiths, and desiring the establishment
only of one single Church and one belief according
to the words of Christ, ' Que ma brebis paisse.'
It is his earnest desire that we go to your
churches and confess to your priests, and you to
ours ; and to attain this end he offers that if there
be not in your empire a translation of all the
works of the Fathers of the Greek Church, they
can be procured at Eome, together with the works
of St. John Chrysostom, and other illustrious saints,
as well the decisions of the first four Oecumenical
Councils, and the last Council of Florence which
confirmed the re-union of the Latin and Greek
faiths. By acknowledging such a union your
Majesty shall have the Pope's friendship, and that
of the Emperor of Germany and other Christian

58 .ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
monarchs ; thy empire shall extend far beyond the
limits of the dominion of thy ancestors through
their conjoint efforts, and thou shalt become
Emperor of the East." The Jesuit farther
promised that neither the Churches nor the rites of
the Greek religion should be touched, that all
should remain as before' ; reminding John of his
promise, relative to this re-union, and liberty of
conscience to Catholics residing in Eussia.
John several times interrupted him, denying that
he had written to the Pope on the subject of
religion, as even he himself had no right to enter
into negotiations of this kind without the per
mission of the Metropolitan and Council. He
begged Possevin to desist from a discussion which
was as useless as disagreeable, and that might end
in an unsatisfactory result. "You wish to speak
on religion," said the Czar, " and certainly, as the
Pope deputed you for this purpose, you are right to
do so ; but I cannot reply to you, not having
obtained the consent of the Metropolitan and
Council." With regard to the route to Persia,
and liberty for Latin priests to reside in the
country, the promise formerly given was confirmed,
provided that divine service was celebrated neither
in public nor in churches.
Possevin repeatedly insisted that a discussion on

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 59
the matter could result in nothing disagreeable.
"Thou art a great sovereign," said he, "how then
shall I, the humblest of thy servants, dare to
pronounce one offensive word ? I shall only com
municate what His Holiness charged me to
say." "It is difficult to discuss spiritual affairs,"
replied the Czar, " seeing that for a long time the
Eastern Church has been separated from the
Western, and that we received Christianity from
the apostle St. Andrew who introduced it into the
country under Vladimir ; the whole land embraced
it and preserved it pure and entire ; while the
Eoman Church estabhshed at the same time —
recollect what thou thyself told us at Staritza — ¦
contains at this moment seventy different sects.
I was born in the Orthodox Faith ! By God's
help I will die in it. Through His mercy I have
attained my fiftieth year, and it would ill become
me to change my opinions or desire a more ex
tended empire. I fix my aspirations only on a
future. Ufe, and the whole universe would not
tempt me to violate my conscience. The earth is
the Lord's ! He can give it to whom He will.
But for what concerns thy statement that the
Greek and Eoman churches have been re-united,
I beg to say that our religion is not the Greek

60 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
religion, but the orthodox faith, which differs on
many points from the Latin. But I decline to
discuss this subject, as I may say something
superfluous or disagreeable to you, which I do not
wish to do, heartily desiring to preserve those
amicable relations commenced between myself and
Pope Gregory XIII. I therefore request you not
to continue the subject."
Possevin again repeated that he could not
imagine how it could be disagreeable to the prince,
and affected not to see that he fatigued him. But
John's impetuous character, which often carried
him beyond the limits he allowed himself, led him
to reply to the priest again. He was certainly
well versed in the dogmas of his church, and when
occasions permitted, he liked it to be seen, not only
in his conversation but in his writings. His
impetuosity on this occasion carried him beyond his
diplomatic determination not to approach prelimi
naries with Eome, — " I will not " said he " discuss
the dogmas of the Catholic faith, but I will put one
question — I see that you shave ! Neither ecclesias
tics nor laymen are commanded to do this, and you,
a priest of Eome, have no beard ! Have the good
ness to inform me from what text this custom is
taken?" The embarrassed Jesuit replied that it
was quite true he had no beard.

JOHN TV. AND POSSEVIN. 61
John's passion now carried him onward and he
continued : —
" Schevriguin tells me that they carry the Pope
about on a throne, and kneeling kiss his feet, upon
the sole of whose shoe the Crucifixionis embroidered.
The Cross of Christ in our church signifies the
victory over sin — we adore it — we venerate the
wood according to the traditions of the holy
Apostles and the Fathers. But we never place it
below the waist, nor even put the images of the
Virgin and Saviour there either, that the eyes of
the soul may see Him who is our model ! Our
altars are so arranged that holy things are never
on a level with the stomach. Your Pope acts not
according to the statutes of the Apostles and
Fathers, or of the seven Oecumenical Councils ;
the ceremonies have been invented solely by the
pride of man."
The Legate answered that such honours were
paid to the Pope as the representative of the
sovereignty of St. Peter; and that all Christian
monarchs acknowledged him as such, a proof of
which was to be found in the concentration of all
holiness and religion in Eome.
" Thou art justified in speaking thus of thy
sovereign," said John, " thou art wise to do so,
but thy arguments are not based on the command-

62 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
ments of God, nor yet on apostolic tradition.
Pride does not become bishops. ' Call no one
master, for there is only One Master,' says Christ,
' ye are all brethren ; neither call any one Eabbi,
for there is One Doctor ! ' And the Lord said again
to his disciples, ' Make no provision for the journey,
neither take gold or silver, neither staff or shoes,
neither two coats.' Eemember also the Epistle of
the Apostle Peter, in which it is said ' Keep the
flock of Christ committed to thee ! Watch over
it, not with violence, but gently ; not for gain, but
for charity ; not for the sake of dominion, but
rather as the model of the flock. It is therefore
not becoming in Pope Gregory to exalt himself
upon a throne, as our envoy has informed us, and
as thou thyself hast confessed. It becomes him
better to be humble and to imitate the Apostle
Peter in spirit, after the commandment of our
Lord." " From the time of the first Oecumenical
Council," continued the Czar, " there were four
Patriarchs or universal Doctors of the Church —
those of Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and
Jerusalem ; and these sent Metropolitans into dif
ferent countries. The ecclesiastical government
of our empire consists of a Metropolitan, arch
bishops and bishops, whom we respect and consult

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 63
in spiritual affairs. We style the Metropolitan
"Father," we bow before him and he gives us his
benediction when we implore it ; and though we go
with all our court to meet him we do not recognise
him as God. Pope Gregory should not seat
himself on a throne, and call himself the equal of
Peter, and even of Christ ; he is not Jesus Christ,
and his throne is not a cloud, nor are those who
carry him angels. Let him follow the example of
St. Sylvestre, Adrian, and other holy men of the
Church who walked in the doctrines of Christ, and
neither proudly exalted themselves on a throne nor
carried the Cross on their shoe, that people might
kiss their feet. We acknowledge the Apostle Peter
and several other Eoman bishops, good and true'
teachers of God's flock, such as Clement, Adrian,
Sylvestre, Leon, and Gregory ; but it is impossible
to consider any one as the successor of the Apos
tles, who occupies their See without following our •
Lord's injunctions."
The reply of Possevin intimated that the power
confided by Christ to his representatives did noi
depend upon their virtuous or reprehensible lives.
"I pray thee, Illustrious Czar, to tell me if thou
art the successor and legitimate inheritor of
Vladimir, who hved five hundred years before
thee?" When John replied in the affirmative,

64 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Possevin went on : — " Then, if any one mocks thy
power and disobeys thee because thy ancestors had
human weaknesses and frailties — that they were
even abandoned to vices — would'st thou regard
them as worthy of eulogy or of punishment ? Thou
art a great sovereign in thy empire ! Why shall
we not exalt thee — glorify thee — even throw our
selves at thy feet !" In pronouncing these words
he threw himself at the feet of the Czar.
" In truth," answered John, " our subjects owe
us obedience and respect, as they respected
Vladimir Monomach and all other great princes.
But if thou thinkest by that to justify the honours
paid to the Pope, I beg to observe that prelates,
as pupils of the Apostles, are expected to set an
example of humility, and not exalt themselves
above all other sovereigns. To potentates belongs
the honour due to potentates ; to prelates the
honour due to them as the servants of Christ.
Those Popes who have obeyed the commandments
of Christ and walked according to the Apostles and
the commands of the seven Oecumenical Councils,
have been truly equal to the Apostles ; but a Pope
who acts contrary to the doctrines of Christ and
Holy Scripture — such a Pope is not a pastor, but
a wolf ! "
"If the Pope be a wolf, I have nothing to say

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 65
after that," said Possevin. " Why then hast thou
sent to him to succour thee? Why hast thou,
like thy predecessors, styled him Pastor of the
Church?" At these words the Czar became furious, left his
seat, and, approaching the priest, menaced him
with his iron-clasped stick : " Hast thou been
brought up amongst peasants that thou darest use
such language towards us ?" he exclaimed.
The terrified Jesuit hastened to excuse himself,
and afterwards most modestly replied to John's
attacks on the Papacy.
Hurried on by passion the Czar had overstepped
the bounds both of policy and prudence, but a
moment after and he saw that he must endeavour to
soften the impression his involuntary excitement
might cause, — an impression that could well militate
against him and rouse Eome, perhaps Bathory.
" I told thee before," he said more gently to the
trembling priest, " that religious discussions could
hardly terminate without something disagreeable.
But I did not mean to call your Pope a wolf ; I
meant only the Pope who did not follow Christ's
commandments and the traditions of the Apostles.
Let our conversation here terminate."
Before dismissing him the Czar graciously pre
sented him his hand to kiss, and the same day the
¦vol. I. F

66 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
great officers in waiting carried the priest -some of
the dishes from the royal table.
After this interview, the Legate of Eome might
well have comprehended that the intentions and
views of his master could not be realized quite as
easily as hitherto supposed. Nevertheless he did
not renounce his projects, but persisted in believing
that in time he should succeed. On the 22nd
February, he presented another petition on the
subject of the youths who were to be sent to Italy
to be educated, in which he declared that he only
desired it as a proof of the Czar's friendship for
the Pope, adding, that many might be found in the
neighbourhood of Pskoff. "Here," he said, "an
opportunity was afforded the Czar of serving God,
and adding lustre to his name ; but if he refused, the
Pope would scarcely regret it, as so many pupils
arrived in Eome for instruction, that very often
many of them were obhged to be sent home again.'"
This memorial received no reply. On the 23rd
February, however, Possevin received an invitation
to present himself at the palace the following day.
The frightened Jesuit believing that the crown of
martyrdom awaited him, took the Communion,.
administered it to his followers, and then
tremblingly set out. But John had not summoned
the priest to martyrize him. He regretted the

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 67
words he had used at the audience, and though
excited, was profoundly politic, remembering that
after all he owed the peace with his neighbour to
the influence of the Pope. He had now requested
the attendance of the Legate to be reconciled to
him. John received him with much empressement,
and after a few preliminary sentences said :
"When you insisted on discussing religious
subjects with me, my Boyards were commanded
to tell you, and I afterwards said the same thing to
you myself, that they would produce disagreements,
every one defending his own opinion. If I
advocate my own church, you are impatient ; and if
you eulogise yours it is unpleasant to me. But
you were obstinate, and insisted on explaining the
superiority of the Latin religion ; consequently, I
made some observations which offended you. Forget
what I said about the Pope, and do not write it to
Eome; notwithstanding the differences of our
rites I desire the friendship of Pope Gregory as
well as the other Christian sovereigns of Europe.
I do not forget thy services and thy zeal, and shall
certainly certify to the Pope that the peace was
brought about through thy mediation with
Bathory." The Legate having thanked the Czar, said some
words about religion which provoked neither con-
f2

68 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
tradiction nor reply. After this reception he had
no further private access to the Czar ; but he
continued his efforts through writing, and com
posed a dissertation upon the differences existing
between the Oriental and Western Churches,
which he sent to the sovereign. This dissertation
proved, as he believed, the superiority of the
Latin. He composed also a sermon on the
Procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and
from the Son, which he considered might impress
the Eussians, as well as a refutation of a dissenting
work, translated from the English, which had been
presented by English merchants to the Czar, in
which an analogy was traced between the Pope
and Antichrist. In defending Eome and in enu
merating all the merits of her Pontiffs, he never
lost sight of the fact that the intervention of
Gregory XIII. had concluded the treaty with
Poland, and in conclusion stated that the "effusion
of Christian blood which had lasted for twenty-two
years had been arrested, not by Antichrist, but by
the Vicar of Christ on earth."
The theological treatises of Possevin did not
much interest John, but this prince, having repulsed
the attacks on the Eussian faith, and dispelled the
Jesuit's hopes of his conversion, returned to his
original design of drawing him over to his own belief.

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 69
On the 4th of March there was a levee at the
palace, at which the Legate presented himself ; the
saloons were full of people ; the very staircases were
crowded ; and the vast building contained at least
five thousand people. In the. midst of such a
crowd, the Legate found himself before John.
" Our Boyards inform us that thou desirest to
visit our temples and assist in the divine offices of
the Orthodox Church. Thou shalt now have an op
portunity of seeing all, as we go to the Church of
the Holy Virgin, and thou canst accompany us.
There thou shalt see with what faith we adore and
implore the Holy Trinity, the Holy Virgin and
the saints. Thou shalt see with what respect we
bow before the miraculous images, and view the
Mother of God painted by the Evangelist Luke.
Pay special attention, we pray thee, to the manner
in which we respect the Metropolitan, our Father,
who prays for us. But thou shalt judge for
thyself that we do not adore him as God — we do
not carry him on a throne or kiss his feet — that is
pride, not a religious custom. Thou sayest that
the Pope is the representative of St. Peter, but St.
Peter did not go on horseback, he walked on foot,
even barefoot." Possevin replied that he had
never expressed a desire to see the services of the
Greek religion, but that however he would go to

70 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
the Church, and again reiterated his explanations
of the honours rendered the Pope. " Thou thy
self, Prince," said he, "showest great respect to
the Metropolitan during divine service. When he
washes his hands, thou wettest thine eyes with
the water."
" How ? Thou wilt ever play the doctor," ex
claimed John. " Thou comest hither to teach us?
Dost thou know what thou sayest ? Hast thou
never had a correct explanation of the Mass ?"
Possevin was silent. " Then," continued the
Czar, " I will explain it to thee. Before his suf
ferings the Saviour washed his hands and wet the
eyes of those who served him, with the water.
The Metropolitan, after washing his hands at
Mass, refreshes his eyes with the water also ; and
we and all the people do the same, as a souvenir
of the Passion of Christ, but not in honour of the
Metropolitan." Possevin had not a word to say in reply.
The Czar, intending to influence the imagi
nation of the priest, and wishing to induce him to
recognise orthodoxy, gave a grand religious fete in
the Cathedral of Ouspensk, where a pompous cere
monial was prepared. The Legate was invited, and
Eustace Pouschkin, Theodore Pissenisky and the
great officers of the household were commanded to

JOHN TV. AND POSSEVIN. 71
conduct him, and wait the arrival of the Czar at
the doors ofthe building, so that he might see how
the sovereign woidd be received by the Metro
politan with the Cross in his hand, and surrounded
by all his clergy ; and how the Czar would enter
the Church after the Cross, Possevin to follow and
enter after him.
Having arrived at the cathedral, Possevin would
immediately enter the Church without waiting for
the Czar, but was prevented by the Pristaws. He
thereupon declared that he would return home;
but the same officers obhged him to remain. The
Czar on being informed of what had passed, and
seeing how very difficult it would be to constrain
the priest to bow before a Eussian altar, sent his
secretary to tell him that he only wished his
presence to let him observe how the Eussian
sovereign was received by the Metropolitan, " and
that he might not make any inconvenient mis
takes;" but that if he declined waiting he could
return home, and on presenting himself to the Minis
try he would receive an answer to his despatches.
The priest profited by this permission, and fled
from the curiosity of the crowd. No longer hoping
for a favourable response to his solicitations, he
went to the Ministry, where he was officially
informed that Eoman Catholic churches would not

72 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
be permitted in Eussia, but that people professing
this faith who came to or resided in the country
had full liberty to worship as they liked, only that
they must not proselytise the Eussians. Such
was the determination of the Czar.
Thus finished this remarkable episode in the
history of Eussia, which perfectly demonstrated the
union existing between the temporal and the
spiritual power. This union was not determined
by any positive law, but resulted from social,
pohtical, and religious combinations, from habits
and customs which have contributed to influence
the national spirit of the country, without which
he entire history of Eussia would be incomplete.
The Pope addressed himself not to the Eussian
clergy, but to the Czar, on the subject of religion ;
but this sovereign, the absolute autocrat of his
subjects, did not acknowledge his own authority
over the Church. He discussed with the Legate
the truths of his faith, — proved the verity of his
belief, —and defended his religion in presence of
the exigencies of Eome, and the intrigues of the
Jesuits. But he declared that he would decide
nothing in spiritual affairs, nor was he even
commissioned to consider them, either by the
synod or the Metropolitan. Our history proves this
double fact, that the Government and the Church

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 73
have always been intimately united, but that one of
the two powers was never the slave of the
other. Modern writers on Eussia have denied this
fact, and pretended that the spiritual power was
constantly subject to the temporal, but an assertion
like this proves great ignorance of the real relations
existing between them, as also of the history of the
empire. We affirm that in no other country were
the two powers so independent of each other as in
ours, notwithstanding the ties which united -them.
This reciprocal independence was never more
strong than in the theological discussions of
John the Terrible with the Legate of Pope
Gregory XIII.
The Czar confided a letter to the Legate for
the Pope, in which he simply acknowledged the
copy of the acts of the Council of Florence, and
the priest returned to Eome accompanied by
Molianinoff as the envoy of the government, but
he was not charged with any mission on spiritual
matters ; on the contrary, he was stringently pro
hibited even naming the alliance proposed against
the Turks. His instructions contained the replies
he should make to any questions or inuendoes
relative to religion. • " We are not commissioned
to treat on these matters." " We have no authority
to speak on this question." But it was certainly

74 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
John's wish to preserve amicable relations with
Eome. Knowing that his expressions about the Pope
to the Legate were a little too strong, and that
the constraint exercised over him at the church
was not a circumstance tending to strengthen the
friendship- of Eome, he desired Molianinoff, in case
it were objected that he had called the Pope a
wolf, to reply that he had not heard it. As to
the Legate's detention at the door of the church,
he should say that at that time he was not at
Moscow, that he only knew that the same honours
were accorded him as were rendered to the Ambas
sadors of the Emperor or of the Sultan of Turkey.
Thus John's determination not to concede to
the Pope on religious matters remained unchanged.
He acted thus during the difficult time when his
country was devastated by Bathory, and his only
safety lay in the mediation of Eome ; and his
conduct was the same, when, thanks to that inter
vention, he obtained peace. He succeeded in
evading all explanations on religion, employing the
concurrence of Eome for the defence of his country
without sacrificing the dogmas of his faith, or
conceding the establishment of the Latin Church
to the detriment of the Orthodox belief.
Bathory perfectly understood his Eussian neigh-
bom*. Notwithstanding the attempts of Gregory,

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 75
John held both to his policy and his opinions.
The theological struggle which ensued with the
Legate was quite useless to both. Eome tried to
convert John to Catholicism, and John endeavoured
to make the Legate officially recognise his Church.
The two champions stranded on their contradictory
work. Eome only obtained permission through
Possevin for Latin priests to reside in the country,
conditionally, a concession up to this period refused.
Through this concession, John obtained peace with
a redoubtable enemy ; preserved his conquests, and
estabhshed the tranquillity and integrity of Eussia.
The result of this mission may be appreciated,
not only by its well-known consequences, but by
the intentions entertained by the Legate at the
period of his departure for Eome, and the means
which he believed possible to introduce Eomanism
into Eussia.
The first step in this direction was the establish
ment of an academy and seminary at Eome for
Eussians. It was expected that the magnificence
¦of the Court and the distribution of presents to the
students would attract a number of pupils. Similar
establishments should be opened at Wilna and
Polotsk in Poland, in which the ' young Eussian
prisoners should be instructed. Afterwards these
same young men should be sent to the seminaries of

76 ROMANISM IN RUSSL4.
Olmutz and Prague, where, in then own language,
they could influence their fellow-countrymen, the
proximity of the Czech tongue facilitating the
work. The aim of these seminaries was to excite
religious fanaticism in the scholars, and accustom
them to the means which were considered the
surest for conversions. On finishing the course,
they should be despatched to Eussia, or into
countries non-Catholic, to inculcate and propagate
Catholicism. He considered it absolutely necessary that the
principal works of the Propagand and other
Catholic books should be translated into Eussian,
and widely disseminated through the different
schools and seminaries, but this work should be
secretly and carefully effected. " If," said
Possevin, " the decisions, translations and tra
ditions of the Council of Florence had, as intended,
been spread in the East ; if schools for the Greeks
had been estabhshed in which the truths of the
Eoman Church had been explained, Mark of
Ephesus himself would not have been strong
enough to destroy such an important work." He
added that Popes Eugene H., Innocent III.,
Gregory X., Alexander VL, Leo X., and Clement
VII., all had in view the accomplishment of this
grand aim, not only by the convocation of a council

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 77
or the sending of a letter or a Legate, but by all
these combined. He advised that the con
version of Eussia should commence by obliging the
Kings of Poland to confer different privileges and
prerogatives to those Eussian bishops who should
recognise the Council of Florence. This he con
sidered the best means of attacking Orthodoxy to
the profit of Latinism. Particular attention, he
said, should be paid to Lithuania, which, notwith
standing its political separation, still preserved ties
with Eussia, as formerly the Eussian bishops were
instituted by the Metropolitan of Kieff, subject to
the King of Poland. Kind letters should be
despatched to the bishops of the Greek rite in
Lithuania, and no means neglected that could
attract them to Eomanism. Thus Possevin pre
pared what has since been called The Union.
Before its organisation he had exactly determined
and drawn out a programme of its character and
signification with regard to Eussia.
Possevin returned to Eome more persuaded than
ever of the importance of the acquisition of Eussia,
but at the same time he comprehended the diffi
culties of the work. During his sojourn in the
country, he had turned his attention to the study
of its peculiarities, its social, political, and religious
distinctions ; its people, its laws, its government,

78 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
and thoroughly understood and calculated on the
obstacles to his aim ; consequently, he planned out
a thorough system of Propagandism, adapted to
meet those difficulties, which he embodied in the
form of a memorandum.
Eussia converted to Eomanism, the East lay
open to the views of this ambitious and designing
Jesuit, the road through her being not only surer
and more convenient, but less expensive. " This
affair," he said, " would not be the work of a day,
or of a single embassy, but of centuries ; of a
course ofthe subtlest logic, — of unwearing and inde
fatigable patience, — of courage and perseverance !
Armed with these, the Propagand might begin in
Lithuania, by the establishment of seminaries in
conjunction with the Jesuits, whose miracles would
produce an extraordinary effect on the simple and
ignorant people ; and an alliance at the same time of
the Czar with the other Eoman Catholic sovereigns
of Europe ; as a constant and uninterrupted com
munication between those monarchs, but particu
larly with the Pope himself and the sovereign of
Eussia, would be one of the most effectual means
of breaking the barriers of prejudice which pre
vented the religion of Eome penetrating into the
country. It would be necessary to have a Nuncio
at Moscow, to whom detailed instructions might be

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 79
given, not only as to his own action, but with
respect to all documetns sent to the government,
and the manner in which they were to be expressed.
Even the dress of this functionary was prescribed,
as well as every act of his public life calculated.
The Jesuit did not neglect the minutest details
that could possibly assist the work. Care should
be taken to send this Nuncio only at a propitious
period. His suite should be composed of few
individuals, so as not to excite suspicion ; and the
persons composing it should not lodge near the
Czar's palace, or even enter it, except in cases of
absolute necessity. The Nunciature itself should
be splendid in everything, with the exception of the
Nuncio, whom Possevin advised should be simply
and modestly dressed, as the people were accus
tomed to see their bishops in the ordinary monastic
habit. Indeed, the dress selected should be as
nearly as possible hke that of the Eussian bishops,
both in texture and colour, the more easily to
attract the vulgar. He quoted the opinion formerly
expressed by Albert di Campi to Clement VII.,
that a Nunciature to Eussia should not exceed
four persons. He then went on to_ say that, on
arriving in Poland, they could find suitable persons,
accustomed to the climate and to dangerous jour
neys, whom they could attach to the suite as

80 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
interpreters ; he advocated the engagement of two
such individuals in case of the death of one, as it
was dangerous to confide in any one sent by the
ministry, who might, through ignorance, duplicity,
or attachment to his own faith, translate inexactly
and falsely the documents entrusted to him, or, as
had happened to himself, communicate certain
words and circumstances not intended for publicity.
These translators should not be taken from amongst
Eussians or Poles, because of their reciprocal
tendencies, but chosen from the Sclave race of
Bohemia or Lithuania, who might be found at the
college of Wilna or Polotsk, the latter being at that
time about to be founded. Also a doctor, under
standing Czech or Eussian ought to accompany
them, in order to visit the sick, acquire their
affection and gratitude, and profit by their weakness
to draw their sympathy towards his Church. The
Nuncio appointed, should, if at all possible, be a
person who was conversant with the Czech or
Eussian tongue ; one who had carefully studied the
differences between the Greek and Latin churches,
and who should have read the thirteen treatises
which he named, written against the Greek faith.
He should have with him all the accessories for
Divine Service, himself officiating as frequently as
he could, to engage the attention of the people.

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 81
He is expressly advised to profess the greatest
veneration for the Eussian Church, and conform all
his actions, when opportunities occurred, to the
popular customs ; fasting when the Eussians
fasted, but not fasting on the Saturdays, as
in his own Church ; pretending respect for the
holy images of the Greek Church, as Cardinal
Como had exhorted Possevin himself to do by
order of the Pope, at the time of the Legate's
sojourn in Eussia. He also proposed the trans
lation of several Latin theological books into
Eussian, and indicated the means of distributing
them. (1) To circulate them gratis in the schools
to pupils of Eussian origin, or to those who
might be at the College of the Jesuits at Wilna.
To make extracts from the work of Gennadius
containing questions and answers on the doctrines
of the Oriental Church, and to engage the pro
fessors to constrain then pupils to send them to
then- parents and friends. (2) To assign money
for the publication ofthe last five Treatises upon the
sovereign authority ofthe Pope by the same author,
and to circulate copies amongst the pupils ofthe Col
lege of Wilna as well as at the Jesuitical College of
Jaroslav, near Livoff; to send them to Olmutz
and Prague, and to John Erbest then in Eussia.
(3) To translate and print the Latin catechism
VOL. i. g

82 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
by Peter Camsius in Eussian at the expense of the
Jesuits, who would voluntarily furnish the means
for this purpose. (4) To print two or three
folios of the chapter upon schism by Sandar, " De
la Monarchic," and to distribute them to the
Eussian scholars at the different Jesuitical estab
lishments, and through the Czar's secretary,
Jassinsky to send them to the employes of
the Chancellery of Poland at Moscow. (5) To
publish separately those voluminous works acces
sible to few, such as the Treatise of Thomas
upon the errors of the Greeks. (6) To publish
extracts in Eussian from the colossal, and at that
period, rare works of the Jesuit Pierre Scarga,
containing a polemic against the Eastern Church.
(7) To print the Bull of Pope Eugene IV. in
Eussian. (8) To compose in Eussian, an extract
from the Lives of the Saints, written in Polish,
also by Scarga; and having circulated copies
gratis to the Orthodox priests, to induce them to
read it in their churches. (9) To translate the
works of Eckius against Luther, and publish it in
Eussian, so as to convince the reader of the
superiority of the Latin belief over the Lutheran.
After terminating this work, which could be done
in some months, it was necessary to proceed to
the revision of the Sclavonic Evangelist, the Psalms

JOHN IV. AND POSSEVIN. 83
and the Prayers, as well as the Lives of the Saints,
and to publish them, first excluding those para
graphs and parts not corresponding with the
Eoman Catholic religious books ; and (finally), to
nublisk the Latin Catechism in Eussian.
These projects and schemes for converting the
Eussians to Eomanism only discover Possevin's
great ignorance of the Eussian people. His zeal
was too enthusiastic, too ardent ; and his inter
views with the Czar should have certainly given
him a better idea of the firmness of the nation in
its faith.

62

( 84 )

CHAPTEE III.

EOLE OF CATHOLICISM IN THE TROUBLES OP
EUSSIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVEN
TEENTH CENTURY. — EMBASSY OF THE CZAE
ALEXIS TO EOME.

Differences between the Greek and Eoman Churches. —
Project of a new mission of Possevin to Moscow. — Missions of
Camuley, 1594 and 1597. — Imminent danger of the Eussian
Church at the commencement of the seventeenth century. — •
Mission of Sapicha, 1601. — The false Demetrius embraces
Catholicism, but with little sincerity. — Discontent of the
Eussians. — Project of the Polish Jesuits to introduce the
union by means of a second impostor. — Election of Vladislas
to the throne of Eussia under the condition of the preservation
of the Greek faith. — Design of Sigismond, King of Poland, to
do away with the throne of Eussia and introduce Catholicism.
— Philip of Sweden proposed as a candidate for the throne
under condition that he embraced the Greek faith. — The
dislike of the Eussians to Eomanism increased by political
events. — Testimony of Olearius. — The means of violently
introducing Eomanism having been averted, the Polish
Clergy recommend Vladislas prudence and moderation,
1617. — Passage through Eussia for Eoman Catholics going to
theEast. — Mission of Louis Hayes, 1627. — Mixed marriages. —
The erection of Catholic Churches forbidden. — Mission of
Major Menesius to Eome, 1673. — Errors and exaggerations of
the Court of Eome as to the mission of Menesius.
In his interviews with Possevin, the Czar John
was on every point faithful to his time, and to the

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 85
interests of his Church ; but if in his short conver
sations he had found it impossible to expose all
his ideas in detail, he had at least expressed his
sentiments of the spirit and tendency of Eomanism.
It may not here be superfluous to quote a document
of the sixteenth century, containing the abjuration
of a Catholic who entered the orthodox church, by
which one may judge the odour in which the
Eussian Church held Latinism. This document
exhibits the differences both exterior and interior
between the two creeds; for example, the Pro
cession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and
from the Son, baptism by sprinkling, the azymes,
the manner of making the sign of the Cross, the
use of milk and eggs during fasts, the celebration
of service several times a day on the same altar,
the custom of being seated during divine service,
organs in the church, and the habit of shaving the
beard ; the marriage of two brothers with two
sisters, and the celibacy of the clergy, so par
ticularly repugnant to the Eussians as well as
then intervention in temporal affairs. The
act of abjuration runs thus : — " I curse all Latin
bishops who go to war, who lead men into
battle, who kill others and are themselves killed ;
who after having dipped their hands in the
blood of their fellow-man and co-religionist, cele-

86 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
brate the service of God upon the altar ; who are
not content to be only humble priests." What is
to be chiefly remarked is, that in this century, as
in the preceding, less importance was attached to
the supremacy of the Pope than to the dogmas and
ceremonies, so different to those of the Oriental
Church. In the aforesaid abjuration, there is not
the least allusion to the political phase of the
question. The supremacy of the Pope was looked
upon in a purely political, not dogmatical light,
and was- not even dismissed as irrelevant to the
subject. But John attached more importance to it
than the clergy, who were occupied in explanations
on the doctrines of their own faith. The above-
mentioned formula commenced with the following
words : — " I pass from the Eoman Church into the
true Christian Orthodox Church, established by the
saints and confirmed by the Holy Fathers of the
Seven Oecumenical Councils. I enter this Church,
not from any necessity or misfortune, neither
through persecution nor fear on the one side, nor
from promises, riches, or temptations of any nature
whatever, on the other; but I enter it sincerely,
with all my heart and soul, for the love of Christ
only, desiring to participate in the living doctrine
of the true and pure faith." This formula is not
one of simple words only. The Eussian clergy did

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 87
not attract converts to their creed by means of a
propagand like that of the Eoman priesthood ;
certainly they did not refuse those who came to
them from conviction ; but they busied themselves
more in the care of then flocks, trying to preserve
them intact from the errors of Apostacy.
Eome did not consider the embassy of Possevin
as an entire failure, though it was really such.
The relations which he had had with the authori
ties of the empire and with a part of the clergy,
his researches in Eussia, and his description of his
journey, together with his experience acquired in
Moscow, of the spirit and character of the people,
induced her to avail herself once more of his
ability and knowledge. After the death of John,
Gregory XHI. resolved to send him again on a
similar errand — the re-union of the two churches ;
and on this occasion, Possevin was not to forget to
remind the Czar Theodore, that his father owed
the peace concluded with Bathory, to Eome.* At
the same time, to gain the Boyards to his cause,
this Pope addressed to them a letter. But this
mission was never carried out ; and the letters
which Possevin should have presented, were for
warded through Lithuania to Moscow by a Eussian
courier in 1585. Sixtus V., the successor of
* Historica Eussise Monumenta, B. II., p. 8-10.

88 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Gregory, conceived the same project of sending
Possevin to Eussia ; and, in a letter to the Czar,
mentions the affectionate terms in which, according
to him, the Papacy stood in the estimation of his
father and grandfather, adding, that John IV. had
entire confidence in the late Pope, and never forgot
the services of Possevin in the conclusion of the
peace with Poland. This embassy, however, was
not carried out.
The idea of expelling the Turks by means of an
alliance of the Christian sovereigns of Europe,
never abandoned Eome, but the execution of the
project was, she considered, inseparable from the
re-union of the Greek and Latin Churches. To
attain this end, Camuley, Cardinal priest of Piro-
lame, was, in 1594, despatched to Moscow.
Clement VIII. relied on the success of this
embassy, as Camuley knew the Eussian language,
and for several centuries before there had never
been an envoy who spoke it.
In his instructions Camuley was to present an
emerald cross and an agate chaplet in his own
name to the Czar ; on the cross there were Greek
letters engraven, that it might be the more
acceptable to the prince. Amongst other things
the Pope desired him, that if he heard any allusion
made to the titles and privileges which the

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 89
Muscovite Czars arrogated to themselves, or to
their * pretended descent, on the ground of a
genealogy expressly composed for the purpose,
from the Eoman Emperors, he should explain
that all titles and dignities were confirmed by the
Pope, and quote the example of Poland, Bohemia,
and other kingdoms both east and west, enlarging
on the power and influence of the Holy See and of
the security of those who depend on it. " Such
discourses" said the Pope, "inspire respect for
the Chief of the Church ; and one may demonstrate
the difference between the Pope and the Patriarch
of Constantinople, who depends on the will of the
Turkish Sultan, the principal enemy of Christen
dom." In the Eussian archives one finds nothing
relative to the arrival of Camuley in Moscow, or of
his stay in that city ; consequently nothing on the
subject of any negotiations entered into by him ;
but his departure on the 25th April, 1595, is noted.
His mission was unsuccessful; he did not even
return to Eome to render an account of it, but
despatched the letters of the Czar to the Holy
Father by a courier, while he himself remained at
Wilna to superintend the propagand against the
Calvinists, or, as he himself expressed it, to confirm
the Christian religion in the churches of Wilna.

90 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
On the translation of Bishop Prince Eadzivill to
the See of Cracow, the diocese of Wilna remained
for ten years without an ecclesiastical head, and
was administered by prelates who were several
times changed during this period, amongst the
number of whom was Alexander Camulet, who
officiated there as legate from March, 1595, till
May, 1597.
While at Wilna, Camuley was ordered to prepare
himself for a second embassy to Moscow, where he
arrived at the end of May, 1597. To flatter the
Czar, he assured him that he had several times
written to the Pope informing him of the omni
potence of the Sovereign of Eussia, and that every
one in Eome was astonished at his account of it ;
that he had requested the Pope, in any letters
which he might write, to address the Czar by the
titles which Pope Gregory the XIII. had refused.
The Pope had consented to this, and now addressed
him by the titles desired. He added, that if the
Poles and the Lutherans had known it, they never
would have permitted him a pass to Moscow ; that
the King of Poland and the Polish nobles had tried
to prevent the Pope giving him his proper titles,
but that he paid no attention to them, as they
depended entirely on the will of the Holy Father,
who conferred them on whom he liked. But these

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 91
attentions and attempts ended in nothing. The
second embassy of Camulet ended like the first,
and had no result. Otherwise the Czar received it
with politeness.
We have now arrived at an epoch, which was for
Eussia a day of trial and a season of proof. In
the beginning of the seventeenth century, Eome
came, sword in hand, into the heart of the empire,
threatening to stifle religion and nationahty. In
this dreadful crisis, it was religion that saved the
nation ; it was the faith which preserved the national
independence. The struggle was sharp and pro
longed. On the one side, Sigismond, King of Poland,
impelled by fanaticism, pursued a sanguinary
proselytism ; on the other, intestine dissensions
diminished the national forces, and prevented the
election of a sovereign to the throne who was
freely elected by the people.
Sigismond, who was continually at war with
Sweden, hoped to ally himself with Eussia, and at
the same time introduce the germs of Eomanism
in a peaceful manner amongst her population. In
1601, he sent Sapieha to Boris Gondonoff, to
bring about a lasting peace between the two states.
The conditions of this treaty stipulated that Poles
residing in Enssia, who had there acquired property,
should have full permission to exercise their

92 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
religion, and to erect, if they wished, churches on
their own estates ; that in Moscow and other
cities, churches, colleges, and schools, at the
expense of the government, should also be estab
lished; "as," said Sapicha's instructions, "they
are indispensable, as much for strangers as for the
service of the Czar, with regard to the envoys of
other governments and foreign merchants, of whom
there are many in the empire." But Sigismond
was deceived. Sapieha was informed that foreigners
were permitted the full enjoyment of their faith,
but that the building of Eoman Catholic churches
in Eussia would not be allowed.
Sigismond and Eome showed little tolerance at
a time when the interior disorders of the nation
offered an opportunity for attempting the rights of
the church. Under pretence of establishing public
order, they meddled in State affairs, and Sigismond,
the pupil of the Jesuits, Uniting his efforts with
those of his masters at Eome, the wonder only is
that the Orthodox faith was not completely crushed.
Poland recognised the false Demetrius, on the
express condition that he should turn Eoman
Catholic, and induce the Eussians to follow his
example. This usurper, whose real name was
Otrepieff, purchased the assistance and recog
nition of Poland, by consenting to the wishes of

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 93
Sigismond, who was instigated by the Jesuits.
These ambitious priests commenced the education
and training of Otrepieff. Gaspar Sawicky
taught him Latin ; and though he had embraced
Eomanism through the Franciscans and not through
the Jesuits, these latter continually surrounded
him, and it was only through them that Sigismond
was influenced to support the impostor.
It is not difficult, in tracing the ulterior
career of this man, to discover indubitable
proofs that he only apostatised from the faith
of his fathers through self interest, and that
conviction had nothing to do with it. Indeed
he was little prepared to enter, a Church alto
gether new to him. He knew a little Latin,
as indispensable to the comprehension of the
Eoman rites ; but when by the help of Poland he
ascended the throne of Eussia, he signed in a
feeble and badly-formed hand, "Inperator." We
do not find in any of the official reports of
foreigners then in the country that after his
ascension to the throne he conformed to the
Catholic rites ; but he had, it is true, two Jesuits
with him, Nicolas Czernicky and Andrew Lawicky,*
employing them, however, more as diplomats than
for Proselytism. At the close of the year 1605, he
* Grevenbruck, p. 14.

94 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
despatched Lawicky to Eome to concert measures
against the Turks. Eome herself believed so
little in the sincerity of his conversion, that she
missed no opportunities of confirming and in
fluencing him in his new faith, the Pope himself
exhorting him to firmness. Eangoni, Bishop of
Eegio and Maceiwosky, urged him at the same
time to convert the Eussian people, and solely for
this purpose Count Alexander Eangoni, the nephew
of the Nuncio at Cracow, was sent to Moscow.
" If," wrote Pope Paul V. to Cardinal Maceiwosky,
" Demetrius only remains faithful to the Catholic
religion, we may hope in time to draw the Eussians
within the pale of the Church, for these people, as
we know, are very obedient to their sovereigns."
" One can do with the Eussians what one likes,"
said the same Pope to Demetrius, " therefore
command them, and they will obey." His
marriage with Mary Miniszec, the daughter of the
Palatine of Sendomar, was the corner-stone of the
structure on which Eome depended for the over
throw of Orthodoxy, the Pope exhorting Demetrius
to support his spouse in the doctrines of Eomanism,
relying on Mary to influence him to act with
firmness and prudence. " The Palatine of Sendo
mar," wrote Cardinal Borghese to Eangoni, " will
direct this business."

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 95
But if we impartially examine the political acts
of Demetrius, we shall find, as far as circumstances
permitted, he declined the dishonourable role
allotted to him. Placed as he was in complete
dependence on the Court of Eome and on Poland,
it is astonishing that he did not commit any direct
attentat on the Eussian faith, nor did he commence
to meddle with the doctrines of the Eussian
Church as they hoped. Even in his frequent
relations with Eome, he constantly evaded
mentioning religion or alluding to the re-union of
the two Churches. At the -time of his departure
for Eussia several Catholic priests accompanied
him, but only a limited number, strictly sufficient to
serve the spiritual requirements of his wife, his
father-in-law, and the Polish soldiery. Demetrius
never seconded the Propagand ; and although the
Jesuits at Moscow intended to establish a Eoman
College secretly, in conjunction with the arrival of
Latin priests intended to be brought from Eome,
they nevertheless adjourned their project and con
tented themselves with access to the Czar, which
was otherwise extremely difficult.
A Catholic chapel was built for Mary's use,
but on the pressing entreaties of Demetrius, and
notwithstanding the formal refusal of the Pope,
this Princess was crowned and married according

96 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
to the rites of the Eastern Church — she received
the sacrament from the Patriarch, prayed in the
churches, and fasted, not on Saturdays but on
Tuesdays hke the Greeks, so that it may reason
ably be supposed that had Demetrius continued on
the throne the Court of Eome might have found
her hopes as vain as past centuries of useless
efforts had been.
In seconding, though in a dubious and undecided
manner, the views of Eome, Demetrius drew upon
himself the indignation of the Eussians attached
to their faith; and what further added to the
public dissatisfaction was, that having been ac
customed to the relaxed manners of the Poles, he,
unlike those Czars who followed the prescriptions
of the Church, did not observe the fasts, and
sometimes even on fete days neglected to go to
Mass. Not that he had any penchant for Latin-
ism, but because of the boundless carelessness and
presumption of his character. He ate veal, at
that time contrary to custom. But what more
than all else exasperated the people, was the way
in which the Poles mocked at everything con
sidered as sacred, bringing their dogs into the
churches. Moscow, — supposing that the new
sovereign intended to extirpate oxthodoxy — the
more so as a suspicious correspondence with Eome

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 97
was discovered, in which Demetrius engaged to
erect Latin churches in the capital, conformable
to an oath taken before his accession, — rose in
arms, and the excitement became greater when
the Patriarch Job, who had been deposed by the
impostor, praying before the image of the Virgin,
cried : — " The Christian Church, which was un
shaken, is invaded by heresy ; and we sinners
implore thee, oh Holy Virgin, to let thy Son
Christ confirm and render it immoveable." He
then, says the chronicle, wept bitterly for hours.
The inhabitants of Moscow, seeing the anger of
God following them, concerted measures for de
throning the impostor and thereby saving the
faith, broke out into tumult, the Poles were mas
sacred and Demetrius was killed. Intentionally
the excited crowd did not murder the Catholic
priests, but if some of them fell it was owing to
their being mistaken for Poles.
A second impostor, commonly styled the Brigand
Touchkin, was also supported by Polish influence,
and was regarded by the Jesuits as a likely and
flexible instrument of the Propagand. They
formed a plot as to the introduction of the
" Union," which then began to be propagated
in Lithuania, into Eussia. The plan conceived
was that the union should be kept from the
YOL. I. H

98 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Czar himself, whose popularity might suffer,
but be extended to the different personages
in his suite, the guards and courtiers being selected
from amongst Catholics, so that ultimately he
might find himself surrounded by only the par
tisans of this doctrine. The different adminis
trative employments and offices should be conferred
only on those favourably disposed to the change.
Discussions with the Eussians should be conducted
with the greatest prudence, and on these occasions
hints should be thrown out of the necessity for
seminaries, colleges, and the establishment of a
Eoman Catholic church in the capital. The
clergy might be attracted by the promise of
temporal advantages, at the same time their
management of the property of the church was de
precated; but all this should be conducted in such a
manner that the result should be the introduction
of the " Union," arising from the very require
ments of the people and the priesthood together.
The Czar himself should be isolated from these
intrigues, and his suite should only contain a
certain number of Latin ecclesiastics, Eussians
predominating. Secrecy was specially enjoined as
to all correspondence with Eome ; and the better
to facilitate the re-union of the churches, two or
three priests of the united Greek faith should be

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 99
placed near the Czarine, the same Mary Minisiec,
daughter of the Palatine of Sendomar, who,
speaking the language of the country, could con
verse with the Eussians. All elements hostile to
Eome should be dispersed, consequently the ex
pulsion of the Lutherans should be effected, as well
as the Greek Monks who came from Constantinople,
and even the capital might be transferred to a city
nearer the Polish frontier, so that the religious as
well as the political centre of the empire might be
attainable at an easy distance from the seat of the
Propagand, and in which it would be more con
venient to establish a Jesuitical college — in one
word, the "Union" was to be planted in Eussia
by the same means so successfully used in
Lithuania. As to the youth of the country,
'especially the noblesse, they were to be sent for
•education to Wilna, or, what was still more prefer
able, to Eome itself, or to other Italian cities where
there were neither Colonists nor Lutherans.
This vast scheme of operations turned out
however a dead letter, as the brigand Touchkin
never reigned in Moscow, and this extensive,
extended, and plausible programme was never put
in execution.
The situation of Eussia was at this time deplor
able. On the one hand, Touchkin with the Poles
h2

100 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
and the Cossacks, on the other the Polish army,
under the command of Zolkiewsky, surrounded
Moscow, while Sigismond besieged Smolensk. All
the country was agitated. Basil Ivanovitcsh
Shousky, the elected Czar did not fulfil public
expectation, and in this extremity it was considered
expedient to invite Vladislas, the son of Sigismond,
to the throne, so as to ward off the continuation of
the war, and obtain peace with Poland. The
Boyards of Touchkin, that is to say, the party
who followed the late impostor, Dimitry, were
the first to broach this subject, and sent
an ambassade to Smolensk for this purpose.
The principal and prime mover in this embassy
was Sultykoff. In the negotiations which followed,
the Eussian envoys thought not of demanding
political rights or the confirmation of the privileges
of the noblesse, but rather that the new sovereign
Vladislas should preserve intact the national
church, and he himself enter within its pale. The
preservation and augmentation of churches of the
Eussian faith, and of convents for the ecclesiastics
of the Greek rite were demanded; , and it is recorded
that when Sultykoff supplicated the preservation of
the national church, he wept. But these con
ditions were such that the Jesuit King could
hardly consent to ; he could not however refuse the

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 101
propositions, as a categorical refusal would interrupt
the negotiations. He therefore preserved silence
on some points ; some he eluded altogether ; and
for the remainder he gave only vague promises,
never intended to be fulfilled. By this treaty,
concluded Feburary 4th, 1610, Sigismond was
obhged to maintain the Eussian Church in the
empire, not to tolerate Eomanism, and to respect
the Eussian clergy. There is nothing said of the
obhgation of Vladislas to enter the Greek Church,
but it was arranged that his consecration by the
Patriarch was to be postponed until the pacification
of the country. Sigismond added as a condition
that a Eoman Catholic chapel should be built at
Moscow for the Poles who should accompany his
son. This treaty, as concluded only with some of the
Boyards belonging to the impostor, was of no
importance. But the idea of the election of
Vladislas to the throne had become pretty general
in Moscow and among the noblesse. Jolkiewsky
in the capital gained over the greatest number of
adherents to this plan, every one of whom im
posed it as the first and chief condition that the
Prince should enter the Eussian Church. Shousky
having been deposed, official negotiations were
opened up between the leaders on both sides

102 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
with regard to the candidature of the young-
prince. Knowing the fanaticism of Sigismond, Jolkiewsky
entered into no engagements relating to religion.
"Faith," said he, "is the gift of God; it is
impossible to dispose of the conscience of any
one." A decision was, however, as necessary for
the Poles as for the Eussians, as the Polish troops
receiving no pay refused to serve any longer, and
announced their intention of returning home.
Jolkiewsky, without waiting the determination of
Sigismond, concluded the treaty concerning the
election of Vladislas, stipulating that the Greek
religion should be preserved intact, that the
Eussians should not be subjected to proselytism
on the part of the Latin clergy, that Eomanism
should not be tolerated, and that no other churches
than those of the national creed should be built.
This last clause would paralyse the intention of
Sigismond to erect a Eoman Catholic chapel in
Moscow. The treaty was signed August 17th,
1610. Whosoever knows the ancient history of Eussia
and the characteristics of the Eussian people,
cannot but be astonished to find a stranger called
to the throne without a positive and guaranteed
undertaking that he should embrace the Greek

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 103
faith, a sovereign of any other creed being impos
sible. But on consideration we are persuaded
that, if the adoption of the Orthodox faith was not
stipxdated for in documentary guarantee, and as an
article in the treaty, an assurance had been given
and received that he should conform to the wishes
of his new subjects. In point of fact this Prince
was only fifteen years old, and the violent fanati
cism of his father had scarcely had time to influence
his mind. Arriving in Moscow while still a mere
youth, and surrounded by but few Poles, as
expressly decided on in the treaty, he would
naturally receive new impressions and imperceptibly
imbibe an attachment to the estabhshed religion,
a sympathy which at that period was the prevailing
characteristic of Eussian society. It might justly
be supposed that far from the companionship of
his father, and removed from the influence of the
Jesuits, he would ultimately enter the pale of the
Greek Church. Such were no doubt the hopes
which induced the people to consent to the election
of a foreign prince to the throne of their empire.
Jolkiewsky himself did not fail to impress upon
every one that the prince was young and conse
quently impressionable, that it would be easy to
influence him by new objects, and that he could
embrace the Orthodox faith when he should be at

104 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
home in Moscow. Thus the conversion of
Vladislas, expected and hoped for on account of
his youth, was the basis of his election to the
throne of Eussia.
On the other hand, the conversion of Eussia to
Eomanism was the one fixed idea of Sigismond,
who, on account of the tender years of his son,
determined that he himself should resolve a ques
tion so intimately connected with Poland. A
numerous embassy, with Philaret Eomanoff at the
; head, met him at Smolensk, to receive the ratifica
tion of the treaty concluded with Jolkiewsky ; but
properly and sincerely speaking, its aim was to
understand the king's views with respect to the
conversion of Vladislas. The instructions given
these envoys desire them to discuss " la grande
affaire." They were provided with answers to
every imaginable objection Sigismond might make,
and were especially to endeavour to obtain the
sanction of his father that before the boy's arrival,
he should profess the Greek faith at Smolensk, in
presence of the Metropohtan Philaret, and of Serge,
Archbishop of Briansk and Smolensk. Without
conforming to this measure, they were desired to
say it would be impossible that the clergy and the
Patriarch could go to meet him, as it was custom
ary for them to do when a new Czar came to the

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 105
throne. If Sigismond objected that Vladislas
belonged to the Eoman faith, but would maintain
the Greek Church in Eussia, they should reply that
since Eussia had become Christian, more than six
centuries ago, there had not been a single sove
reign on the throne professing another creed, and
that to tolerate any such thing would only excite
disturbances. If Sigismond were to say, That as
Vladislas had already been baptized then how
could he be baptized a second time, no Christian
being christened twice ? they should answer, That
true baptism is only practical according to the
rites of the Greek Church, and that absolutely a
Eussian Czar must belong to the Orthodox religion,
just as in Poland a sovereign of any other than the
Estabhshed confession is never elected ; and they
should remind him that when he was himself
elected, he had embraced Eomanism. Should
they not succeed in persuading the King that
Vladislas should enter the Greek Church at
Smolensk, then any other city might be named
instead, provided he embraced the faith before
entering Moscow. But should the King insist
that the ceremony take place only in the capital,
they were to procure a written promise to this
effect, in the form of a letter to the Patriarch and
the Boyards of the country. No doubt seems to

106 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
have remained in the minds of the Eussians that
the young Prince, once removed from the influence
of his father's fanaticism and the Jesuits, would of
himself enter the Orthodox church. An injunction
not to discuss religious matters with the Eoman
priests closed the instructions to these delegates,
and they were personally requested to beg the
Polish lords not to dissuade the prince from
entering the Eussian Church. Another im
portant stipulation in the arrangements with
the King of Poland was, that as on attaining
his majority Vladislas should marry, he should
take a Eussian wife, otherwise the people would
be alarmed about their religion, as in the time of
Mary Miniszec. If Sigismond showed dissatisfac
tion on this head, it might be modified into a
condition that when of age he could not contract
any alliance without consulting the Patriarch and
the country, which in effect amounted to the same
thing. The confirmation of a very important law was
required also, viz., that as the Orthodox church
never permitted any one, under pain of death, to
change his religion, this regulation should be
strictly carried out, together with the confiscation
of the estates of the offender by the State. This
clause, if confirmed by Sigismond, would effectually

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 107
disable the Propagand, and on this point the envoys
were commanded to insist.
Moreover, once on the throne of Moscow, the
sovereign of Eussia should have no communication
with the Pope, nor under any circumstances receive
his benediction. If it were urged that in past
times there had been communication and corre
spondence with Eome on the part of the Czars, the
answer was that political and not religious negotia
tions had been conducted between the two courts,
and that Vladislas might have similar communica
tions, but strictly limited to political affairs, touching
neither the Eussian faith nor permitting the
Propagand to take root in his empire. A par
ticular stress was laid on the fact that Eoman
Catholic Churches were interdicted in Moscow.
Besides these diplomatic steps, the Patriarch
Hermogene wrote a private letter to Sigismond
relative to the baptism, which he earnestly re
quested, of Vladislas. " Give us your son," he
said, "whom the Almighty loves and has elected
Czar, that he may enter the Greek Church, a
church which the Prophets and the Holy Fathers
have foretold should remain for ever, and which
shines, until the present, like the sun."
With the exception of the marriage of his son,
and his change of faith, Sigismond pretended to

108 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
consent in general terms to the proposals of the
deputies ; but to prolong the affair, he evasively
replied that the treaty before him must be laid
before the Diet to be confirmed. During this time
he continued to besiege Smolensk. The King did
not desire the voluntary union of Poland and
Eussia ; he intended, by means of the sceptre of
his son, to conquer Eussia, and oblige her to
submit to his power ; but the Polish Jesuits com
prehended perfectly at this time that Eomanism
would never willingly be accepted by the people,
and that it was not Eussia which should become
Catholic, but that Vladislas should become Greek.
But the subjugation of Eussia to the power of
Sigismond might permit the introduction by violence
of Eomanism into the country, as had already been
effected in Lithuania, which sufficiently explains
why, though his son was elected sovereign of the
Empire, he continued the siege of Smolensk.
Some of the envoys of this embassy, siding with
the Pole, did not exact Vladislas' change of religion,
though consenting to his election, but Philaret
insisted, saying, "If he consents to accept our
faith, he shall be our King."
Notwithstanding the warning of Hermogene, the
apostle of the orthodox faith, as he is styled in the
annals of the period, some Boyards consented to

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 109
the conditions of the King of Poland, and ex
pressed their readiness to do so in a letter to him.
This step excited the anger of Hermogene, who
cried in the midst of the people : — " I cannot
support the Latin Chaunt, and I see in it the
profanation of the faith, and the desolation of the
Church." He released the people from allegiance
to Vladislas, and by his influence roused Eussia.
The Poles were compelled to fly, and the country
escaped the fate of her subjugated co-religionist
Lithuania. Thus in preserving and defending the
faith against armed Eomanism, Eussia was saved.
Phileret and Hermogene were the victims of this
deliverance. Hermogene was dethroned by the
Polish party, confined, and soon after strangled in
the Convent of Fezondoff, and Phileret was for
nine years detained a prisoner in Poland.*
At this time the Swedes were under the walls of
Tikvin. The Princes Pojarsky and Minin at
Moscow, concerted measures with the Novgorodians
to elect the brother of Gustavus Adolphus t to the
throne; but not suffering, say the annals, the
least infringement of the holy orthodox faith,
decided that his election should depend on
his acceptation of the doctrines of the ortho-
» Annales of Nikon, B. 8. p. 141-161.
t Bom at Eeval, 1601, died 1622,

110 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
dox Greek faith. This project, as well as the
previous election of Vladislas, prove that it was
not impossible at that period for the Eussian
people to accept a foreign prince, but that the
least attempt on the national faith was enough to
raise the population into a desperate and bloody
struggle with an enemy already in possession of
the capital.
Historical events like these illustrate sufficiently
the opinion of the Eussians as to the Eoman
Church. Its rites shocked and disgusted the
whole community. They were so entirely different
to the rites of the Eussians that comparison only
strengthened the aversion both to ceremonials and
dogmas. As the clergy became more educated,
greater importance was attached to the dogmatical
differences, which were the substantial impediments
to a re-union of the churches of the West and
East. Moreover, the spirit of the Latin clergy,
who invariably meddled in temporal affairs, was
found to be incompatible with Eussian ideas as
to the peculiar duties of the priesthood. The
perseveringly-carried-out efforts of Eome to per
suade as to the indispensable necessity of the
union of the churches, had totally different con
sequences to those anticipated ; her exertions only
stimulated the obstinacy of the people. In short

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. Ill
the religious persecutions by Sigismond which
roused all Eussia for the defence of the faith, and
the terrible souvenirs of this bloody struggle ren
dered Catholicism not only impossible but odious
throughout the land. Olearius, who thirty years
afterwards visited our country, says that the
Eussians willingly permitted people of all nations
and religions to reside amongst them, Lutherans,
Beforruers, Turks, Tartars, Persians, and Ar
menians, but that they would not suffer either
Jews or Papists, whose very name displeased
them. This firmness of the Eussians in then faith,
forced the Poles to abandon all hopes of converting
them, but the Polish clergy did not quite resign all
hopes of ultimate success. After the death of his
father, Vladislas undertook an expedition into the
¦empire with the intention of carrying out the
designs in which his father had been frustrated;
and Gemoitsky, Archbishop of Gniezno, pronounced
this speech before him at Warsaw: — "God honours
those who try to spread the Catholic faith, who
respect the priesthood, who serve the Church and
gratefully accept her councils. The Almighty,
through your royal highness, permits the light of
His truth to penetrate the darkness of the road
which leads to truth and peace; but in this

112 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
important affair to which your attentions are
directed, it is necessary to pursue it with
moderation, as the people are unenlightened and
must not be constrained by violence, but attracted,
httle by little, by the pious example set by yourself,
and the priests who shall accompany you." But
Vladislas had not the fanaticism of his father ;
besides, circumstances had changed; and the
Polish Propaganda, impotent against the national
faith at an epoch when Eussia was in deep distress,
became impossible with the restoration of pubhc
order, and a regular government established under
the Czars Alexis and Michael. By the year
1612, these attempts to introduce Eomanism into
Eussia through the assistance of Poland, entirely
ceased. Some European Catholic sovereigns tried to
obtain from the government permission for Eoman
priests to reside in the country, and to erect
churches ; but their solicitations failed. In 1627,
Louis XIII. despatched Louis de Hayes to the
Czar Michael Feodorovilsh to negotiate a treaty
between Eussia and France, and demanded the
establishment of a Catholic chapel in Moscow for
French subjects. A refusal was given ; and later,
in a treaty concluded with the help of Olearius for
commercial purposes, it was stipulated that no

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 113
passage through Eussia should be available to
people of the Latin creed ; but these restrictive
measures were afterwards abrogated, as travellers
were freely permitted the route to Persia and
India without any inquiry as to religion. In 1674,
the Dominicans Azarius and Antoine passed
through Moscow, en route to the East, and
brought with them letters from the Pope, from
the Emperor of Germany, and other sovereigns
to the Schah of Persia, to induce him to
declare war against the Turks. The same
year the Spaniard, Pierre Cuberius, and an
Itahan named Cavagniole, arrived in the capital,
also on their way to Persia and India as mission
aries, and requested the assistance of the Czar.
In 1677, a route through Smolensk, Moscow, and
Astracan was accorded to the envoy of Clement X.,
who had been to negotiate an alliance with Persia
against the Ottomans, and who received, according
to the etiquette of the period, a free pass, with
guides and other necessaries.
In speaking of the aversion of the Eussians to
Eomanism, Olearius says that though they never
forced people to embrace their faith, they did not
permit mixed marriages, but exacted that the two
spouses should profess the Greek faith.*
* Les voyages du Sieur Olearius.
VOL. I. I

114 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
At the close of the seventeenth century, Eoman
Catholics residing in Eussia, were not allowed to
erect churches. Eome then comprehended that
her efforts were ineffectual ; and when, on some
occasions, the ambassadors of foreign monarchs
spoke in favour of the erection of one or more, for
the convenience of the residents, they were
answered very curtly, that at Eome there did not
exist, until to-day, a single Eussian Church.
Since the time of the false Demetrius, with one
exception, there had not been any transaction with
Eome, and this was a political, not a religious one.
The constantly encroaching power of the Turks,
and the invasion of Poland by them in 1672, the
taking of Kameniez Podolsk, and the danger which
menaced that part of Little Eussia which had been
annexed, induced the Czar Alexis to succour
Poland. He not only sent troops to the Crimea to
produce a diversion there, but even intended to<
rouse all Europe against them, and wrote to the
different sovereigns, inviting them to join the
alliance. Matweeff, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, informed the Czar that, conformably to
his desire, he had prepared the letters to the
Courts of Spain, France, England, Denmark, and
Sweden, and requested to be informed if he should
also address one to the Pope. " Since the time of

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 115
the false Demetrius," said he, " we have had no
relations with Eome, and if now a letter be de
spatched to the Pope, it will flatter him into an
alliance to help Poland, in which he would be
seconded by the other European sovereigns, who
carefully obey him." The Czar therefore agreed t»
it, and Paul Menesius was the person deputed to
convey it to the Eternal City. But this plan
failed. Europe occupied with internal convulsions,
had neither time nor inclination to league against
Turkey, and the only two powers who consented to.
the scheme were the Elector of Brandenburg and
the King of Sweden. In his letter to the Pope,
the Czar only styled him " Preceptor of the Eoman
Church," and desired his envoy to salute him at
the audience with a simple bow only ; that if told
to kiss his foot, he should not do so, but merely
kiss his hand ; that if the Pope did not ¦ rise in
pronouncing the name of the Czar at the audience,
he might say "that the German Emperor, from a
sentiment of love and respect for the sovereign of
Eussia, rises and uncovers when he inquires about
his health." Should the Pope desire one of his
chamberlains to take the letter and present it to-
him, the envoy should refuse, and insist on pre
senting it with his own hands, " that the honour
of then sovereign should be cared for."
i2

116 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
During the journey to Eome Paul Menesius,
Major of Infantry, who was the special ambassador
on this occasion, was greatly perplexed as to how
he should escape kissing the Pope's foot, if required
to do so, and as he knew was the custom even
among sovereigns who visited the Holy See. He
communicated his uneasiness to Matweeff, who
told him that Catholic monarchs kissed the Pope's
foot, as they belonged to the same Church, but as
for themselves they were strictly forbidden in their
instructions to do any such thing. Menesius
arrived in Eome the 8th of August, 1673, and was
received by Count Lesley, a Jesuit deputed to
attend him. Lodgings were prepared for him at
Montecavalo, not far from the palace. Before
official reception, Cardinal Alfieri, the nephew
of Clement X., whose influence over the Pope was
unlimited, had long conferences with Menesius on
the subject of the reception. He said that the
Pope would not himself either receive from or give
the letters for the Czar to Menesius, and that he
would not rise on speaking of him, exacting at the
same time that the ambassador should kiss the
Pope's foot. "If," said he, "the Emperor of
Germany or any other sovereign came to Eome, he
would not be received unless he conformed to this
custom." " I am expressly forbidden to do so,"

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 117
replied Menesius, " as my sovereign does not
profess the Catholic faith. Before the separation
of the two Churches, the Greeks did not kiss the
Pope's foot ; and, moreover, if it be exacted from
me, I must be permitted to quit Eome immediately."
Valuing an affiance with the Eussian Prince, and
seeing the obstinacy of the ambassador, the point
was waived, but Menesius was advised to kiss at
least the cassock, which he refused to do. He
was received in solemn and official audience on the
18th August, when the master of the ceremonies
endeavoured by force to make him kneel, as like
wise the secretary, but they both refused, and did
not even once conform to this custom, excusing
themselves, that, being the representatives of the
Czar and the bearers of his letter, they could not
possibly do. The Grand Chamberlain would have
jerked the head ofthe latter, and called the attention
of Alfieri to it ; but the Cardinal forbade violence,
and the secretary only made a bow to the Pope.
The -epistle of the Pope in reply to the letter of the
Czar, commenced thus : — " To our well-beloved
son, the illustrious Alexis Michaelowitsch, Grand
Duke of Eussia." This title was considered as
incomplete, and the Eussians refused to receive it.
A council of Cardinals was therefore convoked, and
despatches were sent off and received from different

118 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Courts. The upshot of all was that the Pope had
a confidential interview with Menesius, from which
nothing resulted, and on the 20th September the
ambassador left Eome without a letter, Cardinal
Alfieri informing him that the answer to the
Czar would be forwarded by an envoy extra
ordinary. It is a remarkable fact that Menesius was him
self a Eoman Catholic, and a very fervent one. In
his will he charged General Patrick Gordon, a
disciple and friend of the Jesuits, to bring up his
son in the Catholic faith. If during his embassy
he obstinately refused to follow the ceremonial
customary at tbe Court of Eome, it was because he
perfectly comprehended his position as the repre
sentative of the Czar, the envoy of the Majesty of
Eussia, and that not in his own quality of Catholic
must he uphold the dignity he represented.
Eome was offended at the title given by the
Czar, " Maestro della chiesa Eomano," to the
Pope, complaining that it was unsuitable to
the dignity of the inheritor of the Prince of the
Apostles, and the Father of the Faithful. But she
would not lose the present opportunity of renewing
relations with the Eussian empire. After the
departure of Menesius, the savants of Eome dis
cussed, by order of the Pope, whether they should

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 119
give the sovereign of Eussia the title of Czar, and
this discussion produced several treatises. A
decision was at length arrived at that the letters
shoidd be addressed to Alexis Michaelowitsch,
Czar or King, as the Emperor of Germany
and the King of Poland employed this style.
This title employed by the Pope signified
that he elevated him to the dignity royal.
Much importance was erroneously attached to these
learned dissertations. In the Eternal City this
mission to the Holy Father was received and
looked upon as a very uncommon event, as well as
¦a very important one. " Until now," it was argued,
" embassies from Eussia were only replies to
initiatives taken by Eome ; this time it is the
powerful Czar himself, who, under very different
circumstances to those of John IV., who required
the Pope's assistance, sent a plenipotentiary to
His Holiness." The conclusion come to was that
some secret aim, — some underhand intention, — lay
beneath an act of diplomatic courtesy. They
beheved that the Czar desired to introduce Eoman
ism into his dominions ; and to profit by it a
mission without any regard to expense should be
sent to obtain at once, while the charm was
working, certain privileges and concessions which
had for so many centuries been sighed for in vain :

120 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
a church in Moscow, — Eoman Catholic priests in
that city, — the organisation of the most pompous
ceremonies, — the establishment in short of all the
paraphernalia of Popery, — these ought to be ob
tained through, as they considered, the penchant ot
the prince for Western manners and customs, and
his intention to spread civilisation, in conjunction
with a taste for the Greek and Latin languages,
throughout the land. To flatter his taste for
educated men, several savants should be attached
to the church at Moscow ; and these priests could
ultimately become the preceptors of the people, in
producing insidiously and gradually the union of
the two Churches. Thus Eome schemed, under
pretence of education and civilisation, to arrive at
results both vast and difficult, results which accom
plished, point by point, would bring about the
re-union of the Eastern and Western Churches, and
crown her long-continued and persevering efforts
by the conversion of a great empire to the doctrines
of her Church. But when and where have not the
Jesuits similarly schemed and dreamed and worked?
The keystone of this chimerical illusion was the
confirmation of vain titles by him who claimed the
right to confer them on temporal sovereigns as the
representative of S. Peter, a right founded not on,
Scriptural authority, but based on and proceeding

TROUBLES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 12l
from the pride of an arrogant power. But the
Court of Eome, more prudent than some of her
zealous advisers, paid little attention to these
treatises, and sent no embassy to Eussia. Ex
perience had already sufficiently demonstrated, how
unpractical, uncertain, and futile all her efforts had
been !

( 122 )

CHAPTEE IV.

EOMANISM IN EUSSIA FROM THE EEIGN OF THE
CZAES PETEE AND JOHN UNTIL THE ANNEX
ATION OF THE WESTERN PEOVINCES.

Entry of strangers of the Roman Catholic faith into the
service of Eussia. — Successive arrival of the Jesuits at Moscow
in the suite of the Ministry of the Eoman Emperor, 1684-7. —
Purchase of a house for the Jesuits at Moscow, 1685. — Je
suitical Propaganda at Moscow. — Expulsion of the Jesuits from
Moscow, 1688. — Protection of the Jesuits by Prince Basil
Galitzen. — Passage from the Testament of the Patriarch
Joachim, concerning the Latin Propaganda, 1690. — Steps
taken by the Jesuits for their recall to Eussia. — Intervention
of Cnrzius, the envoy of the Roman Emperor, in favour of the
Order, 1691. — General Patrick Gordon rejoresents the Catho
lics in Eussia at this epoch. — The Government refuse the
Catholics permission to build a church at Moscow. — Notwith
standing this the Catholics build one at Moscow. — The Mis
sionaries penetrate to Moscow. — The Jesuits re-introduced
into the Empire. — Second expulsion of the Order from Eussia,
1719. — Religious liberty under the reign of Peter the Great. —
Mixed marriages. — The Capucins called to Eussia, 1720. —
Struggle between the Capucins and the Franciscans. — These
Orders replaced by the Dominicans, 1724. — Eelations with
the Holy See. — Journey of Sebastian Enabe, Archbishop of
Naxivane, 1684. — Girowsky, Minister of the Eoman Emperor,
continues the negotiation entered into by the Archbishop. —
Dulois and Curzius defeated in the same negotiation, 1685. —
Project of an ambassade to Eome, 1697. — Journey of Field

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 123
Marshal SMrematief to Eome, 1698. — Mission of Prince
Eourakin to Eome, 1707. — At the time of the Czar Peter the
Great at Paris, the Nuncio Bentivoglio tries to dispose him
towards Eomanism, 1717. — Eome endeavours to procure a
Concordat with Eussia, 1721. — Proposition of the Sorbonne to
re-unite the Churches of the East and of the West, 1717. —
Response of the Eussian Bishops to this proposition, 1718. —
The Emperor Peter has little sympathy for Catholicism. —
Catholicism under the successors of Peter the Great. — Latin
Propaganda at Astracan among the Armenians. — Dissensions
between the clergy and the parishioners of the Church at
Petersburg. — Eegulations of the Empress Catherine II. for
this Church, 1769. — The regulations of 1769 extended to the
Catholic Churches of the Colonies of Saratoff and the South
of Eussia. — The number of Catholics very limited in the
Empire until the annexation of the Western Provinces.
The intimate relations of Eussia with Western
Emope, and the many strangers who had accepted
an invitation to enter the service of the Czar,
entirely changed the state of the Catholic Church
in the country. Nevertheless the number of
foreigners in comparison to the population, were so
limited, that the celebration of then church cere
monials and services, though enough for their
requirements, could scarcely argue the success for
the Propaganda. Formerly, as we know, the
Lutherans and other colonists enjoyed entire hberty
of conscience ; they had churches at Moscow, but
they did not proselytise. The Eoman clergy, on
the contrary, tried not only to procure for their
co-religionists hberty of worship, but their ultimate

124 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA
aim was the conversion of the whole country, and
those foreigners belonging to then church residing
in Eussia, were the auxiliaries by whom they hoped
to carry out their intentions.
In 1684, several disguised Jesuits came to
Eussia, in the suite of Girowsky, Ambassador of
the German Emperor, and the couriers selected
for the Eussian service at Vienna were almost
always nominated from this Order. Baron KeUer,
the Dutch Minister at Moscow, thus describes one
of these messengers : —
" The courier of His Imperial Majesty, whom I
mentioned in my letter of the 9th June, brings
only complimentary letters on the occasion of the
marriage of the eldest Czar. The courier is a
Jesuit named Vota. He is dressed with as much
elegance as if he were the first courier of Europe,
and bears the title of Imperial Secretary. They
say he is by birth a Frenchman."
At the time of his departure from Moscow,
Girowsky left his confessor Schmidt behind him,
to celebrate religious rites for the Catholic officers
in the service of the government. In 1685, Albert
Dubois and Curzius, courier of the Emperor of
Germany, arrived in Moscow, and in 1687, Tichaw-
sky followed them, furnished with letters of recom
mendation by his own government, so that very

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 125
soon there was a Jesuit colony established in the
capital. The Eoman Propaganda, which formerly
arrived under Polish protection, now visited Eussia,
through the patronage of the Emperor of Germany,
and it was at the expense of this sovereign, and
through the mediation of Curzius, that a house
was bought for the Jesuits, but was registered
only in the name of an Italian, of the name
of Guasconi. This man was a lay Jesuit, who,
under the guise of a merchant, was nothing
less than an agent of the Order. Without loss of
time they commenced to work by founding a school
for Eussian children. They distributed Eoman
Catholic books translated into the vernacular
tongue, together with images to second their views.
They interfered in temporal affairs, and acted as
the agents of other powers without even taking
the trouble to dissimulate their intentions. In
then absolute ignorance of the spirit of Eussia
they comprehended not the attachment of the
people to their faith, and considered it an easy
work to introduce Eomanism into Eussia. One of
then designs was to occupy the Patriarchal chair.*
Their seductions and hypocrisy would hardly
* Extract of a letter from the Jesuit Jaconovitsch, to the
post-master Sangala, complaining that Moscow would not have
him for Patriarch. — See Archives.

126 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
however attract many adepts, as their actions were
so extremely antagonistic to their words, and their
lives gave the lie to their sermons.
In 1688, the Czars John and Peter, in accord
ance with the custom of their ancestors, made a
pilgrimage to the Troitza Convent. The Patriarch
Joachim, displeased already at the Eascolnik
schism, seeing the new danger which threatened,
told the princes that formerly the Jesuits were not
permitted to establish themselves in Eussia, and
that there was a great difference between the
Eastern and the Eoman churches. "Eome has
apostatised and separated from the apostolic faith,
and since Jesuitism has taken root in Moscow,
many of the true believers have been seduced."
He therefore demanded their expulsion, particularly
as no diplomatic difficulty could intervene. The
Jesuits had domiciled themselves in Moscow of
their own accord, notwithstanding that the govern
ment had at different periods refused, though they
were backed by the powerful influence of the
Emperor of Germany, to permit them to do so,
except in one or two instances, where policy,
demanding an affiance with a foreign power, had
tolerated their presence for a limited time. As
political circumstances had changed, he demanded
and urged their expulsion, which was determined

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 127
on. Care was taken to dismiss them graciously,
and to furnish them with horses and provisions as
far as the frontier of Lithuania, and the Court of
Vienna was carefully informed that such provision
was made for them on account of the Emperor's
interest in the Order. They quitted the capital
regretfully, sorry to leave the work just commenced,
undone, and before starting left no stone unturned
to put off the misfortune. They asked to be
allowed to remain long enough to sell the house
they had bought, which stood in the German
quarter. The delay of a few clays was given, but
they requested to remain iill they could communi
cate with Vienna, and receive an answer ; hoping,
without doubt, to profit by the intercession of the
Emperor on their behalf. But they were informed
that this was useless, and that the Czars would
themselves inform the Court of Vienna after their
departure. This new check did not discourage
them. They addressed themselves to Dovenant, the
Polish ambassador, who not daring to interfere in
their favour officially, the ukase for their expulsion
being already published, endeavoured to arrange
the affair through another channel. Oukrainzow,
afterwards so celebrated under Peter the Great, was
at that time Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and to
him Dovenant turned for assistance, desiring that

128 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
the Jesuits might be permitted to remain a little
longer in the capitals, but Oukrainzow not only
categorically refused, but expressed his astonish
ment that such a request should be made in favour
of individuals not Poles, but in reality German
subjects. They were therefore obliged to leave
Eussia.* The foUowing year a Jesuit named
Terpilowsky attemped to introduce himself into
Moscow, but being discovered was expelled.!
For this unexpected blow, which upset all their
schemes, the Order cared comparatively httle,
as they were protected by Prince Basil Galitzen
the favourite of the Czarina Sophie. The German
Emperor, knowing that the Catholics in Eussia
owed the Prince many obligations for liberties
granted during the residence of the Jesuits in
Moscow, thanked him, and the Order glorified his
name, as they said, through all Europe. But this :
time the Patriarch was more powerful than the
Prince. In his will, made in 1690, Joachim;
besought the Czar not to tolerate the Latin Propa
ganda, and not to allow the holy images of the
Eussian Church to be painted after the model of
the Italian ; to forbid the erection of Catholic

» " Eecueil des lois."
t Posselt's "Day-book of General Patrick Gordon."

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 129
churches ; ahd concluded by observing that in no
other part of Europe were there Eussian churches.
Nevertheless, the Jesuits did not lose all hope,
as the intervention of the Court of Vienna, and
those strangers serving in the army of the Czar,
was their anchor for the future. Only one little
cloud in the horizon disquieted them — that priests
of another Order should be sent for; and they
concerted measures against such a contingency,
begging the Polish Minister to say that the
Catholic community of Moscow did not desire
priests of any other Order; and they requested
General Patrick Gordon, who at that time repre
sented the most influential part of the Catholic
society in the capital, to state that they did not
demand any from the government. They repre
sented all the advantages their Order conferred on
the country, — the education of youth, — economy to
the State, as they required no subsidy; — and in short
portrayed themselves as the most amiable and
accomplished class in Europe. Gordon was ex
horted to obtain their recall by every means possible,
and in the meantime so to manoeuvre that nothing
was undertaken as to other ecclesiastics before
receiving the reply of the Emperor from Vienna.
The hopes of the Jesuits as to the influence of
the Emperor of Germany were not vain, for in
VOL I. E

130 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
1691, Curzius, the envoy of this potentate,
appeared in Moscow on a special mission in their
behalf. He immediately announced himself to
General Gordon, and the house of Guasconi
became the centre of their re-unions.* After having
assured the government of the unalterable friend
ship of the Emperor, the envoy said that his
master was very sensible of the protection which
had been accorded the Jesuits in Eussia, and that
he had sent him to testify his gratitude, and
with his own hands to present the Czar a letter
from the Emperor. At the same time, he must
express his astonishment at then expulsion, and
hoped that on further consideration they would be
recalled ; he hoped that this request would be
attended to, and not refused ; that as Christians of
other denominations, Lutherans, Calvinists, etc.,
had full liberty of worship in the land, even so the
Catholic community might be permitted to have
clergymen to fulfil the offices of religion; the
Greek faith, he added, was not persecuted in
Hungary and Servia, which countries formed part
of the Imperial dominion.
Curzius was informed that the building of
Eoman chapels and the estabhshment of schools
was forbidden, and that the Jesuits should abso-
* Posselt's Tagebuchdes Gen. Patrick Gordon. Vol. ii., 444-494.

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 131
lutely not be »ecalled, as then conduct had not
conformed to the conditions on which then pre
sence in the centre of a population professing the
Gaeek faith depended ; that these conditions had
been granted only out of the friendship of the Czar
for the Emperor, and were only for a limited time.
They had undertaken to live quietly and to cele
brate the service of their church in then houses,
instead of which they had interfered in things
which did not concern them, had corresponded
with a foreign power, attracted Eussian children to
their schools, and estabhshed a complete system of
Propagand. Other countries, it was said, com
plained of the conduct of these priests, and suffered
from their meddling propensities. Even in Venice
they were not tolerated.
Curzius defended them, assuring the Govern
ment that these reproaches were unmerited, and
that they were caluminated purely through the
intrigues of the Lutherans and Calvinists of Mos
cow ; that the Fathers were as much distinguished
for their scientific accomphshments as for their
Christian humanity ; that they had only one aim,
that of fulfilling the duties of the ministry to which
they had been called, and of which they were an
ornament, and that if they had unintentionaUy
infringed the conditions on which they were
k2

132 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
allowed to reside in the capital, it would be easy
to enact more stringent regulations, to prevent
future irregularities. "In Venice and in England,"
said he, "there are also Jesuits, but they are
changed every three years, and in the latter
country they are disguised as laymen, so as not
to excite popular tumults, and to facilitate their
intercourse with Catholics." But Curzius per
fectly comprehended that he could not insist on
their recall, that there was little chance of it, and
contented himself with diplomatising, stating that
if they were again permitted to reside in Moscow,
they might also, as in Venice, be changed every
three years, and he proposed to draw up rules to
be sanctioned by the government, as to their
conduct and action while in Eussia, and to
guarantee the exact fulfilment of them. The
house which had been purchased by the German
Emperor should be registered ajrthat of Guasconi.
"Besides," added he, "what a scandal their
expulsion will create througljfcut Europe. All
sorts of calumnies will ¦. be circulated about them.
The Lutherans and the Calvinists will spread it
over Christendom, the entire Order will suffer, and
nobody will defend these innocent martyrs. There
fore the Emperor of Germany wishes their recall
to re-establish them in public opinion."

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 133
He was answered, that it was strange if the
Emperor was angry at their expulsion, for they
had not fulfilled their duty or the conditions on
which they had been allowed to reside in the
country ; that the reason of then expulsion was
that they had commenced to proselytise, and not
confined their action to their own parishioners ;
that it was quite unnecessary in them to make
converts, as the Eussians had been for centuries
Christians, and were sincerely attached to their
religion ; and that in chasing them there was
nothing offensive to the Emperor, who could, if he
really desired their establishment in foreign lands,
send them to countries where the people had no
knowledge of the true God, and lived in the dark
ness of idolatry, amongst whom they could preach
Eomanism. That as to the Lutherans and the
Calvinists, although their doctrine differed much
from that of the Eussian creed, they lived very
peacefully in Moscow, occupying themselves solely
with then own affairs. As to whether they had
calumniated the Jesuits or no, the government did
not trouble itself to inquire. With regard to the
house of the Jesuits, occupied by Guasconi, this
man could do as he liked, but it was excessively
strange and inconvenient to use the name of the
Emperor in connection with it. Throughout the

134 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
German Empire, it was added, there is no house
to be found belonging to the Eussian Czars.
These conferences closed by a notification that
the government of the Czars, taking into consider
ation the wishes of the Catholics in their service,
consented that one Eoman priest, not a Jesuit,
should reside in the capital, but that it was abso
lutely a sine qua non that he should be a monk of
another order, that he should reside in a private
house, and neither interfere in temporal affairs nor
try to proselytise. If they sent a disguised Jesuit,
he should be immediately chased beyond the
frontiers, and no more Catholic priests should in
future enter Eussia.
Curzius then demanded permission for a curate
to be appointed to this priest, and that, until they
arrived from abroad, the Dominican attached to the
embassy at Moscow should temporarily fulfil the
duties of the Church, a request acceded to by the
government. Curzius, counting on a better result, drew up
beforehand a memorandum of his demands to be.
signed, in case they were conceded by the Czars.
This document, bearing date 1691, still exists,
and in it the recall of the Jesuits is consented to,
together with the permission to erect Catholic
Churches, to allow public religious processions.

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 135
and many privileges to be continued and confirmed
by the existing government and their successors.
Without doubt Curzius deserves credit for clever
ness. He had endeavoured to have the house
recognised as the property of the Emperor, to
afford at any future time an excuse for meddling in
the affairs of the Catholics of Eussia, and the
possibility of further concessions.
The permanent establishment of Catholicism in
the country became more and more a necessity
from the successive arrival of strangers, but at this
epoch it was new to Eussia. Our statesmen of
the period perfectly comprehended the spirit of this
doctrine, and admirably traced the line of demar
cation between religion and proselytism, between
spiritual requirements and the pretensions of the
Eoman clergy. In Eussia, the Catholics had the
right of hberty of conscience ; nobody constrained
them to change their religion ; but, on the other
hand, their clergy were absolutely forbidden to
make converts.
Events justified the penetration of our politicians
of that period. It was not religion, but the love of
domination that led the Jesuits to undertake the
Propagand in Eussia. It would give them more
pohtical influence throughout Europe, a better
position amongst strangers of the same creed,

136 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
serving the Czar ; it would open up the avenues of
social and pubhc hfe, through which they could
guide, and rule, and reign, and strengthen the bul
warks of Eome, at the same time that they could
more effectually support the Emperor of Germany..
Cathohc interests in Eussia were at this period
represented by General Patrick Gordon, whose
fervency and fanaticism are well known. Educated
in the Jesuitical school of Braunsberg, he was all
his life devoted to the Order, and during the long
term of his service he corresponded constantly with
them abroad, sending his three sons to be brought
up by them in France, Germany, and England. In
1684, at his instigation no doubt, he presented a
petition from his co-religionists in Moscow, which
was supported by Girowsky and Blumberg, the
envoys of Austria, who demanded in the name of
the Emperor, that a church might be erected in
the capital for those Cathohcs who faithfully and
devotedly served his august Majesty the Czar, and
for the use of the various trading companies
residing in the German quarter, who regularly paid
all taxes and imposts according to law, and who
have not a house of prayer or pastors for their
spiritual wants, while the Calvinists and Lutherans
have clergy and churches. The Czar rephed that
he would confer with the Patriarch. Two years

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 137
elapsed without the desired authority, when the
government reiterated the permission already given
as to liberty of worship, but refused to allow the
erection of a chapel. The Emperor was obstinate,
reiterated his requests, and insisted always that
the church should not only be built, but be fur
nished with a bell, that the service should be
pubhc, and that all this should be confirmed by
the Czar for himself and successors officially. "We
cannot even listen to such propositions," was
the reply ; " to permit a church at Moscow is an
impossibility." In 1686, theBoyard Boris Petrovitch
Sheremeteff, Ambassador at Vienna, expressed the
same determination on the part of his government.
The Emperor graciously offered to write to the
Czar, and to hand his letter to the envoy himself,
conditionally that the above request be conceded
and confirmed. Sheremeteff replied that Cathohc
priests, with liberty to celebrate their religious
services at Moscow, were only tolerated through
the friendship of the sovereign of Eussia for His
Majesty, neither induced by nor resulting from
any obligation or constraint ; that the intrigues of
the clergy had offended and irritated the people,
and that in future the government would be more
circumspect with regard to Catholic ecclesiastics.
It would be exceedingly difficult to accord to

138 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
secular priests that which had been denied to the
Jesuits when they were actually in the country,
and what had also been refused to His Majesty
himself, and so constantly demanded in his
embassies. The Dominican, Bleer, followed the mission of
Curzius, in December, 1692, accompanied by the
missionaries Le Clerc and Eroch. Gordon directed
this mission. He surveyed then actions, and kept;
Curzius informed regularly as to their activity and
then progress in the Eussian language, and even
wrote to the Emperor of Germany, telling him
that the Eomanists of Eussia owed him their
estabhshment. He was, at this date, the principal
instrument of the Propagand in this country. But
the missionaries soon commenced to imitate the
Jesuits, only acting with greater prudence and
secresy. It is probable that they were only
disguised Jesuits. Five years later three more
arrived, with Guarlente, Ambassador of Austria.
Afterwards these priests decided to act on their
own authority, and to have a chapel by hook or by
crook. They therefore built a wooden one beside
the house of which Guasconi was the proprietor,
pretending that Gordon had commanded it, and
dug in the German quarter a cellar, for, as they
said, the interment of the General's family. It

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 139
was not quite finished when the suspicions of the
people were aroused, and the authorities informed.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs reported the case
to the Czar Peter, then at Azoff. Peter replied
that he had never authorised such a construction,
ordered it to be stopped, and desired that the
priest should be interrogated as to who had com
manded it. Proceedings were commenced, and
the Jesuits, knowing the high favour in which
Gordon stood at Court, threw all the blame upon
him, Guasconi confessing that all the plans and
orders were issued only by the General. Guasconi
pretended to ignore as to whether Gordon had
authority or not, but the-, true state of the case
stood thus : — In 1694, the Czar went in a carriage
with Gordon to a marriage of some of the strangers
serving in the army, and passing through the street
where the Catholics had decided to build a church,
Gordon drew his attention to the subject, to which
the Czar did not reply. Gordon interpreted this
silence as an intimation that the authority to build
would not be withheld. The priests, who on
their own responsibility had commenced this work,
persuaded by the guarantee of such permission,
continued it. The authority required was later
conceded, for which concession the priests promised
a glorious victory over the Turks. The Minister
for Foreign Affairs made many inquiries on the

140 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
subject, and was informed by Gordon's son that after
the prohibition to continue it, a petition had been
sent to General Gordon, then with the Czar at
Azoff, who had obtained it, but whether in writing or
verbally, was not known. This was the first church
erected in Moscow, of the Cathohc faith, which
received the name of SS. Peter and Paul. It exists
at present, with its primitive architecture and with
out any considerable changes in its construction.*
Bergholz, gentleman of the Chamber of the Prin
cess Anne,t daughter of Peter the Great,
visited it in 1722, and tells us that its interior
was ornamented with pictures and other decora
tions, and possessed a very fine organ.
We have accurate dates as to the arrival of a
Eoman Catholic bishop in the year 1698. He
arrived for the service of the engineers and military
of the. Catholic persuasion in the army of the Czar,
who had been engaged by His Majesty during his
first journey abroad. But we cannot exactly fix
the date when the Capucins established them
selves, as it is founded only on Eoman Catholic
records. There is no trace of them in any official
documents ; we only know that they were called
much later to Moscow. It is true that there
exists a document bearing the signature of Peter
* Arch. prin. des Moscow.
t Married to the Duke of Holstein.

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 141
and signed with the Great Seal, but it is entirely
apocryphal, as it is drawn up by some one who
knew not the language. This false document
permits, in honour of the affiance of the Czar and
Augustus II. , of Poland, the erection of a church
and a convent in the capital of Moscow, as well as
public processions, and every one is enjoined to
pay respect to the Capucins.
The great aim of the Jesuits was to be officially
recognised. As secular priests, they had estabhshed
themselves constantly in the country, under pre
tence of missions to Persia and India. Many of
them had arrived from time to time in the suite of
the Ambassador of the Emperor of Germany as
confessors, and were furnished with letters of
protection by that sovereign. Thanks to the
ignorance of some of the Eussian authorities and
the desire to preserve amicable relations with the
empire of Germany, they began a new era in
Eussia. They received a subsidy of 800 thalers
per year from the Emperor. Then church at
Moscow was very handsome, and they preached in
Polish or German. In Petersburg, the new capital
of the Empire, they appeared as civilians, and in
Moscow as secular priests, but afterwards they
threw off the mask, opened schools and boldly
assembled Eussian children for instruction. They

142 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
succeeded so far that they even persuaded the
Minister for Foreign Affairs to place students for
the diplomatic service in their establishments, to
learn, as they pretended, Latin and German.
Ladyjensky, converted at Moscow, entered the
Order and took successful steps to obtain and take
with him the estates he possessed in the country.
But it was chiefly amongst the higher classes of
society that they made the most converts. They
continued their connection with Vienna as before,
and acted as spies. The most enterprising of
them was Engel, sent by the Bishop of Inflandt to
Petersburg in 1715, with a letter of recommenda
tion to the Chancellor of the Empire, Golowin. The
difficulties made by Austria as to the extradition
of the Czarewich Alexis, irritated and cooled the
Czar Peter, and afterwards produced a rupture.
Bleer, the ambassador, suspected of intrigues in
favour of Alexis, was compelled to quit the country,
but Peter did not expel him himself; he demanded
his recall by the Court of Vienna ; and when he did
at last receive the order of departure, he contrived
to remain several months longer at Petersburg.
The German Emperor, however, less polite,
abruptly dismissed Wesselowsky, and desired him
to quit Austria within a week. The Eussian
General Consul was also expelled, though he

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 143
never mixed in politics, and confined himself quite
to the transaction of commercial interests. To
resent this affront, Peter, on the 17th April, 1719,
ordered the expidsion of the Jesuits.
The Order had foreseen this for a considerable
period, and had taken precautions for such an
emergency. In 1719 they had received a secret
warning as to how their correspondence with
foreign countries should be carried on, and were to
send then letters and documents through the
Austrian embassy, so that when on the 25th of
April the Jesuit Engel was summoned before the
Chancellor to have his papers examined, nothing
of any importance was found. Eowmianzoff, who
had conducted the affair of the Czarewich Alexis,
was charged with their expulsion. A captain of
the regiment of Bielozersk escorted them to the
frontier, the government furnishing them with
horses and furs and other necessities for the road.
A declaration as to the causes of their dismission
was despatched to the different foreign powers, and
England concurred in the opinion that the determi
nation of the Emperor Peter in this affair was
perfectly justifiable.
Thus, in the course of thirty years, the Jesuits,
who had twice introduced themselves into Eussia,
had been twice expelled. The first time the

144 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Church, indignant at their barefaced proselytism,
had roused herself to repel the threatened danger ;
it was not the civil power but the Patriarch who
expelled them. The second time the voice of
Eussia made itself heard, and they were banished,
not by the spiritual power, but by the Czar. It
was not for their rehgious opinions, or because
thek church and its rites were repugnant to the
feelings of the Eussians, but as the proteges of
the German Emperor, as the engines of a foreign
power, and for political reasons. Here there is a
striking contrast between Old and New Eussia —
between a government penetrated and actuated by
the traditional rehgious spirit and a government
founded on new European principles.
Under the reign of Peter the Great the Catholics
of Eussia enjoyed full liberty of worship in both
the capitals and in the provinces. Taking ad
vantage of the affiance of the Czar Peter with
Augustus of Poland, the Eoman Cathohc clergy
tried to obtain a written confirmation of their
privileges through the gt)od offices of the Jesuit
confessor of the king ; and in 1704, when Peter lay
under the walls of Narva, in the war with Charles
XII. Dzialynski, the Polish envoy exerted himself
to obtain a charter in their favour, and this act was
signed at Grodno the 12th of December, 1705, by

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 145
which the Czar promised that neither now nor at
any future time should they be forbidden the use of
then religious rites in either the capitals or in the
provinces ; and that they might erect a stone
church, " which concession was granted solely out
of regard for the Polish Diet." The first church,
as we have seen, was built at Moscow ; afterwards
others were constructed without preliminary autho
risation at Petersburg and Astracan. This last
city was selected as the centre of the Propagand
for the east, and more especiaUy for the Armenians.
Under pretence of visiting Asia, Latin ecclesiastics
had from time to time arrived there, and actuaUy
built a church for the merchants of different
countries trading with the East, establishing in
reality a depot for proselytism, directed against
the Armenian nation. In 1716 the Jesuit Milan
wrote to Engel : — " The Capucins at Astracan
have nothing to do if they are not employed
amongst the Armenians." These priests lived
very quietly in the city, dressed in the habits of
their Order ; they were not only attached to the
Church, but some resided in some of the families
of the foreign merchants. A Franciscan of Turin
hved in the house of the Contre Admiral Zmiewicz,
and others at St. Petersburg were engaged as tutors
to the children of noble families residing there.
vol. i. L

146 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
The Holy Synod permitted mixed marriages,
in the year 1721, conditionally that before the
conclusion of the ceremony the strangers should
give a written undertaking not to convert their
spouses, and that the children of such marriages
should be brought up Orthodox.
After the second expulsion of the Jesuits, the
Capucins were called from France and Switzerland
to replace them, but before this they had already
been located at Astracan.* Patricius of Milan was
their Superior, and was afterwards called to St.
Petersburg to superintend the Order. The Pope,
hearing of the expulsion of the Jesuits, sent the
Franciscans to officiate instead, and named Le
Pere Doleggio, who was returning from Persia,
as their chief. On his arrival at St. Peters
burg, acting on his authority from the Pope,
he set aside the Capucins ; a proceeding which
caused a ferment, and divided the Catholic
community into two parts — the Catholics properly
speaking, and the Papists. The first thought only of
carrying out the services of religion ; the second of
aiding and abetting the designs of Eome. In
Sept., 1720, Patricius appealed to the authority
of the Czar against the Franciscans, presenting a
* Six arrived in 1720, and were attached to the church at
St. Petersburg, and sis were sent to Moscow.

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 147
petition in which he and his coadjutors com
plained that they were banished from the Church
on pretence that they were not sufficiently learned.
" It is true, august monarch," he wrote, " that
humble and without scientific accomplishments I
have consecrated my life to religion, convinced
that for a monk it is not science but religion with
which he should occupy his time in his cell."
The same day Pierre Tolstoy, a Privy Councillor,
announced the Czar's pleasure to the Foreign
Office, that Patricius and his brethren should
remain connected with the Cathohc Church as
before, and that there should be no hindrance to
them in their duties. A ukase of the 14th
September confirmed this, but the day following
Doleggio presented a memorial supporting the rights
which he attributed to the Franciscans, with regard
to the Church at St. Petersburg. No reply was
given to this petition. The General of the Capucins
wrote from Eome to thank the Czar for the pro
tection accorded his brethren, but Patricius paid
dearly for his triumph. A complaint was forwarded
to Eome by the Franciscans on the subject, and
the conclave, in a very harshly-worded letter,
severely reprimanded him. In his fright he flew
to the Foreign Office. But the protection of Eome,
instead of helping the Franciscans, was injurious.
l2

148 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
In 1721, two letters addressed by the Pope and the
conclave to the Franciscans were seized, and
examined by the Holy Synod, at the request of the
Foreign Office. In these epistles they were in
formed that measures were being taken for the
recall of the Capucins, and they were requested to
propagate the Eoman creed by every means in
Eussia. The Synod, however, could not actively
interfere, as the Patriarch had formerly done, in an
affair with foreigners, but despatched a memorandum
to the Czar, with the foUowing remark : —
" It is necessary to regard the Franciscans at
St. Petersburg as the spies of the Pope. As to the
instructions of Eome, they are sometimes abso
lutely inhuman, supporting even attempts on the
lives of sovereigns, as history sufficiently demon
strates by examples in which monks have executed
such crimes." •
At the request of the Synod, the Czar ordered
proceedings to be instituted against the Francis
cans, and that the Foreign Office should register a
list of the Eoman Catholics in the Empire, their
localization, etc., as well as supply information
as to the number of ecclesiastics annually arriving
in Eussia. The Franciscans, however, rested un
disturbed and continued then intrigues against
the Capucins, which resulted in their dismissal.

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 149
A ukase ordered the administration of the Church
at St. Petersburg to remain for four years vested
in the hands of the Franciscans, directed and
superintended by their Superior, and the Capucins
were consequently expelled from their duties in
connection with the Church.
On its part, the government exacted that the
Franciscans while permitted to officiate as they
desired, should style themselves " Curators of
Sords" or simply " Curates " and not missionaries,
as they were elected to celebrate divine service for
then parishioners, but not aUowed to proselytise.
But the Franciscans did not long enjoy their
triumphs, for the French ambassador, who belonged
to the Gallican or Cathohc party, defended the
Capucins, and owing to his interest they were, on
the 4th of May of the same year, reinstated as
coadjutors for the religious services. This struggle
between the Orders, so painful to their parishioners,
was exceedingly embarrassing to the government ;
both parties trying to obtain the protection of the
Foreign Ministers, and meddling in affairs which
did not concern them, continuaUy beset the
Ministries. To put an end to these disorders,
both Capucins and Franciscans were, in November,
1724, ordered to quit Eussia, and the Dominicans
were appointed to replace them. The govern-

150 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
ment "imagined that the rules of this Order
forbade their meddling in temporal affairs;" but
the truth was the Dominicans were summoned
in compliment to Benedict XIII. who belonged
to their brotherhood, as the Czar having by
the treaty of Nusztadt become Protector of the
Greek Church in Poland, wished to soften religious
animosities by making himself agreeable to the
Pope, so that it was entirely owing to political
considerations that the Dominicans were caUed to
Eussia and installed in St. Petersburg. Until their
arrival the Franciscans might officiate in the
Church, but conditionally that they hved peaceably
with each other — in case of contravention they
should be sent off.*
We must now glance for a moment at the
relations of the government with the Court of Eome ;
remarking first that during the reign of the Czars
Peter and John Alexiewich, there were no direct
rapports with Eome, but negotiations only on the
subject of the titles which should be respectively
employed in addressing their respective sovereigns.
These negotiations were generaUy conducted
through the mediation of the envoys of the German
Emperor at the Eussian Court.
In 1684, Sebastian Knabe, Archbishop of
* Arch. prin. de Moscow.

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 151
Naxivane, ambassador of Austria to Persia, stopped
on his way at Moscow, and informed the Foreign
Office that Pope Innocent XL, both verbally and by
writing, desired to renew relations with Eussia,
which relations had been formerly broken off in
consequence of difficulties relative to titles ; that
the Pope consented to give the Czar his full title,
and begged the Minister to give him a form of the
style, that it might be despatched to Eome. The
government expressed their readiness to renew
relations with the Pope, but to this end a plenipo
tentiary should be sent by Eome. The desired
formula was the same day handed to the Archbishop,
with the title of the Czars written in extenso. As
to that of the Pope, the same style was employed
as that used by the Czar Alexis Michaelowich.
Having looked at them, the Archbishop returned
them to the Ministry, saying, that if the Czars did
not consent to give the Pope the title of " Very
Holy Lord and Father " he could not accept them.
As this was refused, he left for Persia. After his
departure Girowsky, the Austrian Minister at
Moscow, renewed negotiations, and the Government
agreed to style the Pope " Very Pious and very
Illustrious Lord, Innocent XI. J Pope and very
worthy Pastor of the Eoman Church;" but as
nothing came of the affair, Girowsky quitted

152 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Moscow, without obtaining any concession or any
other result.
In 1685 Albert Dubois, attache to the mission
of Curzius, arrived from Vienna, with proposals
from the Pope relative to an alliance against the
Turks, and the re-establishment of relations with
Eome. But before entering into negotiations, a
discussion arose about titles. Although Dubois
carried a letter from the Pope, it was Curzius who
commenced preliminaries, the Emperor of Germany
being the mediator between the two Courts. He
said that, in compliance with the desire of the
Emperor, the Pope had given the Czars their fuU
titles, but that unless these sovereigns should accord
the Holy Father his complete title also, they should
withhold the epistle. The Foreign Office however
was dissatisfied with the style adopted towards the
Czars, and declared that the Eussian government
could only address His Holiness in the style
delivered in the formula to Girowsky, declining to
use that of the period of John Vassielewich which
had not been employed since a patriarch had been
established in the country. Curzius at length
declared himself content, and professed his readi
ness to accord the Czar that which he demanded,
after which he presented the Pope's letter. To
his astonishment he found that this epistle did not

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 153
correspond with a copy which had been previously
handed him, and that in the original the titles were
considerably abridged. In consequence of this
incident, the reply to the Pope, which had been
prepared, was not remitted, and Curzius was
dismissed. Indirect rapport, however, between the
two courts continued as before.
During the reign of Peter, an embassy was
despatched to Innocent XH., for the purpose of
renewing relations and forming an alliance against
the Turks. Generals Lefort and Golowin composed
this mission, to which Woznitzyn was attached,
but not reaching Eome for some unforseen cause,
they were obhged to return home.
As Field-Marshal Boris Sheremeteff was going
to Italy to study the organisation of the arma
ment of the Knights of Malta, the Emperor charged
him with a letter to the Pope, his visit having
otherwise no official character. Sheremeteff in
tended visiting Eome, attracted there by his vene
ration for the Apostles Peter and Paul, and the
relics to be found in the Eternal City ; but his chief
inducement was in pursuance of a vow he had made
during a war with the Turks, that he would visit
the tombs of these holy saints. He arrived in
Eome, March 21st, 1698, accompanied by his two
brothers and a numerous suite, and was received

154 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
with much distinction. The religious devotion of
the Marshal, his profound veneration for the relics
to be seen in this Cathohc capital, the treaty of
aUiance which he had concluded with Poland against
the infidels, and the many victories he had gained
over the enemies of Christianity, aU predisposed
Eome in his favour. Notwithstanding that the
Czar addressed the Pope as before, " Ouczitel de
l'Eglise de Eome," Innocent XII. with his own
hands received the letter, and the General was
permitted to carry his hat in his hand, and his
sword at his side, during the audience, nor was he
obliged to kiss the Pope's foot as was customary.
He was presented with gifts and images, and his
holiness received from him also some rich Eussian
furs. After a residence of fifteen days he left for
Malta, but returned in a short time, and received
the Pope's reply to the Czar. The Jesuits of Eome
and Venice seeing the Boyard's devotion to the
relics of the saints, augured his easy con
version, and were lavish of flattery and compli
ments. They transformed the Academy into
a salle d'armes to please the warrior, their
pupils representing the combats of the heroes
of antiquity, executing the military exercises
on foot and on wooden horses. "It is mani
festly the approach of Christ's Kingdom,"

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 155
wrote a Jesuit, " and this conversion will give
us at Moscow an apostle, but it must remain
a secret. It is to be desired that a Father knew
the Sclave language in order that he might con
verse with him on religious subjects." But the
Jesuits were deceived for their pains.
Again, the successes of Charles XII. of Sweden
in Eussia, which led to the possibility of his
invading Poland and dethroning Augustus, the
ally of Peter, naturaUy induced the Czar to court
allies against the Swedish prince, and on this
occasion he thought of Eome. At this time
Poland was divided into two parties — one for"
Augustus, who was on the throne, the other for
Stanislas Lesczinsky, the creature of Charles. The
former trying to reserve their political rights
remained faithful to Augustus, and even after his
abdication refused to acknowledge Stanislas, and
proceeded to a new election ; the latter, obedient
to the conqueror, acknowledged allegiance only to
Stanislas. Peter, supporting the opposition of
the Poles to the eleve of Sweden, naturally turned
his thoughts on Eome, as Charles XII., being a
Lutheran as well as Stanislas, would hardly be
agreeable to the Latin clergy. In 1707 he sent
Prince Boris Kourakin to Clement XI. not exactly
as ambassador, but in a sort of incognito, with a

156 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
semi-official character. Kourakin was charged
with a letter to the Pope and one to the Cardinal
Archbishop of State, Paulluci, and opened the
negotiation very cleverly. He assured the Pope
and the Archbishop that in waging war on Charles
the Czar Peter defended not only his own interests
but those of Catholicism, as the King of Sweden
being a Lutheran and the Protector of the Lutheran
confession, was the natural and constant enemy of
the Eoman Church, a sufficient proof of which was
to be found in the fact that during the last war a
great number of Eoman Churches had been devas
tated, or transformed into Lutheran temples, and
that the doctrine of Luther if it took root in
Poland, might spread from thence as from a centre
of heresy. Prince Kourakin then followed up his
subject by requesting the Pope to fulminate a Bull
in which, conjointly with Eussia, he refused to
acknowledge Stanislas as king, and encouraged the
Poles to elect a new sovereign who might be
useful, not alone to Eussia, but to the Eoman
Church in Poland as weU as to Eome herself.
"If," he said, " the Swedes should be permitted
to confirm Stanislas on the throne, contrary to the
wiU and consent of the Holy Father, it would lead
not only to a deconsolidation of the Papal power,
but serve as a precedent for the entire extinction of

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 157
the Papal authority and faith in Poland." By way
of disposing Eome to his views, Kourakin stated
that it was purely out of personal regard for His
Holiness that the Czar had accorded the Cathohcs
in his empire entire hberty of worship, with the
erection of churches at Moscow, and a free route to
the East for the Chinese and Persian missionaries.
Eome promised concurrence in the views of Peter,
but did not decide on openly annulhng the election
of Stanislas.
The principal aim of Kourakin in this negotia
tion was the dethronement of Stanislas ; and the
aUusion which he threw out as to the rehgious
hberty of the Cathohcs in Eussia, was a means
towards this end, and a bait to prepossess Eome the
more in favour of the project. But for Eome on
the contrary, these negotiations on the subject of
Poland were but secondary, serving as the basis for
the demands for new favours and concessions for
the Eomanists of Eussia. On his first interview
the Holy Father thanked the Czar for benefits
already conferred on his Church, begging Kourakin
to transmit his acknowledgments for the same to
Peter, but immediately afterwards requested the
confirmation of these concessions in writing by a
charter, something in the form of a concordat,
sealed with the Great Seal, etc. To which Kourakin

158 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
replied that such a charter could not be at present
delivered, but that, conformably to a promise made
by the Czar to Augustus II. of Poland, a written
authority was often given for the erection of Eoman
Catholic churches in Eussia. Desiring however to
assure the co-operation of Eome towards the result
aimed at by the Eussian government, the Prince
evasively added that such a charter should be con
ferred on the Catholics after the war with the Swedes,
if throughout this period the Pope maintained his
friendship with Eussia. As there existed nothing
controvertible in this, it was not opposed. At a later
date they endeavoured to obtain a written con
firmation of the above-named concessions— -the free
exercise of religious rites, the erection of churches,
and a free route towards the East ; — but Kourakin
could promise no such a certificate, and the Pope
was obliged to content himself with repeating the
promises made to him by the envoy, in his letter
to the Czar.
Kourakin remained seven months in Eome, received
much kindness from the Pope, but scarcelypreserved
his own and his sovereign's dignity as Menesuis had
clone in 1673, for he condescended to bend his knee
before him, and sometimes even kissed his foot.*
* Arch, de Moscow. See also Hist. Buss. Mon. Vol. ii.,
pp. 284, 285.

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 159
That political views almost always swayed Peter
more than rehgious interests can scarcelybe doubted;
a fact which is proved by the statement of Kourakin
at an audience when he told the Pope " that in
Lithuania, where they destroy the Orthodox
Churches, the Czar, according to existing treaties
with Poland, having the right to prevent it by
force, nevertheless does not do so, though the
incorporation of Eussians in the Union is not
effected by conviction but by violence, yet, out of
love for the Pope he leaves the Union complete
liberty of action, and only begs the Holy See to
recognise as King of Poland the sovereign whom
the Poles themselves should elect." The Pope
rephed by thanking Peter for his kindness towards
the Union. This episode is sufficiently illustrative
of the tendency of Peter's government."
After Kourakin's departure, the Nuncio at
Warsaw was directed to obtain through the in
fluence of Augustus H. the confirmation by charter
of those privileges so ardently desired. The
Nuncio drew a glowing picture of this glorious
epoch in the annals ofthe Empire and the Church ;
nevertheless the Czar did not accord it, but
continued, as formerly, to protect his Eoman
Cathohc subjects in full liberty of conscience.*
* Hist. Buss. Mon. Vol. ii., pp. 286-297.

160 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
In 1717, Peter being expected at Paris, prepara
tions were made to receive him ; and Bentivoglio,
Archbishop of Carthage, asked the Secretary of
State how he should comport himself during the
sojourn of the Prince, and demanded if he should
not seize this opportunity to obtain greater con
cessions for the Catholics in Eussia, which hitherto
the Popes had in vain desired. In reply to this
Bentivoglio was commanded to procure them if
possible, and to endeavour to arrange at the same
time for the presence of a Nuncio at St. Petersburg,
the secretary sending him also a formula of the
ceremony to be observed in addressing the Czar.
Paulucci, the Cardinal Secretary, the same who
had formerly conducted negotiations, sent him
directions as to how he should manage Kourakin
and artfully lead any conversation he might have
with the Czar towards the subject of the Church,
and the necessity of a Nuncio at St. Petersburg,
pretending that as the stay of the prince at Paris
would be so short, he could afterwards explain and
arrange matters at greater length in the Eussian
capital. The Duke of Orleans promised his
assistance to this scheme ; and Bentivoglio put it in
train, adding in his interview with Kourakin that
Eome had great influence over Poland, and
the politics of other powers, accompanying his

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 161
dissertation by an accusation against the Galhcan
Church of promoting dissensions in the Church
in France, because some of the bishops had
refused obedience to the head of the Church.
At Kourakin's request an audience was granted the
archbishop, who in a very recherche discourse
eulogised the eminent qualities and exploits of the
Czar, and hoped he would continue his kindness to
the Eoman Cathohcs of his empire. The princ
made a flattering reply, but to the despair of his
hearer did not mention religion. Kourakin also
evaded aU aUusion to it, and sent him to the Vice
ChanceUor, Shafiroff, who informed him that if the
Pope thought proper he could despatch a pleni
potentiary to Eussia. The efforts of Bentevoglio
were, therefore, fruitless, and finding himself dis
appointed, he changed his plans. The Czar, after
quitting Paris, went to Amsterdam, and from thence
to Spa, where Bentevogho desired the Nuncio at
Cologne, to try to see him. As Peter did not like
receptions whUe on his journeys, the Nuncio did
not dare enter the town without permission,
and sent Count Cavalchino to Amsterdam to
the ChanceUor Count Golowin to procure it,
and to ask if the Czar would receive him.
In case of refusal, he begged Cavalchino to try
if he himself could not manage to obtain an
vol i. M

162 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
audience, at which he could explain the views
of Eome, and influence the Czar to further
concessions. Cavalchino did procure this audience
for himself, and was received with much affa
bility, but it had, for Eome, no satisfactory
result, the permission being given only for a
plenipotentiary to appear in St. Petersburg.* Thus
the pursuit of the Czar from Amsterdam to Spa
was quite useless.
The hopes of the Papacy now centered in the
person who should proceed to St. Petersburg. From
the accession of Peter her aim had been the
establishment of a regular embassy there, which
might politically assist the spread of Eomanism
in the empire, and so bring about the union of the
two Churches ; and notwithstanding successive
checks, she had never abandoned the idea, but
adjourned it from time to time on learning that
Peter was well disposed towards her. The flat
tering reception which he had accorded Cavalchino
induced a renewal of the attempt, particularly
as he declared that Peter was kindly disposed
towards the Pope, and that Golowin and
Shafiroff, the Vice-Chancellor, had a liking for
Catholicism. A letter was immediately despatched
* Correspondence entre le Noirce de Cologne et le Chan-
celier. Hist. Buss. Mon.— Vol. ii., pp. 331 et 332.

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 163
to Eome, in which ample considerations were
discussed as to the sending of some one to
Eussia, Cavalchino advising a person who knew
Eussian, mathematics, and architecture, who had
a general knowledge of the arts and sciences, to be
selected as the best means of attracting the favour
and liberality of the sovereign of Eussia; and
as Peter patronised everything likely to contribute
to the civilization and interest of his subjects, he
might be easUy gained over by the present of a
statue or some new tableau. This programme,
like many another undertaken before it, was never
executed, and the dissensions to which w*e aUuded
in a former page having broken out, ended by a
rupture, and the expulsion of the Jesuits from the
Empire. Peter's taste for the arts, which Cavalchino had
not faded to remark, led him to search all Europe
for chejs-cVceuvrc to enrich his new capital. Twice
he sent to Eome to purchase statuary. In 1718,
Kologriwoff bought an antique statue of Venus from
that city and confided it for repairs to a sculptor,
Legros. Falconieri, governor of Eome, being
apprised of this circumstance, forbade its deliver;:.
The ChanceUor, Count Golowin, chargedthe Eussian
Minister at Venice to demand its restitution ; and a
long correspondence with the Cardinals ensued,
m 2

164 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
which ended in the Venus being deposited with
Count Eagousinsky for the buyer. Cardinal Ottoboni
having been the most active agent in its restitution,
the Czar wrote and thanked him, promising to
attend to a request the Cardinal had made for
the relics of St. Briget, which were in Sweden, to
be sent to Eome. This statue of Venus was not
only to purchase the bones of a saint greatly
venerated by the Eoman Church, but was to lead to
more serious results. A species of Concordat,
signed with the Great Seal, giving an undertaking
for himself and his successors, was to be obtained
from the Czar, which would secure those priveiiges
so ardently longed for by Eome to the Catholics of
Eussia, through which she could attain a pohtical
and religious footing in the Empire, which might
eventually enable her to unite the Eastern and
Western Churches. The most desired of these
concessions was the erection of Eoman Churches
without any control whatever of the government.
As the Jesuits had been expelled two years before,
it was thought unnecessary to mention them in
the note written by Ottoboni to his agent in
St. Petersburg; the remark being, "that the Pope
wdl send missionaries who may be agreeable to His
Majesty — Capucins, Benedictines, or the Barefooted
Carmelites, who never interfere in temporal affairs

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 165
and preach only the Gospel. Besides, they will
be prohibited, under pain of severe chastisement,
meddling in civil or political affairs." The pro
gramme of Ottoboni contained also the establish-
ment of schools, colleges, and universities, where
the sciences and even Latin theology might be
taught. A free passage for missionaries to the
East was also desirable. We know that this
passage was never interdicted. The execution and
confirmation of aU these demands almost amounted
to the establishment of ultramontanism in its fuUest
extent, — there would be indeed a state within a
state — in return for which Eome promised the
foUowing titles to the Eussian sovereign : — " Sere-
nissimo, Potentissimo, ac Magno Domino Czari et
Magno Duci Petro Primo, universse, Magnae,
Parvse et Albae Eussia? autocratori, nee non Mag-
norum Dominiorum Orientahum, Occidentalium et
Septentrionahum paterno, avitoque hasrdi successori,
Domino et Dominatori," as weU as some statues and
antiquities. It would reaUy appear as if the
government meant to accept these propositions, as
the question of appointing a Cardinal Protector for
Eussian interests — then the custom amongst foreign
potentates — was discussed, as we find by a note
from Peter Tolstoy to the Ministry explaining the
signification of the title " Cardinal Protector " of

166 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
France. Thus the antique statue of Venus, which
at present embeUishes the Hermitage of St. Peters
burg, was nearly costing Eussia a Concordat, which
might have ended darkly for the country. By a
happy chance Eussia escaped it. The 8th March,
1721, Clement XI. died, and Eagousinsky compre
hending the absurdity of the whole affair, wrote to
the Czar that he had better defer the sending
of this document untU after the election
of another Pope. The Czar followed this advice ;
and the newly-elected Pope, not following up the
question, Eome lost an advantage she had struggled
for centuries to obtain.
During his journey through Europe, the Czar, as
we have just said, visited Paris, and on the 14th
July, went to the Sorbonne. While in the library
he examined several books written in the Sclave
language, which had caught his quick eye, and the'
doctors of the coUege seized the opportunity to
draw His Majesty into a conversation upon the
possibility of a re-union of the Eastern and
Western Churches. In the course of the con
versation, the Czar coolly remarked the striking
differences between them, quoting two which had
forced themselves upon him, but adding that his
attention was given more to war and politics than
to religion, and that if they desired to discuss

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 167
the subject with the Eussian Bishops they could
do so, and he should propose to the latter to reply
to any questions addressed. The theologians
of the College immediately set about preparing
a note on the subject, hastily, they said, as the
Czar was about to leave, in which they touched
on the principal differences of the Eussian and
Latin theology, trying to evade the polemical style
so habitual to Western disputants. They did not
consider it necessary, they said, to discuss either
the rules or the ecclesiastical discipline, as in
many chinches the services differed ; nor yet
even the sacrament of the Eucharist, for aU
Cathohc countries followed their own customs, as
far as they conformed with the dogmas of their
Head; so that the Eussians could preserve their
own rites like the United Greeks, provided that in
so doing they threw no discredit upon those of the
Latin Church. Their reasoning upon the dogmas
of their own or the Greek faith were exceedingly
shallow ; nor did they give any satisfactory expla
nation of the Procession of the Holy Spirit, which
is one of the most important differences of the
Churches. They only arrived at the conclusion
that both should have the same symbols of faith,
but that the Eussians need not have the famous
Fihoque of the Eoman theology. It only remained

168 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
to examine the ecclesiastico-politico dogma of the
Pope's supremacy, and on this point the Sorbonne
showed itself even more conciliatory. According
His Holiness the same authority as to other
bishops, with pre-eminence over them as the
successor of St. Peter, but denying his infallibUity,
they proceeded to blame the tendency of the
Papacy to interfere in temporal affairs, and saw no
reason why Eussia, in accepting Catholic unity,
should submit to ordinances composed at Eome,
particularly as these were not generally followed by
many other countries essentiaUy Catholic. "Such,"
said the doctors, " are our ideas, and although the
Ultramontanes differ from us, they nevertheless do
not hinder our being sound Catholics."
Etienne Jaworsky and Theophane Procopowich
drew up two replies to this document in 1718,
the contents of both being similar; but that
of the latter was preferred, probably because
his style was more bombastic, and interspersed
with allusions to the Popes as the chief cause
of the separation of the Churches. The Eussian
bishops thanked the Sorbonne for its worthy
efforts at reconciliation, declaring that this
was also the hope of the Eussian Church, which
daily prayed for the unity of the East and West,
but regretting that they could not acquiesce in the

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 169
reasoning of the reverend doctors. The bishops,
however, had no right to decide or even to examine
the question, as other countries professed the
Greek faith, and referred the learned professors to
the four Eastern Patriarchs, or, what was still
better, abandon it to the decision of the Most High.
This letter was signed by four of the principal
bishops of the Orthodox Church, and was de
spatched to the Sorbonne in 1720.
The Jesuits of Moscow, who knew the contents
of the letter written by the doctors of the Sorbonne,
were deeply mortified at such an expose of the
views of the Church of France ; and they wondered
that nineteen priests of the CoUege should dare
present such a note to the Czar, without the sig
nature of a single bishop ; but if these boldly took
upon themselves, they said, to promulgate such
views, they had their antagonists even in the
Galhcan Church. At St. Petersburg itself there
could be found many adherents of this Church, as
in 1719 a Franciscan clergyman actuaUy resided
there who had httle sympathy for the Jesuits.
If the re-union of the Eastern and Western
Churches were ever an accomplished fact, it would
be assuredly as much through the Gallican doctrine
as through that of Ultramontanism, the grand
obstacle of all being Eome. Gallicanism com-

170 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
mended itself more than Ultramontanism to this
prince, for Peter had even Protestant tendencies.
The brochures pubhshed in HoUand against Eome
found a favourable reception at his hands, and were
even translated into Eussian. At the Fetes at the
Palace, it was not uncommon to give ridiculous
representations of the conclave of Cardinals, Zotoff
playing with empressement the part of the Pope.*
After the death of Peter, the difficulties with the
Catholic priesthood lasted a long time. The
Capucins and the Franciscans excited the suspi
cions of the government, and fomented dissensions
amongst the Catholic commnnity. Chrysologue,
an Austrian Capucin, endeavoured to excite Peter,
the grandson of the late Emperor and the son of
Alexis, against Catherine I., but this priest was
expelled to Eeval, and after a time finally banished.
At the close of 1728, the Abbe Jubet arrived
from Paris, as tutor to the children of the Princess
Lene Dolgorouky, ne'e Princess Galitzen. This lady
was the wife of Prince Serge Petrovich Dolgorouky,
and had been converted to Eomanism in Holland in
1727, by her friend the Princess of Aremberg, and
received into the church of Eome by the Archbishop
of Utrecht. The Abbe Jubet was neither more nor
* Memoires Secrets de la Cour de Eussie sous les regnes de
Pierre le Grand et de Catherine I.

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 171
less than an agent of the Sorbonne, who, with
Fouquet and others, were selected, after a two years'
debate, to go to Eussia furnished with fuU powers,
and backed by satisfactory credentials, to open pre
liminaries with the Eussian clergy as to the event
ful union. He was protected by the Duke of Liria,
the Spanish Ambassador, who was extremely
intimate with Dolgorouky, the darling of Peter IL,
through whose influence Jubet was named Almoner
to the Spanish Embassy, with permission to reside
at the house of the Princess. Jubet was indeed
speciaUy protected by the whole Dolgorouky family,
at that time in power, the two brothers of the
princess being members of the Privy Council. The
country house of one of the Gahtzens served for a
place of assembly for those who favoured the union;
butthese re-unions, as unconstitutionally assembled,
and unrecognised by any episcopal authority, were
useless. The Abbe was expeUed in 1732. At a
period somewhat later, several Capucins arrived
from Austria, and were attached to the church at
Moscow ; the Dominicans only administering the
church at St. Petersburg.
But notwithstanding difficulties, the Eoman
Propagand slowly progressed, through the influence
of Pohsh emigrants, who converted the Eussians
after settling in the country. These immigrations

172 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
were however, in 1730, prohibited by law ; and
proselytism was by a special clause forbidden
under pain ot severe penalty. At Astracan on the
Caspian, it had more success, as further removed
from the observation of the authorities, who, until
too late to arrest it, did not discover its pro- ¦
gress. In the time of Peter the Great, Eoman
missionaries had arrived there, pretending to go
to Persia, and having delayed their departure
from the city from one period to another, had
in the interim built a church without any official
warrant. It was only in 1721 that the Foreign
Office thought of asking the Governor of Astracan
what number of Cathohcs lived there ; what priests
they had ; if there was a church there ; and what
his opinion was about the Capucins, if they
could be permitted to settle there, requesting any
information he could give. The celebrated Wo-
dynski, who was then the Governor, replied that
there were many foreigners, principally merchants
there, both Germans and Armenians, of whom
many professed the Catholic faith, and that
according to his opinion he saw no reason why
these priests should not reside there ; that on the
contrary their presence would serve the interests of
civilization in the country, as they taught Latin
and other languages. But the Armenians, whom

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 173
the question more narrowly concerned, foresaw the
danger which threatened then Church, and dechned
to pronounce any opinion.
These forebodings were soon after fulfilled ; but
Eome, acting with great prudence, in an almost
imperceptible manner drew the Armenians, without
forcing them, to Catholicism. She gradually
introduced the rites of the Eoman Church into the
Armenian, preserving the ancient ceremonies — that
is to say the exterior of the faith — whUe httle by
httle sapping the basis of the primitive dogmas,
to which the mass of the people, seeing the
exterior stiU the same, and httle suspecting
such duplicity, were blind. Eome in one word
introduced the Union into the Armenian Church,
as she had before done into the Greek, and thus
formed that mixture which is stiU to be found
in the Armenian services, and which exists until the
present day. From Astracan the missionaries of
Eome spread themselves into Persia, where they
tried to convert the population. Mohammedans and
Armenians were equaUy the object of their spiritual
sohcitude there, and they actuaUy succeeded so
weU that they enjoyed the favour of some satraps
faffing back upon Southern Eussia for an asylum
in case of danger. By the middle of the century
they had estabhshed themselves openly, under the

174 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
name of the Eoman Mission. But a cloud ap
peared in the horizon of their success. Bakounin,
the Eussian consul at Guiliany, determined to caU the
attention of the government to them ; and in 1746
he reported the intrigues of the Jesuits in Persia,
their proselytism of the Armenian peasantry, and
remarked on their constant correspondence with the
Capucins of Astracan. He concluded his report
thus: — "If the dervishes of India and Persia are
not permitted to enter Eussia, because of then
propensity for espionage, how much more dangerous
are the Latin priests on this very same score." A
certain Capucin who for seven years had proselytised
in Persia, left it to return to Italy, but stopping at
Astracan on his way, he cooUy continued his labours.
The Ministry aroused, took measures to stop this
insidious and dangerous Propagand; the Capucin
was ordered to be expelled, and the Consul was com
manded not to give passports or permit " these
vagabond priests," as they were styled, to saU in
Eussian vessels. The Capucin who was distin
guished by fanaticism and bigotry, was warned to
evade in future conversions amongst the people, if
he desired to escape exemplary punishment, and
enjoined to be quite quiet, contenting himself like
his co-religionists with the free exercise of his faith
as tolerated by law. But these precautions came

THE REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER. 175
too late. The Capucins continued to convert the
Armenians as before, baptizing in the Eoman
Chmch all the children born of mixed marriages
between Cathohcs and Armenians. But the
Armenians themselves were excited, and loudly
accused the Propagandists menacing the Capucins
with expulsion, so that Eome had to interfere and
invoke the Eussian government for protection for
these priests. The Armenian clergy roused them
selves. Etienne, Archbishop of Astracan, complained
in 1 755 against them, exposing their actions, and
presenting a list of persons whom they had prosely
tised. When it was known that this memorandum
had appeared at the Foreign Office, two Capucins
left for St. Petersburg to advocate their defence, and
by way of retahation brought with them a certain
Armenian book containing a critique on the dogmas
of theGreek Church. Throughsuch anexposdof the
ideas of the Armenian Church on the Eussian creed,
they hoped to work up a scheme, not only to defeat
the petition presented against them, but to obtain
official authority for the conversion of Armenians
not Eussian subjects, with an injunction to the
Archbishop not to complain again and to keep
his discontent to himself. But there existed at
this very same moment, in St. Petersburg, positive
proofs that the missionaries had also tried to

176 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
convert Eussians as well as Armenians at Astracan.
They were commanded to reply to this charge; but
instead of doing so eluded it, demanding permission
to leave for Eome to concert with their superiors'
as to their defence, but threatening the Vice
Chancellor, Count Woronzoff that in case the affair
were decided against them, they should appeal to
foreign sovereigns for protection. The Holy Synod
insisted on an inquiry ; saying, that the culprits if
found guilty should be punished, but the Foreign
Office over-ruled it, and the case was quashed.
Naturally the Armenians were dissatisfied at this
result, as it threw discredit on them, and the
Ministry justified itself by the foUowing expose" of
the reasons which actuated the government.
" With respect to the accused Capucin, it would
not be prudent to proceed with that severity against
him, which existing laws justify ; as even were his
crime evident, the Emperor of Austria, who holds
the same faith, would defend him, and under
present circumstances it would not be politic
to have any coolness with that Court. It is there
fore better to let the affair drop, and banish the
priest, seeing that if once convicted, it would be
exceedingly difficult to execute the sentence;" in
other words, tolerance was sacrificed to policy, as
genuine tolerance consists in preventing one Church

REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER, ETC. 177
Persecuting another. The Eoman Catholic mis
sionaries, intolerant and overbearing in their own
Chinch, were this time, as the Jesuits had formerly
been by Peter I., protected by reason of the
foreign polioy of the government ; and since the
reign of this Emperor, the system pursued by
Eussia with regard to strangers domiciled in the
empire, did not consist in equahsing their rights,
but in making them serve as political instruments,
protecting them when an affiance was desirable,
and withdrawing this protection when a demonstra
tion was intended. In the present case, policy
did not require such a course, but on the contrary ;
it was not Eussia which required an affiance with
Austria, but Austria to whom it was essential.
Frederic the Great was not dangerous for Eussia, but
for Austria ; he did not make war on the Czar, but
on the House of Hapsburg ; and an act of justice
on the Capucins of Austria, who had violated the
conditions on which they were tolerated in the
country, could hardly be dangerous for the govern
ment, Austria having more at heart the defence of
her States against the Prussian troops, than of
fanatical missionaries against Eussian justice.
Sound policy was, however, sacrificed to expe
diency, and the Capucins enjoyed even more
protection than ever. The foUowing year Count
VOL. I. N

178 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Esterhazy, the governor of Astracan, was enjoined
" to show the Cathohc priests every protection,
and to try to reconcUe them with the Armenian
clergy." Thanks to this injunction, they redoubled
their energy and no longer veiled their proselytising
propensities, openly trying to convert the Eussians
to Cathohcism. The Archbishop of Astracan did
not cease to complain, remarking at the same time,
that there were ready no born Catholics, for that
all had been converted. This inactivity of the
government produced such fruit for Eome, that in
the city, where, until the time of Peter I., there
was not a single Catholic by birth, in 1760 there
were eighty-seven famihes converted to Catholicism.
Fifty-three of these families depended on the
Eussian government, and together formed a fourth
part of the population of the town.
As to the, Dominicans at St. Petersburg, they did
not live in very 'cordial relations with their parish-
oners. Sent to Eussia by Eome, they were
exceedingly circumscribed in then usefulness, as,
knowing only Italian, they were of little service
either to the Germans, French, or Poles. Then-
superiors depended only on Eome, and in no case
respected the rights of the community, regarding
the estates of the Church, not as belonging to then-
parishioners, but to Eome, to whom only they

REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER, ETC. 179
owed allegiance. Although they personally made
no sacrifices in favour of the Church, they yet
collected and saved money, which they placed out
at high interest for their own profit ; and finaUy
ended by returning to Italy without rendering any
account of the Church funds, leaving only debts
behind them for then parishioners. These last,
oppressed by the clergy, demanded authority from
Eome to select their own priests, to elect a superior
and inspectors for the administration of the Church
property ; but for several years the conclave gave no
reply, sending, however, their own superiors. The
community at that time confided their interests to
the Empress Catherine IL, and begged her Majesty
to estabhsh a regular administration for the Church
at St. Petersburg. In 1766, the Foreign Office was
commanded to take steps that the Franciscans
should come to Eussia ; and in 1769, the Empress
pubhshed regulations for the Church at St. Peters
burg, the principal of which were as foUows : —
1. The Franciscans should officiate in the parish
to the number of five or six, and not four as for
merly, and these1 priests should from time to time
celebrate divine service at Cronstadt, Eevel, Yam-
bourg, and Eiga.
2. Eight inspectors or syndics should be selected
by the parishioners ; and these, as adjuncts to the
n 2

180 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
superior, who should also be chosen by the congre-
gregation, should regulate the pecuniary affairs of
the parish.
3. Attached to the church there should be a
school for the education of Eoman Cathohc children,
but of no other confession of faith.
4. The church, the school, and other buddings,
should, without exception, belong to the municipal
community. 5. The clergy were to abstainfrom all proselytism.
6. The superior direction of the affairs of the
Church, should, as weU as the decision in all
litigious matters between the clergy and their
people, be referred to the Minister of Justice for
the affairs of Livonia, Esthonia, and Finland, con
ditionally that the Ministry did not interfere with
the dogmas of the Eoman Church. This latter
rule extended to the Church at Moscow, and by it,
the Catholic communities of both capitals were
secured against any arbitrary acts on the part of
their clergy. But this act had a yet more signifi
cant importance. In according entire liberty to
the Eoman religion, but certainly without prosely
tism, forbidding it under severe penalty, and pre
serving intact the dogmas of the faith, the Empress,
who at this time reckoned several thousands of
Cathohc subjects, did not recognise the right of

REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER, ETC. 181
Eome to nominate the Latin clergy in her domin
ions. She did not permit the Conclave at Eome
to send superiors to the Eoman Church in Eussia,
but she sent direct to Germany for priests (she had
directed the Foreign Office to demand the Francis
cans from one of the Bishop rectors of Germany),
subordinating them completely to the Ministry
itself. The Cathohc community received this
regulation as a benefit which released them from
oppression, thus attesting that, inasmuch as the
dogmas of the Faith were independent of the
temporal power, so much the more should the
clergy submit to this power.
During the first years of the reign of the Empress
Catherine IL, the Germans established colonies in
Saratoff, in the south of Eussia. These colonies still
exist, some of them Eoman Catholic, some of them
Lutheran. The government, at its own expense,
buUt houses for the clergymen, and churches,
which they furnished with every requisite for divine
service, conferring many privUeges on the colonists,
which after experience unhappily did not justify,
particularly if one considers the little benefit these
colonies produced to Eussia. The Foreign Office
nominated these priests and the rapports between
them, and their parishioners were regulated by the
law of 1760 for the Church of St. Petersburg.

182 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
This epoch opened up a certain and regular
organisation for the Catholic clergy in Eussia, but
there was no ecclesiastical administration, properly
speaking, until a later date. Apart from projected
ecclesiastical buddings, there was a church at
Moscow, one at St. Petersburg, one at Astracan, and
one to Nirjni. The date of the erection of the
latter is unknown. As to Eussian subjects born
Catholic there were extremely few. The greater
part of them were the children of strangers serving
the Crown, or strangers themselves in the Eussian
service, and some Armenians converted to Popery
at Astracan. Eussia only received a Cathohc popu
lation after the partition of Poland. Her consecutive
union of the western provinces gave her a solidly
established Eoman Catholic hierarchy, with laws,
rights, and traditions of its own, and it is only from
this period that, properly speaking, the history of
Catholicism in Eussia begins. To comprehend
and appreciate the acts of the Empress Catherine
concerning Cathohc ecclesiastical institutions, it is
indispensable to glance at the state of Catholicism
in Western Eussia at the time of the re-union with
the empire. The limits of this work wUl not
permit us to treat the subject at length, as it
would involve a preliminary history of Eomanism in
Poland, but the history of Eome in Poland is

REIGN OF JOHN AND PETER, ETC. 183
Poland herself. Eomanism was inseparable from
her destinies — it created, organised, reversed, and
at last brought about the struggle which termi
nated the pohtical existence of this unfortunate
country. The reader who desires more detailed
information as to the role played by the Eoman
clergy in the history of Poland, and the fanatical
spnit of the Latin clergy in Lithuania at the time
of the introduction of Christianity into the country,
wUl find much information in the documents con
tained in the Archives of the Ministry, " des
affaires etrangers," at Moscow, " Les archives
principales de Moscou," &c, &c. As to what
concerns the history of the Catholic Church in
Lithuania, we confine ourselves to those circum
stances merely which relate to the ulterior measures
of the Eussian government with respect to the
ecclesiastical administration of the Eoman Catholics
in Eussia.

( 1S4 )

CHAPTER V.

APEBCU HISTORY OF CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA
f UNDER THE POLISH DOMINATION.

The Greek Faith anterior to the Eoman Church in the
Western provinces. — Introduction of Eomanism.— Difficulties
which it encountered. — Idolatry in Lithuania in the sixteenth
century. — Erection of dioceses and arrival of the Monastic
orders. — Eomanism introduces an element altogether new in
Lithuania. — Cardinal Commendoni makes the Council of
Trent accepted in the Grand Duchy, 1564. — Hierarchical
organisation of the clergy. — The Eeformation and its progress
in Lithuania. — Arrival of the Jesuits, 1569. — Their rapid
success. — They hinder the march of Calvinism. — Greek
Church in Lithuania.— Conduct of the Jesuits with regard to
it. — Struggle between the Latin and Greek priesthood. — •
Introduction of the union at the Council of Brescia, 1596. —
Views of Eome and its plan of action. — Protestations of the
people of the Greek rite. — Means employed by the Jesuits
to effect the union. — Persecution of the Greek Church. —
Polemic between the Latin and Greek priesthood. — Discontent
which the Jesuits excited among the Eoman Catholics in
Lithuania. — King Vladislas IV. opposes the Peares to the
Jesuits. — Influence of the Jesuits. — Jesuit almanacs. — State
of the Clergy. — Dissensions between the Clergy and noblesse.
— B61e played by the Jesuits in the State. — Precautions taken
against the accumulation of riches by the Clergy. — The
Boman Clergy contribute to the downfall of Poland. — State of
the Beformed Church from the seventeenth to the eighteenth

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 185
centuries. Progressive Eomanisation of the united Greeks.
— Political phase of the union. — The Jews oppressed by the
Latin Clergy.
The History of Western Eussia is generally
enough known. With the exception of Lithuania
proper, which comprised the governments of Wilna
and of Grodno, Samogitia and a part of Courland,
the other provinces of that country were of Eussian
origin, and formed a section of the different appan
age principalities. One of them was even the
cradle of the Empire as well as the birthplace of
the religion of Eussia. Lithuania itself, though the
population belonged to another race than that of
Eussia, was no stranger to her, as it was from this
latter country that the Gospel had been brought
at a period when Latinism was completely unknown.
In the convent of the Holy Spirit at Wilna repose
the remains of the first martyrs of the faith,
Anthony, John, and Eustace, kUledby the Lithuanian
idolators ; and an old church, now ruined, formerly
dedicated to Saints Boris and Gleb, still exists at
Nowogroudek, an antique testimony of the early
religion. It stiU confers the title of Metropolitan,
as the See of the Eusso- Greek prelate. The
Lithuanian Metropolitans afterwards removed their
seat to Wilna. It contained in the fifteenth
century the Preczistenska Cathedral, known as the

186 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Spaska; and the Greek Metropolitan resided
beside it, while the adjacent houses belonged to
the clergy of this confession. The two countries
were also intimately united by royal marriages,
and the refuge found there by the Greek priesthood
who fled from the devastations of the Tartars.
The Eussian dialect penetrated with the Eussian
faith, and became the idiom of the Legislature, as
proved by the Lithuanian statutes and other
official acts.
The efforts of the Teutonic Knights to introduce
Latinism by violence into the country, in the hope
of conquering it, and the missions of Franciscans
and Dominicans towards the same end, ( were
failures. According to the testimony of Western
writers, the Lithuanians were at the close ofthe
fourteenth and the commencement of the fifteenth
centuries either idolaters or followers of the Greek
Church. It was not until after the union of that
country to Poland under Jagellon that Eomanism
was imposed on the people. Jerome of Prague
visited these regions in the latter century, when
Latinism first found some success. It took root
with difficulty as it was introduced by violence, and
was preached in a language unknown to the
people; the conversions were consequently slow
and insincere. The Latin monks sent by Eome

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 187
knew nothing of the common language, and
preached through interpreters, so that they could
scarcely be comprehended. At the same time
they endeavoured to augment the number of their
parishioners for the interest of their Order ; but
they did not succeed with the population, and
notwithstanding the zeal of then Grand Dukes
this doctrine made little progress untU the muddle
of the sixteenth century, or even later. Latinism
entered this region at a period when, undermined
by the selfish and mundane considerations and
calculations of the priesthood of the papacy, it had
decreased in other parts of Europe. It was
not the pure doctrine of the gospel, nor did
it contain the elements of Christian fervour that
pervaded it during the first centuries of Christianity.
It was tottering and faffing, enfeebled by the
vices and ignorance of its preachers, their cupidity,
their dominating spirit, their ignorance of the
duties of their ministry, and their unbounded
arrogance. Cardinal Commendoni himself said :
"In Lithuania thefe is no ecclesiastical civili
zation and no true priesthood, if we except
those of Poland. The priests who arrive there
are individuals, for the greater part, incapable
and ignorant, who cannot find places in their own
country." With respect to the erection of ecclesi-

188 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
astical dioceses, they did not at aU correspond with
the requirements of the Eoman Church, but were
laid out, not because of the number of parishioners,
as the people generally speaking belonged to the
Greek confession, but as a basis for future opera
tions. Samogitia and Kamienec were erected at
the commencement of the fifteenth century. The
Monastic Orders arrived progressively in the
country ; the Dominicans and Franciscans in the
fourteenth, and the Bernarclines following them at
the end of the fifteenth century ; and in the six
teenth the Carmelites established themselves.
With Eomanism an altogether new class
appeared, with a new language, new inspirations,
new traditions and quite another canonical legisla
tion ; an element, in short, which completely
modified the social body. The canon law legislated
the civil tribunals, the language of the Church
insinuated itself in every form into aU classes of
the people, into literature, and into the affairs of
the State. Besides this a new and independent
power, that of the Pope, sprang up which was often
in direct contravention to the interests of the
country. Eome arrogated to herself the nomina
tion of the bishops, confirming them even without
the preliminary consent of the King. The clergy
mixed themselves up in judicial affairs, often inter-

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 189
fering with the civil tribunal, and meddling with the
privileges, of the aristocracy in order to enrich
themselves, at the expense of all classes of Society,
so that in the sixteenth century they were already
engaged in a struggle with the government and the
noblesse, not for the purity of their faith, but for then
own private interests. They refused to be taxed for
the benefit of the State, denied the competency of
the civU jurisdiction, and ffor their own use, levied
tithes and imposts upon the peasantry. The King
and the nobles did not try to curb their proceedings,
as all decisions in such contentions rested with the
Nuncio at Warsaw. In war time if they came to
the aid of the government by pecuniary donations,
it was always stipulated that such assistance should
not be considered as precedents for future taxation,
but be regarded only as a loan ; and these loans were
afterwards made the basis for demands of further
concessions — greater privileges. The legislature
was obliged to be continually on the defensive in
consequence of the boundless influence which Eome
exercised over the organisation and discipline of
the Lithuanian clergy. But from the close of the
fifteenth century the Kings themselves assumed the
right of nomination to the Episcopal Sees, and
since that period restricted also the sending of
first fruits to Eome — a grievance not longer to be

190 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
tolerated. They denied the right of the Popes to
confer certain ecclesiastical functions, whUe the
choice of the Titular was reserved to the sovereign.
The hierarchical organisation of the clergy
evinced great disorder as well as little unity of
action. The rehgious orders, being subject only
to generals or superiors residing at Eome, did not
recognise the authority of the bishops; and the
curates and priests struggled very often to reduce
their deans to subjection to themselves, questioning
their right in the parishes, and appropriating the
money destined to the construction and repair of
places of worship. Many of them enjoyed a
plurality of benefices without even residing in the
parishes. It was in this state that the Eeformation found
the clergy, when towards the middle of the six
teenth century it entered Lithuania. Society was
prepared for it, as well by the preaching of John
Huss, weU enough known in the country, as by
the liberty of the press which, since 1539, legally
existed in Poland. The Eeformation was accepted
with such enthusiasm that in the latter half of
this same century, the Lithuanian Senate was
almost composed only of Calvinists and Lutherans.
In the whole Lithuanian army there was only one
Eoman Catholic chaplain, who was attached to the

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 191
Hetman. The Eoman ecclesiastics, contrary to the
laws of then church, married. Instead of opposing
the new doctrine, the bishops disputed amongst
themselves and with the government on the subject
of church lands and the revenues they derived.
These dissensions, according to Commendoni,
exceeded all bounds. "When the Eoman Churches
pass into the hands of dissenters," he said,
"when the glory of God is eclipsed, these bishops
are sUent ; but when a morsel of ground is in
question they are ready to fly to arms." It is true
that the sovereigns themselves often named in
capable persons to episcopal places, sometimes
even minors. Thus King Sigismond Augustus, in
consideration of a pecuniary subsidiary, nominated
the Son of the Duke of Mecklenburg, John Albert,
a boy of fifteen years old, to the Episcopal See of
Eiga. Profiting by political and religious troubles,
Cardinal Commendoni, the Nuncio, endeavoured to
make the King, in 1564, and the Senate accept
without any restriction, reservation, or preliminary
discussion, the decrees of the Council of Trent.
These decrees were a chart of Papal omnipotence,
against which the Galhcan clergy protested. Some
Pohsh doctors tried to prove that this councU had
never been recognised by Poland, as its decisions

192 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
had never been ratified by the Diet, and only been
accepted by the King and the Senate. This was
in one sense true ; but dating from this epoch all the
Lithuanian clergy based their acts and dispositions
on the tenour of these decrees. The Polish
government had never opposed them, and the
Court of Eome considered, and with reason,
that the decrees of Trent were in full vigour as
much in Poland as in Lithuania. If they had not1
been presented to the Diet, it is probably because
that at this time the Diet was composed principaUy
of Calvinists. The clergy had accepted them with
only one single condition, namely, that the re
striction preventing ecclesiastics enjoying a plurality
of benefices should be done away with, as well as
the injunction requiring them to reside in their
parishes. This condition was so stringently in
sisted on that Commendoni was persuaded that
they would rather abandon the faith altogether than
accept them without it. " The Kingdom of
Poland," he wrote, "resembles a sick man who at
first submits to bad treatment, and who at length
arrives at such a state that medicines no longer
act on him. To-day the treatment but accelerates
his death."
Seeing the clergy in no position to struggle
against the Eeformation, the Nuncio induced Sigis-

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 193
mond Augustus to despatch the Jesuits to
Lithuania ; and with the King's consent, he wrote to
Lainez, the General of the Order, to send professors
of Theology, PhUosophy, Mathematics, and the
Sciences to WUna ; but religious discord and the
war with Eussia postponed the execution of this
design to another opportunity.
After the death of the celebrated Calvinist Prince
Nicolas EadziviU, surnamed the Black, the Latin
party took heart; and four years later Bishop
Protassewicz caUed the Jesuits to Wilna, and,
in 1569, applied them without delay to the
conversion of dissenters and the instruction
of youth. The foUowing year they opened their
coUege in a house belonging to the Church of St.
John, and, in 1579, it was erected by Pope Gregory
XIII. into a university. " Ad fidei orihodoxce
propugnaculum, civitatis ornamentum felicissimum,
totiusque provincice decus." It enjoyed the same
rights and privileges as the university of Cracow,
and Sigismond HI., left it to his library. These
immunities were afterwards enlarged by Augustus II.
and III. In 1580, Polotsk was founded, the first
rector of which was Skarga, the celebrated Jesuit
preacher. In 1584, Prince Nicolas Christopher
EadzivUl laid the first stone of the Jesuitical college
at Neswez, which was opened in 1595. In a short
VOL. I. 0

194 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
time the whole country was filled with religious
houses and schools of aU with sorts. The Jesuits
consolidated themselves everywhere, establishing
seminaries richly endowed in twenty of the chief
towns, besides their numerous missions. The
education of youth was not their principal aim, but
only a means of arriving at the realization of their
ambitions views. Their resources were constantly
increased by splendid legacies and donations, and
King Etienne Bathory, their great Protector,
conferred vast estates on them in the neighbour
hood of Polotsk, and these estates were considerably
extended from the time of Sigismond III. The
Eadzivills, Sapiehas, Khotkeiwicz and other noble
families left them important legacies. The more
easily to obtain their ends, .they influenced both the
aristocracy and the sovereign, and completely suc
ceeded with Sigismond III. During the thirty
years' reign of this prince they disposed, so to speak,
of the affairs of the State, the only desire of the
King being to please them. To proselytise the
lower orders, they translated their liturgy and
rehgious books into the national language, built
convents, and worked false miracles, so that in the
course of the seventeenth century more new saints
were canonized in Lithuania than in all the preced
ing centuries.

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 195
Soon after their arrival in the country, many of
the great families who had abjured Eomanism
re-entered the pale of the Church ; and those who
had been the most fervent defenders of Calvinism
became the zealous adepts of these priests, whose
churches they enriched by splendid offerings. The
son of Prince Nicolas Badzivih the Black, the
powerful protector of the Calvinists, at whose
expense the Bible had, in 1563, been printed in
Pohsh at Breslau, passed over to Eomanism, chased
the ministers from their properties of Neswez, Olyka,
Kleck, and others, and gave their churches to the
Jesuit clergy, together with their printing-presses
:and hbraries. In the course of the reign of Sigis
mond III., the half of the Calvinist nobffity seceded
to Eome, and the year of the death of this Prince
did not find one single dissenter in the Senate.
The Calvinists were not the only sufferers by
this dominant clergy : the inhabitants belonging to
the Greek faith were equaUy persecuted and
proselytised. From the time of JageUon, the
Greek Church in Lithuania had been oppressed by
the Latin priesthood, who, not content with despoU-
ing the Church, levied tithes upon the parishioners,
ahd afterwards actually upon the Orthodox clergy
themselves. But Orthodoxy was widely and firmly
.rooted in the country, for Heberstein and Guag-
o2

196 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
nini inform us that in Wilna there were more
Eussian churches than Eoman Catholic ones ; and
even under Etienne Bathory there were already
thirty Orthodox places of worship in Wilna.
The most Ulustrious houses of Lithuania, those of
Chodkiewicz, Pouzyna, Tyszkiewicz, Chreptowicz,
Czartoryski, and several others, belonged to the
Greek confession. Even in our own time we
find existing monuments of the days when the
Eussian faith was the faith of many of the Lithu
anian nobility. In the Greek convent of the
Holy Trinity at Wilna there is a vault belonging
to the family of Tyszkiewicz ; and two miles from
Bialostok, rose the beautiful convent of Souprasc,
built in 1506 after the model of St. Sophia of
Constantinople, by Alexander Chodkiewicz, which
belonged to the Greek religion. Many other
monuments of the same kind are to be found in
Lithuania. The acts of the Council of Florence,
1438, which proclaimed the union of the two
churches, here remained a dead letter, as nobody
was disposed to execute it. The Greek Church
maintained itself as before, sustained as it was by
the advice and the personal visits of the Patriarch
of Constantinople, and partly by the influence of
Eussia. The ill success of the Council of Florence in

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 197
Lithuania was attributed, without reason, to the
marriage of the Grand Duke Alexander to the
Princess Helena, daughter of John III., Grand
Duke of Moscow. The suite of this princess was
composed only of persons belonging to her own
faith, and, notwithstanding the exertions of the
Polish priests, and of the Pope himself, she
remained faithful to her Creed. The Lithuanian
magnates, not strong enough to oppose the
rehgious persecution to which they were ex
posed, ever found a refuge at Moscow ; but
the people, notwithstanding then convictions, fell
in the struggle before the activity of the
Jesuits, who, armed with the subtlest theology,
influenced by fanaticism, and backed by the King,
pushed them within the pale of the Eoman Church,
and caUed their violence conversion. Nor was
Lithuania the only field they attacked. Not con
fining their activity to this province alone, they
endeavoured to force themselves into the Eussian
provinces — into the Ukraine, Podolia, Volhynia,
etc., and actuaUy succeeded in founding the colleges
of Luck, Bar, Kamienec, Winnica and other places
where they definitely estabhshed themselves. They
received gifts of money and of land ; coUections
were raised for them, and aU to facilitate the con
version of the peasants to Eomanism. Their

198 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
tactics were to Eomanise first the confines of the
country, beginning by the frontier of Lithuania
and Eussia ; and it was with this intention they
directed their steps towards the Ukraine. White
Eussia was invaded with the same view, although
at the beginning of the seventeenth century they
had only carried two points, Polotsk and Orsza.
While everything seemed to promise the Jesuits
rapid success for the future, the Greek Church,
which defended itself alone against their attacks,
had little hope of receiving any solid assistance
from any quarter. Constantinople was distant;
Moscow, absorbed by her own affairs, could afford
no efficient succour against an enemy always
in the breach. Nothing therefore remained to
Lithuania but her own defence, the patience of
her people, and the firmness of the clergy who
guided them. Their patience was indeed great,
and grand was their faith in this hour of trial;
but unfortunately the priesthood did not correspond
to the demands of this most critical period. Poor,
oppressed, badly structed, without political rights,
they often wanted even bread to sustain their very
existence. A contemporary reproaches them,
rouses them, and expostulates with them thus : —
" Pastors, you sleep, and the enemy is at your
gates ! Oh, doctors and guides of your flock, until

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 199
when wiU ye remain deaf? Until your sheep be
devoured ? We suffer, not because we want bread,
but the Divine Word. It is not physical thirst
which consumes us, but thirst for evangelical
preaching. We are deprived of our Lord and
Prophet — of chief, and pastor. There are pastors,
it is true, but only in name and not in fact. Some
of the pastors of the flock of Christ would make
better shepherds for a troop of asses ! Ah, poor
flock ! Can he be Pastor and Master, who himself
has never been taught ; who does not comprehend
his duty towards God and his neighbour ? How
can he offer service for his people, who from his
tender infancy has not studied the Gospel, but has
passed his time in idleness, or things incompatible
with the ecclesiastical dignity? He has entered the
priesthood because oppressed by want, having
neither food nor clothes, without the least idea of
the sacerdotal character, or comprehending the
sanctity of his mission. One comes from the
cabaret, another from the service of the noble,
some from the soldiery, and even from the very
peasantry, without any election or any certificate of
fitness for the Divine Office. Such are the people
we have for guides and pastors. Dying of famine
themselves they know not how to feed others.
Blind, they offer themselves as guides. Lame of

200 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
both feet, they would sustain and support others ;
ignorant they take upon themselves the instruction
of the people ! "
The testimony of another impartial contemporary,
Prince Koursky, fully confirms this picture of the
Greek clergy, at the time of the introduction of the
Union into Lithuania. He says that the priests
often passed their time in the cabarets, and pillaged
the churches, and that he tried in vain to find any
capable of translating the works of St. John Chry-
sostom into Slavonian. And Smotricky complains
that, "attracted bysimonythe priesthood is conferred
on chUdren of fifteen years ; " and again he says,
"It is notorious that, contrary to all common sense,
we make children priests who have almost the milk
of infancy on their lips. They do not know the
alphabet, and we send them to preach the Word
of God; they cannot manage their own estate,
and we give them the administration of the Church !
What shaU I say," he continues, " of the convents
and the monks subordinate to me, who, disregarding
the holy rules ot their Order — rules once strictly
observed by then predecessors, have trampled them
under foot, so that not a vestige remains of this
pious profession, of a life vowed to privation and
devoted to prayer, to charitable works and to the
teaching of the Holy Scriptures ? Unfortunate

CATHOLICISM IS LITHUANIA. 201
man that I am ! How shaU I render an account
to the Lord in the day of judgment !"
Such pastors could hardly be dangerous anta
gonists for the Jesuits who, having already destroyed
the Eeformation, were backed not only by power
ful protectors but were seconded by the Pohsh
government. The complete fusion of Lithuania
with Poland at a time coinciding with the arrival
of the Jesuits at WUna, drew the country stUl
more towards Eomanism, and repeUed it from
Moscow. Subjected to partial violence — robbed
of the churches of the Greek rite — persecuted
individuaUy and coUectively, the general and open
struggle of the two priesthoods burst out at the
period of the introduction of the New Calendar.
The people, uneducated and ignorant of science,
knew nothing whatever of astronomy, and only
saw in this innovation an arbitrary and useless
change of fetes and fasts, and in short, of all their
customs. And more civilized people who under
stood better, looked below the surface, and regarded
it as the commencement of the alteration of the
rites of their Church, rites as old as their
Christianity, which had come down to them from
their forefathers, and were bound up with their
own social and political hfe. The discontent was
so general and so threatening, that Etienne Bathory,

202 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
who had introduced it, renounced its extension to
the followers of the Greek faith, 1584. It is
recounted by a writer of the orthodox creed, who
hved at this period, that Prince Constantine
D'Ostrog, the celebrated Protector of the Greek
Church, arrived at Gorodnia, and had a long
interview with the King, who received him very
graciously, and informed him that the Pope had
sent a brief on the subject of the introduction of
the New Calendar amongst the Eussians. " He
could not do that," answered D'Ostrog, "without a
preliminary conference with theEastern Patriarchs."
" That is also my opinion," replied Bathory.
" The Eussian people aid us in peace as in time
of war ; it is therefore necessary to leave them in
peace. The introduction of the New Calendar
among the foUowers of the Greek rite, subjecting
them to the Pope, so far from drawing the two
classes together, would only disunite them. I
wiU not therefore introduce novelties. Everything
shaU remain as before."
Sigismond III. and the Jesuits saw matters in
a different light ; they only waited an opportune
moment to entrap some of the Greek bishops and
execute the decisions and prescriptions of the
Council of Florence, for a long time forgotten in
Lithuania. They fell upon a suitable instrument

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 203
in the persons of Ipatius Pocej, Bishop of Vladimir
and through him influenced several others, par
ticularly Terlecsky, Bishop of Luck, and the
Metropolitan, Michael Eagosa. Without consulting
either the Eastern Patriarchs or their co-religionists
in Eussia, they caUed a CouncU at Brescia, with
the design of submitting their Church to the
Pope. When the people became aware of it, they
surrounded the place, yeUed and hooted, and sum
moned the apostate prelates to account for their
intentions, effectuaUy preventing the opening of
the assembly at the time appointed. But force
and the sovereign authority dispersed the crowd,
and the CouncU sat hurriedly and carried its
resolutions, fearing the intervention of Eussia.
Pocej and Terlecsky set off for Eome and presented
the Pope the Act by which the Greek Church of
Lithuania recognised the supremacy of Eome.
We note here the illegality of these proceedings :
first, that this decision was arrived at without
preliminary consultation with the Patriarchs, the
recognised beads of the Greek faith ; and secondly,
that it was despatched to Eome though unsigned
and unattested by the principal bishops belonging
to the country itself.
It was then that the Court of Eome proclaimed
the Union. This union of the two Churches might

204 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
at first sight appear advantageous enough for the
Greeks, who still preserved their ecclesiastical
language and ceremonies, and even retained some
of the dogmatical expressions and sacerdotal
practices different to those of the Latin Church.
The priests and bishops remained in their districts,
and the Metropolitan was secured the right of
consecrating bishops without nomination by the
Pope. The Latin priests could not officiate in the
services, even supposing they used the Sclave
language. One might weU say at first glance that
the union of the two Churches only consisted in
the recognition of the Pope, and in the prayers
offered up for him in the churches in place of the
Patriarch of Constantinople. The dogmas, the
rites, and the clergy were unchanged ; and the
Latins said that the union did not signify the
fusion of the two Churches into one, but that a
species of convention had been concluded between
them. Apparently nothing was changed ; the
images occupied their places; the people saw
the same ceremonies and the same priests to
which they had been accustomed. But in
reality the true dogmas of the Greek faith
had been invaded or destroyed by this union ;
as according to the buU of the Pope, the rites and
doctrines of the Greek Church could be preserved

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 205
in so far as they ivere not contrary to the Roman
Church. At first the execution of this important
clause was not insisted on, Eome in this matter
displaying an amount of circumspection, patience,
and sagacity, rarely met with in the history of
pohtico - religious reorganisations. An official
recognition of the Pope was aU she exacted,
reserving aU the rest for a more propitious period.
The main object was accomplished, and the conse
quences would be developed in a peaceful manner,
and graduaUy brought into play as opportunities
occurred, whUe Eome did not infringe the basis of
her own peculiar system.
The two Bulls of Eome, pubhshed at the same
time on the occasion of the Union, evince how she
counted on the ignorance of the people in religious
affairs, and on the possibUity of drawing them over
to Latinism in a dishonourable manner. In one of
them, destined for pubhc inspection, she permits
the united Greeks the celebration of aU then rites
and ceremonies according to custom ; in the other,
on the contrary, she discovers a broad programme
of the future working of the machinery of the
Greek Union. The Pope obhged the Bishops
Pocej and Terlecsky to take an oath in presence
of aU the cardinals, that they believed in the
Procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and

206 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
from the Son, as well as in purgatory — in the com
munion in one kind — that the sacraments are not
really efficacious unless celebrated according to the
rites and ordinances of Eome; that indulgences should
be recognised as one of the most holy institutions
of the Church; that they should adopt the decisions
of the Council of Trent, inculcating this doctrine
amongst then people. AU this they swore by their
Maker on the Holy Gospel. Thus there were two
doctrines — the ostensible and public for the people ;
and the other — the private one for the priests, who
took an oath on the Evangelists to guide their flocks
into ignorance and error. As to the fundamental
basis of their faith, both doctrines as if identical
were confirmed under the name of the Union by the
one who styled himself the Vicar of Christ, that is
to say the representative of the God of pity, of
justice, and of love.
It was not enough, however, to convoke a
council, and draw up acts. Eome must have the
Union recognised ; and this was precisely the most
difficult point of all. When the people, of the
Greek rite knew the decisions of the CouncU of
Brescia, both ecclesiastics and laymen presented
petitions to the Diet and the provincial courts,
refusing obedience to the apostate bishops, whom
they accused of having arbitrarUy sworn to the

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 207
Union without previously consulting their co
religionists ; of being the affies of Eome, and of
having committed acts the most reprehensible, and
done things which nobody could have imagined
them capable of doing. The Patriarchs of Alex
andria and Constantinople, when they knew what
had taken place, exhorted the people by pastoral
briefs to remain faithful to the creed of then
fathers ; and expressed their indignation against
the traitors. Melitius of Alexandria wrote to
Pocej himseH, denouncing the abandonment ,of
his co-religionists, teffing him that while leaving
his own people he had not even satisfied Eome.
"Besides," he argued, "what pleasure can it be
to minister to a flock that does not recognise you
as a pastor?" The most of the priesthood
remained firm. But upon the national soU
appeared a force which threatened the Jesuits :
it was only one man, it is true, but he was himself
a legion. This was Prince Constantine D'Ostrog,
whose voice Podolia, WUna, and the Volhynia weU
knew. Pocej had tried to induce him to adopt his
views. Some time before the CouncU of Brescia, he
endeavoured to gain his good graces, to tranquiffise
him, and to set the question at issue in another
light. But the Prince refused to admit him to his
presence, and made his secretary reply to his

208 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
letters. The Jesuits had two means of per
suasion at their disposal — theological activity and
force ; they had even the government to fall back
upon; and they used the one or the other according
to the circumstances, or to the classes of society
they desired to act upon. The common people
were driven by means of police agents, deprived of
all civU rights, and " converted" from the orthodox
faith by violence. The Greek churches were meta
morphosed into Eoman chapels. " They deprive
us of our last shirts," cried the pastors of the
orthodox rite. " We give them with pleasure and
remain naked, but our consciences are pure." With
the nobility they acted otherwise ; attracting them
with the bait of temporal advantages, employments,
and dignities, and met with great success ; these
joined the Church of Eome so rapidly, that in the
space of ten or fifteen years the best Lithuanian
famihes of the Greek Church— the princes of Sluck,
the Czartoryskies, the Ibarazs, the Sangouszkas, the
Pronskies, Chreptowiczs, and others — had entered
the Catholic faith. Thirty years after the commence
ment of the Union, the inhabitants were professed
en masse; the parents remaining in the old religion,
while their children were already Catholic ! Even
the son of Prince D'Ostrog abjured his faith. But
against force the people sometimes equally employed

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 209
force ; they beat and often kiUed the Latin priests
as weU as those of the Union, while defending their
churches at the risk of then lives.
A pastor of the Greek Church traces the following
picture of the state of the Church at this time in
Lithuania. After having personified it, he
exclaims; — "Alas, I am poor, miserable, and robbed
of aU my possessions ! Pity me, exposed naked to .
public shame, and laden with a burden beyond
endurance. Fetters on my wrists, a yoke round
my neck, chains about my body, the sword above
my head, my feet steeped in deep waters, fire
around me, trembhngs, terror, and persecution in and
before my eyes. Calamities in the cities, in the
fields, in the vUlages, in the vaUeys, on the
mountains, in no part can I find rest or tran
quillity. I pass the days in sickness and
sufferings because of my wounds; the nights
in trembhngs and sighs. In the summer I suffer
so much from the heat that I am exhausted;
in the winter I endure mortal cold. For I am
naked and am cruelly persecuted unto death. Once
I was exalted and rich ; now I am poor and mal
treated. Of old a queen, beloved of all, now
persecuted and ridiculed. Come to me, oh people !
Eun towards me, ye who stand upon the earth,
hear my voice, learn what I have been, and be
VOL. I. p

210 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
astonished. Once I was the wonder of men
angels ; now I am the laughter of the world. I
was adorned above all others ; beautiful and adored.
I was like the Aurora of morning ; brilliant as the
moon, radiant as the sun. The only daughter of
my mother, I was her darling child, pure as a
flower. Seeing me, the daughters of Sion pro
claimed me the blessed Queen. I was among the
maidens of Sion, as Jerusalem in the midst of
Judea ! Amongst virgins, I was as the lily ; and
the King, more beautiful than all other men upon
the earth, marvelled at my lovehness, loved me
and united himself to me in marriage. Children
were born o^ me and brought up, but they have
turned from me, denied me, and exposed me to
laughter and ridicule. They stole my vestments.
and chased me from home. They stoned me and
tore the diadem from my brow. Night and day
they wearied my soul, and considered only how to>
despoil me. Oh, ye who see me, is there any
sorrow that surpasses mine ? Sovereign of the
East, of the West, of the North, and of the South,
in the olden days, here I stand a weeping widow.
I cry night and day, and tears faU clown my cheeks
like rain. Yet there is nobody to console me.
All abandon me. My kinsmen are banished from
me, my friends have become my enemies, and my

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 211
sons, hke hideous reptUes, poison my existence
with then venom."
Proceeding by intrigues and insinuations, the
Jesuits, though backed by the civU power, had
recourse at the same time to the Polemic, which
they directed equaUy against the Calvinists, but
after the introduction of the Union, particularly
against the Greek Church. The Eussian clergy,
educated in the harsh school of persecution and
adversity, and inferior to them in address and
cunning, could not always reply to then theological
attacks, as they were badly prepared. Smotricky,
indignant at them, thus rebukes them : —
" I ask you, why you are sUent before your
accusers? Why do you not defend yourselves?
Why not refute these accusations ? Your calumni
ators neither honour nor beheve you, and you have
not one word to say to such infamies. Say at
once, What wUl you do ? You hear and you under
stand nothing. You have eyes and you see
nothing. You pay no attention to things which
concern you. TeU me, has not nature given you a
tongue ? Why are you distinguished from other
beings by speech ? When beasts are maltreated,
devoid of reason though they be, they nevertheless
defend themselves and show their sentiments by
every means in their power. And you ? you have
p2

212 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
reason and language, created in the likeness of
God, yet you hear and you see the Holy Truth
insulted and humiliated, calumniated and defamed,
and you are sUent ! "
The Union created a theological Polemic — a
thing very httle studied until then by Eussian
savans, but remarkable for various features. In
presenting new historical facts, it revealed the state
of society of that era, and the respective position
and ability of the two priesthoods. The hmits of
this work will not permit us to enter into detafls
on this subject ; we confine ourselves merely to an
enumeration of the most important works on both
sides. Amongst the writings of the Greek Church
we may mention " L'Antigraph " (WUna : 1608) ;
"Les Doleances " of Smotricky (WUna: 1610);
" L'Apocrisis " and " La Palinodie " (1621), etc.,
etc. The Catholic and united Greek clergy cleverly
sustained their arguments in the " Antirchesis,"
and in the works of Smotricky after he embraced
the Union ; particularly in " L'Apologie," " The
Paramisis," " The Exsetesis "(1628-29), and later
in " The Hierarchie " of Donbowicz, 1644, as well
as in the writings of some preachers of the Order
of the Jesuits.
This wordy war was but an accompaniment to
the rencontres in places of public resort ; rencontres

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 213
in the streets, in the viUages, in the private houses ;
resulting from the pretensions of the Latin clergy.
The writings of some of the Greek party were
certainly not free from inexactness in the explana
tions of the dogmas of their Church. Many of
them were not even accepted at Moscow; neverthe
less the Lithuanians received them with enthusiasm,
regarding their authors as their defenders against
the ecclesiastical tyranny they had to endure ; the
common people kissed the books, considering them
sacred. But the struggle was not equal. The
Catholics and united Greeks could with impunity
defame then opponents, publishing the most aggra-
vatingand exaggerated calumnies ; but the Eussians
could be prosecuted by the police. Nevertheless
some of the anti- Eussian writings demonstrate, with
a certain amount of talent and moderation, the
inexactness of then antagonists. The essence of
the Latin polemic consisted in a refutation of the
principal dogmas of the orthodox creed, non-con
formable to Eoman doctrine ; proofs to the contrary
formed the subject ofthe Eussian polemic. Besides
this the Latins and their coadjutors, the united
Greeks, endeavoured to stigmatise the Eastern
Church, and to attract to then own by the bait of
material advantages. These accusations are so
httle creditable to the Catholic party, and so utterly

214 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
unfounded, that we shaU not stop to examine them,
only succinctly deducting some of their gravest
assertions taken from the polemical writings.
They said, for example, that the Greek monks were
permitted to hve with the wives of other people ;
that they killed and imprisoned then bishops ; that
they did not fear God ; and obeyed neither King nor
authority. The Latins mocked some of the rites
of the Greek Church. To this the Eussian clergy
replied : "If the rites of our Church are so
absurd, why then are they preserved by the Council
of Florence, which sought the re-union of the two
Churches. This re-union would consequently be
only a mask and a means of entrapping the lower
classes. If the united Greeks believe that the rites
and dogmas of the Church of Eome be better founded
than those of the Eastern Church, why do they not
entirely abandon the old rites and ceremonies of
then fathers, and freely and openly unite themselves
to Eome ? How can one caU one's-self a son of a
mother whom one degrades ? Why swear to keep
and preserve rites which are considered absurd ?
The partisans of the Eoman Church endeavoured
to prove its superiority over the Eastern faith by
the argument that, after the conquest of Constanti
nople by the Turks, the clergy were no longer a
recognised and official body, having been deprived

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 215
of their churches, of hberty of conscience, and
persecuted, while at the same time the Church of
Eome remained independent. The latter must
therefore be the Church of God, as the Greeks,
having passed under the Ottoman rule, could not
preserve entire unity of faith.
The reply was, that the exceUence of the Church
of Christ did not consist in its freedom from the
persecution of the infidels, for that these infidels
could neither buUd up nor destroy that which was
founded on the Eock of Christ. Persecution, how
ever, had but rooted it more stedfastly, and it
would be unworthy of glory if it flourished continu-
aUy in repose. He only is worthy who, having
intrepidly sustained the combat and repelled the
foe, coUects his forces and returns in triumph to
his home. The Church of Christ is the more
glorious, in that she repulsed the masses of infidels
who have assaUed her. In her internal organisa
tion, if amongst her Patriarchs one was found
unworthy his high vocation, he was deprived of his
dignity; but the faults of one single occupant of the
Patriarchal Chan never prejudiced the whole com
munity, there being besides four Patriarchs, and
not one ruler as in the Church of Eome, where the
Pope is the visible Head; and once the Head i3
attacked, the body is prejudiced, and the members

216 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
suffer also. " But it appears," wrote the Eussians,
"that the Latins have never understood true faith."
If it be a sentiment intimate, invisible, eternal,
implanted within us by the immortal God, how can
it be destroyed ftr done away with by mortal man ?
Christ's words are, "Have no fear of those who
kUl the body, but rather of that which kills the
soul." Faith would be vain; our hopes vain, as
weU as those of aU the elect of God, who through
it have endured persecution and death ; the Fathers
of the Church and the early martyrs, who cruelly
lost their lives by the sword and the fire, if the
purity of this divine sentiment could be destroyed
by man. If the Eastern. Church ceased to exist
from the moment that the Turks subdued Greece,
and Christianity fell under the yoke of the infidel,
it is indisputable that there has been consequently
no true Church since the time of the Apostles,
when the foUowers of the true God had no rehgious
liberty, but were persecuted and cruelly used, and
when there did not exist one Christian sovereign,
notwithstanding which the Church of Christ
flourished like a rose. Such remarks reflect on
the Apostle Peter, whose succession, they say, has
descended to the Pope, as he had no temporal
power, nor the immense riches enjoyed by his
soi-disant successors, but was until his death a

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 217
martyr bearing the cross of distress, persecution,
and suffering. Paul, too, the elect of God, the
model of aU patience and humility, did he not
accept the yoke of slavery ? His kingdom was not
of this world. Did he not pay tribute to the
temporal power ? And are we not taught that the
servant cannot be above his master ?
With respect to the accusation of ignorance
amongst the Greek clergy, the Eoman priesthood
was asked if in respect to instruction they them
selves surpassed the Lutherans and Calvinists ?
The ancient plhlosophers were wise, but their
phUosophical system was extinguished before the
light of Evangelical Truth. " As to ourselves,"
said the Eussians, " we try to be only humble
Christians after the example of the anchorites of
the first century, who were not learned."
It was announced that in accepting the Union,
the clergy and people received pohtical rights, and
were eligible for government situations. Eephes
to such methods of conviction in matters of faith
were not difficult.
The Jesuits headed the Latin polemic, though
other ecclesiastics helped them. Greek and Eoman
Catholics devoted their efforts to the same cause,
but it was essentiaUy the priests of this famous
Order who communicated life and spirit to these

218 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
controversies. It was, therefore, natural that the
Eussians should regard them as the real authors of
their persecution, and that they apphed themselves
with energy to study the faults and failings of these
men and expose them to the eyes of the public.
" The means which these Fathers employ to
multiply and extend their possessions," said the
Eussians, " are well known. They gain them by
tricks, by entreaties, and by violence, and all this
under the appearance of right. They ruin the
nobles, who beheve them liberal and independent,
and despoil those of bread who have earned it by
the sweat of their brow. We do not hesitate to
say that aU the local authorities, aU the tribunals,
not excepting the diet, are fiUed with complaints
against the Jesuits. Nobles expeUed and banished
from their estates ; widows deprived of their dowries;
chUdren ruined in their minority, aU bear witness
against them. "It is for the church," they say,
" therefore go and beg. It is for the college ; go,
father and mother, do what thou canst. It is
for rehgious consolations; therefore, brothers and
sisters, go out into the world and earn thy bread
amongst strangers. It is for the Holy Father;
therefore, man, take thy wife and children, despoil
thyself of thine own food, and go and beg with the
others." These Intriguants take all, seize aU,

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 219
gather aU, and peacefully enjoy their Ul-gotten
gains, for they depend on Eome only, and it is
only at Eome that they can be judged or a decree
given against them. " So, poor noble, sell thy last
estate, take thy wife and clhldren to protest at
Eome, and if thou dost not die of famine on the
way, thou wUt return with empty pockets."
These accusations were not the fruit of a blind
and bitter animosity ; even fervent Catholics soon
discovered all the evU which the Order brought
to Poland. They reproached the Jesuits with
meddhng in State affairs ; with using their
iffimitable influence over Sigismond III., to
secure places and appointments for their adepts ;
and loudly accused their cupidity, the discords
and animosities they excited in private and in
public hfe, their egotistic views, their pretended
restitution of the privUeges of the nobility ; so
that, in 1606, this spirit of opposition to them was
so developed that a project existed amongst the
Catholic community to deprive them of the
education of the young, and to expel them from
Lithuania. Public indignation was so general
and" so strong against them, that at length
they were forced to defend themselves publicly.
It may be guessed without much difficulty,
that they termed the accusations brought

220 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
against them, calumnies ; declared that they
never meddled in politics; pretended that their
integrity and their charity had reduced them to
mendicity, as they often refused even what was
offered them ; that they raised no discords, and
only defended and guaranteed the existence of
their establishments ; that they violated none of
the privileges of the nobility, and only supported
their own. But even their justification of them
selves proved the truth of some of the accusations
against them — accusations as commonly found in
other Catholic countries into which they have been
admitted, and on account of which they have even
been expeUed. They said, that so far from interest
ing themselves in mundane affairs, they occupied
their hours only guiding the conscience of the
sovereign, which is essentially the prerogative and
vocation of the clergy, and for which they quoted
an antecedent in St. Louis, who consulted theo
logians on the gravest affairs of the State. Eccle
siastics, they said, were worthy of honour, who,
without pretending to nominate to places of trust,
recommended honest people ; in short, it was only
sovereigns, acting under clerical inspiration, who
could really prove a benefit to their country ; and
those who have not followed these counsels had
seen their empires and their power decay. These

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 221
justifications convinced nobody, and served them
far less than the powerful protection of Sigismond,
who, whUe he lived, defeated all efforts to put limits
to the power of these priests. His son Vladislas
regarded them in another hght. Indignant at then-
intrigues in the affairs of the government of his
father, he not only banished them from his court,
but opposed the Peares to them — an order also
engaged in educational pursuits — brought them to
Poland, and introduced them into Lithuania. But
notwithstanding the royal protection accorded to
these latter, the Jesuits triumphed in the end,
and in 1738 compelled them to close their colleges.
Only the power of the Pope could put an end to this
pernicious Order, which had fiUed Lithuania with
fanaticism and ignorance under the mask of theolo
gical civilization. UntU 1773, the Jesuits repre
sented the Eoman hierarchy in Lithuania ; they
were the most active propagandists and the most
implacable persecutors of all other Christian con
fessions ; so that really the history of this body
in Western Eussia is the most detailed history of
the Eoman Church herself in this region, whUe they
sojourned there. They nominated not only to high
ecclesiastical dignities, but even to the curacies ;
they governed the entire Latin clergy in every sense
of the word, exercising by their wealth an irresis-

222 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
tible influence over the people, as well as by their
system of education, their preaching, and then
writings, which were specially destined for the
masses. A curious specimen of the means to which
they had recourse for the latter purpose exists in
what is called " Les Calendriers des Jesuits," a
sort of monthly obituary of their monks and saints,
with detaUs of their merits, their visions, their mira
cles performed during life and after death. These
writings are so strongly characteristic, that it may
not be superfluous to quote some extracts : —
1. Cardinal Stanislas Hosius, who first called
the Jesuits to Poland, and is styled the Father of
the Order. He died at Eome, in 1579, in the glory
of holiness.
2. Shirivid, died also in great sanctity at Wilna,
August 23rd, 1631.
3. Guinkewicz died in the same city, August 4th,
1663, in all holiness. He was rector of the CoUege
of Neswiz.
4. The body of Gawronsky, who died AprU 11th,
1610, at Posen, was found intact.
5. December 5th, 1656, Starocirsky appeared
after death to one of the Jesuits, then a prisoner
of the Swedes, and exhorted him to merit eternal
life by patience.
6. October 3rd, 1591, Warzewicky, the first

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 223
rector of the CoUege of Wilna, the tutor of Sigis
mond HI., who had converted several Polish lords
and "many Lithuanians to Eomanism, appeared
after death with an areole of glory round his head
to the Jesuit Peter Skarga.
7. May 23rd, 1615. It is said of Lasco, that
he was a laborious and happy missionary ; that he
drew aU the magistrates of Cracow to his church,
and was the author of the decree by which dissenters
were excluded from the Senate.
8. December, 1652. It is said of Eyninsky,
that he was the son of honest but schismatic
parents, and the servant of a gentleman belonging
to the Cathohc Church, with whom he went to
Czenstohowo. During Mass, the devil, having
perceived him, cried, " Behold our brother, there ;
let me enter him also." Nearly frightened out of
his senses, he embraced Catholicism, and became
a Jesuit. 9. September 27th, 1612. The celebrated
preacher, Skarga, was iU eight months before his
death, and once saw St. Ignatius, St. Francis
Xayier, and Warzewicky, who had died long
before, beside his bed. They recommended him
to pray to God to prolong his hfe for his own
glory. Before his death, he, with his own hands,
made a white wax taper which he sent to the

224 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Convent of Czenstohowo, to be placed before the
image of the Virgin. The moment this taper was
consumed, he yielded up his soul to God.
10. June 16th, 1619. After the death of Sykoul,
he was seen to ascend to heaven accompanied by
St. Ignatius, St. Xavier, and St. Louis de
Gonzague. 11. August 23rd, 1635. Several persons in the
act of prayer, saw Bartilius, who was endued by
God with the gift of prophecy, ascend to glory.
During his life, he went one day in a shower of
rain to Loretto, but not one drop fell on him.
12. July 27th, 1597. The right hand of Wouek,
which had written much for the glory of God, was
found entire many years after his death !
13. May 3rd, ] 597. Brounowsky, Woin;cz, Kras-
nostawsky, and Domagalsky, laborious missionaries,
were killed by the schismatic Eussians in a forest
in Galicia, at a time when they fervently worked
with much zeal to draw them to the Union. On
the spot where they were buried, there was seen
for a whole hour, a lamp which gradually rose
towards heaven.
14. Kostha was invited by the Holy Virgin to
enter the Order of the Jesuits. He was twice fed
by angels with the Body of Jesus Christ, and was
caught up to Heaven in 1568.

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 225
15. August 17th, 1721. The Swedes themselves
recount the miracles made by Loukaszewicz, as
for example, that he passed dry through the rivers
WUla and Arzica. The particular but doubtful
merit is attributed to him, that he never drank
anything but beer !
16. Sousliga saw in a vision the Virgin and the
infant Jesus, who said to him, " Sousliga, ask
what thou wilt." To which he replied, " No
other thing than to be eternally with thee."
To this Christ answered, " Thou shalt be."
But Soushga replied, "I have no confidence in
myself, Lord, I am a sinner." " Take my hand,"
said Christ, "as a testimony that thou shalt be
with me eternally." He caught Christ's hand,
and ascended with him to Heaven, November 27th,
1623. So wrote the Jesuits of themselves, after which
it is not difficult to form an idea of how they
imposed on the people, on the subject of their
Order, in their conversations, their sermons, and
in the confessional. Apparently, they were beheved
by the masses, otherwise one cannot imagine or
explain the appearance of such writings so far from
truth and the real humUity of Christianity.
It was not to Poland but to Eome that the
Jesuits rendered effective services in augmenting
VOL. I. Q

226 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
the number of Eomanists, in converting Calvinists,
in introducing the Union, and in developing a
proselytising spirit with tendencies towards
ecclesiastical omnipotence conformable to the
instincts of Catholicism. In completely pro
strating the fundamental laws of the State, the
Latin clergy tended at the same time to aggrandise
the ecclesiastical power abroad, and for this
purpose employed exterior pomp, which has always
an immense effect on the people. With this aim
they established dioceses even in countries where
other Christian churches dominated, and where
Eomanism had very little chance of taking root.
The senses were besieged by the pomp of the
episcopal court, with its canons and its prelates,
its solemn processions, its fetes, and all the
grandeur and glitter it could muster, to attract
to Latinism. But the interior organisation
of the clergy corresponded in nothing with their
exterior pretension. The bishops, independent of
the civil power, were often powerless in their own
administration. The monastic orders were exempt
from their authority ; their provincials themselves
sometimes far from the district if not absolutely
out of the country. For example ; of the eight
convents of the Benedictines in Lithuania, seven
were subordinate to the Benedictine congregation

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 227
of Koulm, whUe that of Irock depended on the
congregation of Cluny. Very few of the religious
Orders were exceptions to this rule ; one only may
be mentioned, that of Latram, which depended on
the bishops. The secular clergy, too, often disobeyed
then bishops, and did not act conformably to their
vocation. These disorders were not temporary or
local ; they existed everywhere, as one can see by
the Synodical ordinances of the principal Eoman
Catholic bishopric of Lithuania, WUna, and by the
episcopal letters of Bishop Wojna, 1601-13, of
Eienne Pac, 1682, by the decisions of the Synod
of 1679, under bishop Matthew Sapieha. In all
these documents the bishops discuss the sorrowful
state of the clergy ; but it was difficult to attempt
an amelioration, as they did not possess sufficient
authority. The High Clergy, who formed the
chapter, occupied themselves with the manage
ment of then vast estates; and the subject of their
dehberations consisted almost exclusively in the
sale or exchange of then lands, in economical cal
culations, in processes, lawsuits, etc., etc. But with
aU that, the administration of these estates was so
defective, that very often their employes did not
receive their appointments for years; and the
subsidy which the government claimed from the
clergy, commonly caUed Subsidium Charitativium
Q2

228 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
was not paid, while the peasants were often ruined
by the Jews who farmed the lands. A still greater
evil existed in the relations of the clergy with the
government and with the other classes of society,
particularly the Noblesse.
In Status the clergy were not subordinate to
the civil authority; and they lived in constant
antagonism with the Lithuanian nobles, not
considering themselves, so to speak, a part of
the Kingdom of Poland.
In the eighteenth century the animosity between
the clergy and the nobility, attained its last limits.
The laity refused the interest which the clergy
hypothetically laid upon their lands, made raids
upon the ecclesiastical property, ravaged it, and often
came to blows with the monks and the priests.
The influence of the clergy commenced visibly to
decline, their weaknesses and their vices were
brought before the public, and the Press became
the medium of a lively polemic between the civU
and ecclesiastical authorities. Then the tendencies
of the priesthood first began to be manifest, and it
was felt that they had compromised their position
hi the State. This polemic coincided extremely
apropos with the appearance in France of the work
" de la Borcle," a treatise upon the spiritual power.
Benedict XIV. censured it, but nevertheless it

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 229
spread both through Poland and Lithuania.
Wyzicky, archbishop of Livoff, refuted it, and made
the following remarks : —
" As in man the soul is more important than the
body, so even the power of the Church is above the
temporal power: therefore Pope Innocent III.
compares these two powers to two celestial stars,
that is, to the Sun and the Moon ; and says that
the Church, as the principal star, iUuminates the
affairs of the State, and the civU authority, like a
secondary star, lights the clouds of temporal
vanities." One may thence conclude that the
ecclesiastical power in nothing whatever depended
on the civU authority, but, au contraire, that the
latter was subordinate to the Church. The Arch
bishop continues : — " What are after all the rights
and the obhgations of the government with respect
to the Church ? Its right — its obligation, is to
defend her against heresy, not to tolerate liberty of
conscience in the realm, for this hberty is ominous,
and contrary to the doctrine of the Gospel and
the Saviour who wiU have only one single Church
— one flock and one visible Head. The govern
ment has the right and the obligation to spread the
honour and the glory of God throughout the
kingdom, that the dogmas of the true faith be
received without discussion, that there be no judges

230 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
in this matter which only concerns the superior
ecclesiastical authority, acting as the simple agent
of the Spiritual power, executores ministri. The
Almighty God who vouchsafes the true doctrine to
sovereigns has confided them to the clergy, as
sheep to the shepherd, to be brought and guided.
He gives them no authority over the Church, but
on the contrary he orders them to obey her, as
Esau said ' An infant shaU govern kings ; ' which
means that the humble clergy who have converted
sovereigns to the true faith, shall govern them."
From such logic the following consequences may be
deduced :— That no sovereign has any right to
meddle in the nomination of the bishops. On the
contrary the bishops, as proprietors of the lands,
enjoyed every political right, and could even make
war, the works of the Dissenters should not be
translated into the national language or printed in
Cathohc countries, as the celebrated BuU " In Ccena
Domini " excommunicates those who read heretical
works, the excommunication extending of course to
the translators and printers.
The writers of this category explained the advan
tages the State derived from the clergy by the
consideration, that it was they who supported the
Noblesse, particularly in aristocratic States, where
the estates were not entaUed, but were divided

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 231
equaUy among the children. " That a married
noble " said Kowalsky, " may reside amongst us in
manner suitable to his rank, it is necessary that he
have at least ten thousand florins per annum, and
even with such a sum, many complain of the
insufficiency of then means. The same noble
becoming cure of even a small parish can live on
the half of that sum. If he enters a convent, even
of a princely family, he can hve there on less than
a thousand florins, and it is both convenient and
consistent with his rank. If in such States all the
nobles marry, there would come a time when to
every hectare (two acres) there would be two nobles,
and even now there are several who are mere
artisans and agriculturists. But look at the advan
tage that the nobUity derive from having its
members prelates and the occupants of lucrative
ecclesiastical places. 1. Such ecclesiastics can
cede, and often do cede, to their parents and rela
tives that part of the hereditary fortune belonging
to them. 2. They assist them by the gifts and
offerings which they receive. 3. They pass to
them the revenues of their ecclesiastical estates : —
it is true they are not permitted to enrich their
relations at the expense of the Chinch ; but on the
other hand, as they help the indigent in general,
they are justified in helping those most nearly

232 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
related to them, who are poor." The Latin clergy
as we have seen, only strengthened their own
power by their riches ; but the good time for them .
was passing away, it was exactly their riches and
their power which roused society against them.
Already, in the seventeenth century, means began
to be taken against their cupidity and their tendency
to accumulate riches which would otherwise have
been better employed in assisting the exigencies of
the country. By the constitution of 1632 it was
forbidden to alienate hereditary estates in favour of
new ecclesiastical institutions, without the absolute
authority of the Eepublic ; but as the clergy con
stantly eluded this law, it was renewed at the several
Diets of 1635, 1669, 1676, 1677, 1726; and in
1768 this measure became a fundamental law as
said in the Constitution of 1676 : — "Without it the
vital forces of the State are exhausted, the wellbeing
and the defence of the State are endangered."
Estates acquired by the clergy contrary to this law
were confiscated; one half went to the informer, and
the other to the treasury. In the second half of
the eighteenth century, they limited the right
of donation and of the legacies in favour
of the clergy, by enacting that three parts of
the fortune left by priests who died without
a wUl should pass to then inheritors, and the

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA, 233
quarter only go to the Church. As to nuns, the
convents should receive nothing of their fortune, it
should all return to then relatives. The tithe of
sheaves was converted into a pecuniary obligation ;
the temporary subsidy of the clergy, known as the
Subsidium Charitativium was recognised as a fixed
tax, and the interest which one paid them in
Poland was diminished to one half; but this
measure did not extend to Lithuania. The stamp
duty was levied upon Chinch property at the time
of the transfer of such property from one priest to
another. In short, the Diet of 1789 permitted the
confiscation, for the benefit of the State, of Church
property and ecclesiastical lands. Some curates
contented themselves with fixed emoluments. In
1790, in conformity with the decision of the Diet,
inventories were taken of the landed estates and
livings held by the priesthood, certainly with the
intention of secularising them.
Eome roused herself. Popes Clement XIV. and
Pius VI. addressed letters to King Stanislas
Augustus fuU of eulogies as to his piety, but
represeuting aU the misfortunes likely to result
from the impoverishment of the clergy, through
which they saw the decadence of the Church, and
centred aU then hopes on the King for the preser
vation of the rights of the Holy See. These briefs

234 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
were generaUy sent at the opening of the Diets, as in
1784, at the time ofthe Diet of Grodno. But when
Eome received news of the decision of this body,
a decision which struck a terrible blow at the
Church, she complained that now the bishops
could be pillaged and chased from their estates,
and wrote no more to the King, but to the Polish
and Lithuanian Marshals and directly to the Diet
itself. These exhortations were of no use ; they did not
stop the decrees which had gone forth, but the
imminent state of Poland left no time to execute
them, and they were only realized half a century
later by the Eussian government. We may
attribute these measures to the spirit of the age ;
to French literature, and the philosophy of the
period ; to the progress of mankind in liberty of
conscience and political liberty — aU contributed to
the adoption, perhaps, of these measures; but there
is no doubt that these were not the necessary
causes which provoked them, and that these
changes were only the inevitable consequence of
a system which no longer permitted the absorption
of the State by the Church. The clergy, by then
greediness and their intervention in temporalities,
had lost their ecclesiastical character ; the result of
which was that pubhc opinion would- no longer '

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 235
tolerate the privileges and riches of a priesthood
useless to the Church, and a nuisance to Poland.
Indeed, Poland herself was on the point of partition
between the three frontier powers, and but a very
few years later, her last hour had sounded. And
what at this time did the rich and privileged clergy
do ? They demanded the abrogation of those
restrictive enactments regarding landed estates,
and the diminution of their taxes by the expiring
Eepubhc. At such a moment that their ambition
required the confirmation of the political influence
of then caste — at such a moment they complained
that they were unrepresented in the Diet ! This
priesthood, after the first and second partition of
the country, expressed themselves thus : — " How
can we say ' country,' and love a country which,
while favouring aU other classes of society, only
abases us ?" The want of a guarantee for property
— the constant fear that in a moment it may be
diminished or done away with, is a great mis
fortune for man. Let us once more repeat : the
Jesuits did everything for Eome and nothing for
Poland ; for the Polish priesthood belonged more
to Eome than to then own country ; they there
formed more a caste than a class of society, and
were more attached to the interests of the Pope
than to those of their Fatherland.

236 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
As to the proceedings and acts of the Latin
clergy towards Dissenters in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, we know that they availed
themselves of the powers of conviction through the
influence of the government, backed by violence.
The pupils of the Jesuitical institutions were fre
quently employed as a material force against
Dissenters. From the seventeenth century, Cal
vinism began to dechne in Lithuania ; the Pro
testant churches were more and more forsaken,
and the clergy diminished. This decadence arose
from two causes : interior, inherent to the organi
sation of the Calvinistic Church ; exterior, to the
influence of oppression on the part of the adminis
tration. This Church had no fixed centre. The
convocation of the Synod could not supply the loss
of a firmly established ecclesiastical authority.
The appearance of new Sects, particularly of the
Socinians who spread rapidly, weakened it farther.
The two principal branches of this doctrine, Luther-
anism and Calvinism, having no intimate ties
between them, a union was not even possible, as
the Calvinists were Poles, and the Lutherans were
exclusively Germans. It is true that they had
between them a species of Convention, concluded
at Sandomir, 1570, afterward renewed in 1669
and in 1719, at Keidanj, but this alliance was, so

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 237
to speak, merely formal and purely external ; there
was never an intimate and frank sympathy.
Vladislas IV., conceived a project of conciliating
the clergy of different confessions, and called the
CouncU of Thorn in 1644, which, however, had a
result quite different to what he hoped for ; not
only did no conciliation foUow, but the ecclesiastics
returned home more embittered against each other
than ever. The Calvinist clergy were themselves
the cause why their doctrine did not take deeper
root in Lithuania, as they confined their activity
solely to the upper classes and to the Tiers-etat
without troubling themselves to spread it among
the masses of the people. To this internal weak
ness was added external persecution; as Dissenters
were deprived of the right of sending deputies to
the Diets, of holding government situations, and
from 1717, from even having representatives in
the tribunals, who might judge appeals between
them and the Cathohcs. The Eoman clergy,
having deprived them of pubhc worship, seized
then churches and cited them before the tribunals,
endeavouring by force to induce conversions. For
example : the Protestant chUdren of a widow should
embrace Eomanism if their mother contracted a
second marriage with a Catholic. The Calvinists
very often complained of their grievances to the

238 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Diet, and it must be acknowledged that these
assemblies censured the acts of the priests of
Eome, reminding them of the necessity of hberty
of conscience ; but their admonitions and injunc
tions remained a dead letter. In the seventeenth
century, the position of the Calvinists became so
insupportable that there remained no other means
of self-defence than to demand the protection
of the Protestant powers, England, Denmark,
Holland, Sweden, and particularly Prussia. The'
Court of Berlin became for them what the
Cabinet of St. Petersburg was for the Lithuanian
population of the Greek rite. This priestly inter
vention in the affairs of Poland carried with it, as
its consequence, the catastrophe of this unfortunate
land ; and the Eoman priesthood who disregarded
the welfare of the country, and whose solicitude
was exclusively confined to their own interests,
attained under these circumstances the result they
desired. Towards the mid-second half of the
seventeenth century there were nearly no Calvinists
in Wilna, Vitebsk, Polotsk, etc. At the close of
the same century, there were only left forty-eight
churches of this confession in Lithuania; and at the
end of the eighteenth century there only remained
in the entire country twenty-eight churches.
The history of that bloody persecution known as

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 239
the "Union," which deprived Poland of Little
Eussia cannot be detailed in this brief expose. It
must suffice to mention succinctly the progressive
Eomanisation of the United Greeks, as we find
them later under the domination of Eussia. In
the course of the seventeenth century as much as
one can find from existing documents, the United
Greeks preserved a great part of the dogmas and
rules of the Greek Church, conformable to the
prescriptions of the Council of Brescia, very few
changes being made at the time. At the Council
of Nowogrondk, in ,1617, it was decided to make
some changes in the outward customs of the
priests of the united Greek Church, such as
cutting the hah- very short without altogether
employing the tonsure, and shortening the beard,
without shaving it entirely, so as to accustom
them graduaUy to Eomanism. The theological
works of the period, too, urgently advo
cated communion in one kind, the marriage of
the priests was not tolerated, and not legaUy per
mitted, and so on with regard to other questions,
these new introductions and ordinances aU tending
openly in the one direction — Eome. The Synod
of Zamosc, assembled in 1720, under the presidency
of the Nuncio, confirmed nearly all the rites of the
Eastern Church, and the autonomic of the united

240 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Greek Church, was recognised anew. The policy
of Eome consisted in gradually and imperceptibly
introducing Latinism in the Union, without sud
denly startling the masses, for fear of producing a
boideversement which this court might be unable
to cope with ; as had already happened in the
Ukraine. Nevertheless this same synod instituted
among other fetes that of La Fete Dieu, which is
altogether Latin. The united Greeks preserved
the Communion in two kinds — the sign of the
Cross from the right to the left — the Lents and the.
Juhan Calendar. But already towards the middle
of the eighteenth century, the symbol, referring to
the procession of the Holy Spirit, was changed;
purgatory was recognised, and bells were used in
the service. Baptism by sprinkling was intro
duced, several Masses daily on the same altar, and
the priests were absolutely forbidden to many.
Besides this, the Latin priests could receive the
confession of the united Greeks, and vice versa;
they could even baptize in emergencies, under the
condition, however, that the infants so christened
should be brought up in the confession of their
parents. The Latins would officiate in their
churches, but with the sacerdotal vestments of the
United Greeks. And with the introduction of
Latin rites and customs, the Latins forced

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 241
the Union clergy to embrace the spirit of their
caste ; pretending that to enter rehgious orders a
distinguished origin was necessary; that ecclesias
tics were in no case amenable to lay tribunals ;
that the priest had a right to pretend to royal
honours; and that consequently he should not
occupy himself with the cultivation of the earth.
But the Eoman clergy oppressed the United Greek
priesthood quite as much as they did the Dis
senters ; they deprived them of their rights, of all
education, and even of the proper means of sub
sistence. WhUe the others took their place
amongst the Polish aristocracy, the United Greeks
were degraded. Was this sound pohcy of the
Poles under the circumstances ? In attentively
studying the struggles of the Union, we certainly
recognise that there was not only a rehgious
struggle but a decided antagonism between two
political elements totaUy opposed : the aristocratic
element, to which the Pohsh Latin clergy belonged,
noble by position, relatively civUised, rich, possess
ing immense estates, which passed by succession
to the Church, enjoying great political privileges ;
on the other hand, the popular element, represented
by the Eussian priest, poor as a Eussian peasant,
denied of aU pohtical rights, uneducated hke him,
sometimes trying with difficulty to write, perse-
vol. i. R

242 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
cuted like him ; these two elements, we repeat, are
to be found opposed in the rehgious struggle which
was the forerunner of the downfaU of the kingdom.
The Eussian priest, as Prince Koursby tells us,
diverted himself with the peasant in the cabaret,
lived beside him, partook of his joys and shared
his sorrows. Therefore the people remained
unchanged in their faith, notwithstanding all
persecutions, while the aristocratic Lithuanian not
only passed quickly and easily to the Union, but
even embraced Eomanism. The Eussian element
was, and rested, the national element among the
rural population and the Greek priesthood of
Lithuania ; the nobility and the Polish clergy, au
contraire, were the personification of the aris
tocratic element, and with the loss of the privileged
aristocratiques, they lost their ancient pohtical
importance. " Panska wiara " and " Chlopska.
wiara " (religion of the lords and religion of the
peasants), or " Polska wiara" and " Euska
wiara " (Polish religion and Eussian religion),
were no vain words. They exactly express.
our thoughts and our convictions, that the lutte
acharnh of the Union was as much pohtical
as religious ; and that therefore this privUeged
class in repulsing the Greek clergy, left them
in the opposition, even in the very essence of

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 243
their nationality, their identity with the nationality
Eusse. In speaking of the Eoman priesthood, and in
closing this chapter, one cannot pass over their
acts with regard to the Jews, acts which appear
incredible, if authentic documents did not confirm
them.. In the latter half of the eighteenth century
they forced these people to shut themselves up in
their houses during the Eoman processions, as
well as during the Holy Week ; and the Jew who
rented or owned house, ceUar, or shop, was
obhged to pay a fixed sum to the cure of the
parish ; for the plausible reason, that if this house,
ceUar, or shop, were not in his possession, it would
be in that of a Cathohc who makes offerings to his
Church. In short, the Jew had to pay tithe to
the Latin priest, on the score that, according to
the Books of Moses, their own recognised law
giver, they were enjoined to render to the Levites
the tenth part of the fruits of the earth and of the
animals !

r2

( 244 )

CHAPTEE VI.

APEECU HISTORY OF THE DIOCESES J.N
LITHUANIA.

I. Diocese of Wilna. — Its extent. — Propagation of Catholic
ism in this diocese.— The Greek faith had preceded the intro
duction of Catholicism in this country.— Division of the
diocese into deaneries. — First Bishops of this diocese.—
Religious intolerance. — Successive arrivals of the Monastic
Orders.— Legates of the Pope. — The principal qualifications
for nomination to the Episcopal chair.— Influence of the
Jesuits upon the Bishops. Position of the Bishops vis-a-vis
the Chapter. — Composition of the Chapter. — Opposition of
the Chapter to the Bishops. — Estates and jurisdiction of the
Chapter. — Seminary. — Its management given to the Jesuits,
1588. — The Jesuits abandon the Seminary, 1652.— This school
regulated by the Secular clergy. — The Seminary, shut for
some time, passes into the hands of the Missionaries. — State
of this institution. — Diocesan synpds. — Eclat of the See of
Wilna. — Creation of new dignities in the Chapter. — That of
Vicar of the Bishop and Vicar of White Eussia. — Dissensions
between the Clergy and the Noblesse. — Contests between the
Clergy and the Army. — Open struggle between Brzostowski
and the Hetman Sapieha, 1693-98.
2. Diocese of Samogitia.— Its extent. — Violent introduction
of Catholicism in the country. — Foundation of dioceses, 1417.
— Propagation of Eomanism in this bishopric. — Eeturn of the
Samogitians to idolatry in the sixteenth century. Seat of the
diocese. — Eelations of this diocese with that of Wilna. — Com
position of the Chapter. — Division of the diocese into dean-

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 245
eries. — Bishops of Samogitia. — Their connexion with the
Chapter. — Seminary. — The direction taken by the Jesuits. —
Process between the Bishop and the Jesuits on the subject of
the Seminary, 1621. — The Seminaries confided to the Piares,
1741. — The same institution restored to the Jesuits, 1760. —
Jesuitical system of education. — Later arrival of the Monastic
Orders in Samogitia. — Oppression of the Secular Clergy by the
Monks. — Provincial Synods.
3. Diocese of Kamience. — Foundation of the See, 1-414.—.
Dependence of this bishopric upon the Metropole of Livow. —
The See of Kamience little esteemed. — Composition of its
Chapter. — Establishment of its Vicarage, 1730. — Abuses by
the Religious Orders. — Seminary. — Efforts of the clergy to
free themselves from obligations towards the State. — Division
of the diocese into deaneries.
4. Diocese of Luck. — Foundation of the See. — Its extent. —
Composition of its Chapter. — Seminaries. — Diocesan synods.
— Division of the diocese into deaneries.
5. Diocese of Kiew. — Supposed epoch of its foundation —
Mission of the Dominicans and Franciscans in the thirteenth
century.. — Extent of the diocese. — Erection of convents in
opposition to the progress of the Greek Church, eighteenth
century. — Division of the diocese into deaneries. — Transfer of
the Episcopal chair to Zytomir, 1724. — Erection of the cathe
dral, 1751. — Creation of the dignity of Archdeacon of Czer-
ingow. — Composition of the Chapter. — Establishment of the
Vicarage, 1740. — .Seminary, 1762. — Diocesan Synods.
6. Diocese of Smolensk. — Foundation, 1638. — Chapter. —
Vicariat. — The diocese composed of only four churches.
7. Diocese of Inflandt. — Its formation. — Vicariat, 1743. —
Chapter. — Seminary, 1755. — Apercu general.
After having thus presented the Tableau
Historique as it were of the propagation of
Eomanism in Western Eussia, and detaUed suc
cinctly some of the acts of the Latin Clergy, it
may not be unnecessary to give some historical

246 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
sketches of the different dioceses. These detaUs,
as a complement of the preceding, confirm our
former impressions.
The bishopric of Wilna at the period of its
dependence on Polish domination, extended from
the actual limits of WUna and Grodno, to the
eastern part of the government of Kowno, that is
to say to the east of the district of Poniewesz and
Kowna, to the districts of WUkomir and
Nowoaleksandrowsk,tothe governments of MohUew,
Vitebsk, and Minsk. We have only one means of
following the propagation of Eomanism in these
districts, namely by fixing the epoch of the
construction of different churches, although this
method is itself defective, as after the formal
introduction of Eomanism into the country, the
Grand Dukes of Lithuania built churches at the
expense of the State in certain locahties where
there were no Catholics and particularly in those
towns which were the centre of administration.
In the course of time, the Magnats, having joined
the new religion, buUt splendid temples on then'
own estates, notwithstanding that the peasants on
these lands belong to the Greek Church. Be this as
it may, churches, as the exterior expression of an
estabhshed religion, indicate if not the general
establishment of Catholicism, at least the centres

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 247
from whence it sprang. In examining from this
point of view, the chronology of the Eoman
churches, we find that in the diocese of WUna the
Latin .Church had passed the confines of WUna
and Grodno in the fifteenth century. But it is
certain that she there met the Greek Church
already in possession, as when JageUon baptized
the people of WUna, one half of the population
refused to be christened, as they belonged even
then to the Greek Church. The greater part of
the Latin churches buUt in the eastern section of
the government of Kowno, belong to the sixteenth
century; towards the middle of this era a great
number of churches were buUt in the province of
Bralostock. Queen Eose, Sigismond HI., the
EadzivUls and other aristocratic families durino-
this century erected many churches on then-
demesnes; nevertheless Catholicism did not extend
beyond the confines of the above-named govern
ments, with the exception, perhaps, of some
churches in the government of Minsk upon the
frontiers of Wilna, and five or six more in White
Eussia, but as a whole the general number of
these churches was inconsiderable. One of the
great obstacles to the establishment of Eomanism,
was the ignorance of the clergy in the idiom of
the country, for in the sixteenth century we find

248 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
whole localities in Lithuania where Christianity
had not yet penetrated. Bishop Woicech Ead-
zivUl, in 1508-19 puUed down with his
own hands the idols he found on some of his
estates, as weU as in other places ; and Si
gismond I. ordered a church to be built on his
own private estate of Krijnki, as the people had
not then embraced Christianity (1522_). In the act
authorising the foundation of a church at
Jassianowec in 1553, it is said that since the
introduction of Eomanism into Lithuania, the popu
lation of this locality had not seen a priest, that
they lived and died without confession. In 1589,
Anne, Queen of Poland, founded a church at
Ponemoune upon the Nieman, twenty versts from
Grodno, " to recover the inhabitants of this place
from infamy and diabolical idolatry." Even in the
seventeenth century we find Nicolas Sapieha
founding churches in the district of Track at
Niemonvitzy. "As the people, not having a priest,
lived without marriage or confession," coercive and
severe measures were often resorted to. Sigis
mond I. in authorising the construction of a church
in the royal demesue of Wysoki Duor, assigned an
annual stipend to the curate, under the express
condition that he should constrain his parishioners,
through the power of the police, to frequent 'the

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 249
church, and should they not attend divine service
to fine them a certain sum. But such measures
were little favourable to the spread of Cathohcism.
In the fourteenth and at the commencement of
the fifteenth century there were already four Greek
dioceses within the limits of the Eoman diocese of
WUno, namely Pinsk, Mohilew, Minsk and Polotsk.
It is evident that the more Greeks there were, the fewer
Eomanists could there be, and this goes to explain
the extremely slow march of the Latin Church in the
other governments of Mohilew, Vitebsk and Minsk.
It was not introduced, properly speaking, until the
seventeenth century, when it entered in conjunction
with the Jesuits, under circumstances not very
favourable to its dissemination. For example :
when Sigismond IH. ordered a Eoman church to
be buUt at Mohilew, this city already contained
seven Greek edifices ; and many other localities of
the same governments presented an analagous pro
portion. Therefore, even in the eighteenth century,
the deaneries found in this government, though
covering an immense extent of country, contained
very few churches. The deanery of Vitebsk, from
north to south, crossing the deanery of Orsza,
embraced nearly aU the government of MohUew, as
far as the town of Bieliza and Borisow, government
of Minsk, a distance of nearly a hundred versts, in

250 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
which there were only eight churches. The
deanery of Polotsk, which comprehended the
districts of Polotsk and Lepel, with Disna in the
government of Vitebsk, and a part of the district
of Wileika, government of WUna, had only thirteen
chinches. The deanery of Orsza, occupying an
immense extent, embraced five districts of the
government of MohUew, viz., Orsza, Mscislaw,
Czaoussy, Mohilew, and Bychow, and possessed
only seventeen Eoman Cathohc places of worship,
eight of which belonged to the convents. The
deanery of Eodoscow, which was comparatively
limited, enclosed the districts of Borrisow, and
Wileika, with thirteen churches. The deanery of
Bobrouisk stretching over more than the half of
the actual government of Minsk had also only
thirteen churches. Thus properly speaking the
Latin diocese of Wilna was circumscribed within
the government of Wilna, Grodno in its eastern
quarter, and of Kowno, with isolated churches
dispersed over the, whole extent of the govern
ments of Vitebsk, Mohilew, and Minsk, artificially'
united into deaneries for the convenience of
ecclesiastical administration. Even in the centre
of this diocese, a great many religious edifices for
worship were erected towards the close of the
sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 251
century, through pure antagonism to Calvinism
which was then spreading itself widely.
The diocese of WUna, at this period definitely
constituted within marked boundaries, was divided
into twenty-six deaneries ; containing, in 1717, four
hundred and thirty-five, in 1779, four hundred and
four churches, and in 1744, three hundred and
sixty-four. The bad state of the roads and the extent of
this diocese made its administration extremely
difficult. Bishop Masalsky therefore divided it
into three parts — Trock, Grodno and Luck — with a
separate consistory for each of them. These
consistories placed under the presidence of an
official, and composed of several assessors, had a
very extended authority, the members of which
were called to the consistory of Wilna. This
partition lasted for ten years, but after experience
did not justify such a division ; as, so far from
promoting a better order of things in ecclesiastical
affairs, it only engendered new disorders. The
local consistories commenced to correspond directly
with Eome unknown to the Bishop; so that it
might be expected that in course of time they
would throw off the episcopal authority altogether
and form themselves into three dioceses. In 1781
these consistories were abolished, and the eccle-

252 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
siastical administration was concentrated at Wilna.
This diocese was, as we have seen, instituted in
1388, and subordinated to the Archbishop of
Gnezo. Its first two bishops were of the Order of
St. Francis, but, dating from 1407, the bishops were
no longer selected from among the regular clergy.
This fact explains the antagonism existing at nearly
aU periods between the regular and the secular
priests, which early showed itself in this diocese.
The Chapter constrained Bishop George Phchta
to take an oath that he would augment the
number of curacies in which he would place secular
clergy, and at the same time diminish the number
of convents, and that the churches of such establish
ments should be placed at the disposal of the
same priests. Of the four first bishops, three
were Poles, but from 1421 no more Poles were
elected to this See. It belonged exclusively to
Lithuania, and its rights were preserved long after
the fusion of this country with Poland ; so that
after the death of Bishop Prince George EadzivUl,
1590, the Bishop of Luck, who had been
nominated by Eome and was protected by
Sigismond III., was not accepted, because he was
by birth a Pole and not a Lithuanian. The
first bishop was a native of Poland, but this
selection was explained by the fact that at this

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 253
epoch Lithuania did not possess a national secular
clergy. Hardly was Eomanism introduced into Lithuania
when its intolerant spirit showed itself towards
other Christian sects. JaqueUon in 1387, having
entered the Latin Church, promulgated a law
forbidding Lithuanians to contract marriages with
members of the Greek confession, at least without
change of religion. With the first Eoman Catholic
bishop in this country, appeared also the ecclesias
tical sword. In 1391, Bishop Andre assembled
the prelates and canons, and in accordance with
the Papal sanction gave them the permission to
compel aU those who refused tithes or pillaged
the estates of the church, to appear before eccle
siastical tribunes, and to place them beyond the
pale of the Church. But these tribunes, and the
anathema of Eome, were not enough for the Eoman
Clergy; therefore in 1492-1507, Bishop Tabor
obtained authority from the Pope, both for himself
and his successors, to oblige them to serve in arms
against the Tartars, the Armenians and the
Eussians. Not seldom did the bishop himself take
up arms. The first preachers in Lithuania were
the Franciscans. In 1469, the Bernardines arrived
at WUna, and towards the close of the fifteenth
century the Dominicans fixed themselves at Trockej.

254 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
The Legates of the Pope came from time to time
to visit the diocese, and Eome derived from it con
siderable sums of money. In 1501, the Grand
Duke Alexander forbade the sending of the money
obtained at the JubUee to Eome, ordering it to be
employed for the benefit of the troops in campaign
against Eussia. The Nuncio who afterwards
arrived in Poland made severe remonstrances on
this head to Bishop Tabor, but it was already too
late. Dating from the sixteenth century when the
number of the churches and the clergy and the
extent of their revenues had considerably increased,
the episcopal chair of Wilna had become, so to
speak, the exclusive property of the Lithuanian
aristocracy. " Since this epoch," writes an
ecclesiastical contemporary, " the protection of the
Magnats is of more value than real merit." It
was Prince Worcech EadzivUl who inaugurated
this series of ecclesiastical lords ; then came John,
the natural son of Sigismond I., and after him
Prince Paul Holszanskej ; these three lords filled
the See of Wilna during nearly the first half of the
sixteenth century. Once the episcopal dignity
is looked at in a pecuniary point of view, pastoral
qualifications become rare exceptions. Of this one
may be convinced by analysing the circumstances

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 255
which accompanied an ordinary elevation to this See.
John, the son of Sigismond, was already designated
as successor to the bishop when he should attain
the age of seventeen years ; at the age of twenty
he was diocesan bishop. His mother collected
the revenues and often interfered in the affairs of
the diocese. This bishop conducted himseH in
such an unseemly manner, that one day in a quarrel
with the young Stanislas EadzivUl, he lost a finger
of the right hand, which EadzivUl cut off with a
blow of his sword. But in reality he was only
a bishop in name, his father Sigismond regulating
the See instead. Notwithstanding aU this, John
pleased the Polish aristocracy as he forced
the Polish language amongst the Lithuanians,
and commanded his curates to explain the
Bible and the Acts of the Apostles to then flocks
in that tongue. The ravages of the Eeformation
in the country at this era was not considered of as
much importance as the Episcopal dignity. Again
in 1574, George EadzivUl, being only nineteen
years old, was named Bishop-Vicar of WUna, with
future succession ; and it was only after his nomina
tion to this place that the Jesuits sent him to
Eome to complete his studies and become a
priest. At the age of twenty-three he was not only
sub-deacon but diocesan bishop and a Cardinal !

256 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
These premature distinctions turned the head of
the young man, who knew perfectly weU that he
was unfitted for the priesthood. His diocese
mattered little to him, he took no care of it, and
attended to only some of the more important
matters. Instead of living at WUna, he, in 1582,
accepted the post of Lord-Lieutenant of Livonia,
where he remained three years. This governor,
bishop, and cardinal was not consecrated untU his
removal to Eiga, the capital of his lieutenancy.
He afterwards went twice to Eome to the conclaves,
and was nominated by Clement VIII. his Legate
to Poland. Later he played the role of peace
maker between Sigismond III., and the Emperor
Eudolf, and was transferred to the See of Cracow,
so that he hardly ever resided at, or administered,
his Lithuanian bishopric. He wished however to
enjoy the emoluments arising from the dignity, and
succeeded, but only for a time. A year and some
months later the Chapter named another adminis
trator, and this administration which passed from
hand to hand under the surveillance of the Pope's
legate, lasted ten years. Bishop Wollowicz,
1616-30, being Vice-Chancellor of the kingdom,
only visited his diocese twice during the term of
his episcopate ; once to be solemnly installed in
the See, and a second time, 1620, to assist at the

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 257
conference of the Chapter. Bishop John Dowg-
wiaUo Zawisza, 1656 to 1661, did not even enter
upon the administration of his diocese, passing all
his time travelling, or in assemblies general and
provincial. Towards the end of the seventeenth
century, the great famUy Sapieha having com
menced to dechne in Lithuania, and desiring to
rebuild its fallen fortunes at the expense of the
Church, destined one of its members, Alexander,
to the ecclesiastical profession. He was initiated
at an early age, and afterwards from 1667 to 1672,
he was bishop of WUna. Sapieha was succeeded
by a married priest, Nicolas Pac, 1672-84, Woje-
woda of Trock, governor of Wilna, who had formerly
distinguished himself in war, had spent his fortune,
and like Sapieha, would recruit it at the expense of
the See of Wilna. He was protected by King
Michael Korijbutt, who had named him a canon
when but a clerk, and confided the administration
of the diocese to him. Pac rarely remained in hia
See ; he went sometimes to the Diets at Warsaw,
sometimes to Jaworowo, where the King liked to
reside, often to his estates, or he travelled to
Eome and in Italy. Such a system of nomination
to the episcopal Sees lasted tUl the last days of the ,
political existence of Poland. Prince i Massalsky
was, elected on the sole consideration "that he
vol. i. s

258 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
could be useful to the Church, as he belonged to a
great family." From the time of their first
appearance in Lithuania the Jesuits endeavoured
by every means to influence the bishop of Wilna,
as chief of the most extensive diocese in the
country, and in this they very often suc
ceeded. The weU-known predilection of Pro-
tassewicz for them is notorious. It was he
who had caUed them to Wilna. Prince George
EadzivUl, Benedict Woyna, Wollowicz, George
Tyszkiewicz, Alexander Sapieha, and Ancuta,
their .first pupils, became afterwards their warmest
protectors. The weaker the bishop, the more
incapable he was of fulfilling his charge, the more
could he rely on this Order, providing only that he
belonged to a powerful family.
If on the one side the election of bishops from
purely mundane considerations was an evU and a
disgrace to the Church, on the other, those prelates
who were zealous and faithful to their trust, finding
then power limited by the Chapter, found it
impossible to do aU the good they would under
other circumstances have done, through the
defective hierarchical organisation. The members
of the Chapter, that is to say, the prelates and the
canons were, according to the canon law, con
sidered the most zealous coadjutors of the

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 259
bishops ; in reahty they were very often useless,
negligent and mischievous in their systematic
opposition to the bishop, their constant efforts
being to limit his authority as much as possible,
and at his expense enlarge their own rights and
importance. When the diocese of Wilna was first founded, it
was enacted that it should have ten canons and
two prelates ; afterwards new capitulary charges
were added, and the number of members con
siderably increased. To these were later attached
titulary or honorary members, who enjoyed the
revenues of the estates of the Chapter, but rarely
assisted at the conferences. The Grand Dukes
of Lithuania and, at a later period, the Kings of
Poland were the hereditary collators of this See ;
that is, they distributed the dignities of the
Chapter, and the bishops were compelled to accept
every member named by royal authority. These
dignities were therefore mostly given to people of
rank, or to clerks of inferior grade who had not
yet become priests, to foreigners, to medical men,
to professors, and even to alchymists. Protection
and birth were the sole qualifications to obtain
them. It was not surprising to find young men,
nearly youths, invested with these responsibilities.
Several bishops of Wilna, like Brzostowski and
s2

260 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Massalski, were canons at the age of sixteen ;
Wallowicz and Abraham Wojna at twenty, and
they were not consecrated till after their promotion.
Such canons were considered as the vassals of the
episcopal chair ; they did not reside at Wilna, but
passed their time at Court, or on their estates, as
they pleased. The prescription of the CouncU of
Trent, "Omnescanonicidivinaper se, non per sub
stitutes, compellantur obire officia," was little
thought of. Twelve vicars filled the functions of the
Cathedral in their place; and these were the true ser
vants of the Church, who received for their labours
only a moderate salary, while the members of the
Chapter lived in idleness, debauch, and luxury, en
joying their large ecclesiastical incomes. The priest,
Przyalgowsky said: — "These men think only of
the acquisition of benefices, dignities, and cures ;
so as to occupy a certain position, and to be
distinguished in society. They have each, more
or less, two or three charges, and enjoy the
revenues of several curacies." How could such a
priesthood come to the aid of suffering humanity ?
Thus, when some misfortune happened WUna, such
as an invasion, or the passage of the enemy's
troops affected ihe city, the canons, the prelates,
and the bishop flew away, as if the pest had
appeared, ami the members of the Chapter followed

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 261
their example. This took place in 1602, 1625,
1631, and in 1656. " There existed a custom,"
said the same priest, "that for a long time the
clergy, principally the higher clergy, took great
care of their health and their existence, not darinp-
to look death in the face." Who'remained there
fore to console the suffering, to succour the
indigent, or to bury the dead ? Always the simple
and poor vicars. The high ecclesiastical function
aries were more necessary for Episcopal pomp, for
Eoman Catholic ostentation, than for the require
ments of the Christian Church. Naturally the
masses sympathised little with such shepherds;
they saw in them no father, no consoler, no
adviser, only lords and magnates robed in the
vestments of the Church, driving in sumptuous
equipages with many horses ; " so that," as the
priest goes on to say, " the sinner has not even
the hardihood to approach them."
Under these circumstances, the Chapter formed
neither a senate nor a consulting assembly, according
to its own regulations, when constituted; it was more
a Diet, and still more a Polish Diet. Polish pohtics
passed also into the sphere of the Church, but it
was even more disordered than the Diets. " Just
as the King without a Diet," says this same priest,
the historiographer of the diocese of Wilna, " so a

262 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
bishop without a Chapter has no signification.
Such was the spirit, the Polish customs, and the
time, that while the Church accorded the Bishop
superior authority, it was only a divided authority,
so that dissensions broke out frequently, and he
encountered so many obstacles to the realization of
his most benevolent intentions, that to contend
with them was almost an impossibility." Already
in the time of George Plichta, the second Bishop,
1398-1407, the Chapter considerably limited his
power, and obliged him to sanction by oath his
pacta conventa ; and the day of his installation he
had to swear to preserve in all their force the privi
leges of the Chapter, or in other words, they com-
peUed him to conform to the will of the prelates and
canons. Alexander Sapieha tried to fulfil this
ceremony privatim in the sacristy, but he was not
permitted. The dissensions of the Chapter and
the Bishop began under the Episcopate of John,
1519-36; and later on we find the Chapter
appealing to the Primate, Archbishop of Gniesno,
against Bishop Protassiewicz, 1556-80, and
fastening copies of the appeal upon the doors of
the Cathedral. In 1629, they opposed the creation
of the post of ChanceUor, by Bishop Wallowicz,
although the estate for the support of this digni
tary came from private funds. The Chapter based

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 263
then- opposition on the ground that the Chancellor,
having all the capitulary documents in his hands.
and owing his appointment to the bishop, could
inform him of all that passed at the conferences,
and direct affairs according to his inspiration. " If,"
said the Chapter, " this project be carried out, tho
Chancellor should be subordinate to two authorities,
and then the injunctions of either party would be
useless; as, according to St. Luke, deficit enim
ambobus qui vult servire duobus." It is here
necessary to remark that every member, on enter
ing the Chapter, took an oath not to divulge what
passed during the sittings. A canon once re
counted to Bishop BiaUozor, 1661-67, the dis
cussions which had taken place, but only after the
bishop had absolved him from his oath. This
oath forbade the member under any pretext to
reveal, either on the demand of the bishop or even
of the Pope himself, what passed at the sitting ;
and it was enacted in 1633, " that if any one of
the members, through any considerations whatever,
implored the interference of the bishop, to the
detriment of the Chapter, he should be subjected
to a severe penalty." It is related that George
Tyszkiewicz, when nominated to a bishopric,
approaching Wilna, was met on the road by one of
the envoys of the Chapter, who came to present

264 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
him beforehand with the form of oath. The
bishop, a man of firm character, astonished at the
pretension which would limit his episcopal power,
would not accept it, and drew up another, which
he signed and handed to the messenger, teUing
him that he would fulfil this oath and no other.
His memory appears to have been little honoured
by the chapter, for his body remained for nearly a
century in the vault of a Lutheran Church at
Kcenisberg, where he died, and when afterwards it
was transported to WUna, it was not interred in
the Cathedral Church, as customary with respect
to bishops of the diocese. Never were the dissen
sions between the chapter and the bishop of the
diocese so violent and so prolonged as under Pac,
1672-84. The episcopate was the theatre of
continual struggles, the sources of which were
cash accounts. It was the custom that, during
the interval between the death of a bishop and the
installation of another, the episcopal revenues
were divided between the members of the chapter.
This took place also under Pac, who being only a
simple clerk when charged with the administration,
went to Eome to be consecrated, and for the two
years intervening could not receive or profit by
the revenue. A bad feeling between chapter and
bishop was the result ; the canons carried their accu-

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 265
sations against him, both to the Primate and the
King, demanding from the Nuncio that he should
be deprived of aU episcopal power and sus
pended, and sent a inost insolent writ to the bishop
himself. Tearing it up in the presence of several
ecclesiastics, Pac caUed them all rebels, declaring
that if any member of the chapter presented
himself there, he would imprison him in the
donjon. He then left for Warsaw, to complain
personally to the King. But the mediation of
John m. did not result in peace. The chapter des
patched delegates to Eome, to support a protest
against Pac. At length, after some concessions, the
bishop was about to be reconciled to the chapter,
when his cousin, Casiniir Pac, Bishop of Samogitia,
arrived, who was himself intriguing for the chair of
Wilna, and who interrupted the proceedings. The
Bishop of WUna was afterwards obliged to go to
Eome, where he found the mandilaires of the
chapter. He tried to conciliate them, but in
vain; he feted the cardinals, presented sums of
money to the different chancellories, but did not
succeed. In the mean time, Casimir Pac had
taken up his residence in the palace of Wilna, and
when the Bishop of Wilna returned from Eome,
the chapter refused to appear before him as cus
tomary, declaring that they did not require his

266 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
benediction. They excited the peasantry on the
Episcopal estates against him, and the struggles
recommenced. New complaints were addressed to
the King, to the Pope, and to the Nuncio. Pac,
however, continued his administration, but was not
consecrated until 1682, two years before his death,
and it was only then that he was reconciled to the
chapter. No doubt that the habit of command
which he had acquired in his different administra
tive functions, united to a very energetic character,
as well as his sudden transition from a lay to an
ecclesiastical position, contributed greatly to excite
these scandals between bishop and chapter. But
these circumstances were not the only result.
The principle of disorder engendered itself into the
grain and spirit of the chapter, which personified
truly all Polish anarchy. Under Bishop Zien-
kowiez, 1730-61, another disagreeable dispute
occurred with the chapter, relative to the subject
of the Archdeaconry and the revenue attached to
that dignity ; there was even a quarrel between the
two stewards of the parties, one of whom had
been named archdeacon by the bishop, and the
other had been raised to the same dignity by the
chapter. The King decided in favour of the
bishop, the Pope on the contrary for the chapter ;
the dispute lasted eight years, and time only put

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 267
an end to it, as in the case of Pac, without either
party being the winner.
The Chapter of Wilna possessed considerable
property in the city. Many workmen, mechanics,
and others, only acknowledged its authority, and
were exempt from the judicial tribunes as well as
from aU duties and imposts. Criminals were con
fined in the Episcopal palace. The occupations of
the same tradesmen were regulated by the same
Chapter. In 1607, when a complaint was made
of the dearness of some stuffs, the Chapter found
that it was because they were sold in a quarter of
the city thinly inhabited, and that they were
exported. They therefore restrained the license,
and prohibited the exportation abroad. Municipal
corporations of these tradesmen were forbidden,
that they should not be subjected to lay inter
position ; and, among other obligations, they were
expected to take part in the processions of the
Fete Dicu and other cathedral ceremonies. The
bishop did not dare meddle in the affairs of this
class, though he himself owned nearly a third of
the town. He had his burghers, who did not
enjoy municipal privileges of the law of Magda-
bourg, which extended only to the workmen of the
corporations ; but Bishop John ceded his rights
jurisdiction to the provosts of the city.

268 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
As to the position of the lower clergy, the state
of the seminaries at different periods sufficiently
prove how the priests were prepared to interpret
the Divine Word and become the true teachers of
the people. Towards the middle of the sixteenth
century, when the Eeformation had already entered
Lithuania, no seminary existed at Wilna. The
young men destined for the priesthood, had to
study at a parochial school, and were ordained
priests when they knew only how to write and read
a little Latin. The seminary of Wilna was not
founded until 1588, by Prince George EadziviU,
for the instruction of twelve clerks, whose education
was confided to the Jesuits, while the Chapter
defrayed the expense of their physical support.
The foUowing were the conditions of guardianship
appertaining to each party : — 1. The management
of the landed estates held in trust for the seminary,
belonged to the Chapter, without any interference
whatever from the Jesuits. 2. The Jesuits re
ceived annually from the Chapter, a fixed sum for
the support of the seminary, without being subject
to any inquiries as to how this sum was disbursed.
3. The Jesuits undertook the education and moral
training of the young, and might guide the con
sciences of the pupils without any one having a
right to interfere. In 1613, Nicholas Pac, Bishop

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 269
of Samogitia, demanded access to this school for
the clerks of his diocese, which was arranged con
ditionally that he should pay at once a certain sum
towards the repairs of the building, and that the
new pupils should assist at the cathedral service on
fete days. The Jesuits having an Academy in
WUna, and several schools elsewhere in Lithuania,
attached very little importance to this seminary ;
and the Chapter managed the income derived from
its endowment very badly, giving only very limited
sums out of the receipt for its support. Thus,
moraUy and physically, it was a faUure owing to
the double authority exercised by the Jesuits and
the Chapter. It may be inferred, that in founding
this establishment, Bishop EadziviU had more in
view the carrying out of the prescriptions of the
CouncU of Trent, than to furnish the diocese with
a proper priesthood. The number of pupils never
exceeded twelve, as preliminarily fixed, generally
there were only six, and never eight. There was
only one master who acted as governor at the same
time. The pupUs were badly fed, their clothes
had to last them two years, and when the revenues
i)f the estates were not forthcoming, they received
no new ones, so that sometimes, even at Divine
Service, they were literaUy in tatters. Young
men were not received, but only chUdren, who

270 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
were taught rhetoric. When they left the seminary,
they received no assistance, but were presented
with a breviary. In 1628, the possibility of leaving
this school longer in the hands of the Jesuits was
discussed ; and ten years later the Chapter en
deavoured to withdraw them altogether, and take
the direction of the instruction themselves, attri
buting the dreadful state in which it was, to
want of proper attention and care. The Jesuits,
on the other hand, fell upon the Chapter, blamed
the shameful administration of the estate, and
replied to an accusation brought against them of
accepting only very young children, and not
instructing them in the sciences. Their answer
was that these children had powerful protectors,
and that they did not consider it necessary to
instruct them in the higher branches, as the pupils
did not demand it. In 1652, there was a definite
rupture between the Chapter and the Fathers, on
the subject of the nomination to the curacy of the
church of the Order at Wilna. The Jesuits were
dreadfully irritated, and in revenge chased the
pupils from the seminary during the night, carried
off their books and effects, and declared that from
that moment they would never speak of or about
the establishment. It afterwards reverted to the
management of the diocesan bishops, who, how-

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 271
ever, did not ameliorate its condition. Very few
pupils cared to enter it, as once the studies were
completed, those who were ordained had no actual
curacies, but were attached to the churches as
vicars ; while younger clerks, not having any
ecclesiastical degree, were named through patron
age, canons. With such a system, it was only
natural to see young men show little predilection
to enter it, and the number considerably diminished
afterwards. In 1668, there were but four pupils ;
and in the time of Pac and Brzostowsky, eight.
In 1724-30, Casimir Ancuta, the favourite of
Bishop Pancerzynsky, appropriated the revenues
to his own use, so that the estabhshment fell into
the most deplorable state. Two prelates, who
were named inspectors of the school at the demand
of the Chapter, found that there were only seven
clerks supported ; that they knew nothing, learned
nothing ; and that those who desired real instruc
tion, must visit other institutions, as the pupils
here were not taught anything. Their education
consisted in chanting during the day two litanies,
and reading, morning and evening, a chapter of
Thomas a Kempis — nothing else! They were
passably fed, but had little hght in their cells, for
during the long autumn evenings, they had only in
the whole edifice, two tallow candles ! Under

272 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Massalsky's Episcopate, the estates of the seminary
were in such a dilapidated conditkm, that the
house was altogether shut. It was again opened,
when the administration passed into the hands ofthe
Missionaries, who conducted it till 1800. Under
them, the number of clerks amounted to thirty,
but the interior arrangements were no better. As
to qualifications, up to 1792, the pupils were
received without any preliminary examination or
attestation of ability ; they were not given the
necessary dress, and were only taught purely
ecclesiastical routine. Their residence at the
establishment was not subordinate to a fixed
course of study, and depended only on the arbitrary
wUl of the superior. A regulation required that
every year two inspectors should visit it, one
deputed by the bishop, the other by the chapter ;
but they were of little real use, as representing
two distinct authorities, they often quarrelled and
presented contradictory reports. The estates in
trust for the school, upon which there were two
thousand peasants, fell into such decay, that not
only were they insufficient for the support of the
pupils, but they did not even defray the interest of
debts contracted on them. The four masters were
miserably paid, and the building fell into ruins.
As to the education of the clerks, it was altogether

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 273
defective, owing to the economical considerations
ofthe administration. " Can such an education,"
said a canon who visited it at the close of the last
century, " suffice for young men destined not only
to fiU the places of vicars, curates, etc., but also
the position of preachers, canons, and bishops ?
This object merits serious attention, that the
system of instruction for the seminary be deter
mined in a stable manner; for, I say it loudly,
it is actuaUy totaUy neglected, and, as it appears
to me, is absolutely vicious."
Provincial synods were convoked at different
times to ameliorate the condition of the diocese
and the clergy. These were held at Wilna, in the
years 1526, 1555, 1582, 1604, 1607, 1613,
1623, 1631, 1635, 1654, 1669, 1685, 1717, and
1744. The considerations for which these synods
were caUed varied according to circumstances.
The three first were convoked because of the rapid
strides of the Eeformation in Lithuania ; that of
1635 took place because of the restriction put
upon the right of the clergy to acquire landed
property. The synod of 1654 discussed, among
other things, the different taxes on the clergy, but
the greater number were summoned merely for
form's sake. The Council of Trent enjoined the
assembling of aU the bishops at these synods, but
VOL. I. T

274 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
in reality, they could be of little importance, as
they sat only two days, and different religious
ceremonies took up the larger part of this short
time . Further, the resolutions of these meetings
were not seldom prepared beforehand, and were
not even signed sometimes, until the assembly' had
dispersed. They were often called to fulfil some
formality ; as we find in the case of Bishop Abra
ham Woijna, 1631-49, who convoked a provincial
synod the day of his elevation to the See. Koto-
wicz, 1685-86, did the same, and announced his
installation the next day at its meeting. It is
evident that the most of the ecclesiastics who
attended these synods, were those who were then
at Wilna on especial affairs, or for the consecration
of a bishop ; and in most cases they had little time
to examine the affairs of the diocese, as it was
impossible to discuss them seriously in the space
of three days. The ordinances, therefore, of most
of these assembhes consisted often in admonitions,
which as they were reaUy obeyed, were as often
renewed. The synod of 1717, for example,
reproved the curates that they quarrelled among
themselves as to the limits of their parishes. The
Monastic Orders were rebuked at different times
because they did not recognise the power of the
bishops; and the synod commanded their obedience,

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 275
reminding them of the prescriptions of the Council
of Trent concerning the relations between bishops
and curates. Some of the Orders, as we see by
the enactments of these synods, tried to emanci
pate themselves from the Episcopal authority,
especiaUy the Benedictines. The priests also not
unfrequently appropriated the money destined to
the construction or repair of the churches ; and the
curates levied honoraires for interments, and on
occasions refused ground necessary for graves to
inter the dead. It is evident that these admoni
tions were a dead letter, if one may judge by the
posterior state of the clergy. Some of the bishops
wrote epistles to then- subordinates, containing
instructions and commands, and in this style of
admonition, Benedict Woijna distinguished him
self ; and there is a mandate from Pac stUl extant,
ofthe same description.
Interior organisation was sacrificed to exterior
pomp. The Bishop of Wilna, who was rich,
powerful, a Senator of the Eepublic, and surrounded
by a splendid Chapter of canons and deans, exalted
the eclat of his See by the creation of new hono
rary places. Bishop John, 1519-37, created the
dignity of Vicar of WUna, associated with which
office was very often the title of Bishop of Meto-
nene ; and WoUowicz instituted the Archdeaconry
t2

276 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
of White Eussia, the mitre with the title of Arch
deacon of White Eussia being afterwards attached
by George Tiszkiewicz, 1650-56. This func
tionary did not reside in the country from which he
derived his title, but lived at Wilna, where he
officiated as one of the canons. In the seventeenth
century, the bishops of Smolensk, later bishops of
Livonia, having no diocese, were only superior
prelates of, and their Chapters were identical with,
the diocese of Wilna, where, on great occasions,
they, together with the Bishop of Samogitia and
his Chapter, assisted the bishop in the grand
solemnities. This pomp and magnificence of the
Church flattered the national vainglory as much
as the vanity of the Polish nobles and the Latin
clergy. Altogether the richness of the priesthood,
their cupidity, and their exceptional position in the
social scale, attracted, for a considerable time
before, attention ; the first symptoms of the general
discontent showing itself in contests as to titles,
and later, the nobility raising themselves against
their excessive privileges. In 1612, the Chapter
of WUna moved that it was necessary that the
bishop should protest against some of the enact
ments of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which
tried to extinguish the rights and privileges of the
clergy ; and in 1614 it was resolved to request the

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 277
bishop not to tolerate that the noblesse threw
obstacles in the way of the members of the
Chapter, expressing their opinions at the Diet
which was about to be held at Wilna. In 1620,
the Chapter elected the Bishop-suffragan to the
general Diet at Warsaw, charged him to defend
the rights and privileges of the clergy, and in con
junction with all the bishops of the realm, to take
measures against the projects of then adversaries.
We find a resolution of the Chapter in 1629 thus
worded : — " Seeing the difficulties of the times,
and the wickedness of men, particularly of those
who have charge of the welfare of others, and what
is more, of the welfare of the Church, that they,
instigated by the DevU, have done away with the
estates of the clergy and appropriated them, we
resolve, in order to defend ourselves against such
acts, to appoint a special agent to attend the royal
tribunals with a salary of 100 florins a year, to
be paid from the treasury of the Chapter." The
Diet of 1635 passed a law which forbade the clergy
accepting aU donations or landed estates without
the direct consent of the Diet. This measure
excited them exceedingly. Bishop Woijna called
an extraordinary synod, at which aU the priesthood,
Polish and Lithuanian, drew up a collective pro
testation. Ossolinsky was despatched to Eome to

278 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
entreat Pope Urban VIII: to mediate between the
nobility and the clergy ; and the year following,
the Chapter having elected delegates to the royal
tribunal, invited the bishop to order the diocesan
clergy to make a collection in their favour, " that
they might attract (bribe) their lay colleagues,
assessors of the same office, to act in favour of the
ecclesiastics." Abraham Woijna, in 1643, entering
the Chapter then sitting, declared that in several
districts of the kingdom and of the Grand Duchy,
when the election of the deputies to the approach
ing Diet was going on, those who had been elected
were furnished with instructions which enjoined
their action against those who would infringe the
rights of the priesthood ; and further, that prayers
were ordered to be said in all the diocesan
churches, " that the Lord might confound the
enemies ofthe Church and the clergy." In 1647,
the Chapter and bishop together resolved to
register their protestation against the decision of
the Diet of the 2nd May, in the acts of the Court
House ; and in the instructions given, in 1654, to
the delegates of the Chapter to the Diet of Warsaw,
they were commanded to assist at all conferences
of the ecclesiastical envoys, and to advise with
them on all affairs concerning the Church. They
were also to influence the bishops in faciem

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 279
Re\publicce, to protest publicly against every ordi
nance contrary to the privUeges of the clergy, and
at the same time to send memorials to the minor
Diets of Trock, Kowno, Polotsk, and Samogitia, as
weU as to Prince Stanislas EadzivUl, ChanceUor of
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, upon the absolute
necessity of preserving the liberties of the priest
hood ; and in 1673, the Chapter expressed its
gratitude to the deputies to the lesser Diets for
having protested against the decision of the Diet
generale precidente by which lay creditors should
pay seven and not eight per cent, interest to the
clergy, commanding also a new duty upon wine
imported into Lithuania. Existing documents
sufficiently explain the relations which existed
between the noblesse and the clergy; the latter
upholding their exemptions and privUeges, the
nobility trying to subordinate them to general
laws, and to oblige them to take an active part in
the taxation of the Eepubhc, that they might
become useful members, and assist as reliable
citizens, of the same. We beheve it superfluous to
enumerate posterior facts illustrative of the same
tendencies ; it suffices to add that these relations
changed in nothing tiU the eighteenth century.
We know that in 1736, Bishop Zenkowicz, return
ing to WUna from Prussia, declared to the Chapter,

280 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
that passing through Warsaw, he had assisted at
the Diet, where he had heard strong recrimina
tions on the part of the noblesse and other classes
against the richness of the convents and the eccle
siastics, and that the clergy were menaced with
the confiscation of aU their estates.
The clergy were held to come to the aid of the
Eepublic in time of war, by payment of a subsidy
caUed subsidium charitativium, and, besides this,
then estates were subject to dues in the shape of
supphes of provisions and military lodgings. The
weight of all these charges feU upon the peasants,
as the clergy, having discharged the obligation,
levied it again upon then lands. This, however,
did not prevent them trying to liberate then pro
perties from aU duties to the State ; as in 1650,
they declared themselves in no position to sacrifice
what they had for the benefit of the government,
and that the delegates of the Chapter of Wilna
had never consented to such an impost. In 1662,
the bishop and Chapter of this above-named city,
protested to the commandant of the troops that
the clergy refused contributions without the special
authority of the Holy See, not considering them
selves subject to extraordinary dues; that if they
tolerated them this time it would only serve for a
precedent for future demands of the same nature.

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 281
With respect to military quarters or lodgings, the
bishop entered into an arrangement with the Hetman
ofthe Grand Duchy for the ransom of this duty; but
very often, at the general diets, the clergy entirely
liberated their lands from military levies. On
these occasions they did not think it beneath their
dignity to have recourse to underhand means to
carry out then intentions. Thus there were ever
lasting complications between the clergy and the
army, which were particularly manifest in the
struggle between Constantine Bryostowsky and
the Hetman Sapieha. Bryostowsky forbade the
peasants of the ecclesiastical estates to furnish
provisions to the troops in the cantonments, as,
according to his ideas, the clergy were free from
all imposts and fiscal obhgations, by reason of the
Subsidium Charitativium. They complained to the
tribunals in 1693, and afterwards to the King,
against the Palatine ' of Wilna, Cassimir John
Sapieha, the commander of the Lithuanian corps,
but without success. Bryostowsky then invited
the bishops to commence an open war against the
temporal power, and not obtaining their adhesion,
he decided to act alone. He levied on the peasantry
the money destined for the troops, kept it himself,
burned the hay and oats on the estates that it
should not fall into the hands of the troops, and

282 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
ordered a crusade to be preached by his curates
against the army and its chief. The Nuncio
Santacruce, mediator and arbitrator between the
bishop and Sapieha, sided with the former, and
gave a decree against Sapieha which he published.
The latter replied that the licence of the troops
depended on the government and not on the
ecclesiastical authority, still less on the Legate of
a foreign power, and that it was quite impossible
to withdraw the soldiers at a time so very difficult
for the country. Sapieha was accordingly excom
municated on the 18th April, 1794, along with his
principal officers, the rest of the army excepted ;
and Bryostowsky, who had done it, ordered him to
be cursed in all the churches, he himself pro
nouncing the anathema in the Cathedral ; he also
at the same time stopped the celebration of divine
service for some days, to mark the mourning of the
Church. The nobility and inhabitants of Wilna
assembled at the head-quarters of the commander-
in-chief, and unanimously decided that such a
proceeding of the Bishop was tyrannical ; and the
monastic orders, too, found the act illegal, and
refused to execute the sentence in the churches.
The same day Sapieha gave a ball at his palace,
and published his protestation, which excited the
murmurs of the people. Bryostowski considered

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 283
himself ruined and disgraced, put off his gold
cross and put on one of tin instead, threatening to
retire to Eiga. But these manoeuvres were useless,
and only rendered him absurd, without attaining
his desire of passing for a martyr. The Arch
bishop of Gniezno to whom he was subordinate,
reprimanded him as having exceeded the limits of
his power, of having acted arbitrarily, and of being
too precipitate. He said, "As the Khan of
Tartary is on the march against Poland, it is no
time to excommunicate the chief of the Polish
Army." "Ostentanda sed non emittenda erant
hsec jacula, juxta continuam et stabilem meam sen-
tentiam. Eoma quamvis suprema fruitnr potestate,
nihUominus nunquam praecipitanter descendit ad
simUes excommunicationes, quee status convellere
possent ; providet namque ne sit medicina pejor
morbo." Further on he says that the bishop had
no right to do it without the preliminary consent
ofthe Synod. " Excommunicare namque generalis*
simum ducem exercituum, non est excommunicare
aliquem ex vulgo, et quidem ob rationes publicas
in quo negotio requirebatur alia cognitio et authori-
tas non vero privata solius D. vestrEe." The
archbishop absolved Sapieha from the anathema,
and published his decision the 26th April, 1694,
against which the bishop protested, denying that

284 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
the prelate was his superior, and said that he
himself had the same powers in Lithuania as the
archbishop enjoyed in Poland. The King and
Court and the Senate condemned the act of the
bishop. There was a popular tumult at Warsaw,
and the most influential people expressed in writing"
their sympathy with the Hetman. In revenge,
Bryostowsky anathematised the monastic orders,
in his own cathedral, which had not obeyed his
commands. He shut the chinches of the Domini
cans, the Franciscans, the Carmelites, and the
Bernardines, sealed the door with his own seal,
and even imprisoned some of the monks. The
people loudly said that the bishop was not a
Pastor, but the enemy of God and man ! And this
was not all. He unsuccessfully tried to incite the
army against Sapieha, but the officers demanded
the same treatment as their chief, and desired
excommunication with him. The army sent a
deputation to the King, informing him of the
affront which was paid to their commander, and
which they took as personal, saying that they
would lose the last drop of their blood with him.
Sapieha was soon after victorious over the Tartars
of the Crimea, and returned with a rich booty.
On this occasion a Te Deum was chanted in aU
the churches, but Bryostowsky, from hatred,

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 285
would not permit it to be performed in any of the
churches of his diocese. He continued his
intrigues against the Hetman, and later tried to
incite the noblesse and the commons against him,
but did not succeed. At last he proposed to
absolve him from the anathema, on condition that
he would no longer canton his troops on the
Episcopal estates, and pay him three thousand
florins indemnity. Sapieha thought as httle of the
absolution as of the anathema. After that Bryos
towsky demanded permission of the Pope to levy
upon his diocese a certain sum of money, pretend
ing that his estates had been ruined, and for the
greater glory of God; to which the Pope replied: —
" Desiste, frater charissima, a fastu et litigiis,
sufficiunt tibi reditus episcopales, qui aliis epis-
copis sufficiebant et sufficiunt." These dissensions
lasted nearly five years, and at length Bryostowsky
decided to be reconcUed to Sapieha.
2. The diocese of Samogitie consisted of the
Western part of the actual government of Kowno,
containing the districts of Eossiene, Telsz, and of
Szawly, and part of the districts of Poniewicz and
of Kowno ; from this side, the line of demarcation
extended between the dioceses of Samogitie and
Wilna, the river Niewiaja, which empties itself
into the Nieman ; but this frontier was inexact, as

286 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
beyond the river there were several churches
belonging to the bishopric of Samogitia, and what
is more, some churches in Prussia made part of
this same diocese, as well as some churches of
Courland, at an epoch not very remote.
The Crusaders were the first who introduced
Catholicism into Samogitia, but the preaching of
these armed apostles had no result. In 1413,
when this district was re-united to Lithuania, the
Grand Duke Witolde arrived with an army, and by
force baptized the inhabitants ; but no sooner had
this force quitted the country, than the people
returned to their ancient faith. But in 1416
another army returned, and the foUowing year the
diocese was founded, with the intention of spread
ing Eomanism, But Witolde departed for the
Volhynia in 1418, and the people abandoning the
faith so violently imposed on them, massacred
some of the fanatical preachers, chased the others,
and se,t fire to and pillaged the churches. Witolde
returned the third time to preach the Gospel in
his own fashion ; he assembled a strong army, put
several apostates from Eomanism to death, and
forced the remainder to become or take the name
of catholics. A general outbreak of the Samo-
gitians was the result. The people killed not only
the priests but the noble partisans of the Grand

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 287
Duke, and Witolde appeared among them the
fourth time, to punish the obstinacy of the
idolators. These violent measures had only one
result — that the Samogitian people did not with
sincerity, but only through constraint and perse
cution, adopt the Christian religion, and for two
centuries it was not sohdly established among
them. Although caUed Catholics they remained
for a long time idolators. The construction of
Latin churches among them, indicates, as in
Lithuania, the points from which this clergy spread
their faith, but offers no proof of the conversion of
the inhabitants to Catholicism in the localities
where these churches were built.
In examining the geographical propagation of
Eomanism, so to speak, as traced by the foundation
of ecclesiastical structures, we find that the
greatest number of churches in this diocese were
constructed in the fifteenth century, in the district
of Eossiene, and later in those of Szawly and Telsz.
We believe that this march of Catholicism may be
explained by the fact that this district was con
tiguous to the kingdom of Poland, where Eomanism
was the established religion, whereas Lithuania
was, at this epoch, only a Catholic country in
name. In the districts of Pomewicz and Kowno,
we find no Catholic churches in this century ; but

288 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
following the same direction in the sixteenth
century, we find that the greater part of the
churches were then built in the district of Eossiene,
Szawly, and Telsz. These three districts were the
centres from whence Cathohcism advanced and
directed itself east and south-east. During. this
era, a chinch was built in the district of Pomewicz,
and two in that of Kowno. It is remarkable that
the Church in the first-named district was buUt
upon the confines of Szawly, and the two churches
of Kowna were erected not far from the frontiers
of Eosiene, where, till the middle of the sixteenth
century, there was neither church or priest, and
the people lived in idolatry. They also built two
churches on the coast of the Baltic. Again, in the
seventeenth century, the greater number of Eoman
chapels were erected in the same districts ; Catholic
ism extended itself further east, in Kowna and
Pomiewicz, and even afterwards still farther.
Thus the Church of Smigelska was nearly twenty-
five, and Poszolotska forty, versts from the
frontiers of Szawly. Sigismond III. buUt here
many churches, and endowed them with rich
estates. At the period of the Eeformation there were
only to be found in Samogitia thirty-four Latin
churches in all. In 1551, the first church to the

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 289
south-east was buUt at Massiady, but the doc
trines of Eome were httle received by the
people. This explains the immense progress of
Calvinism, as in all the diocese there remained
only three Latin churches and six priests. But
what was stUl more extraordinary; is that the mass
of the people did not become Calvinist, but
returned to idolatry. There is little sincerity in
the adoption of any religion imposed by violence ;
and the exterior expression of Eomanism in the
organisation of its hierarchy and in the construction
of its chiushes, corresponded little with its interior.
progress and reahty, in the consciences of men,
who were nevertheless considered as Catholics.
Stanislas Eostowsky, a Lithuanian Jesuit, reports
that the Samogitians rekindled the sacred fire hi
honour of Peroune, recommenced to adore the oak
and to offer sacrifices ; and in the year 1587, Prince
Melchior Gedroic, the Bishop of Samogitia wrote
to the Jesuits of WUna : — " In the greater part of
my diocese, there is not a single person who once
in his life confesses or takes the sacrament ; there
is not a single one who knows how to make the
sign of the Cross, recite a Pater Noster, or has any
idea of the Christian religion. The Samogitians
do not think it sinful to offer sacrifice to Peroune,
to worship the oak and consider some forests as
vol. I. u

290 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
sacred temples." Even in the diocese of Wilna,
different coercive regulations were enacted, to
constrain the parishioners to religious duties, and
in one locality, in 1644, there was even a penalty
imposed on those who did not frequent the Church
or did not have their marriage blessed.
The bishopric of Samogitia was founded, as we
have seen, in 1417, and like Wilna, was subject to
the Archbishop of Gniesno, its Episcopal capital was
at Wornia or Miedniki, from which the bishops and
the diocese were often called Miedniki. Canonically
speaking, this bishopric was entirely independent of
Wilna, but in reality, in some respects, stood with
regard to it, ^s a vassal. The See of Samogitia very
often devolved on the canons, prelates, and suffra
gans of Wilna, and the bishops were sometimes, pro
moted as a mark of distinction, to the same See, as
occurred three times during the seventeenth cen
tury. The Samogitian clerks at this period were
educated at the seminary of Wilna. It not unfre-
quently happened that the bishop and Chapter of
Samogitia assisted at the solemnities of the
Bishop of Wilna; and there was even a case in
which the Chapter carried a complaint against
their diocesan bishop to the bishop and Chapter of
Wilna, so that in reality the Bishop of Samogitia
was but a sort of superior prelate, and his Chapter

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 291
but a consistory of that diocese. Such dependence,
neither legal nor recognised, which was established
of itself through force of circumstances, explains
the immense difference in the social position of
the high clergy of the two dioceses, and even the
extent of the bishoprics. The bishopric of WUna
comprehended several actual governments ; that of
Samogitia, au contraire, only a part of the govern
ment of Kowno. The Bishop of Wilna was four
times as rich as he of Samogitia, and, compara
tively, speaking, the Chapter was equally so ; while
in the Senate, the former had a higher vote than
the other, and, in short, carried himself in all
things as the superior.
The Chapter of Samogitie was first composed of
six canons, which, for more than a century, were
considered sufficient, "but afterwards," said Wol-
lonczewsky, the actual bishop, " it was found that
the See had not enough pomp and eclat, and they
therefore augmented the number." Later, eight
charges were added, so that it was at last composed
of fourteen members, and in 1621 they created the
dignity of vicar.
This diocese was divided at the close of the
sixteenth century into three deaneries — under
Stanislas Kiszka into, four ; in 1636, into six ; in
1752, into ten; under Etienne Gedroic, 1778-1801,
u2

292 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
into eleven ; these deaconries were Wornia, Olsiady,
Szidlow, Eetow, Szkoud, Janisz, Szadow, Krokow,
Velone, Wekszniane and Botock.
As this was a poor diocese, having only a
few churches and few estates, its see was gene
raUy occupied by bishops belonging to the petite
noblesse; but when the number of the estates
and churches augmented, the aristocracy did not
disdain it either; and dining the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries it was principally in the
hands of the great families — of the Gedroics,
the Pacs, the Sapiehas, &c. During this period
these houses gave eight bishops, who administered
the diocese for one hundred and sixteen years.
Although the relations between the bishop and the
chapter were usually the same as those of WUna,
nevertheless, the prelates being less independent
and much poorer, comported themselves with more
propriety towards their head. But the bishopric
did not altogether escape dissensions and disputes,
as we find in 1514-22, that Prince Nicolas EadzivUl
defended the episcopal rights against the chapter ;
and farther, Bishop Victor Werzbycki 1565-67
solicited and obtained another diocese only that
he might escape the arbitrary acts of the Chapter.
In fulfilling the prescriptions of the Council of
Trent with regard to the education of the clergy, Bi-

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 293
shop George Petkewicz, 1567-74, sent twelve clerks
from Samogitia to Wilna, to study at the Academy
of the Jesuits. After remaining there ten years and
receiving consecration, they returned to Samogitia
as curates. Prince Melchoir Gedroic, in 1581,
built a house for his pupils in Wilna, and in 1601
a seminary was estabhshed at Wornia, and was
confided to two Jesuits, but it did not exist long,
and was closed in 1614, the pupils having been
placed the preceding year at the Seminary of
WUna. After several years, however, students
ceased to be sent to the Academy of Wilna.
' Nicolas Pae, 1609-19, proposed to give the
Jesuits of Kroz some estates, on condition that
they built and supported a seminary at Wornia, to
which they willingly consented. After receiving
the lands, however, they troubled themselves little
about the seminary, but built one for themselves at
Krozy, sheltered under the inspection of the bishops,
and concerned themselves as little about it as they
had done at WUna. In 1624, Bishop Stanislas
Kiszka demanded the restitution ofthe estates which
had been given for the support of the seminary,
and a process ensued between the Bishop and
the Jesuits. This lawsuit was carried to Eome,
where the Jesuits gained it, kept the estates, and
the right of supporting the diocesan seminary of

294 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Krozy. " They behaved themselves," said Wol-
lonczewski, actual bishop of Samogitia and its
historiographer, " as real mercenaries. Showing
decided disdain for the secular clergy, they repre
sented the priests and the clerks as so indigent
and ignorant in every respect, that some of the
best pupUs refused to become a part of them. The
seminary is full of young men little inchned to
study; and the Jesuits intentionaUy neglect to
develope their intellectual faculties, so that in
future they should not eclipse the members of
the Order." The higher Samogitian clergy con
stantly insisted on the transfer of the school to
Wornia, so that they might more easily observe
the teachings of the Jesuits. In 1635, 1691, and
1694, they expressed their opinions that if such a
transfer did not take place, the instruction of the
secular clergy would be in a deplorable state.
At last Bishop Count Antoine Tyszkiewicz, in 1741,
buUt a wooden house at Wornia and removed the
seminary there, under the guardianship of the
Piares, as the most instructed Order of that
period. This school educated eight students, of
whom six were supported at the expense of the
establishment, and two at their own cost. The
hunnliated Jesuits could iU support such an affront,
and in revenge intrigued to such a degree, that

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 295
they succeeded in obtaining the banishment of the
Piares and the complete control of the seminary,
which they continued to manage till the abolition
of then order. WoUonczewski thus describes their
system of education : — To learn by heart the
obscure Alvarius (Jesuitical Grammar) , to speak
good and bad Latin ; to imitate the national idiom
by a melange of Latin locutions ; to write entire
volumes on the merits of then protectors and
other powerful people ; to fill every work with
periphrases and metaphors ; such were the charac
teristic traits of the savants of this period. With
such trash the Jesuits filled the heads of the
youths confided to them, which they taught in the
school untU a late date ; and it was they who
spread that general ignorance, coupled with the
decline of the sciences which we find in Poland
under the reign of the house of Saxe." In 1774
the missionaries were caUed from Warsaw to
Wornia, and the seminary was confided to their
direction. Such an educational system could certainly not
produce instructed priests, but the lower Samo-
gitian clergy were in general a pious class who
greatly developed the rehgious sentiment amongst
the people ; notwithstanding the masses did not
act so much from conviction as from fear of

296 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
punishment. What the system of coercion was
may be judged by the fact that there was found
in the churches an instrument called counitza, a
sort of yoke, one end of which was fixed to the
waU near the door of the church, and the other
terminated in an non ring which would admit the
neck of a man. It was in this ring that they
placed the sinner. Wollonczewski says, that in
his time not very long ago, a counitza was found
in the church of Eosiene. The diocesan autho
rity proceeded also severely against culpable eccle
siastics, they confined them in a prison built at
Wornia for this purpose.
It was at a later date that the monastic orders
appeared in Samogitie ; we do not find them there
until the middle of the seventeenth century, and
they arrived only to assist in arresting the progress
of the Eeformation. They spread themselves
very rapidly in the foUowing directions : 1st. The
Jesuits, who first arrived, selected as their centre the
city of Krozy district of Eosiene ; 2nd. The Benar-
dines who fixed themselves at Kretengen, on the
frontier of Prussia — at Cytowiany, at Telz, and at
Datnow ; 4th. The Carmehtes at Lincow, at Kej-
dany, at Eosiene and at Khwaloine. It was only in
the eighteenth century that they founded their con
vents in the three last localities ; 5th. The Piares,

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 297
who also built their convent at Eosiene in the
eighteenth century ; 6th. The Benedictines erected
then monastery at Posztoune in the end of the
eighteenth century ; 7th. The Franciscans at
Zogniny ; 8th. The Basiliens, fixed at Podoubisse
in the middle of the eighteenth century ; 9th. The
Eockites at Wornia and Kenstacy and the
Mariaites at Krozy at the same epoch, and the
nuns of St. Catherine at Krok. The number of
the monastic orders which arrived displeased the
secular pripsthood who soon found themselves
exposed to various inconveniences ; the monks
relieving them of part of their charge and offici
ating in the parish churches without the consent
ofthe curates, so that in 1627 Bishop Abraham
Wojna was obliged to command that such monks
should be arrested where they showed themselves,
and conducted to the episcopal palace. Bishop
George Tyszkiewicz, the zealous protector of the
monastic orders, roused the indignation of both
the secular clergy and the noblesse, for having
dared, in 1642, to take the church of Eosiene from
the secular clergy and give it to the Dominicans.
The provincial synod of 1643 forbade the monks
to attract the people from the parish churches to
their convents, to preach in the pulpits tirades
against the secular priests, or to celebrate the

298 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Sacrament in the parish chapels without the
permission of the incumbent.
In accordance with the prescriptions of the
Council of Trent, provincial synods were con
voked in the diocese of Samogitia as in that of
WUna, more for form's sake than for any real
utility to the Church. It is a known fact, that
the ordinances of the second Synod which took
place in 1636 were drawn up without the synod
being convoked. The bishop, George Tyszkiewicz,
1633-49 showed himself extremely partial to these
assembhes, of which there were four under his
episcopate. In aU there were in Samogitia seven
provincial synods between 1555-1636 at which the
clergy were forbidden to wear the beard, and were
commanded to cut the hair : and at which the
priests were enjoined, in fact had no longer the
right, to absolve those who did not pay tithes. The
seventh and last synod sat in 1752.
About the year 1414 the diocese of Kamience
was founded, the Dominicans and the Franciscans
being the first Eoman priests in this district. At
this period the population professed the Greek
faith, and a Greek bishopric had already been
estabhshed, so that here Catholicism did not
introduce Christianity, which was disseminated
far and wide before its appearance. As it con-

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 299
tained a small number of priests and churches,
it was subordinate to the metropolitan of Livow.
The bishops of Kamience never convoked provincial
synods hke other dioceses, but sent their delegates
to the synod of Livow, whose ordinances regulated
it ; thus one sees that this subordination to the
Metropole of Livow was of much the same nature
as the dependence of Wilna on the Archbishop ot
Gniesno. The town of Kamience was the seat of
the diocesan chair, but at the time of the domin
ation of the Turks it was transferred to Prague, to
Lublin and other cities of Poland.
This diocese was not rich in ecclesiastical
estates, so that the Polish Magnats did not
grasp at it as they did at Wilna and Samogitia.
It was, on the contrary, but a sort of preliminary
step to richer and more important appointments.
the occupants of the episcopal church being almost
always transferred to the See of Chelm. The
chapter was at first composed of sixteen prelates
and canons, but in the course of time, the number
augumented of itself without necessity and without
authority to twenty-three. In 1712 this number
was reduced to its primitive amount, but it again
augumented, notwithstanding the remonstrances of
the bishops. The Vicarage was quite useless
because of the limited number of Cathohc in-

300 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
habitants; it was estabhshed in 1730 by Adam
Oranski, the chancellor of the diocese, in an
arbitrary manner and only to serve his own views
of, as he expressed it. spreading Eomanism ; he
assigned it a considerable income hypotheticaUy
upon his estates, but conditionaUy that the
members of his family should by preference be
appointed to this dignity. The consent only of
the bishop was considered necessary to sanction
such a creation. Oranski was himself the first
Vicar, and after attaining his end, he refused to pay
the sum promised for its endowment, began to dis
pose tyrannicaUy of the diocese and the clergy, and
completely ruined the estates of the Chapter. The
High Clergy, headed by the bishop, complained to
the Pope ; nevertheless the Vicarage remained as
it had been constituted until the annexation of
Podolia to Eussia. The canons and prelates living
an idle hfe on their lands, entirely ceased to be
united in Chapters, so that in 1709 it was enacted,
under pain of a fine, that at least one part of the
members should meet every month ; but this com
mand, constantly repeated, was never executed.
The monastic corporations could stiU less con
tribute to the regular organization of the hierarchy.
Their opposition to all the measures of the bishops, ,
and their systematic antagonism to the secular

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 301
clergy, was evinced more openly in the diocese of
Kamience, than in other bishoprics. In nearly
aU the epistles of the bishop to his flock, he
directly mentions the disorders of the convents, and
the insubordination and irregularities of the monks.
In 1742 the bishop complained that under pretext
of immunity and privUege they disregarded his
authority, sixteen years later the secular clergy ac
cused them of trespassing on their rights. In
1760 Bishop Krasinsky at his instaUation repeated
the words of his predecessor concerning the abuses
in the convents. Such admonitions, unsupported
by a stedfast authority could hardly be otherwise
than vain. The monks, living in idleness and
luxury, foUowing the impulses only of their own
cupidity, defying and eluding the statutes of their
orders, robbed the secular clergy of then revenues
— principaUy those derived from interments —
usurped the place of the curates, and even in oc
cupying these places refusing obedience to the
bishop. The erection of new convents was no ex
ception to this rule. The monks assembling two
or three near a church, gave it the title of a
monastery, though they themselves foUowing the
statutes of another order ; and one can imagine
that these abuses were frequent enough, as
Bishops Sierakowski and Krasinsky adverted to

302 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
them constantly in the epistles they pub
lished. More than three centuries after the diocesan
seminary was founded, but only in name. In 1721
Etienne Eoupnewsky, Bishop of Kamienec, assigned
700 florins yearly for the foundation of the school,
and the support of four pupils. Such a smaU sum
could not assure the existence of the institution,
and the number of pupUs did not promise to in
crease the priesthood of the district, but in a
general way, this was but a secondary object.
Stanislas Hosius, bishop in 1727, published a
broadly enough defined regulation, for the ad
ministration of the diocese, containing the most
minute details of the different branches of ecclesi
astical science, but does not mention the seminary.
No one ever visited or inspected the establishment,
and an Act of the Chapter of the year 1737 says :
" the clerks of the seminary are nearly naked." It
was only in 1742 that the age at which pupUs could
enter the establishment, as well as the duration of
the course of study was determined on; and the
same year the bishop commanded that an annual
collection should be made for the benefit of the
school, but the priests would not pay even a trifling
sum to defray the support of their own instruction.
A legacy was left in 1752 by one of the canons for

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 303
the construction of an edifice for a seminary, but
the Chapter who had the outlay of the money, so
prolonged the works, that the house was not
finished till 1791, and it was only in this year
that the school was opened for instruction. This
estabhshment presented a remarkable peculiarity,
that neither the missionaries nor the Jesuits could
ever obtain possession of it, but the Jesuits tried
by a ruse to attract the pupils towards their insti
tutions, and not unfrequently succeeded.
The dominant passion of the Latin clergy was
riches. Not contented with estates they levied
tithes under pain of anathema upon the poor
'parishioners, but from aU their own revenues they
sacrificed httle for the pubhc good. So far from
this, the members of the Chapter in 1767 demanded
exemption from aU taxes, on the plea of then-
poverty ; and in 1773 when the republic had need
of money all the clergy of this diocese refused the
due caUed subsidium charitativum, pretending that
they were impoverished in consequence of an
epidemic which had scoured the country. Even
at a period as critical as the invasion of the Turks,
and the subjugation of the country by the infidel,
the Eoman clergy, forgetting their duty as citizens,
only thought of their own interests. The Trini
tarians to whom. Count Potoki, Palatine of Coujuvie

304 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
sent a sum of money for the benefit of the prisoners,
appropriated it so that the Chapter was obhged
to constrain them annually for their accounts.
UntU 1742 the diocese of Kamienec was divided
into four deaneries, but the same year two more
were created. These deaneries were : — Jazlowiec
with seventeen churches ; Dounajgrod with eleven ;
Sharogrod with eight ; Medziboz with six ; Satanow
with nine, and Czar-no-cosene with seven churches.
At the time of the annexation of Podolia to Eussia
there were in this diocese more than fifty churches.
It is supposed that the bishopric of Luck was
founded in 1375, beside Vladimir in Volhynia ; in
1428 the episcopal chair was transferred to Luck.
This diocese was very extensive, comprising Vol
hynia, Podlachei, Braclaw, Bresch, Litewski, and
Polessie. Volhynia was the cradle of the Orthodox Church
in Eussia ; even in the tenth century the Greek
bishopric of Vladimir existed, and at the com
mencement of the thirteenth that of Peremyszi
was founded. Luck was erected in that of the
fourteenth century. At the time of the estabhsh
ment of the Eoman Cathohc diocese of Luck, all
the population belonged to the Greek Church, so
that it is evident that the Propagand instituted it
exclusively for its own interests, that is to say, for

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 305
proselytism. In 1340 the Volhynia submitted to
Poland, and dating from this epoch, persecution
commenced. The Greek clergy were oppressed,
their churches were converted into Catholic chapels ;
so that, in 1343, the Greek population in this
country implored the assistance of the Tartar
Khan to deliver them from this dreadful reli
gious yoke. At last to promote more rapid con
versions, Pope Gregory XI. established a Latin
diocese, and the most efficacious and active arm of
Eomanism in the land consisted in Missions, whose
only aim and end was the conversion of the
Eutheniens to Eomanism.
To avoid repetition, we shaU not here speak of
the interior organization of the different classes of
the clergy of this diocese, amongst whom were
many of the nobility, referring those of our readers,
who desire more lengthened details, to the ample
reports on this subject of the ordinary synods of the
diocese, pubhshed in 1726 under Bishop Eoupnewski.
The chapter of Luck was composed only of six
canons ; in 1755 Bishop KobeUsky erected the
vicarage. The bishops of Luck were often trans
ferred as a sort of advancement to WUna. This
diocese had three seminaries : — Luck founded by
Alexander Wychowski ; Olyca founded in 1631 by
Prince Eadziwill, the Grand Chancellor of Lithu-
VOL. I. X

306 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
ania, and at the expense of Zajerski, prelate of
Olyca, who left a special sum to establish a school
for eight pupils. This institution took the name
of Collegium Zajerscianum ; at the close of the
last century it was transformed into a lay school.
Janow, founded by Bishop Wytiwicky, in 1685 ;
this seminary was confided to the Communist
priests, and in 1782 to secular ecclesiastics. At
their most flourishing periods these seminaries
had only a very limited number of pupils, and
their general state differed in nothing whatever
from analagous establishments throughout Lithu
ania. Six provincial synods were held in this dio
cese, viz.:— 1607, 1621, 1641, 1684, 1720, and
1726. In the eighteenth century Luck had one hundred
and eighty-three churches, and was divided into
fourteen deaneries, namely, 1. Vladimir, with
nineteen churches ; 2. Doubno, with nineteen ;
3. Kremenitz, ten ; 4. Zbaraz, nine ; 5. Zaslaw,
nine ; 6. Braclaw, where there was no church
but had mission services ; 7. Janow, nineteen ; 8. 1
Wengrow, nineteen ; 9. Bielsk, sixteen ; 10.
Shereszow, fourteen ; 11. Briansk, fourteen ; 12.
Droguiczine, eleven ; 13. Lositza, thirteen ; and
14, that of Kamience-Litewsky.
The date of the erection of the Eoman Catholic

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 307
diocese of Kiew is not exactly known ; some report
it as in the middle of the fourteenth century ;
others in the year 1433 ; others again in the year
147L This difference of opinion is thus explained :
that the dignity of Latin bishop of Kiew was insti
tuted before the real erection of the diocese for the
purposes of proselytism. The first seven Latin
bishops of Kiew were only honorary, and cannot be
considered as such; and the first real incumbent
of the diocese was Clement, who died in 1473.
Just as many European' monarchs wished to derive
their lineage from the Emperor Augustus, and
aristocratic famihes from ancient Eome, so the
Eoman Cathohc clergy were pleased to trace the
origin of Catholicism in different countries to a
questionable period. Such an historical error, once
adopted, passed from generation to generation, and
without being impartiaUy criticised, was converted
into a pretended truth generally recognised. In
our days such fictions are impossible by reason of
conscientious investigation. They are only re
tained by some Cathohc fanatics, who, contrary to
truth and probabUity, support them ; and thus it
is that in the works of some contemporaneous
Jesuits one reads such assertions as this, — that
the Eussians originaUy acknowledged the Popes,
differing from the Eoman Cathohcs only in the
x2

308 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Liturgy and not in the dogmas ; and that during
several centuries the supremacy of Eome was
recognised, &c.
The constant efforts of the Popes during this
same epoch was to induce the Eussians to acknow
ledge them as chiefs of the Church ; proofs are
not wanting, however, to show that the Eussians
never committed such apostacy, but this did not
prevent the Eoman priesthood building deductions
and conclusions more erroneous stUl. There were,
it is true, some united Greeks, ignorant apostates
from orthodoxy, who in the seventeenth century
were particularly distinguished for then- misplaced
zeal ; there were even those who spread this fable,
that in the first half of the eleventh century the
Cathedral of St. Sophia at Kiew* had been a Eoman
Catholic Church, and was afterwards transformed
into the Cathedral of the Latin bishops of that
diocese. These inventions, contrary to all his
torical evidence, passed into the works of some
Poles, and were re-copied by foreign writers. Such
was the favourite source from which modern Ultra-
montanists argue, who know little of the history
of Poland, and stiU less of that of Eussia. The
Eoman priesthood wished to base the history of
* Built by the Grand Duke Jaroslaw Wladimirowcz in the
first half the eleventh century.

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 309
their Church in this country on that of this illus
trious cathedral, such a foundation being analogous
with a recognition of the antiquity of Cathohcism
in the land ; the Chapter of Kiew, in 1731, there
fore, begged the Pope's permission to use a seal
with the image of St. Sophia engraved, and, in
accordance with their demand, Eome, in 1744,
pubhshed a BuU, authorising the members of the
Chapter to wear an octangular cross, with the
eagle between St. Sophia and St. Joseph depicted
on either side.
When the Grand Duke Vladimir embraced the
doctrines of the Greek Church at Kiew, the in
habitants soon foUowed his example, and the
Church became definitely estabhshed. This could
not, naturally, be pleasing to the Popes, who, at the
commencement of the thirteenth century, under
Innocent IV., instituted a Eussian mission com
posed of Dominicans and Franciscans, under the
title of Societas Peregrinantium, the principal
aim of which was the conversion of the orthodox
to Eomanism. About this epoch, the Dominicans
buUt a cloister in the quarter of Kiew, caUed
Podol; it was magnificently constructed, and
was for a time the only Latin church in the
government of Kiew, or in the eastern district of
the Volhynie.

310 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
The Catholic diocese of Kiew having been defi
nitely constructed, embraced the districts of Zytomir
and of Ovroucz, and some churches in the district of
Zwenigorod, as well as the meridional part of the
government of Minsk. Founded hke the dioceses
of Kamience and Luck, for the purpose of conver
sions, in the middle of a population belonging to the
Greek faith, this bishopric had for a long time but
few churches. Niessecki says that in the fifteenth
century there were only seven ; in the middle of
the eighteenth, and even later, but nineteen, of
which eight were monastic churches ; but when
the Empress Catherine II. interfered efficaciously
in the affairs of the orthodox Church in Lithuania,
the Eoman clergy united all their zeal to erect
Latin places of worship in this country bordering
on Eussia ; so that, in 1777, there were already
twelve, and the total number elevated the same
year, in the district of Kiew, amounted to thirty-
one, in a population of 27,459 souls. The
parishioners hved in vUlages and towns remote
for the greater part from the churches. Of the
nineteen monasteries of different Orders, thirteen
were buUt during the second half of the eighteenth
century, and some even as late as the close of the
same, that is, at an epoch when the taste for a
monastic hfe was on the wane. This is another

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. " 311
proof that the construction of such retreats was
not based on real necessity, but sprung from the
ambitious desire of proselytism. The monasteries
on the right bank of the Dnieper were, so to say,
the entrenched camps of Eome against a country
lying on the opposite side of the river, the popula
tion of which was exclusively Greek in religion,
and amongst whom there was not one Latin edifice.
In the greater number of the convents the number
of monks was very limited — three or five ; and the
monasteries were, as one may say, rallying centres
for Propagand activity. In the year 1793 this
diocese contained forty, divided into three deaneries,
Zytomir, Ovroucz, and Faustow or Zwenigorod.
The parish churches on the right bank of the
Dnieper were aU buUt in the second half of the
eighteenth century, in the direction of North and
South. These churches were, Iwankowska, Maka-
rowska, Moszwenska, and Slimouska. Catholicism
in this country advanced according to strategetic
rules — to meet orthodoxy on the shore opposite the
Dnieper. The Latin clergy hastened to cover all
this district with churches ; a short time before
its annexation to Eussia it was decided to build
twenty-four parish churches on the royal lands of
the Palatines of Kiew and Brescia, on spots
selected by the bishop of the district., Every

312 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
church was assigned a certain extent of land, with
three thousand florins a year for the support of
the building and the curate ; but this decision of
the Diet was not executed. We therefore see that,
at the end of the eighteenth century, the Propagand
had at least succeeded in laying out an insignifi
cant bishopric, but that in reality this bishopric
existed in name only.
The Bishop and Chapter of Kiew lived a life
nearly nomadic. They were never in the cathe
dral, but officiated in the convent of the Domini
cans. In the middle of the seventeenth century
this city commenced to draw towards Eussia, and
in 1686 its union was an accomphshed fact. Two
years before the chair of the bishops had already
been transferred to the Dominican convent in
Lubhn, where it remained tiU 1724. In this year
it was placed at Zytomir, and during war time or
periods of political disorder it was temporarily trans
ported to other places ; — to Sokal in 1743 ; in
1743-68, to Czoudnowo, fifty versts from the
town of Zytomir ; to Berdiezew to the convent of
the Carmelites ; to Serbinowka, to Faonstowo (dis
trict of Wassilkow), which was episcopal property.
The cathedral of Zytomir, which Bishop John Osga
commenced to build, was only consecrated by his
successor, Giietan Soltyk, in 1751. Since the

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA, 313
time of Bishop Alexander Sokolowsky, 1636-45,
the bishops of Kiew appropriated to themselves
the title of Bishop of Czernigow, styhng them
selves from this date bishops of Kiew and Czer
nigow, in imitation of the title of the orthodox
bishop of Kiew and Czernigow, though in the
whole of the latter district there were absolutely
no Latin churches. This, however, did not hinder
the Eoman bishop from creating the dignity of
Archdeacon of Czernigow.
The Chapter of Kiew only commenced to or
ganise itself in the beginning of the seventeenth
century. Bishop Christopher Kazymirsky (1618)
founded six canonicates and Eadoszewski four pre-
latures. In time the number of the Chapter con
siderably increased, so that towards the close of
the eighteenth century we find eight prelates and
twelve canons. The Chapter was not rich in
landed property, therefore the prelates and canons
may be said only to have borne an honorary title.
They paid httle attention to their duties, did not
reside near the Episcopal See, and passed their
time at Warsaw and elsewhere. In 1726 Bishop
Osgar wrote to the Chapter that for a long time
he had not seen one of them, or even heard of
them, so that he was in ignorance as to their
location. He thus terminates his epistle, " Scit

314 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
enim quisque ex personis capitularibus esse
cathedram nostram ad Boristhenem, non ad
Vistulam." Fresius, the historian of the diocese of Kiew,
thus characterises the epoch of the episcopacy of
Bishop Osgar : — " Hoc pessimum malum ex eo
precipue hanc occuparat dicecesin, quia longo
tempore antistitum nuUus suas cognoverat oves,
nee istaa suum cognoverant pastorem. Capitulum
erat extra dicecesin, dioecesis extra sacerdotas."
Such a position of the diocese and the chapter even
later varied not, notwithstanding all the admoni
tions of the bishops. Thus, for example, in 1746,
of all the prelates and canons there was not a
single one at his post. The Eoman diocese of
Kiew existed more, as we have said, in name than
in fact ; but it had all the exterior appearances of
a real and even an important bishopric to such a
point that in 1740 it was found necessary to
estabhsh a vicarage, which consisted then of
eighteen churches. Antony Tyskiewicz, the
Secretary of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and
canon of Wilna, assigned in 1739 a sum of twent
thousand florins (Polish) for the foundation of the
Vicarage of Kiew, for which he mortgaged his
estates, and which, according to the most ample
and reliable information did not belong to him.

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 315
Notwithstanding this the Vicarage was created,
and Tyszkiewicz named vicar.
The Seminary founded at Zytomir supported
six students, and was confided to the Jesuits,
1762. This more imaginary than real bishopric had
also its Provincial Synods, one held in 1640, but
where is not known ; the other in 1762, at
Zytomir. The diocese of Smolensk was created in 1638 at
the request of Abraham Wojna, Bishop of Wilna,
in a country where for centuries the population
belonged to the Greek rite, and where, as early
as between the years 1128-37, there already
existed a Greek bishopric. The pretext for the
foundation of this diocese was the extent of that
of WUna, a part of which formed the new see
The excuse, given out before the actual erection
of the bishopric that WUna was too extended, was
certainly not valid, but the true intention of its
institution was to propagate Eomanism amongst a
people essentiaUy and originaUy Eussian. The Jesuits
entered Smolensk in the suite of Sigismond III. ;
this city, during the seventeenth century, passed
from hand to hand, sometimes belonging to the
Eussians, sometimes to the Poles. It was not de
finitely restored to Eussia tiU 1686. The Latin

316 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
bishop of this see did not reside in the city, but
lived at WUna or Warsaw. In reality the bishops of
Smolensk, although they had a seat in the Senate,
and bore the title of " Vicar of the Metropolitan
of Gneisno," were only the superior prelates of
Wilna. Thus Bishop Prince Jerome Sanguszko —
the first of his name who renounced the Greek
faith — and Gothard John Tiesenhausen were at the
same time vicars of Wilna; Cassimir Pac was
Arch Priest and Kotowicz was prelat custos of the
see of WUna. The bishops of Smolensk were
purely nominal, but distributed with prodigality
the honorary title of Canon of Smolensk, so that in
a short time aU the Chapter of the bishopric
assembled round the chair of Wilna. It exalted
the eclat and the pomp of the bishops of the last
named See, who loved to pass themselves off for
Primates of Lithuania, as the Archbishops of
Gniesno were in reality for Poland. This same
Kotowicz erected the vicarage of Smolensk. In all
this diocese there were only four smaU Eoman
Churches; but, notwithstanding this see and its
Chapter of eight canons continued to exist tiU the
end of the eighteenth century. There were in aU
fifteen bishops, although this city had for a long
time before ceased to belong to Poland. The
Eoman bishopric of Smolensk had neither a suffi-

CATHOLICISM IN LITHUANIA. 317
cient Cathohc population, Latin churches, nor an
episcopal capital.
The bishopric of Inflandt or Livonia was founded
on the ancient archbishopric of Livonia. In 1561
this country was annexed to Lithuania, and in
1569, at the time of the re-union of the latter to
Poland, Livonia, Courland, and Semigale were
equally incorporated with this kingdom. In 1582
Etienne Bathory, the king, replaced the archbishopric
of Livonia by the bishopric of Wenden, and gave its
bishop a seat in the Senate after that of Kamience.
A Provincial Synod, held, in 1621, under the
presidency of Lament Guembicki, nominated the
Bishop of Wenden, vicar of the archbishop of
Gneisno, although he was always in reahty vicar
of the bishop of WUna. This see, however1, was
by the treaty of Oliva, in 1660, under King John
Cassimir, entirely abohshed, though the title of
Bishop of Livonia was retained. This bishop's au
thority extended over, in all, twenty-four churches
and chapels — fourteen in Livonia and ten in Cour
land. For such a limited administration a vicarage
was founded in 1743, under Pouzyna. At the same
time its bishops having a fixed residence went
from one town to another — from Dunaburg in
Livonia to Kraslaw, the property of the Counts
Plater ; from thence to Tanow, not far from Kowno,

318 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
but invariably forgetting and abandoning their
flocks. LU:e the bishops of Smolensk, those of
Livonia had no cathedral, but this did not hinder
them from surrounding themselves with a Chapter
of twelve canons. A seminary was founded at Kras-
law in 1755, which was superintended by the mis
sionaries. Count Plater and Bishop Ostrowsky pre
sented the institution with four thousand thalers, on
condition that four students should be educated for
the diocese of Inflandt. Guilsen, the Bishop of
Smolensk, also gave them two thousand thalers,
for the support of two clerks for his see. Besides
this the missionaries were bound to render him
yearly a mission.
From this glimpse of the history of the Eoman
Catholic bishoprics of the Western Provinces at
an epoch when they belonged to Poland, one sees
that in reality there were only four dioceses —
Wilna, Samogitia, Luck, and Kamience. As to
those of Kiew, Smolensk, and Inflandt, they existed
only in name.

( 319 )

EESUME OF THE FOREGOING
CHAPTERS.

We have confined ourselves to an apercu History
of Eoman Catholicism in the Lithuanian provinces
under the Polish regime, and we resume, generaUy,
the state of the Eoman Church :n these countries
at the time of their annexation to Eussia.
After the definite partition of Poland four
Cathohc dioceses entered the new limits of Eussia.
WUna, Samogitia, Luck, and Kamience-Podolsk. It
is easUy understood that we do not include those
of Kiew, Smolensk, and Inflandt, which existed
only in name. The extent of these dioceses did
not correspond either with the number of parish
ioners or rehgious requirements. The revenues
and the landed estates of the clergy were also very
unequaUy divided. The Bishops of WUna and of
Samogitia, for example, enjoyed great riches,
whUe those of Smolensk and Livonia were poor.
Those bishops whose nomination depended on the
king, were not only the first senators, but the

320 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
presidents of the different CouncUs of Finance
and War. They occupied the first place in the
Diets convoked within the limits of their clerical
jurisdiction, and not unfrequently they were also
captains in the Pohsh cavalry. Such an amalga
mation of civil and ecclesiastical functions did not
permit them to apply themselves to their spiritual
obligations, so that they selected suffragans and
vicars to fulfil their duties.
The relations of the bishops and the chapters
were not always the same, the latter often hmiting
the authority of the bishop, and absolutely oppos
ing him ; and sometimes they in turn had only the
name of an Episcopal CouncU, the bishop acting
independently. In all cases the relations were
unsteady and unstable, depending on persons and
circumstances. The members of the Chapter gene
rally confided the administration of the churches,
of which, in their capacity of ritular curates, they
enjoyed the revenue, to poor vicars, clerus inferior,
for a moderate salary, reserving to themselves the
easiest offices.
The Eoman Catholic clergy enjoyed in general
great rights and privileges. Nomination to the
posts of ChanceUor and Vice-Chancellor of Lithu
ania depended on the secular clergy, while the pre
lates and canons fiUed the position of secretary,

RESUME OF FOREGOING CHAPTERS. 321
referees, &c. Ecclesiastics encumbered the tri
bunals, were exempt from all civil jurisdiction, and
depended only on the ecclesiastical bench, which
regulated aU processes on the subject of tithes,
legacies, and wiUs ; and this ghostly legislation,
founded on the canon rite, was usually accompanied
with menaces of anathema and excommunication.
They held the exclusive right of censorship on all
rehgious books or any work on morality ; and in
emancipating themselves from the power of the
State, they dabbled in civil and political affairs.
Such were their immense resources by means of
which they fortified their position in Church and
State !
But whUe the high clergy, through the influence
of Eome, through intrigues, through their riches
and their domineering spirit, obtained the finest
livings and wielded to their own advantage the
power of the Church, the lower clergy were in a
state of penury, and were oppressed and put upon
by their rich confreres. Ecclesiastical endowments,
constantly augmenting, were often made in favour
of convents and brotherhoods, while no attention
was paid to the country curates. Indigence is the
parent of ignorance, and many of the village priests
were not in a position to explain the dogmas of
then religion to their parishioners. The Catechism
vol. i. ?

322 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
and the Creed were not even the same in many of
the parishes, so that the peasant who moved from
one parish to another found there different doctrines
to those taught him by his own priest. The esta
blishment of missionaries who traveUed in an
itinerant way from one parish to another resulted
from the ignorance of the parochial clergy, who
were themselves deficient in the instruction neces
sary for their flocks, and obliged them to permit it
to be grasped from others. These missionaries
travelled through the country from village to town,
and from town to village, as they would do in a
land into which the light of the Gospel had not
yet penetrated.
Directing our attention to the state of the
seminaries, we there discover tho cause of the
ignorance of the priesthood. The students were
educated either at the expense of the seminary or
at then own cost ; the former only received instruc
tion and board ; the latter being educated at then-
own expense, were mostly the scions of the noblesse
destined to occupy the higher ecclesiastical digni
ties; they were therefore privileged, had better food,
and were not constrained to fatigue themselves with
scientific studies. The free scholars were obliged
to provide themselves with clothes and other neces
sary articles, and destitute of all means, they often

RESUME OF FOREGOING CHAPTERS. o23
found it impossible to remain and finish the course,
quitting the establishment without finishing their
education. These two classes were rigorously
separated during their residence at the seminary ;
and just as the rich and poor wej.-e divided in then-
youth so were they also distinguished at the period
of their nomination to curacies — the poor settling
down as country pastors, forming what is termed
parochial clergy ; the rich exclusively reserved for
prelacies, canonries, abbeys, &c. Their families
and even the bishops retained these young men in
the clerical career, nor was it at all uncommon for
them to be nominated canons while yet on the
school bench. When they left the seminary these
young men went to Eome to solicit lucrative places
from the Holy Father, who had the right during
certain months of the year to nominate to the
richest curacies depending on the episcopal sees
and coUeges. In this way poverty on the one
hand, and riches on the other, hindered their in
tellectual development.
The rehgious orders were very numerous in
Lithuania, and constantly increased even at a time
when the penchant for a monastic life was dying
out. The Head of the Church however did not
cease to think that he had top few. It is worthy
of remark that the major part of the convents on
y2

324 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
the western side of the actual government of Kiew,
and of eastern Volhynia, a country in which the
populations were almost entirely of the Greek
faith, were only founded in the latter half of the
eighteenth century. This is a significant fact, —
they were in fact the Latin forts buUt upon the
confines of the Eussian Church, not for defence
but for attack, — they were the head-quarters of
Latin proselytism.
The same thing appears in White Eussia, where
the people were either of the Eussian or the United
Greek faith. The number of Latin convents in
this country, compared to the Catholic population,
exceeded ten times the number of the Lithuanian
monasteries, or of those of Samogitia, where nearly
aU the inhabitants were Eoman Catholics. The
monastic orders acknowledging little subordination
to the authority of the bishop or the government,
struggled perpetually with the secular clergy about
the curacies ; and with the exception of the men
dicant orders, were much busier about mundane
affairs than the moral education of the people, over
whom, however, they exercised a delusive exercise
in the name of religion. The Monastic Schools
were only nurseries for religious intolerance, and
for centuries rested in a state of complete stagna
tion. Even at the time when the lay establish-

RESUME OF FOREGOING CHAPTERS. 325
ments were withdrawn, in the reign of Augus
tus III., from the Jesuits, and confided to the
superintendence of a Commission of Education,
which considerably ameliorated them, they, not
depending on the government, preserved then-
old organisation. Science, for example, physic,
mathematics, &c. were totaUy excluded, as the
monks said they had nothing in common with re
ligion. As to the convents of the nuns, the women
were forbidden even to learn to write. The pro
vincials who had the inspection of the schools of
then Orders, prepared the pupils not for good
Christians, honest citizens, or enhghtened servants
of the Altar, but to grasp at new riches, to propa
gate their society, and by aU and every means
augment its influence. Their attention was only
directed towards the attraction of new novices,
without inquiring whether these pupils were of a
suitable age to permit them to choose the profes
sion. Not unfrequently even children of a tender
age pronounced the vows, without any idea of what
they meant or what they related to. The civU
authority was at last constrained to limit this
abuse, and quoted the articles of the CouncU of
Trent relating to the subject; and to the great
displeasure of Eome, the Diet of, 1768 determined
the age before which the vows could not be admin-

326 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
istered — for the men twenty-four, and for the
women sixteen years. In case of infraction of
this enactment the superiors of the convents were
fined

( 3-7 )

CHAPTEE VI.

STATE OF THE LATIN CHURCH IN RUSSIA DURING
THE REIGN OP THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II.

Institution of the hierarchy in White Russia. — The Papal
power in Russia limited. — Selection of Monsieur de Siestrence-
witz as Bishop of White Russia in 1773  Biographical notice of
Siestrencewitz, 1731-1826. — Subordination of the regular and
secular clergy to the Bishop. — Ameliorations introduced by
Siestrencewitz in the Convents. — Establishment of a Seminary
at Mohilew, 1778. — Plan of education for the Seminary. — Oppo
sition of the Jesuits to Siestrencewitz. — After the abolition of
the Order of the Jesuits, the Empress Catherine accords them
an asylum in White Russia. — Utility and inconveniences of
this measure. — Siestrencewitz elevated to the dignity of Arch
bishop, 1782. — Benislawsky, a creature of the Jesuits, nomi
nated coadjutor of the Archbishop, 1782. — Relations of the
Government with the Holy See. — Mission of Archetti, the
Nuncio, to Petersburg, 1783. — Organisation of the Chapter of
Mohilew. — Changes in the formula of the oath taken by the
bishops introduced by the Empress Catherine. — Steps taken
by the Empress to obtain for Siestrencewitz a Cardinal's hat,
1785.— Spiritual powers accorded to the Archbishop by the
Pope, 1786. — Permission to bring foreign priests to Russia. —
Church of St. Louis at Moscow, 1790. — Construction of churches
in the South and in Saratoff.— Measures concerning the landed
estates of the monastic orders. — Establishment of the dioceses
of Inflandt, Pinsk, and Leticzew, 1793.— Project of limiting
the number of Convents, 1795. — Armenian Catholic Church in
Russia, and Doctrine of the Primitive Armenian Church. —

o 2b ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Latin Propagand among the Armenians. — Galanus, 1650-59.
— Marquis de Serpos, eighteenth century. — Melihitar, 1676-
1749.— Catholic Armenian Academy at Venice. — Introduction
of Romanism into the Armenian Church. — Armenians in the
Volhynia and in Podolia. — Bembus and his proselytism amongst
them, 1630. — Torrosowicz, named in 1626 Armenian Bishop of
Livow, passes over to Romanism, 1631. — Conversions by vio
lence of the Armenians of Livow to Latinism, 1631. — The
Order of Theatins arrive at Livow and found the Collegium
Pontificum. — Latin Propagand among the Armenians at Ka-
mience-Podolsk, 1666, and at Mohilew upon the Dniester. —
Catholic Armenians in meridional Russia. — Latin Propagand
in Georgia. — The Armenian Catholic clergy subordinated to
the authority of the Archbishop of Mohilew, 1784. — The
populations of the Western Provinces belong in greatest part
to the Greek and United Greek Churches. — The Greek people,
persecuted by the Latins, continually implore the protection
of Russia. — Intervention of the Empress Catherine in their
favour. — Pope Clement XIII. engages King Stanislas-Augustus
to do nothing in their favour. — The Empress Catherine
decides to employ armed force, and obtains liberty of con
science for the Russians. — Situation of the United Greek
Church in the Western provinces. — The Basilians. — Their
violence against the United Greek secular clergy. — Antagonism
of the Lower Clergy and this Order. — The Empress Catherine
establishes a United Greek bishopric in White Russia. —
Heraclius Lissowsky named Archbishop of Polotsk, 1784. —
The Basilians subordinated to the authority of the Archbishop.
— The United Greeks return to the Greek orthodox faith in
White Russia, in the Volhynia and in Podolia. — Measures
taken against the Basilians. — The union denuded of all
vitality, falls of itself. — Mixed marriages. — General considera
tions upon the measures of the Empress Catherine for the
ecclesiastic administration.
We have detailed the hierarchical organisation in
which the Eussian Government found the Eoman
clergy at the time of the successive incorporation

REIGN 0E THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 329
of the Latin dioceses with Western Eussia after
the partition of Poland.
By the first partition in 1772 Eussia acquired
White Eussia, which formed only a part of the
diocese of WUna, excepting some parishes belong
ing to the diocese of Inflandt, and four curacies
appertaining to the see of Smolensk. The first
act of the Eussian Government solemnly guaran
teed liberty of religion in these provinces, and
organised the hierarchical administration of the
Cathohc Church. Before the chief of that Church
had thought of its future destinies in Eussia, the
Empress Catherine spontaneously constituted for
the churches of White Eussia, and the other Latin
parishes existing in her empire, the dignity of
Eoman Archbishop, to whom she confided their
administration by virtue of the Act of 1769,
published and promulgated for the Church at
St. Petersburg, by the terms of which the Arch
bishop was not subject to the interference of Eome,
but to the Eussian Minister of Justice, as we
shall see.
In uniting to Eussia a Eoman Catholic popula
tion recognising as its spiritual chief a Pontiff,
not only independent of herself, but actuaUy the
sovereign of another independent country, Cathe
rine found it necessary from the commencement to

330 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
determine exactly the position of the Pope, vis-a-vis
the State, in her empire, and to fix the limits of his
authority. Far from attacking the dogmas and the
rights of the Latin population in White Eussia, she
but confirmed them by instituting a hierarchy, but
would never recognise in Eome the right to interfere
under pretext of religion in the discipline of the
Eoman clergy in Eussia, nor in the affairs of the
Government. Following the example of the prin
cipal States where the Catholic faith predominated,
she declared, in 1772, that no Bull or brief of the
Papacy, no ecclesiastical ordinance of foreign
fabrication should be published in White Eussia
without the authority and sanction of her Govern
ment. This important measure, which completely
changed the position of the High Pohsh clergy
towards the executive, as well as towards Eome,
the regulation of whose affairs had been untU then
carried out through a Nuncio residing at Warsaw,
became a fundamental law of the empire. The
successor of Catherine constantly ¦ confirmed this
enactment, notwithstanding variations which some
times took place in the administration of the
Eoman Church. It exists until the present, and
it is to be hoped that in future times it wUl not
be abrogated.
Having resolved on creating an ecclesiastical

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 331
hierarchy for the Eoman Cathohc population of
White Eussia, and unable herself to select a bishop
for such an important function, the Empress begged
Monsigneur Massalsky, Bishop of WUna, to name
one worthy the position. His choice fell upon
Siestrencewicz, canon of WUna, who was conse
crated, in 1773, Bishop of Malles in partibus.
This remarkable man administered the affairs of
the Catholic Church in Eussia for more than half a
century. He served four sovereigns, and became the
object of the respect of some and of irreconcileable
hatred to the others ; attracting these sentiments
because distinguished from other Pohsh priests of
this period, as much by his character and capacity,
as by the cultivation and enlightened tendencies of
his mind. He had been educated in quite another
sphere, under different aspects and circumstances,
and for these reasons it is indispensable to dedi
cate to him a special chapter. He was born
September 3rd, 1731. His parents belonged to
the Lithuanian gentry of the Eeformed Church,
who placed him at the Protestant school of Sluck,
which had been founded by Prince EadziviU at the
time of the struggle of the Eeformation against
the Cathohc Church in Poland, and which still
remained the centre of the Polish Eeformers. This
school exists tUl the present time, under the name

332 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
of the Gymnase. His intelligence, and his pre
disposition for science, attracted the attention
of his superiors to Siestrencewicz. Finishing the
course at Sluck, he was sent to complete his
studies at Frankfort, where he remained three
years, from 1748 to 1751. He then traveUed
through Europe, visited London and Amsterdam,
and acquired several languages. The profession
of the Church for which he was destined little
suited a young man fuU of hfe, in whom the
passions kept pace with the thirst for knowledge ;
so that, instead of becoming a theologian of the
Eeformed Church as intended, he became a Prus
sian huzzar, and afterwards entered the guard of
Lithuania as ensign, from which, after ten years'
service, he retired in 1761 with the rank of captain.
Having no private fortune, and no other prospect
of support, he entered the family of Prince Ead
ziviU as tutor. The ardour of youth having calmed
down, the profession he had adopted exactly suited
him. The position of the EadzivUl estates near to
Wilna, then the centre of Eomanism in Lithuania ;
the frequent visits of the bishop to the Prince, as
well as of other Catholic ecclesiastics, initiated
him into the doctrines of their faith and decided
him to adopt it. He then commenced with energy
to study the dogmas ; and in 1762 finished a course

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 333
of theology at the chief coUege of the Piares at
Warsaw. The foUowing year the missionaries in
structed him in the rites of the Church, and the
same year he was consecrated a priest. One
cannot suppose him actuated by other motives
than the profession he had entered, as neither he
nor any other person could then imagine the dignity
he should attain. On the contrary, had he re
mained in the Protestant Church, and become a
theologian of that Confession, he was sure of an
existence if not of advancement, the professors of
Sluck knowing and appreciating him. In then-
School he had been educated gratuitously, and it
was at the expense of the same establishment that
he afterwards continued his studies abroad. A
certain career was therefore open to him ; but, tUl
the end of his days, the enemies of Siestrencewicz
reproached him for having been born in the
rehgion of Calvin, as if it depended on himself to
select a confession of faith prior to his debut on
earth ! In all the administrative measures as iocal
head of the Church, which diverged ever so little
from habitual routine, they saw only the shadows
of the darkness of Calvinism. Far from that, he
retained from his early education neither the subtle
theology or the polemical spirit against Eomanism,
but a cultivated mind which the system and the

334 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
rules of the Jesuits purposely uprooted in their
pupils, by whom nearly aU the ecclesiastical con
temporaries of Siestrencewicz had been instructed.
It was this which so justly placed him above them
and excited their envy and indignation. . Zealous
for religion, he nevertheless preserved his love of
science to the end of his days ; and, to the great
astonishment of the fanatical Latins, did not dis
simulate his sympathy for a wise civilization. He
occupied his leisure hours with history, literature,
and even medicine. AU this was so new and so
strange in the clerical character, that those around
him attributed this tendency of his mind to secret
apostasy from the faith he had embraced, as in
their opinions Science was incompatible with
faith ! They reproached him, as with a crime,
that he had translated the works of Mackenzie, — a
work on health and the means of preserving it, —
from English into Pohsh ; yet this translation
procured him with the consent of King Stanislas
Augustus, the Priory of Homel. He was even
satirised for his little respect for the Latin lan
guage, which he caUed a skeleton. But his sphit
was superior . to aU such criticism, and only re
quired an occasion to prove itself so. This oppor
tunity presented itself at the time of the departure
of Massalsky, Bishop of Wilna, for abroad. FUling

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 335
the functions of Canon, he administered the diocese
ad interim, and in a short time had re-established
the episcopal authority amongst the disobedient
clergy. He regulated the affairs of the bishopric,
put down abuses, and proved himself not only a
man of spirit and of extensive knowledge, but of a
firm and determined character. This qualification,
however, contributed in the end to multiply the
number of his enemies. Such was the pastor
recommended by Bishop Massalsky for White
Eussia. He was personally unknown to the
Empress, and she had only heard of him through
a sermon which he preached at WUna the 13th of
November, 1771, on the occasion of an attempt
on the hfe of King Stanislas Augustus, whom the
confederates under Poulawsky had nearly made
prisoner close to the walls of Warsaw, when the
King escaped with a sabre cut on the head. This
enlightened bishop appreciated his sovereign, and
seconded all efforts for the amelioration and wel
fare of his Catholic subjects. Catherine herself,
when she knew Siestrencewicz, respected him, and
testified this appreciation by deeds.
An imperial ukase of the Empress, dated
November 22nd, 1773, named him Bishop of White
Eussia, his chair and residence being at MohUew.
He received appointments suitable to his dignity :

336 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
ten thousand roubles per year, with three benefices
— viz., Dean of the See of Wilna, Prior of Homel
and Bobrinsk, with the estates appertaining to
them in the different governments ; so that his
entire income amounted to something hke 60,000
roubles per annum.
In 1774, the administration of the diocese of
White Eussia was organised by the Empress with
out any preliminary understanding or communica
tion with Eome. In White Eussia, properly speak
ing, there were few Latins, the greater number
being United Greeks, or Eussians of the Greek
faith. Nevertheless, it was necessary for the weU-
being of the Eoman Catholic Church, and of the
people of this confession in Eussia, to put an end
to the crying disorders which had crept in amongst
the clergy under Pohsh domination. The chief
abuse consisted in, as we have seen, the gross
ignorance and dissolution of the monastic Orders,
who refused to submit to episcopal authority. A
change was also made in the jurisdiction of the
bishops with regard to the right of patronage in
connection with the secular clergy, as they only could
nominate to the parishes instituted and supported
by private funds the priest selected by the founder
or his heirs. These parishes were numerous enough
in Lithuania. Some belonged to the King, as

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 337
founded by the kings, the curates being named by
royal authority. This change subjected the monastic
clergy to the authority of the bishops, and the
secular clergy were at the same time rendered in
dependent of them in what concerned nomination
to curacies. Such an organisation would engender
much disorder under Eoman Catholic government,
and under the Eussian administration it was next
to impossible, especially in what concerned the
rehgious orders. The provincials of the different
fraternities which had existed in White Eussia,
remaining subject to Poland, where they continued
to reside ; they consequently were beyond the
limits of the empire, and the superintendence of
the convents was not confided to them. To give a
sohd base to the hierarchical organisation, it was
necessary to extend the authority of the bishop,
and place him in a position to administer properly
the requirements of his diocese. This is exactly
what the Empress had in view in completely sub
ordinating the regular and secular clergy to Bishop
Siestrencewitz, and prohibiting aU direct relations
with foreign authorities.
Having taken in hand the administration con
fided to him, and thinking little of exterior pomp,
the splendour of the Chapter, or the arrangement of
the episcopal palace, Siestrencewitz devoted nearly
VOL. I. z

338 EOMANISM IN RUSSIA.
the whole of the year 1777, to a most detailed
revision and a personal inspection of the churches
in White Eussia. He was not more pained at the
decadence of the monastic life, than by the igno
rance and dissolute conduct of the monks, and the
bad state of the monastic schools. There was no
other remedy than to re-organise the convents,
notwithstanding their ancient statutes, otherwise
they would continue to be little else than a scourge
for the country and disgrace even religion itself,
as had already been the case in Poland. The
bishop based his plan of re-organisation upon the
necessity of civilising all the orders in general,
whatever their regulations or privileges might be,
but evading that which was contrary to Catholic
doctrine. To teach others, it is necessary to be
oneself instructed. So before ameliorating the
condition of the monastic schools, it was' necessary
that the monks should receive sufficient education to
act as preceptors in these schools. From this point
the bishop started. He enacted as a standing
order, that every nionk learn professionally, elocu
tion, history, geography, and the literature of the
country, French, mathematics, and even physiology.
To afford them time for these acquirements, he
simplified and abrogated several monastic customs
— dispensed with processions and other rehgious.

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 339
ceremonies during lessons, and forbade them to
absent themselves from the monasteries in the
hours appropriated to study, dividing their occupa
tions, and arranging the time for recreation and
repasts. He took this opportunity to recommend
them to abstain from the use of strong liquors, and
resolved on the inspection of the monastery every
year. He commanded a wing to be added to every
religious house for a school, or else that a part of
the budding should be assigned for it. In pub
lishing these ordinances, Siestrencewitz addressed
the monks as follows : " Our brethren shaU not
regard civilization as a scourge, but shaU endeavour
to prepare their pupUs to be honest citizens, to de-
velope in them dispositions of pity and mercy
towards aU humanity without regard to religion, to
country or social condition. They must teach
them to prefer truth to dignities, to cultivate
the heart, and habituate them to the world and the
faithful service of the empress and the country."
After delivering these precepts for the reform of the
monastic retreats, he addressed the clergy, "At
our epoch when it is complained with justice that
the monastic classes are corrupt and falling into
decay, and that none of them consider how to
be useful to his country, Providence has ordered
that in this golden age the immortal Catherine
z 2

340 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
makes them contribute to the welfare of her other
subjects." It was scarcely to be expected that the civiliza
tion of the monks could be promptly effected. This
was a work of time, as it was no easy matter to ha
bituate to scientific pursuits men who were already of
an advanced age and accustomed for the most part
to idleness. But the Church imperiously demanded
pious and enlightened servants. To prepare such
pastors, Siestrencewitz, in 1778, formed a semi
nary at MohUew for fifty clerks, confining the
superintendence to the priests of St. Vincent de
Paul. A part of these were lay students ; others
came from the monastic schools, and were in
tended to enter holy orders later. This founda
tion was indispensable, considering the complete
decadence of the monastic schools, from which the
bishop expected nothing good. The seminary of
Mohilew was endowed with an estate, and a small
house which had belonged to the Carmelites — its
first endowment consisted of half the revenues which
the missionaries received for the support of a smaU
seminary founded in 1756, at Kraslawl, by the
Counts Plater, in the district of Dunaburg, govern
ment of Vitebsk, upon the confines of Courland.
Siestrencewitz conceived a vast and enlightened
plan of education diametrically opposed to the in-

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 341
teUectual slavery inveterate in the Latin schools.
"Above ah," said he, " it is necessary to teach the
pupUs to reflect and reason otherwise than they
have hitherto done, and to unlearn many things
they have hitherto learnt. The aim of their educa
tion is to fit them for the ecclesiastical profession,
which means, that they must prepare themselves
to celebrate the Divine services according to the
dogmas and the rites of their church. They must
learn to preach and to inculcate Christianity and
loyalty in then flocks, deserving their confidence
and respect by their own good conduct, kind-
heartedness, and useful knowledge. To this end
the sciences must be taught in the seminaries, not
only in a scholastic sense, but in a practical, com
prehensible, and sensible manner." The ecclesi
astical courses which they taught in the seminaries
were: — Moral theology, professional eloquence,
Church history, the Canon Law and its rights.
The ideas of Siestrencewitz on the Sciences, and
the spirit in which they should be taught, deserve
particular attention. He said, " The principal
study in the seminary is theology. Monastic
theology merits at least its name ; it is only a
science of syllogisms. One can only comprehend
it by a peculiar course of logic and metaphysical
reasoning worth no attention. In our enlightened

342 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
century we unite dogmas to reason, and teach
theology to render man better and happier. To
give such an education it is necessary to find en
lightened and capable teachers. Another science,"
he afterwards says, " which should make a part of
the first is moral theology. Unfortunately it has
been separated from dogmatical theology in order
to inspire more respect for the moral yoke which
they (the priesthood) preach, and which they en
velope in clouds, notwithstanding that moral theo
logy, even in its spirit, should be the enlightened
guide of man's existence. If this division of a
pure science must be tolerated, it is at least desir
able that a Professor teach the two parts. In
deducing moral precepts from dogmas, and apply
ing them as the foundation of the welfare of man,
the Professor should not be arrested by frivolous
and supposititious points, such as, for example,
What is the language of angels ? or the biography
of Jesus Christ from his twelfth or thirteenth year,"
&c. He thus expressed himself on the subject
of professional eloquence : — " The priest must
learn this science, not only to assist his own
meditations, when with crossed arms he sits at his
own fireside, or in his cell ; but to use it in his
pulpit, at the Confessional, or at the bed of the
dying. MassUlon and Bourdalone have left us

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 343
works from which to draw rules and examples, and
which have before now formed great preachers.
The history of the Church should be taught ac
cording to Fleury." As to the canon law, and the
obligations and relations of the clergy, with respect
to lay and ecclesiastical authority, he gives the
foUowing definition : — " Unfortunately," he says,
"reason does not guide everybody. With some
it is necessary to employ constraint. The law
relating to such individuals has been prescribed
and laid down. The ecclesiastic owes obedience
and fidelity to his sovereign, in return for his daily
bread and the security he enjoys in the empire,
and need not imagine that difference of costume
exempts him from such duties. He is naturally
not bound to know aU the laws of the empire, but
only those which concern and serve to maintain
the clergy and the Church. Consequently they
shaU teach the canon law in the seminaries, as
laid down by the Sovereign for the Catholic Church
ofthe empire, which enjoys her protection" Be
sides ecclesiastical sciences, the following subjects
were part of the programme for the education
of theological students. Physique, philosophy,
hygienics, history, geography, the Eussian language,
with judicial explanations, Latin which should be
taught, not according to the corrupt idioms of the

344 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
canonical books, but after classical models ; Ger
man, French, and Italian, aU indispensable in dif
ferent parishes where there were individuals of
mixed nationalities. This plan of education, al
ready applied in the seminary of Mohilew, from the
time of its foundation, developed itself graduaUy in
proportion to the means and the men prepared for
the important position of preceptors — preceptors,
not of the dead sciences, which generaUy fatigue
the memory and obscure the intelligence of pupUs,
but professors of sciences based on good sense, and
destined to form true ecclesiastics, and not a caste ;
a class of men useful in their parishes as well as in
society ; not inimical to the State, but desiring to
be active members of the same.
In instituting these reforms Siestrencewitz neces
sarily met with great obstacles ; but he had suffi
cient firmness of character to execute and carry
out his projects despite of ignorance, opposition,
and prejudice. Not sympathising with the fanati
cism and grasping ambition ' of the Jesuits, he
found himself in antagonism to this order, which
refused obedience to any authority but their own.
At the time of the annexation of White Eussia the
Empress sent the foUowing command to the gover
nors of these provinces : — " Make a list of the con
vents and schools of the Jesuits. You wUl parti-

REIGN OF. THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 345
cularly watch these priests as the most perfidious
and pernicious of the Latin fraternities. See that
they are subordinate to and undertake nothing
without the authority of their superiors." The
year foUowing Pope Clement IV. abohshed them,
and the sovereign who had dictated these lines
preserved them in White Eussia, gave them an
asylum, and prolonged the existence of their order
untU a time when, thanks to a change of circum
stances, Eome re-estabhshed them. We know not
truly at which to be astonished — the disobedience
manifested in their opposition to the ordinances of
the Pope, whose faithful servants they termed
themselves, or the protection which the most
enlightened sovereign of this period accorded them,
to the detriment of national civilization — a protec
tion which even forbade aU polemical discussion
against the Jesuits. The only explanation of this
policy of Catherine II.'s which appears likely, is
her desire to conciliate and consolidate her autho
rity in the newly annexed provinces. Certainly
she could hardly have chosen better instruments
than these priests — people, sans patrie, shut up
within the strict limits of then order in every sense
of the word, " Status in statu." White Eussia
contained individuals from different nationahties —
Itahans, French, Germans, Poles themselves forgot

346 EOMANISM IN RUSSIA.
their nationality when once enroUed in this order.
¦Sustained and protected by the Government, the
Jesuits have been, without contradiction, useful
as the secret police agents of Eussia during the
first years of the annexation. But this utUity,
shadowy and secondary as it was, resulted in a
prolonged and grave evil — it hindered all reason
able civilization. They recruited and strengthened
the United Greeks who were at this period less
firm in their rehgious convictions than when they
had been violently converted to Eomanism, and
even proselytised some Eussians. Thus they may
be said to have deprived Eussia of a considerable
population which but for the influence of the
Jesuits, would have preserved, as in the past, the
Greek Orthodox faith.
It was a grave mistake of the Government this
preservation of the Jesuits in Eussia, priests who,
by their intrigues, made the country dearly pay for
their services as police in the Polish provinces.
And besides the evil which they worked towards
the State, they hindered the regular organisation
of the administration of the Eoman Church. Ac
cording to custom they emancipated themselves
from the authority of the bishop, at a time when
this authority was indispensable to the Church,
pleading the statutes of then order — at a period

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 347
when the friends of civilization and progress endea
voured to create an ecclesiastical hierarchy, and to
reconstruct the clergy. It was at this moment that
aU sorts of cabals and intrigues commenced against
Siestrencewitz, amongst the great dignitaries of the
Court. Instead of quietly carrying out the func
tions of his high caUing, he was obliged to defend
himself against the Jesuits ; and in order to live
in peace was constrained to give them full liberty,
and not to interfere in their affairs. This freed
them from all ordinances concerning the monastic
orders. In 1777 they opened a noviciate, with the
intention of recruiting their numbers. Those who,
in pursuance of the Papal decree, had quitted the
society, came from all parts to Polotsk, and there
established themselves. In passing through this
city in 1780 the Empress Catherine visited the
College of the Jesuits, and was received by the
Provincial, who addressed her in a speech in Itahan.
She inspected the house, and was very gracious
towards them. Besides some insignificant schools
they possessed also six colleges with considerable
estates, which they also retained in White Eussia
when that part passed to Eussia Proper, that is the
part situated on the right bank of the Dwina,
which then formed the frontier line of Poland.
In 1782 these priests endeavoured to throw off

348 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
the episcopal authority altogether ; but even at
this time the power of the Bishop was merely
nominal. They were permitted to select from
their own body a Vicar to whom the provincials
should be subordinate. The ukase authorising
this change says, "Although the Order must hold
itself obedient to its pastor, the Archbishop of
MohUew, the said Archbishop must see that aU its
rules be maintained without the least infringement,
inasmuch as is consistent with the laws of the
empire." Though Siestrencewitz was a dangerous enemy
for the Jesuits, as much by his ability and by his
inteUectual capacity as by the firm nature of his
character, they could nevertheless oppose him and
turn aside his direction of the affairs of the Church.
But whUe placed beyond his influence he was not
cnrtaUed of the right of administering the affairs of
the clergy according to his views. In 1779 it was
decided that aU the monastic orders, the Jesuits
excepted, should be subordinate to the bishop, and
that in future no other ecclesiastical strangers,
under the name of Provincials, visitors, &c, should
be permitted to reside in White Eussia, stUl less
to interfere in the direction of the monasteries. No
one could change the superiors, or transfer the
monks from one monastery to another, "such

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 349
acts," says the ukase, " being injurious in many
respects." The foUowing year, 1780, another de
cree was promulgated. " As hberty of conscience
is tolerated in our empire, the principal ecclesiasti
cal authority of the Eoman Cathohc Church in
Eussia is conferred by us on Stanislas Siestrence
witz, Bishop of White Eussia ; and we command
our Governors-General and other civU functionaries
to see that our commands be strictly executed, and
that aU the Eoman Cathohc churches and convents
in Eussia render him due obedience."
With a view to raise the Latin hierarchy and its
representative, the Empress, in 1782, transformed
the bishopric of MohUew into an archiepiscopate,
and created Siestrencewitz Archbishop, in which
position he acquitted himself with even more ability
and power. The Ministry of Justice was forbidden
to interfere in the affairs of the Latin Church.
Appeals against the archiepiscopal decisions should
only be made to the Senate; the clergy should
remain in complete subordination to the Arch
bishop who alone should nominate priests to the
parishes, so that the right of patronage was abro
gated, and his superintendence and directions of
the monastic orders was confirmed. Further it
was interdicted " to recognise any spiritual power
beyond the limits of the empire, — to send the

350 EOMANISM IN RUSSIA.
revenues, or any part of them, away, or to have
the least relation with foreign ecclesiastical authori
ties, under pain of secular judgment for contraven
tion and disobedience to the supreme power." A
coadjutor was nominated to the Archbishop, and
the Jesuits seized this opportunity to turn the
creation of this dignitary to their own advantage,
and procure it for one of their own adepts, Canon
Benislawsky. Siestrencewitz did not oppose this
nomination, or perhaps would not, wishing to quiet
them with a view towards reconciliation, which
was, however, never a sincere one on their part.
This nomination afterwards completely paralysed
all the prerogatives conferred on the Archbishop.
In re-organising and raising the Eoman Catholic
Church in her empire, the Empress held strictly
to the plan she had traced, not to permit the Pope
to interfere, and to limit his power in Eussia. In
promulgating the aforesaid ordinances which evi
dently tended to the welfare of her Eoman Catholic
subjects, she added: — "We confirm our former
ukases on the prohibition of the receipt of bidls or
briefs of the Pope, or any epistles written in his
name, and command that on arrival here they be
sent to the Senate, wjiere, their contents having
been examined, and it being apparent that they
contain nothing incompatible with the existing

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 351
laws of the empire of Eussia, and the prerogative
which God has conferred on us, they shaU be sub
mitted to us, and on the recommendation of the
Senate these buUs or briefs may be promulgated
with our consent."
The ukase, on the institution of the Archbishop,
was exposed in the churches that everybody might
see it.
It was thus that Catherine, without the direc
tion of Eome, protected and cared for the Catholic
Church in her empire ; and she never met with
opposition in carrying out her benevolent inten
tions. Without consulting the Pope, she named
Siestrencewitz to White Eussia, and made him a
bishop a httle later. She then elevated his autho
rity to that of Archbishop, and he enjoyed these
titles without the sanction of Eome. She called
him from private hfe to one of the highest stations
in her empire, and' organised an administration for
the Eoman Church which she confided to him,
according to the inspiration of her own judgment
as she considered the requirements of her Catholic
subjects demanded. Without paying any attention
to the buU of the Holy Father dissolving the order,
she protected the Jesuits in White Eussia, and
by instituting the Noviciate at Polotsk, opened out
a future for them ; in .a word she consulted or

352 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
accepted no disposition of the Court of Eome con
trary to the law of her empire. Eome could not
deny that the principal measures laid down by the
Eussian Government for the Eoman Cathohc body
of the empire, were effectively wise, benevolent,
and extremely adapted to the circumstances of the
Church, and showed this appreciation by sanction
ing them herself. But this sanction was a diplo
matic move necessary for Eome. She did it to
save appearances, and to make beheve that nothing
could be done in the administration of the Latin
Church without her concurrence. Eussia, how
ever, put her projects in execution, without asking
or waiting their confirmation by the Holy See.
When Siestrencewitz was instaUed in the episcopal
chair of White Eussia, aU the regular clergy were
subordinate to him, though contrary to the usages
of Eome ; and it was only in 1778 that a brief of
the Pope conceded this point, with a limit of three
years. The wetfare of the Church demanded that
this rule should be executed without infringement
in future times, and the Empress, when the three
years had expired, renewed it for the Bishop — then
Archbishop in 1782.
The authority thus confided to Siestrencewitz,
and the subjugation of the monastic orders to him,
served Eome with a pretext for discontent, espe-

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 353
cially as it was based on the brief by which, ac
cording to the will of the Empress, the Jesuits
were permitted to noviciate. The Pope regarded
it with rancour ; but Catherine, at this very time,
elevated Siestrencewitz to the dignity of Arch
bishop, and demanded canonical confirmation of
his functions. The letter addressed to Pope Pius
VI. in 1782 by Catherine on this occasion displays
with what frank dignity this sovereign recognised
the rights of the State, and in what light she
regarded the relations between, the Government
and the Latin Church ; we also see the caution
she preserved in these relations : —
" We do not refuse, Ulustrious sovereign, to
accede to each of your demands in that which is
expedient ; but your own experience wiU teU you
that the duties of the throne sometimes prevent
sovereigns foUowing their impulses. As to what
concerns Bishop Stanislas Siestrencewitz, whom
you accuse of having controverted your intentions,
and abused the powers you confided to him, we
cannot and we wUl not leave this accusation with
out reply. In tolerating all religions without ex
ception, and amongst others the Eoman Cathohc,
through the vast extent of our provinces, as our
ancestors did, we cannot consent, nevertheless,
that those who profess a strange doctrine should
vol. i. 2 A

354 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
depend on a foreign power. The bulls emanating
from the Papal chair, therefore, are not published
in our empire without our order. As the bull of
Pope Clement XIV. concerning the Jesuits has
never been promulgated in Eussia, that part of the
Society of Jesuits which from time to time settled
in White Eussia, has been preserved intact, conse
quently the question of their abolition or reform has
never been raised in our dominions. As the above-
mentioned prelate furnished with your rescript on
the subject of the visitation and the reform of the
convents, carries out our wiU by opening the novi
ciate of the Jesuits, can he, by accomplishing the
duties of his oath, incur your displeasure, and ren
der himself unworthy to receive the dignity of Arch
bishop and the PaUium on your part ? This dignity,
as a degree in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, has
everywhere, from time immemorial, depended on
the sovereign power, even on those potentates who
themselves profess the Eoman Catholic faith, and
consequently depend, up to a certain point, on the
Papal chair, in that which concerns the Church.
" Such a sovereign prerogative is incontestable,
especially in our empire ; and we, moved by his zeal
for the perfect administration of the Eoman Church
in our empire, by his care for his flock and his efforts
for public unity, have resolved to elevate the afore-

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 355
said Bishop Siestrencewitz to the dignity of Arch
bishop of MohUew, and to name as his coadjutor
John Benislawsky, Canon and Prior of Dunaburg,
and to confide to them aU the convents and parishes
of the Eoman Church, situated in the provinces of
Mohilew, Polotsk, as weU as in our two capitals,
and in aU the empire of Eussia ; and we beg you,
Ulustrious sovereign, to preserve the usages of the
Eoman Church by furnishing the new Archbishop
with the Palhum, and to consecrate his coadjutor.
We shall consider this an agreeable condescension
on your part, which we shaU not refuse to acknow
ledge on another occasion.
"We unite our wishes to those of our Orthodox
Church, which prays for the re-union of all."
This profession of pohtical faith requires no
comment ; it suffices to state that on the 18th
January, 1784, the Bishop was solemnly invested
with the Palhum, and consecrated Archbishop in
the Eoman Catholic Church of St. Petersburg,
according to canonical rules, and Benislawsky was
anointed Bishop. To confirm the ecclesiastical
organisation introduced by the Empress, Eome
delegated Monsigneur Archetti, the Nuncio at
Warsaw, to St. Petersburg, who, on the 8th Dec,
1783, promulgated, in the name of Pope Pius VI.,
the buU concerning the elevation of the Bishop of
2 a2

356 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Mohilew to the dignity of Archbishop, appointing
him a Chapter composed of four prelates, eight
canons, and six vicars, of whom five should form
the consistory, and the others make, so to speak,
an honorary suite for the Archbishop, without any
functions whatever. It is necessary to observe
that, according to canonical rules, the number of
the members of the Chapter was not positively
determined ; it depended more or less on the
revenues assigned to this effect; therefore they
were sometimes augmented and sometimes dimi
nished, to the detriment of the ecclesiastical ad
ministration. At the time of the erection of the
diocese of Mohilew ; that is to say, at the period
of the annexation of White Eussia, eight parochial
benefices were assigned for the support of the
Chapter of this see ; so that the half of the revenues
of each of these benefices went to support the
curates of these parishes, and the other half was
converted into appointments for the members of
the Chapter.- This was also confirmed by Archetti.
The measures of the ecclesiastical administra
tion introduced by the Empress having been con
firmed according to the forms required by Catholic
customs, Archetti prepared to consecrate the new
Archbishop ; but objection was taken to the form
of oath supplied on this occasion by Eome — a form

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 357
which did not correspond with the sovereign's pre
rogative, or to the position which a religion, itself
tolerated, should observe vis-a-vis the religion of
the State. The following is the formula of this
oath : — " I shall pursue, as long as my powers
permit me, all schismatics, and those who, having
apostatised, are cast aside by Christ and his suc
cessors " — meaning the Popes. A clause in this
same oath indicated that all episcopal property
should be dependent on Eome ; the true meaning of
which was, that the Bishop should swear not to
ahenate the property belonging to the see, and in
general not to dispose of it without the Pope's
consent. The Empress exacted that these two
clauses should be excluded, and that instead it
should be added — "I shall so much the more
faithfuUy adhere to the several articles of the oath
I am about to take, as I am convinced there is
nothing contained in them contrary to the oath of
aUegiance which I have taken to my legitimate
sovereign and her successors." It was intimated
to the Nuncio that if these changes were not made
in the formula, the Empress would find it pos
sible to dispense with him, and invest Siestrence
witz with the PaUium, as a distinctive mark of the
archiepiscopal dignity, particularly as he had already
taken an oath to the Pope when he was conse-

358 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
crated bishop. The wUl of the Empress was
all-powerful. Siestrencewitz was not only con
secrated by the Nuncio, but he took an oath
to the Pope according to the form prescribed
by Catherine — an oath which the dignity of the
Church and the sovereign's power considered
necessary. This was not aU. At the audience dc
conge' the Empress felicitated Archetti on the occa
sion of his own nomination through her interces
sion, to the dignity of Cardinal, an honour of which
the Nuncio was still ignorant.
By the institution of the archiepiscopate the
Catholic hierarchy gained in importance ; and this
was the result the Empress desired, not certainly
for the sake of the exterior pomp of the Church of
Eome, or for the assistance of the Propagand, but
that the Archbishop could — in obtaining through
his exalted position greater powers — carry out the
organisation of the clergy, and render them effec
tively useful, being no longer compelled to stop at
every step and temporise for want of the necessary
powers to execute his reforms. One cannot doubt
that this was the principal aim the Empress had in
view in trying to obtain for Siestrencewitz a Car
dinal's hat, when she charged Archetti, who had
already received his new dignity, and who was then
about to start for Eome, to take steps towards this

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 359
object ; and, ' independent of this, she desired
Prince Youssoupoff, her minister at Turin, to pro
ceed to Eome to thank the Holy Father for having
acceded to her request, and elevated Archetti to the
dignity of Cardinal ; her real object was, however,
to obtain the same distinction for Siestrencewitz.
Pius VI. received Youssoupoff very graciously,
who, at the first audience broached the subject.
The Pope replied, " You are not ignorant that we
only nominate Cardinals in those countries whose
sovereigns profess the Catholic religion ; otherwise
the King of Prussia would make the same demand,
which would very much embarrass us. Be assured
that we shaU always be happy to prove our respect
for her Majesty." Youssoupoff observed that the
elevation of a man protected by the Empress would
serve to draw stUl closer the ties which united the
two Courts ; and finding no satisfactory reply, he
, waited two months, and then demanded an audi
ence, reiterating his sohcitations. The Pope
answered as before, but gave no absolute denial.
" This is an affair that demands time," said he ;
" we must first be convinced of the principles of
the Archbishop, and that cannot be done quickly."
In reality the Pope was inclined to accede to the
wishes of the Empress, but the Courts of France
and Spain opposed it, MeanwhUe news of some of

360 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
the measures of Siestrencewitz arrived at Eome,
of which we shall afterwards speak, which irritated
the Pope, as having been effected without his
authority ; and it was this which principally hin
dered the success of Youssoupoff's mission. The
true reason or pretext for the refusal was the fact
of the Archbishop's having been baptized in the
reformed religion, and that till a rather mature age
he had remained attached to it. After stopping
six months at Eome, the Minister returned to
Turin without having succeeded in his aim.
If the Government of the Empress did not suc
ceed in elevating Siestrencewitz to the dignity of a
Cardinal, it at least enlarged his authority ; for, on
the 28th August, 1786, the Pope accorded him
extended spiritual powers, to the number of twenty-
nine clauses for a term of ten years. The more
enlarged these powers, the more complete the
independence of the administration became, so to
speak, of Eome ; and we must acknowledge that
they were much more extended than usually ac
corded by the Holy See. The Archbishop, on
receiving them, immediately presented them to the
Senate to be confirmed. The decision of this body
was delivered as follows : — " The Archbishop is
permitted by the Senate to accept the above-named
brief, basing its permission on the paragraph

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 361
therein contained, which gives him the absolute
right of absolution in all cases of appeal to the
Court of Eome ; and in future all correspondence
and aU relations with Eome must be avoided by
Archbishop Siestrencewitz, especially as these
powers are accorded for ever, and not for ten
years, as stated in the brief. For this particular
reason the Senate approves of the act in question."
The Senate only excluded a single paragraph of
this document, the pubhcation of which it inter
dicted — that which permitted the Archbishop, as a
special favour, to read heretical books. The Senate
forbade this as containing a certain constraint for the
mind, and a sort of disdain for other confessions.
In 1790 and 1795 it was reiterated that the buUs
of the Papacy could not be executed without having
been previously examined by the Government.
When White Eussia was reunited to the empire,
strangers were not eligible for nomination to
curacies in Eussia without the special authorisation
of the bishop, a regulation confirmed on several
occasions, particularly by the ukases of July 3rd,
1779, January 2nd, 1780, and November 4th,
1783 ; but, as among the clergy of White Eussia
there were not many to be found who knew foreign
languages, the Archbishop was, in 1784, permitted
to aUow strangers residing in the country to have

362 ROMANISM IN EUSSIA.
foreign priests, conditionaUy that such priests took
the oath of allegiance. The Archbishop trans
mitted this right to the syndics of Moscow and St.
Petersburg, which highly displeased the Eoman
Catholic congregation. The chief grievance of
this body dated from the time when the Empress,
in consequence of the complaints of the parishioners
of the Church at St. Petersburg against their clergy,
permitted them in 1769 to send for, through Go
vernment sources, their priests from abroad, by
which they were relieved of all dependence on the
Propagand. The Court of Eome threw obstacles
in the way of these priests departing for Eussia, tUl
at last, in 1770, the Eussian deputy at the Diet
of Eatisbon demanded four Franciscans. These
priests were refused untU the Propagand should
be reinstated in aU its rights, and untU which they
withdrew the priest Frankenberg from Eussia, to
whose intrigues they imputed impressions unfavour
able to the Propagand. In Eussia this section of
the Cathohc party made aU sorts of concessions to
preserve their ancient privUeges, particularly on the
subject of the control of articles for the Church.*
No result, however, followed these steps. The
Archbishop made his arrangements without con
sulting the Propagand, and consequently stirred up
anew the displeasure of Eome.
* Arch. pr. de Moscow.

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 363
The French Revolution drove a great number of
strange priests to Eussia, who, for the most part,
found a support not as cures, but as tutors and
teachers amongst the high famihes and schools.
In the year 1790 a church for French emigrants
was erected at Moscow, which received the name
of St. Louis. After the conquest of New Eussia
Siestrencewitz visited the country at the request of
Prince Potemkin, when he restored the ruins of
the Cathohc temples buUt by the Genoese, and
founded a new one at Kherson, which city, at that
period, had considerable commerce with, and was
constantly fiUed by, foreigners. He nominated
priests for the different churches ; and the colonies
of Saratoff and New Eussia were equaUy endowed
with religious edifices and clergymen.
The attention of the Government was more par
ticularly directed towards the monastic orders,
endeavouring only to render them useful to society
and give them the true spirit of Christianity. They
were therefore prohibited from accumulating riches
as they had done in the time of the Poles, through
illegitimate and underhand means. The Polish
Government had, in fact, already limited their rights
of possession ; and when White Eussia was an
nexed to the empire, the estates of the monks who
had not sworn aUegiance were confiscated, as well

364 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
as those convents which remained in Poland, or
were beyond its frontiers. As to other monasteries
they preserved the administration of their landed
properties until a new order.* There is no doubt
but that Catherine intended to confide the regula
tion of these estates to the lay authorities, as she
had practicaUy done with regard to the properties
of the Eussian clergy, but political circumstances
and the ultimate partition of Poland, which took
place a year before her death, left her no time to
arrange these affairs. But the right of convents to
acquire landed property, as authorised by the
Polish Diets of the 17th and 18th centuries, was
entirely withdrawn, so that the bishops and the
secular clergy of noble descent were by this act
entitled to leave their estates, not to ecclesiastical
communities, but to their legitimate heirs. As to
monastic discipline, it was enacted in 1784 that the
monks would not be permitted to pass their days
in idleness or mendicity.
The close of the eighteenth century brought a
considerable increase to the Catholic population of
Eussia, by the re-union (at the request of the Diet
of Grodno in 1793) of the provinces of iheVolhynia,
Podolia, and Minsk, and at the end of 1794 of the
Government of Lithuania, Grodno, as far as the
Nieman, and of Courland. For the ecclesiastical
* Eecueil des lois, 1. 19. No. 13808.

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 365
administration of these provinces the Empress
instituted in 1795 three new dioceses : — Ist. In
flandt, which replaced the ancient diocese of
Wilna for Lithuania with the episcopal capital of
WUna. 2nd. Pinsk, instead of Luck and Kiew.
This diocese comprehended the Volhynia, which
formerly belonged to the Bishopric of Luck, and the
Government of Minsk, formerly a part of the see of
WUna. 3rd. Leticzew replacing that of Kamienec
for the Government of Podoha, of Braclaw and of
Wosnesensk. Kossakowsky was named Bishop of
Inflandt ; the Count Sierokowsky, Bishop of Letic
zew and Cecieszewski, Bishop of Kiew, passed to
the see of Pinsk. This Bishop, having sworn
aUegiance to the Empress, preserved the estates of
the see ; the episcopal properties of the two other
dioceses were confiscated like that of WUna, as
that of Wilna remained vacant after the assassina
tion of Messalsky at Warsaw, and because that
Krassinsky, Bishop of Kamienec, not submitting
to the Eussian Government, remained in Poland.
The revenues of these were given to the bishoprics
which had no landed endowments. Inflandt received
4000 roubles, and Leticzew 3000 roubles per year.
The bishops of these three dioceses exercised
the same authority over the regular and secular
clergy as Siestrencewitz did in the Archbishopric

366 ROMANISM IN EUSSIA,
of Mohilew. They were independent chiefs in their
administration, and not mere lieutenants, obliged
to execute the orders of the Archbishop. It was
they only who ruled the monastic orders in their
respective dioceses. All the regulations concerning
the Eoman Church in Eussia extended equally to
these sees ; the clergy were not compelled to sub
mit to any foreign authority beyond the empire ;
foreign ecclesiastics were forbidden, and priests
who had not taken the oath of allegiance to the
Government could receive no clerical appointments.
In 1795 the Empress, wishing to preserve for
her Catholic subjects a number of the monasteries
in these provinces likely to be useful, and to close
those which were a burden to their parishioners,
commanded Prince Eepnin, the Governor-General
of Lithuania, to request the Catholic bishops to
forward him a list of all these houses, and to mark
those which were distinguished for works of charity
or instruction, and to indicate those where the
inhabitants lived idly, " without any utility for this
life or the next, and which were only a burden on
the community." Convents of the first class were
to be preserved. As to those of the second a list
was ordered to be submitted to the Empress, " so
that we can," says the ukase, " take and concert
measures for the glory of God and the welfare of

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 367
our subjects in so far as shall appear to be useful
and convenient." * The estates of the convents
were recognised as belonging to the Empire, and by
that act preserved from the ruin to which they
were exposed by the arbitrary sects of the religieux,
who, considering them as private property, often
mortgaged them for their personal debts. The
death of Catherine prolonged the existence of
several of these useless convents, which, to the
detriment of the public good, enjoyed exorbitant
riches in Western Eussia. There can be no doubt
that such convents were positive nuisances, and it
was for this reason only that the government would
abolish them. It is a weU-known fact that the
Ultramontanists, the partisans of the Pope, attri
buted these measures to the revolutionary ten
dencies of the government, to liberal institutions,
and the desire for ungovernable liberty. Such an
opinion was quite out of place in this case ; as it is
notorious that Catherine, the liberal friend of the
phUosophers and learning of the time, entirely
changed her pohtical convictions after the French
Bevolution, put a curb on literature, and abandoned
several projected re-organizations ; in short, was
very far from being hberal in 1795. This desire
to save the Church, and deliver the clergy from
abuses and vices patent to everybody, was an ab-
* Recueil des lois. No. 17380.

368 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA,
solute State necessity — new, certainly, to all poli
tical systems — which caused Catherine to desire
the reduction of a pernicious class of monks, idle,
lazy, inactive, steeped in luxurious opulence, who,
far from being an ornament to the Church, were
absolutely its disgrace.
The . memory of this great sovereign is reviled
for having ended the political existence of Poland.
Calumnies are heaped on a name venerated in
Eussia. But it was Catherine, and she only, who
in the Pohsh Provinces supported tottering, rotten,
and degraded Catholicism, — Cathohcism already
condemned by public opinion. It was she only
who caUed it anew into existence, reformed and
civilized the clergy, gave it a strong local ecclesi
astical authority, and regularly established its dio
ceses. It was not Eome which saved the Catholic
Church in Poland and Eussia, but a sovereign not
of this creed : not with the aim, it is true, of pre
serving a Propagand, but for the welfare of several
millions of her Catholic subjects. Of her own
inclination she erected several churches in Poland,
even where there had formerly been edifices of the
Greek Confession, and laid out new dioceses;
whereas in Poland the Eussian bishoprics, which
were centuries old, had been in the days of Polish
domination uprooted and abolished. The clergy

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 369
of the Eoman Church were placed upon a proper
footing and received proper treatment; whUe the
Pohsh clergy, in the days of their power, had
snatched from the Eussians everything they pos
sessed. The great Catherine founded seminaries
and schools for the Eoman clergy; whereas in
Poland the Eussian priesthood had always been
condemned to ignorance, misery, and pubhc mis
representation. They had been persecuted and
insulted with the hope of extirpating the Greek
faith. But political grudges often distort and
conceal the real facts of history.
The Eoman Catholic population of Eussia com
prehended among the rest the Armenian Cathohcs
converted at Astracan. Their number considerably
increased under the reign of the Empress Catherine
up to the time that Georgia accepted the Protec
torate of Eussia. When the western provinces
were annexed, there were many Armenians in some
of the cities who had joined the Eoman religion.
It may not be superfluous to mention here the
principal differences between the Armenian and
other Christian Confessions, as weU as the doctrines
which separated them, to be later mentioned.
The Armenians, as weU as the Greeks, recognised
the three first GCcumenical Councils, but at the
CouncU of Chalcedon separated from the Universal
vol. I. 2 b

370 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Church in 451, where it was enacted that Jesus
Christ had two distinct natures, divine and human,
but at the same time indivisible and inseparable.
The Armenians did not recognise this decree, and
reproached the Council for asserting that our Lord
must consequently have two persons and not two
natures in one single person. They therefore
seceded from the rest of the Church, assisted no
longer at the Oecumenical Councils, and formed a
Christian Church apart, which received the name of
Armenio-Gregorian, after St. Gregory, an Armenian
pontiff, and which is governed by a patriarch named
" The Cathohc," who resides at Eczmiadzine, The
word Catholic has the same signification in the
Armenian Church as the word Pope in the Church
of Eome. The three Armenian Patriarchs — Con
stantinople, Ispahan, and Jerusalem — are subor
dinate to this See. The Armenian Turks, Per
sians, Hindoos, and Eussians, recognised the
bishop as the chief of their Church, and the Holy
Chrism was sent from Eczmiadzine throughout the
East, serving,, as we may say, as a distinctive
mark of the superior ecclesiastical authority, to
which was attached in this Church the exclusive
right of consecrating the Chrism. In conforming
strictly to the religious precepts and the traditions
of the first centuries of Christianity, the Armenian

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 371
Church preserved several rites and dogmas recog
nised by the Greek Confession, but which were
changed in the Eoman Cathohc Church at different
periods. Like the Greeks, the Armenians believed
that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father,
and not from Father and Son, as taught by the
Latins. They baptized by triple immersion. They
communicated in two kinds, hke the Greeks. They
rejected the doctrine of Purgatory, and Divine
Service was celebrated in the ancient Armenian
idiom, but the sermons were delivered in the
modern tongue. Like the Greeks, again, the
regular clergy conformed entirely to the rules of
St. BasU the Great, and the priests could marry,
but only once. The. great resemblance between
these two Churches is at once perceived, as well as
the difference of both from the Eoman Catholic,
and therefore the re-union of the Armenian and
the Eoman, so long projected, never succeeded.
From the time of the Crusades the Court of Eome
had already commenced the Propagand amongst
these people, whose unfortunate political position,
torn by Turk and Persian, particularly seconded it.
Some of their kings were constrained to ask suc
cours from Eome, whose first condition was, as we
may say, the conversion of their people to the faith
of the Holy See. Notwithstanding these advan-
2b2

372 EOMANISM IN RUSSIA,
tages, Eome did not succeed in her views; the
people determined never to sacrifice the faith of
their fathers. It was known that at the CouncU of
Florence the union with the Catholic Church was
signed by some Armenian bishops, who are repre
sented on the frescoes of the library of the Vatican
at Eome as prostrated at the feet of Pope Eugene
IV. The Armenians upon this transferred the
patriarchal see from Sis to Eczmiadzine, so as to
remove as far as possible from the Eoman Propa
gand; and like the Eussians, they solemnly re
jected the decrees of the CouncU of Florence.
Dating from 1439 — that is, from this epoch
until the end of the sixteenth century — the Popes,
despairing of the success of their enterprise, left
the Armenian as well as the Eussian people in
peace. But at the end of this term, when religious
persecution burst out in Western Eussia, they
renewed their proselytising activity amongst the
Armenians with redoubled vigour, and upon a more
plausible basis. In 1584 Gregory XIII. ordered a
college to be founded at Eome, where young Arme
nians could be educated at his expense ; but as he
died the year following, it was not established, and
it was the school of the Propagand that took
charge of the few pupils that offered. It was not
tiU seventy years later that the idea of Gregory

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 373
was acted on by Alexander VII., when the cele
brated missionary Clement Gelanus was placed at
the head of the school then founded. From 1650
to 1659 Gelanus was occupied with his great work,
in quarto, written in the Latin and Armenian
languages, directed against the dogmas and the
ceremonies of the Armenian Church. This work
faded in its aim, for instead of attracting, it only
repulsed the people, and soured them against
Popery. This book was so fuU of false ideas
concerning the Armenian Church, that after
wards the Eomanists themselves were ashamed of
the errors of Gelanus, as well as of the incoher
ence of his reasoning and deductions. Among
these the Marquis of Serpos was particularly
distinguished, in his work on the Armenians in
Turkey, published in Italian at the close of the
last century. The students (Armenian) of the
Propagand, enchanted with the spirit of this work
of Gelanus, on which their theological education
was based, looked upon him as their oracle, and
returned to their country, young, inexperienced,
and completely ignorant of their countrymen, from
whom their Eoman Catholic education completely
separated them. Therefore, so far from attracting
the Armenians by Propagand, they destroyed aU
desire for a union with Eome. "NihUo tamen
'minus," said Gelanus, "extra Eomanum Eccle-

374 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
siam errare hoc tempore, quam antea videbatur
Armenios." This remark may be applied to an
epoch which preceded the appearance of the work
of Gelanus.
Mekhitar, himself an Armenian, who conse
quently knew his countrymen more thoroughly than
the Eoman Propagandists, placed the rational foun
dations, so to speak, of Eomanism on the Propa
gand. Mekhitar was born at Sebastian, in 1676,
and in this Armenian city was converted to Catho
licism at the age of eighteen, by the French mis
sionary Antoine BeauvUliers. At Constantinople
his co-rehgionists were so indignant at his apostasy,
that to save his life he was obhged to hide amongst
the Capucins, and in the house of the French
Ambassador, and afterwards to fly to the Morea.
When this latter country was occupied by the
Turks, he took refuge in Venice, where, after some
years, he was authorised to found a convent on one
of the smaU islands situated in the lagunes, which
convent he caUed Saint Lazare. Clement XI. gave
this community the rules of St. Benedict for their
government. It was definitely established in 1740,
and contained a printing press. Mekhitar died in
1749. At the close of the last century the Mekhitarists
founded convents at Trieste and Vienna ; and at the
commencement of the nineteenth century the com -

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 375
munity at Venice was transformed, without any
change 'in the rules, into an academy, with a branch
at Paris.
If the conversion of the Armenian people, the
aim of Mekhitar, only attained very restrained
limits, the means he employed for conversions
afterwards proved very useful, though pursued with
a totaUy different object to that intended. The
Mekhitarists estabhshed Armenian printing presses,
which have published and translated a considerable
number of works of general utility. They cultivated
Armenian literature and history, and in short
afforded the people the means of attaining civiliza
tion, whUe rejecting, as up tiU the present they
have done, aU tendency to Eoman Catholicism.
Thus we see that the measures originaUy calculated
on as the surest means for proselytism led to a
totally different result, which may in time produce
a true and popular civUization, based on the funda
mental doctrines ofthe Armenian" Church.
As to the position of the United Armenians
in the Eoman Church, and then transition to Latin
ism, we find that their ancient ceremonies and
idiom were left them ; that their priests married,
but that they were obhged to recognise the
supremacy of the Pope and the dogmas of Catho
licism. There can be no doubt, however, that little

376 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA,
by httle the ceremonies were changed, as was done
in the service of the United Greeks in Western
Eussia ; and we actually see in the churches of the
United Armenians in Eussia, that the sacerdotal
vestments and the greater number of the rites are
purely Cathohc. It is true that the service is stiU
celebrated in the Armenian language, but the organ
is used in the second half the liturgy. The closed
sanctuary of the Eastern Church remains, but the
screen which veils it exists no longer, and in its
place there is a smaU altar as in the churches of
Eome, so that the first half of the Mass is
celebrated by a priest in the sanctuary, and the
second at the smaU altar. Armenian Eomanism
is in the Armenian Church, in short, what the
Union was in the Eussian — it had the same aim,
used the same means and the same modes of con
version. It was thus that the primitive Armenian
Church gradually comprehended, and comprehends
stiU, this new doctrine, and it was thus that it com
prehended also the government of Catherine II.
As regards the settlement of the Armenians in
Eussia, we find them as early as the fourteenth
century in Volhynia and Podolia, where they carried
on commercial speculations, built the Armenian
churches of Balta, Luck, and Mohilew upon the
Dniester, and of Lwow, and freely professed their

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE H. 377
religion according to the Gregorian rite. But about
the middle of the seventeenth century, the Eoman
Cathohc clergy, elated with their success among the
United Greeks, commenced to try their system
upon the Armenians. Matthew Bembus, a celebrated
Jesuit propagandist, addressed himself in 1629 to
the Euthenians, in hopes of converting them to
Popery ; the year foUowing he applied himself to
the Armenians. In chronological order, this was
the first essay of the sort in the Polish provinces.
Bembus in his writing tried to sow dissension
between the Armenian clergy and laity, both of
whom were naturaUy not disposed to abandon the
faith of their fathers ; and he cleverly invited the
priests to Lwow to public controversies upon mat
ters of faith. He spared neither protestations nor
promises as to the inviolability of the Armenian
rites, and promised permission for the priesthood
to contract matrimony; in fact his plans were
based on the same system as that used among
the Eussians : his promises and protestations never
intended to be kept when the time should arrive to
forget them. But the baits of the Propagand and
of Bembus were unavaUing among the Armenians
of GaUicia, Podolia and the Volhynia.
Despairing of their conversion by the Propagand,
the Eomanists resolved to convert them by violence.

378 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
In 1626 Nicolas Torossowicz, a young man of
twenty-three years and a concealed Cathohc,
residing in the city of Lwow, was elevated to
the dignity of Armenio- Gregorian bishop of Lwow,
when he swore to preserve the faith in aU its
purity, and to submit to the Patriarch of Ecz
miadzine. It was well known that Torossowicz
only took this oath for appearance' sake, and the
people were upon the point of chasing him from
the church at the time of his consecration. He
was compelled to fly from Lwow, but protected by
the Jesuits and their humble pupU Sigismond HT.
of Poland, he was reinstated in his diocese by main
force and through the municipality of the town ;
first, however, openly passing over to Eomanism.
At his instaUation the pohce were obliged to burst
the doors of the cathedral, and in this way he was
consecrated pastor of an Armenian Catholic con
gregation, which in reality did not yet exist. As
a protege of the Papacy, Torossowicz did not fail
to make a pUgrimage to Eome, to prostrate him
self at the feet of Urban VHI. who confirmed him
in the episcopal See, and elevated him to the dig
nity of Archbishop. We have evidence as to the
effect this ecclesiastical violence produced upon the
Armenian population, by a complaint addressed to
their Patriarch, July 25th, 1631, still extant:

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 379
" The Catholic clergy and the police," says this
document, " after breaking open the locks of the
church door, forcibly introduced this cursed one.
Why did not the earth open and swallow us, rather
than that we should have assisted at such a sacri
lege ? This pretended bishop will not leave us our
faithful flock, or any churches in which to celebrate
our ceremonies, but even interdicts the burial of
our dead. He seizes the priests who remain steady
in the faith — who refuse to recognise his authority
— beats them, chains them, and throws them into
prison, from which they are not released tiU they
are converted to Eomanism. AU this is donewith im
punity, as the authorities, both civU and ecclesiastic,
uphold him, and he is backed by the Jesuits, who
are for his cause. We have petitioned the king,
but have obtained no redress, and God only knows
when we shaU. If we are even permitted a hear
ing of our case, it is doubtful if it lead to a dis
covery of the truth, as the Nuncio at Warsaw and
other Eomanists, particularly the Jesuits, defend
this cursed priest with aU their power. We have
complained of such violence to the Nuncio, and he
replied that all that signified nothing, as original sin
being washed out by baptism, the actions of Bishop
Torossowicz are absolved, since his recognition ofthe
union with the Holy Eoman Church. When we would

380 ROMANISM IN EUSSIA.
pray as Christians should, he has left us no church
in which to assemble, and the king, the Nuncio,
and the Cathohc priests cite the Eoman canons,
according to which the church foUow their bishop
as then chief. They use us as they did the Greek
Church, which for more than twenty years could
not obtain justice ; and these persecutions exhaust
our energy and drive us, against our grain, to the
Union." We are constrained to add that we owe
the publication of this interesting and historical
document to a Eoman Cathohc priest attached to
his own Church ; its authenticity is therefore un
questionable.* The tears and sufferings of the
Armenian people, touched neither the bigoted king
nor the fanatical people, and Torossowicz remained
in his see for fifty-five years untU the time of his
death in 1681. He was the first of the series of
United Armenian bishops of Lwow whose spiritual
authority extended over aU the Arnienian Eoman
Cathohcs domicUed in Poland.
To assist Torossowicz the Theatins were des
patched by Eome to this quarter, amongst whom
was the celebrated Gelanus, of whom we have
already spoken, who died at Lwow in 1666.
These priests would not submit to the Diocesan
bishop, relying altogether on the Propagand. They
founded the CoUegium Pontificum at Lwow, in
» Wiadomose o Ormianach Polszeze. Lwow, 1S42.

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 381
which establishment they supported twenty students
— of whom ten were Armenians and ten Euthe-
nians. On the termination of their studies, these
pupUs were sent as missionaries to the East, and
especially to the Crimea, where they set up as Ar
menians. In 1784 the Emperor Joseph II. sent back
the Theatins to Eome, and closed their schools.
It was from Lwow that the Theatins extended
then proselytism over the adjacent countries belong
ing to Poland at this period — and especially by
reason of its vicinity to Kamienec-Podolsk. It is
necessary to say that in 1666 the union commenced
in this city with the arrival of the Monk Pidou, a
Parisian, when Archbishop Torossowicz foUowed
him in pubhc procession through the streets of
Kamienec. Mohilew on the Dniester and Kam
ienec-Podolsk became the centres of the new re
ligion in the south-west of Eussia ; at the latter
place there is still the ruin of an old temple of
this confession caUed St. Mary, with an image of
the Holy Virgin, which considered as miraculous,
was greatly venerated by the inhabitants. The
Armenian Catholic Church of Mohilew was erected
about the year 1742, the services being conducted
by the Latin clergy.
At the close ofthe eighteenth century the Polish
Armenians Eomanised and Polonised themselves,

382 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
as we may say, entirely. They retained few of
their ancient customs and prayers, and the greater
their contact with the Poles, the oftener they fre
quented the Latin Churches, appropriating the
Latin and Pohsh languages, and forgetting little
by little then own. But the number of convents
was inconsiderable; and at this epoch the total
population of Cathohc Armenians in the Polish
provinces, did not even amount to ten thousand
souls. Monsieur E. Dulaurier, who studied the
Armenian Church, says with justice :
" The Catholic Armenians dispersed in Italy,,
in GaUicia, and in France, having but few churches
have at least preserved their nationality, a fact
which is itself sometimes contested. If they rarely
succeed in making proselytes it is for this reason :
That two churches may unite and operate together,
a simple difference in some words and in the cere
monies may be easUy arranged ; but change the
doctrine upon the Procession of the Holy Spirit
and the Holy Eucharist, giving the latter in bread
alone, instead of administering it in two kinds;
reverse the order of the liturgy ; put an uncovered
altar in the place of that one which is veUed with
mystery during some part of the service in the
Eastern Church ; impose celibacy on the clergy,
and you have the points which constitute the great

REIGN OF THE EMPBESS CATHERINE II. 383
and capital difference in the dogmas of the two
Churches." The conquest of the southern provinces increased
the number of Armenian Cathohcs, and later stUl
their amount was more augmented by the arrival
of their compatriots of this, faith for commercial
enterprises, so that at the close of the last cen
tury they were dispersed, though in a hmited num
ber, throughout the different countries of Southern
Eussia, Georgia, Astracan, and Kamienec-Podolsk.
Heraclius H. recognising, as we know, the pro
tectorate and supremacy of Eussia, engaged him
self not to enter into any direct relations with
foreign powers, without obtaining the previous con
sent of the Eussian minister at Tiflis ; and from
this date, Eussia commenced to employ her legiti
mate influence over the country with regard to
ecclesiastical and pohtical affairs. To have a clear
idea of these facts it is indispensable to throw a
rapid glance over the progressive introduction of
Eomanism into Georgia.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century
Eoman Missionaries first visited this country, and
later in 1615 some Capucins arrived at Gori as
doctors. They took a house, as they pretended,
for purposes of practice, and insinuated themselves
amongst the population, converting them afterwards

384 EOMANISM IN RUSSIA.
to Eomanism. Pope Urban VIII. being apprised
of the success of these priests, in 1626 sent a mis
sionary named Avita-Boli to the King of Georgia, de
siring him to try and gain the favour of this monarch,
so as to be able to establish a permanent mission
at Gori. This adroit diplomatist passed himself
off as a doctor, and affected particular veneration for
the ancient Iberia, so that he succeeded in winning
the good graces of the king, and entering into re
lations with Catholicos Zacharie, the chief of the
Armenian Church, through whose intervention per
mission was given in 1630 to the Capucins to
establish a chapel in this city. Avita-Boli also
influenced the sovereign to enter into amicable
relations with the Pope, and in 1631 both the king
and Catholicos wrote amongst other things to
the Pope, that the Christian religion was preserved
i in Georgia since the time of Constantine the
Great, and that permission was accorded to the
missionaries of Gori to have a chapel. To this
the Pope on his part replied by very amiable
epistles. Four years afterwards other Capucin
Missionaries arrived in Georgia, intending to
estabhsh a second permanent station at Tiflis ;
but hearing from Avita-Boli that the people dis
played hostile intentions, and that the clergy were
in strong opposition, they decided to temporise and

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II, 385
meantime the Propagand directed their activity to
wards the Armenians ; converting them, not en masse,
but individuaUy, and as opportunities occurred.
These priests were ordered to practise medicine ;
they celebrated the liturgy in any sacerdotal vest
ment ; could absolve penitents from all sins without
exception; might assume different costumes ; have
horses, servants, and even slaves. They could en
gage in commerce, borrow and lend money at
interest — in one word, the Propagand sanctioned
whatever these missionaries adopted. Nor was
this aU; they might also adopt the luxury and
vices of the country in which they lived ; they
might act and bend to the customs of the people
among whom they were, in order to discover and
profit by their weaknesses. The rules of their
Order were temporarily suspended to enable them
better to deceive society; they were interdicted
going barefoot or asking alms. During nearly
eighty years they inhabited only the house they at
first rented at Tiflis, and here they clandestinely
celebrated then services, but were only known pub
licly as doctors of the king and the nobility. They
succeeded in gaining the favour of those nobles
whose interests could serve them, by their servility
and flattery, at the same time showing themselves
useful to the lower classes, by then treatment of
Of,
VOL. I. ~ °

386 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
the sick, and by the distribution of medicines. Never
losing sight of their principal and primary aim they
drew the Armenians to then faith, explained the
dogmas of their own religion by a light suitable to
their hearers, developing more and more in the minds
of these simple people the idea that the Eoman
Church was the only infallible and orthodox one,
out of which there was no salvation, and persuading
their dupes that the man who embraced their faith,
on becoming an orthodox, was no longer amenable
to local authority. By these tricks they founded two
permanent missions, one at Koutais and the other
at Akhalcich at the end of the seventeenth century.
Under King Teimouraze they had intimate rela
tions with the Orbelian princes, and especially with
prince Soulkhane, whom they helped in the publica
tion of his Georgian dictionary. By such services
they secured the protection of the Lords; and
Heraclins II. permitted them to have a chapel at
Tiflis. Having in this way won public confidence,.
they entered into relations with the Catholicos
Antoine, who became their powerful protector, and
who is even suspected of a penchant for their
Church. Heraclius sent this prelate to Eussia, and
prevented several families passing over to Catho
licism ; but if the secular efforts of the Eoman
missionaries were not crowned with success, they

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 387
had nevertheless a satisfactory result for the Pro
pagand ; the Latin Church without being consider
ably spread, solidly established itself in Georgia.
The Empress Catherine, not tolerating in her
own empire the arbitrary measures of the Court of
Eome, could • still less permit an open Eoman
Propagand, and a clergy who relied exclusively on
a foreign power to proselytise among other Christian
confessions under her direct protectorate. Her
first act, therefore, was to deliver them from
foreign priests, to give them enlightened and edu
cated pastors chosen from then own countrymen,
who at the same time were the subjects of Eussia.
In 1784 she accordingly placed the Catholic Ar
menians under the superintendence of the Arch
bishop of MohUew, charging him to establish
proper schools for the education of the people,
according to the dogmas of their religion, and from
time to time to send some of the pupUs to the
Armenian College at Lwow. Eome approved of
this last regulation, not dreading much at first, as
only two pupils were despatched at this period, and
if the number were not augmented the missionaries
could not so soon be replaced either at Astracan
or in Georgia by real Armenians. The subjection
of the Catholic churches to the Bishop of MohUew
put an end to the reign of the Propagand, although
2c2

388 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
this subordination was also incomplete, as the
canons of the church required that only an Ar
menian Catholic Bishop had a right to consecrate
the priests of this sect. But as there was no
Armenian Catholic bishop in Eussia, they were
obliged to have recourse to the bishop of Lwow, a
foreign prelate, who was often disobliging and
actually malevolent. This measure, however,
effectuaUy freed them from the Propagand; and
Siestrencewitz commanded the Catholic priest
hood in Georgia not to have any communication
with foreign authority. This necessarily put an
end to conversions, which was the only aim of the
missionaries in the country. The Propagand was
in a tumult ; Eome defended the cause, and the
19th of July, 1785, the Pope sent for Prince
Youssoupoff, and told him that Siestrencewitz
should not extend his power to the Armenian
Catholic clergy who had their own bishops, but
said nothing as to the Propagand or the mis
sionaries. Cardinal Archetti, whom Youssoupoff
consulted upon this affair, proposed the appoint
ment of an Armenian Catholic bishopric in Eussia,
and in this manner to free the clergy from all de
pendence on strangers. But neither this advice or
the assistance of the Pope was accepted by the
Empress Catherine. Siestrencewitz preserved his

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. SS9
authority over the Armenian Catholics, and, not
withstanding the constant opposition on the part
of the Armenian Catholic Bishop of Lwow in all
that related to the consecration of the priesthood,
the people were never afterwards interfered with
in the performance of their religious duties. For,
though with difficulty and notwithstanding preme
ditated malevolence, the Government could always
have Armenian Catholic priests. Thus two great
inconveniences were quashed : — proselytism on the
one hand, by Eoman priests in an empire pro
fessing the Greek faith ; on the other, the erec
tion of a useless new Latin diocese, which through
its exterior attraction was eminently qualified to
take the place of the Propagand and fulfil its
mission. The news of the measures of Sies
trencewitz arrived at Eome at the same moment in
which Youssoupoff took steps to secure the eleva
tion of the Archbishop to a Cardinalship, and failed
not to influence its refusal. Thus Siestrencewitz
sacrificed the highest dignity Eome could confer
to his convictions as a statesman.
The majority of the population in the Western
Provinces annexed to Eussia did not belong to the
Eoman Catholic religion, but to the United Greek
Confession. Catholicism had been violently im
posed on them, notwithstanding which a large pro-

390 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
portion of the population retained their faith,
though persecuted and pursued by the Latin clergy
and by the Polish government, and for centuries
had neither received nor expected succour from any
quarter but Eussia, whose people were of the same
religion and the same race. But political circum
stances had often hindered the Eussian government
effectually helping the Eussian martyrs of Lithuania.
Nevertheless, when occasions presented, exertions
were made in their favour. John III. Grand
Duke of Eussia, reproached Alexander of Lithu
ania for forcing the Eussians to embrace the Eoman
Creed, building churches in several cities exclusively
inhabited by members of the Greek Church, and
complained that the Latin clergy obliged them to
apostatise. The Czarine Sophia, comprehending
all the advantages Poland would receive through a
Eussian aUiance at a period when the Turks
menaced that country, insisted that a clause should
be specially inserted in the treaty she concluded
with that power, 6th May, 1686, at Moscow, by
which the Eussian Lithuanians should be secured
the full and free right of worship according to con
science. But treaties, intercessions, and promises were
vain. Only force could withstand Eoman fanati
cism, and the state of Eussia at this time did not

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 391
permit this. In vain the Eussian ministers at
Warsaw interfered for their co-religionists — in vain
they supported their petitions on the fact of special
clauses in treaties, confirming religious liberty to
tho people — they were informed that Eussia was
not permitted to interfere in the affairs of Poland,
as if the Lithuanians were slaves. They were
told, that according to the laws, the king himself had
no right to order the lowest noble to do anything
contrary to the constitution — that every noble was
the master of his own estates, and might do as he
chose, but that as for the United Greeks their
ecclesiastical affairs depended entirely on Eome.
By the treaty concluded between Sophia and Poland,
four dioceses were preserved in Lithuania : Luck,
Peremyse, Lwow, and White Eussia. OriginaUy
there were nine Greek sees in the country, but
contrary to this treaty only one remained up to the
time of the Emperor Peter — that of White Eussia,
— the other three were given to United Greeks, as
weU as the greater portion of their convents and
their churches, and the parishioners were violently
converted to the Union. Peter interfered in favour
of the Greeks in Lithuania, but unfortunately not
with that power which carries conviction. When
Augustus II. received the crown of Poland, the
Eussian troops had hardly time to quit the country

392 ROMANISM TN RUSSIA,
when they were sent against the Swedes. One
would suppose from his position vis-a-vis the affairs
of Poland, that the voice of the Czar would have
been attended to ; but we find in the year 1718
that he complains in an epistle written to this
king, that his intercession in favour of the Eus
sians had not preserved the Greek bishoprics,
which contrary to treaties had been changed into
United Greek Sees, and that the Eussians were
violently converted contrary to all the principles of
international right. " The human conscience,"
he says, "rests with God only, and no sovereign
has a right to proselytise by violence." He de
manded that the Eussians should enjoy their faith,
and not be forced to embrace' the Union against
their will. Again in 1720 the Emperor reiterated
his demands, and the same year Augustus II.
granted the free exercise of the Greek faith in
Lithuania. But the edicts of the Kings of Poland
were rarely executed, and the people remained as
in past times, subject to their ancient yoke, Peter,
who after the taking of Nisztadt was declared
Protector of the Eussians in Lithuania, believed it
his duty to address himself directly to the Pope,
and deputed the Jesuit Priamo, who was returning
from China through Eussia to Italy, to carry a
letter from Count Golowkin, written by order of the

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 393
Emperor to Cardinal Spinola in 1723 ; in which
having forcibly manifested the persecutions en
dured by the Eussians, he begged him to put a
curb on the provocations of the Polish clergy : to
consider that existing treaties secured the Eussians
from Polish persecution ; but that notwithstand
ing, it was repeated and continued ; although
in his own dominions, the Emperor bound by no
concordat in favour of Eoman Catholics, permitted
them to buUd churches and enjoy tho Catholic
faith freely. Count Golowkin added, that if this
just demand produced no result, the Emperor
would be obliged, to his own great regret,
to withdraw those privileges from the Eoman
Catholic communities in his empire. Priamo, at
the same time received a memorandum of the
latest despatch from the Eussian ambassador at
Warsaw, detailing the sufferings of the people of
Lithuania. " They imprison the Eussian priests,"
it is said therein, " which has before been repre
sented to the Pope, simply because they refuse to
join the Union. They tie their hands and whip
them ; they bind them quite naked to stakes ; they
cut off their hmbs and execute other horrors ; the
Jesuits invade the convents and carry away the
images venerated by the Greek people; disperse
their funeral processions, and celebrate this ser-

'394 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
vice as they themselves choose, breaking the
crosses." Such violence, at which the heart turns
sick at the recital, moved not Eome the Christian.
The Pope replied* by pretending that this informa
tion was incorrect and incomplete, and prolonged
the affair so long by requesting enlightenment on
various points, that at last it ended in nothing.
But the facts were too glaring to admit of denial.
The successors of Peter the Great interfered in the
same cause. Catherine I., Anne, Elizabeth, and
Peter III. all entreated the Kings and Diets of
Poland to stop these shameful persecutions, but in
vain. The Eussian martyrs were abandoned to
themselves, but they defended their faith by patience
and long suffering ; by the development of their
ecclesiastical instruction — upon the basis of which
has since been founded the Academy of Kiew — and
by their fraternities which conferred inestimable
benefits during this bloody religious struggle. Only
those countries united to Eussia, such as Little
Eussia, enjoyed entire repose — countries in which
there was no trace of the Union or of Eomanism,
since their annexation to Eussia in the seventeenth
century. A writer at the close of this epoch
says : " Long ago one met with Cathohcs in those
«¦ Through the medium of the Nuncio at Warsaw, as well as
directly through the Polish Government.

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 395
countries bordering on Poland, at present there
are actuaUy none." In the time of Peter the Great
there were some Catholics in Smolensk, but the
number was extremely limited. They had neither
church nor clergy, and a priest from Moscow visite. d
them from time to time to celebrate the necessary
services of the Church and the requirements of
religion. It was from places in the vicinity of
Poland, — places already annexed, — that Eussia re
ceived her information as to the state of her co
religionists in Lithuania.
Under the reign of Catherine Eussia commenced
to take an active part in the affairs of the Greek
communities of Lithuania ; and from her accession
to the throne, the Empress devoted particular at
tention to the sufferings of her co-religionists
there. Assisted and sustained by Protestant
governments, she eventuaUy delivered the Faith
and the conscience of these people from the
frightful persecutions of the Eoman Catholic
clergy. Persecution had begun, as we have seen, with the
entry of Eomanism into Lithuania, and had con
tinued until, and been strengthened by, the Union;
but at the date 1717 it commenced to reach such
proportions, that towards the second half of the
eighteenth century, its crimes could be neither

396 ROMANISM IN EUSSIA.
justified or paUiated, and brought down upon their
authors a just and retributive vengeance.
At a time when Europe made gigantic strides
towards the disfranchisement of rehgious tyranny,
the Lithuanian Greeks were a prey to fanaticism
and bigotry. They were forbidden not only to
build, but even to repair their churches ; they were
deprived of the right of representation in the Diet,
and held ineligible for government situations.
Eoman Catholics exercised the censorship of eccle-
clesiastical Greek books, and professors of the
orthodox faith were constrained to pay tithe and
imposts to the Latin priesthood. They were
obhged to take part in rehgious Catholic proces
sions, and were judged before Eoman ecclesiastical
tribunals. Their monasteries, schools, seminaries,
and bishoprics were done away with by force. The
celebrated Bishop of White Eussia, George Konisky,
advocated the cause of the Lithuanian Greeks with
the Empress, but his representations were not
seconded by the Foreign Office, which first sent
them to be examined by the United Greek bishops,
thus retarding the march of affairs, and post
poning the solution of several important questions
indefinitely. The Empress comprehended at a
glance the true state of the case; secular ex
perience had demonstrated that the exchange of

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 397
diplomatic notes was not sufficient in transac
tions with the Court of Poland, more especially as
the royal power in that country failed in authority,
and also that persuasions and prayers produced
no effect in places where the Eoman clergy pre
dominated. The news having reached Eome that the Eussians
had presented memorials to demand the ameliora
tion of their co-religionists, Pope Clement XIII. in
stantly requested lung Stanislas Augustus to make
no change in then favour;* and when it became
evident that something must be done for them, as a
Diet had been caUed for the regulation of the affairs
of Dissenters, this Pope addressed a very violent
epistle to the king, in which, amongst other things,
he said that if he accorded any privileges to the
Catholics he would let the wolves enter the Lord's
flock, that he would sully his name, and that his
reign would be marked in history as the epoch of
the decadence of Catholicism, during which aU the
restrictions of the rights of Dissenters — restrictions
made for the benefit of the Holy Church, and which
had been acquired by the arduous labour of several
centuries, had been abrogated. At the close of
his letter he said, " Will you be with or against the
* Letter written on parchment, dated 18th April, 1767. See
Archives pr. of Moscow.

398 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Christ who has said, ' Those who are not with Me
are against Me ?' "
Expecting neither equity nor justice, and seeing
that no Christian pity was to be hoped for on the
part of the Chief of Eoman Christianity, Catherine
resorted to the only means in her power to succour
the Eussians of Lithuania. Prinqe Eepnin occu
pied Warsaw with his corps d'armee, and at the
commencement of 1768 the restrictions published
since the year 1717 against Dissenters were abro
gated, and they were permitted to construct and
repair their churches, to establish seminaries and
schools ; the clergy were liberated from tithes and
imposts, and from the jurisdiction of the bishops
of the United Greeks ; they were eligible for pubhc
offices, guaranteed liberty of conscience accord
ing to their faith, and all violent conversion to the
Union was interdicted. The Empress of Eussia, at
the same time, assumed the Protectorate of the
Eussians of Lithuania, and, dating from this epoch,
she interfered more actively in the affairs of Poland,
took part in the partition of that kingdom, and
greatly co-operated in its dissolution. The hatred
which the Poles bear to the memory of this Sove
reign is only too natural. Besides many treaties
and stipulations not respected by Poland, the
defence of the Eussians in Lithuania served as

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 399
a pretext, it is true, for Catherine to arrive at her
pohtical aim. But who furnished the pretext?
Who provoked the presence of Eussian troops on
Polish soU to guarantee, at the close of the
eighteenth century, rights of conscience inherent
in human nature — the right to worship God accord
ing to the ordinances of one's own church ? It
would have been a strange thing if Catherine had
been deaf to the complaints of her co-religionists in
a country bordering on her own powerful empire,
especially as experience had demonstrated that
fanaticism could only be combated by armed force.
Thus, amongst other causes leading to the destruc
tion of Poland, it was religious fanaticism that
contributed most powerfully to her partition, and
the Empress Catherine was only the instrument of
this destruction, forced to it, as she was, by politi
cal reasons, to save the tranquillity of her own
empire. The rights of the Eussians, recognised
by the Constitution of 1768, were confirmed in 1772,
but nevertheless they were constantly violated,
limited de facto. Thus, interment of the dead was
not permitted during the services which took place
ia the Catholic Church, bells were not allowed to
be rung, &c. These persecutions only ceased with
the annexation of the Western Provinces to Eussia.
It was then only that Lithuanians of the Greek

400 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
rite, and those United Greeks who had been
violently converted, found their aspirations and
then hopes realized by the intervention of Eussian
power. WhUe according the Eoman Catholic population
of her empire entire liberty of worship ; founding
for them dioceses ; — organizing and reforming then
clergy ; — Catherine did not forget her duties to her
subjects of the Greek faith in Western Eussia,
and effectually she fulfilled them. At the period
of the annexation of these provinces, the Greek
Sees, previously abohshed by Eome, commenced
to re-appear ; seminaries and schools were founded,
the clergy received proper treatment, and the Eus
sians having preserved their faith in the midst of
persecution and distress, were rewarded for then-
long suffering and great patience by hberty to live
and die in the faith of their forefathers, without
fearing persecution for their religious convictions.
The Government also directed its attention to
wards the position of the United Greeks, a people
occupying a false position, as belonging by their
dogmas to one Church and by their ceremonies to
another. The clergy of this confession not only
did not contribute to a complete fusion of their
flocks with the Eoman Church, but far from it, they
prolonged the transitory and abnormal state of the

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 401
Church, the causes of which were to be found in
the composition of the clergy— in the separation
existing between the regular and secular priest
hood— the first leaning to the side of Eomanism,
the other sustaining jealously traditions of the
Greek rite, and hindering the population from being
Eomanised. In the United Greek, as in the Greek Church,
there existed only one single monastic order,
founded on the Statutes of St. Basil the Great,
and denominated Basilians. But in its organiza
tion this fraternity only preserved the name, its
tendencies and its institutions being quite Eoman.
This last result was the work of the Jesuits. Soon
after the construction of the Union, the general of
the Jesuits, Aquaviva, obtained in 1613 authority
from Pope Paul V. for members of his Order to
enter this congregation, without demanding a special
permission. Once in the United Greek Convents,
the Jesuits began their reforms after their own
ideas. At the commencement of the seventeenth
century, Joseph William Eoutky having become
United Greek Metropohtan in 1617, convoked the
Archimandrites and the Priors of the Convents, and
proposed to establish a novitiate in one of the
monasteries, after the fashion of the Latin Convents,
and in another a school for the Latin sciences ; in
vol. i. 2d

402 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
short, to introduce the rules and monastic statutes
of the Eoman Catholic, Orders. He proposed the
election of a Superior who for the term of his office,
four years, should regulate all their affairs, and
establish uniformity of rules and costume as weU as
a similar ritual. Thus the United Greek BasUians
should don the costume of Latin Order. The
Superior was subordinate to the authority of the
Metropolitan, but the right of the diocesan bishops
to meddle with the convents was forbidden. Thus
the election of a Provincial, the institution of a
Novitiate, and the non-subordination of the con
vents to the episcopal jurisdiction, were all Papist
innovations, the only difference being that the Pro
vincial of the BasUians was reputed to be subject
to the Metropolitan. One may easily suppose that
this plan of Eoutky, decided on 4th October, 1G24,
met with approbation, and on the 10th August, 1G31,
Pope Urban VIII. gave it his sanction. As in the
course of time the Order of the Basilians became
more numerous, Pope Benedict XIV. separated them
in 1744 into two departments, Eussian and Lithua
nian, and commanded the Basihans to elect every
eight years, besides the Provincials, a general of the
Order with the title of Proto-Ai-chimandrite, a dig
nity unknown in the Eastern Church. This digni
tary was subject to the Nuncio at Warsaw.

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 403
Organised in this way, the Basilians founded
schools, then plan of instruction differing little
from that of the Jesuits. Their pupils were de
spatched to Eoman Catholic colleges to finish their
studies, — to Eome, Olmutz, Bronusberg, and Wilna.
They acquired considerable estates and founded
new convents, and in prosecuting their aim they
endeavoured to extirpate the Union of which they
formed no part, except in name and costume. In
reality this fraternity became a Eoman Catholic
Order, disdaining their confreres, the United Greeks,
and pluming themselves consequently on the esteem
and sympathy of the Eoman clergy, who gathered
them, as one may express it, into their lap, per
mitted them to participate in their rights and privi
leges, and treated them as equals. Therefore the
Basilians soon caught the spirit of the dominant
clergy. At the close of the last century, when public
opinion in Poland pronounced against the cupidity,
tyranny, and vices of the Eoman priesthood, the
BasUians were included in the general condemna
tion, and forced to fight for existence — for the pro
longation of their privileges. Forced as it were to
fight for their future, they addressed petitions to
the King, to the Diet, and to the Pope. The Diet in
1775 confirmed some of their requirements, and they
relied on Eome, whose faithful and docile servants
2d2

404 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
they had been, to protect them, and with whom,
through the General of their Order, they had
already direct relations. In 1785 Pope Pius VI.
addressed a petition to the King of Poland,
pressing him to defend the Order at the approach
ing Diet, as the brethren were protected by Eome
for their zeal in the cause of the Union, and not
to permit them to succumb under the animosity of
which they were the object. He reiterated this
petition in 1786. But if the BasUians merited the
animosity of the Poles, they yet more deserved that
of the people and the secular clergy of the United
Greek Confession. The monks treated the secular
priests of the Union with disdain, looking upon
them as beggars, as ignoramuses, as something
altogether inferior, though they were themselves
the authors of this poverty and ignorance. From
the bishops, who were in their hands, and who knew
the strength of the Order at Eome, they took all the
most important ecclesiastical functions, both in the
consistories and in the parishes, and profiting by
their power, deprived the secular clergy of then-
endowments ; both of those destined to the sup
port of schools and seminaries, as well as of the
churches. They thus deprived them of all means
of education, so that the secular priesthood was
composed of poor people, drawn from the lower

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 405
classes of the population. Their children were
made citizens, and later they even became pea
sants.* The Basilians treated the secular priests like
slaves ; they tied them, beat them, and mal
treated them in every way. Their arbitrary
violence against the parochial clergy attained such
a height, that at last Eome herself interfered in
defence of the United Greek priests. This inter
position certainly did not arise from sympathy with
their sufferings, but from the politic desire not to
ahenate them entirely, as the people would certainly
foUow their pastors, if, disgusted with their treat
ment, they seceded from Eomanism ; their num
ber too, surpassed the Basilians ; the churches
which they had were numerous, and their influence
over the people was incontestable. These con
siderations induced Benedict XIV. to write, in
1753, to the Metropolitan and bishops of the
United Greeks, in which he traced all these evils
to the ignorance of the secular clergy ; to the dis
dain which they showed them, that they never
rose to ecclesiastical preferments — situations re
served for the monks — from which they were
* The Constitution of 1764 authorised the Polish proprietors
to convert into serfs the children of the United Greek priests,
who at the age of fifteen years had not yet accepted a pro
fession.

406 ROMANISM IN EUSSIA.
debarred. The Pope therefore, to put an end
to such disorders, desired them to give places to
the secular priests, and by thus presenting an aim
for their ambition to render them more zealous.
Nevertheless, this prescription was not executed,
the Basilians remained the chiefs of the clergy
as before, and became towards the end of the
eighteenth century a thoroughly Latin Order, so
that Eoman Catholics and Poles entered the
fraternity, and in time surpassed the number of
United Greeks.
These Basilian monks, that is to say, those
by birth Latins, were generaUy elevated to the
dignity of bishops, and in this way aU the
administration of the United Greek Church cen
tred in the hands .of Eomanists. It is there
fore easy to understand the hatred of the low
United Greek clergy to the Order. To them
they attributed their abasement and their beggary ;
they regarded them as apostates of the United
Greek Church, hastening its overthrow ; and if
they kept sUence, it was because they were im
potent against so affluent an Order, supported by
riches, by pohtical privileges, as well as by the
Eoman Catholic and the Polish Government. The
people sided with the secular clergy, but it was
just at this epoch that they also were oppressed by

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 407
the priests. It was in this state of antagonism
and disorganisation in which the ecclesiastical
hierarchy seemed tending towards dissolution, that
the Eussian Government found the United Greek
population at the period of the progressive an
nexation of the Western Provinces to Eussia. It
was only natural that this union was ardently
desired by the people, who were more attached to
the Greek rites than to the Latin dogmas, which
were to them incomprehensible ; while the Greek
rites, celebrated in a language incomparably more
Eussian in its idiom than Polish, ensured then-
sympathy ; so that, according to aU probability,
the major part of the lower clergy waited with
greater impatience than the people, the advent of
Eussia, — that is to say, the greater part of the
secular priesthood looked to Eussia for deliverance
from Eoman Catholic persecution. The Basilians
only would gain nothing by a change of power, as
the loss of their privileges would be sensibly felt,
. and as they were for the greater part composed of
Poles they were evidently hostile to Eussia.
The population of White Eussia was principally
United Greek, under the authority of the Arch
bishopric of Polnek, whose Metropolitan Jason
.Smogorjewski remained in Poland. The Empress
Catherine provided for the administration of the

408 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
United Greek clergy of this district a particular
diocese, the regulations of which were based on
those applied to the Eoman Church. The secular
clergy as weU as the monastic orders were sub
ordinate to the bishops, and the same rules as
those laid down for the Church of St. Petersburg
were extended to them. This regulation abolished
the dignitv of General of the Order, and the re-
O v ¦>
unions of the chapter were rendered unnecessary.
But the Empress was in no hurry to name a bishop
to this diocese, for as we have seen, and as she
weU knew, the United Greek bishoprics were
nothing less than dioceses violently snatched from
the Eussians to give greater eclat to the Union ;
to serve in fact as another instrument in the hands
of the Propagand among the people of the Greek
Confession. For several years this diocese was
regulated by the Consistory, to the great displea
sure of the Pope and of the Metropolitan Smogor-
jewski, who, although remaining, would administer
it. The Empress, in 1782, replied to the complaints
and the pretensions of Eome thus : — " The Con
sistory instituted by us administers the diocese
confided by us with success and to our entire satis
faction ; we therefore see no reason to change this
administration, especially as we hear no complaints
from our subjects of this Confession ; so that

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 409
reports to the contrary are inexact." Count Czor-
nischeff, in the name of the Empress, announced
also to the Metropolitan Smogorjewski, through the
medium of the Governor-General of White Eussia,
that the nomination of an archbishop to a diocese
situated in the empire of Eussia, was solely an
affair of the imperial authority ; and that therefore
the intervention of any foreign ecclesiastic on the
subject of a vacant diocese, the consecration of the
priests and the general regidation of the Church,
was altogether out of place ; moreover, how could
he, after being made a citizen and prelate of
another State, serve at the same time two sove
reigns ? At length, the Empress, in 1784, selected
an archbishop for the United Greek See of Polock,
elevating Heraclius Lissowsky to this position, and
completely subordinating aU the convents and the
clergy to his administration.*
By this subordination the Basilians lost, so to
speak, their Eoman nationality. They both com
plained to Eome and revolted against the episcopal
authority. To end this disobedience some of them
were exiled, that is to say, in Poland, and at length
Prince Youssoupoff obtained, in 1785, a confirma
tion of their subjection to the archbishop appointed
by the Eussian Government ; this decree according
* Eeceuil des Lois, t. sxii., No. 16122.

410 EOMANISM IN RUSSIA.
him the power to make any changes he judged
necessary for a term of three years, conditionally
that such changes were not incompatible with the
doctrines of the Eoman Church. It is worthy of
remark that the prelate to whom they refused
obedience was a monk of their own order, who was
quite as much imbued with the exclusive and inde
pendent spirit that characterised the ecclesiastical
Latin communities as could be.
But the Basihans formed only a small part of
the United Greek population. The people them
selves, who had been torn from the orthodox faith
by cruel persecution, had nevertheless religiously
preserved the rites bequeathed to them by then-
fathers, and gladly hailed the authority of the
Eussian Government, from which for centuries
they had expected succour, and from whom they
had nothing to fear for their conscience. Nearly
all the lower clergy, closely allied as they were
by their manner of living and their language to the
people, detesting Eomanism and the clergy that
oppressed them, were always favourably disposed
to the Eastern Church. A religious movement,
antagonistic to the Union, had manifested itself in
the western districts, and had even spread into
provinces not then annexed to Eussia, the people
being disposed to abjure a faith distasteful to them.

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 411
This proceeded to such a height that the United
Greek Pohsh priests were obhged to exhort their
flocks to remain attached to the Union, and pub
hshed at the same time epistles containing re
proaches to those who made a difference between
the Liach religion and the Eussian religion, and
explained that the Union and Eomanism were the
same thing.*
But the Greek people, notwithstanding these
efforts to preserve them in a foreign fold, never
confounded their rites with the Latin ; and as to
then sentiments, they remained much more Eus
sian than Eoman. Then- return to the Orientrl
Chinch began with the annexation of the western
provinces — that is of White Eussia — when they
felt that they might and could caU themselves as
belonging to her without fear. If conversions to
the frith of their ancestors were net more rapid
throughout the country, it must be attributed to
the influence of the Jesuits, without whom, un
doubtedly, the people would have thrown off the
Union ; and thus this Order, after having been
recognised and their authority estabhshed by the
Government, for a long time hindered the interior
reunion of Eussia with her co-religionists of the
* Epistle of Etienne Lewinsky, administrator ol the dicc;se
of Luck, 27th Aluy, 1733.

412 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
same race. But in the southern and eastern
countries, where the mass of the people had suc
ceeded in preserving their ceremonies even under
the domination of Poland, the Jesuits could never
firmly establish themselves, and the united Greeks
living in the middle of a Eussian population only
counted through compulsion as belonging to the
Union. The Government and the Eussian priest
hood" not only did not oppose this tendency to
return to the orthodox faith, but even encouraged
it. Victor, Archbishop of Isiaslaw and of Bresclaw,
in 1794, addressed the following epistle to the
united Greek people, furnished with the benediction
of the Holy Synod : —
"It is notorious that at an epoch unfortunate for
Eussia, a large portion of her subjects professing
the Orthodox faith, having been torn from then-
native country and subjected to the yoke of Poland,
soon experienced bitter persecutions for their faith.
All that the most refined cruelty could invent was
devised to turn the children of Christ from the true
faith, and when these means faded of success,
violence constrained them to a union with Eome.
But the impenetrable decrees of Providence put am
end to the sufferings of a people belonging to
orthodoxy, who were for that cruelly persecuted
by the Poles. The hand of the Most High has

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 413
delivered them from foreign domination and re
instated them under the beneficent sceptre of
then true sovereign. The Empress Catherine II.
having their material and eternal happiness in
view, has reunited these people of the same
race under one sceptre, and instituted for them
a legal hierarchy, nominating us to this holy
ministry. In the quality of pastor, on whom
has devolved the mission of caring for the souls
of our flocks, we invoke you, in the name of
the Holy Evangelists, of whatever age or station
you may be — all belonging to our diocese, whose
fathers, grandfathers, or youreelves may have
turned from orthodoxy to the Union — to return
within the pale of the Eastern Church. That no
fear or apprehension on the subject of such con
versions be entertained by the timid or the waver
ing, we declare that all menaces or false insinuations
of the forcible separation of these provinces from
the Empire of Eussia are vain, and that no human
power can destroy their political union with their
brothers and co-religionists. No Eoman Catholic
authority need be feared, neither the power of
Poland ; for we know that our august sovereign,
though protecting foreign religions, and according
to every one hberty of conscience with the pro
fession of the dogmas inherited from his fathers,

414 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA
never tolerates that any one passing to the Orthodox
Church, whose grandfathers, fathers, or they them
selves shall have been constrained by fraud or
violence to abandon their primitive creed, and
would now return to it, shall suffer, and has there
fore provided a legal support to which they can
apply. We ourselves, depending on the doctrine
of the Saviour and the apostles, and convinced of
the exceUence of the Greek Church, glorified since
the time of Christ by the holiness of its dogmas
and the miracles of the Fathers, exhort you, as
your pastor, to enjoy the fuU liberty of the ortho
dox confession which has from time immemorial
animated and exalted your ancestors, as well as
many among yourselves. Persecution is past : aU
constraint on matters of religion has become im
possible. Turn to the bosom of the Church your
Mother, enjoy a quiet conscience in faith and
truth, which will lead you to a state of divine
grace, that each of you, in professing the doctrines
of the Orthodox Church, may fulfil his obligations
of loyalty towards the sovereign of the State,
according to his social position."
It is evident that the people, though attached to
their rites, preserved a mixed religion, influenced
no doubt by the fear which the Polish nobility and
the Eoman Catholic priests had imbued in them,

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 415
both of whom continually menaced them that then-
country would again return to Poland, and that
then they should be punished as apostates. But
from the moment that the Government and the
Church together enlightened them on the impossi
bility of such a return, and dissipated all false
apprehensions, nearly all the united Greeks of
Podolia, the greater part of Volhynia, and a large
proportion of the population of the Government of
Minsk and in White Eussia, consisting in all of
about a million of souls, re-entered the Eussian
Church, headed by their priests, who always had
a penchant for orthodoxy. No violence obliged
this movement ; on the contrary, a ukase ex
pressly forbade everything of the kind, and the
priests who wished to remain in the Union wore
given the liberty of choice either to emigrate
abroad or reside in the empire ; in" the latter case,
they and their famihes should receive pensions
from the Government.
Those parishes of the United Greeks that re
turned to the Eussian Church, were incorporated
with the Greek dioceses. After the second
partition of Poland the following United Greek
bishoprics enteredthe empire: the metropolitan
bishopric, the archbishopric of Polock, part of which
had been already annexed conjointly with White

41G EOMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Eussia, and the bishoprics of Pinsk, Luck, and
Brest. In 1795 these bishoprics were abolished as un
necessary, and the few United Greek churches that
remained, as well as the convents, were subjected
to the jurisdiction of Lissowsky, Archbishop of
White Eussia, who should regulate them on the
same conditions as those of his own diocese ; that
is to say, all the clergy without exception were
subordinate to him, and the independent Monastic
authority of the Basilians was annulled. The
Metropolitan Eostocky, the bishops of Luck,
Levinsky, Gorbazky of Pinsk, Mlozky of Brest,
as well as the suffragans of the Metropolitan, were
all pensioned by the Government. The latter re
ceived six thousand roubles per annum, the bishops
three thousand each annually ; but with regard to
Eostocky, who had been educated at Eome, it was
stipulated that he should reside either there, or in
St. Petersburg, but not in any of the newly annexed
provinces. The other bishops were left liberty of
choice to reside abroad, or in Eussia ; and the
ecclesiastical funds and properties were placed
under the administration of the Government.
The Basilians, the most zealous fanatics of the
Union, were not at heart United Greeks, but
Eoman Catholics. They themselves would never

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 417
join the Greek Confession, and their numerous
convents were altogether superfluous in a country
where they had no congregations. They were also
nuisances to the Orthodox clergy, as the only aim
of the Order was the propagation of Popery, and
the conversion of the lower classes. The Empress
Catherine having herself examined the catalogue of
their convents, ordered those to be closed that were
useless either for rehgious or educational purposes :
the monks to be transferred to the other convents
of the saihe Order in Eussia.
The Empress had indeed a right to say of the
United Greeks, " Having broken the chains that
weighed so heavUy on the conscience of the
population professing the orthodox rehgion, we do
not doubt that the other people of the same race
wUl foUow this salutary example." A few years
longer of the rule of this sovereign, and the Union
had ceased to exist, not that the Government sup
pressed it by violence, but neither justice nor obliga
tion required the support of this half church,
which deprived of artificial foundations would con
sequently faU of itself.
In truth, it could hardly be expected that a
people who had endured so many sufferings for
the faith of their forefathers, should hold to a
Church and a priesthood that had been imposed on
vol. I. 2 E

418 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
them by violence and persecution, especially as
they now formed part of an empire where the
orthodox faith was dominant. The majority of the
United Greek priests, condemned and scorned by
the omnipotent Latins, would they not also desire
to re-enter the pale of the Oriental Church ? Con
stantly in the midst of their people who were
devoted to them, would they not encourage and
imitate them ? It was not a new religion which
they embraced, they only returned to that for
which their forefathers had shed their blood and
sacrificed their hves. The BasUians only formed,
so to speak, a sect among the United Greeks —
they alone remained faithful to the Union in the
Southern part of Western Eussia ; but two years
sufficed to dissolve this sect in these districts,
so that it soon became impossible to distinguish
either those who remained faithful to the Greek
faith, or those who returned to it. This reli
gious movement was so natural and so logical
that Europe, rarely charitable towards Eussia,
found httle to say against it. Even in our own
days there are bigoted Eoman Catholics who some
times avow that it was the sympathy and attach
ment of the people to the Eastern Church and
not violence, which diminished the number of the
adherents of the Union. The secular clergy, as

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 419
we have said, always retained a penchant for the
Eussian faith, and exercising a great influence on
the masses, were the principal instruments in
assisting the Greek bishops to draw them into the
bosom of the Church. But the most striking point
is, not that a million and a half of United Greeks
entered the Orthodox confession in the space of two
years, but that half a century later we stUl find
under the sceptre of Eussia a very numerous
population professing an abnormal faith, which
holds that there is very httle between a Church
from which they are separated, and that to which
they belong by name. One can only be astonished
that civilised Europe knew so exceedingly httle
about this half Church — about the state and spirit
of its clergy — the relations between it and the
people of the orthodox creed — its composition, its
regulations and its aim — that its definite abolition
under the reign of the Emperor Nicholas should
have been interpreted as an arbitrary and iniquitous
act of an autocratic government. If Catherine had
not preserved the Jesuits in White Eussia — if her
useful reign could have been prolonged, and the
number of the BasUians diminished — if the Eussian
government had only thrown aside the pernicious
and arbitrary influence of the Latin clergy, the
Union, as we have sufficiently demonstrated, would
2e2

420 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
Lave been an impossibility. The aim of this
system was Eomanism ; but from the moment that
it was dissevered from its leader, and that the mass
of the people with their clergy separated from it,
the Union had nothing to do but return to the
Greek fold. Having attained no positive result,
though forcibly driven towards such, it was only
natural that it returned to the point from which it
had departed. Even by its very spirit it showed
a state of transition that would, sooner or later,
ensure its disappearance. Eome had for two cen
turies laboured to produce and support it, and in
two years its traces had vanished in -Podolia and
the Volhynia.
Western Eussia numbered among its population
many different sects (not counting the Jews),
Catholics, Greeks, and United Greeks, ordinarily
inhabiting the villages and the towns. But
Samogitia and the western district of Lithuania
which bordered on Poland, presented an exception,
as nearly aU the people belonged to the Cathohc
faith ; even in Podolia, where after the conversion
of the United Greeks mostly all the population
adhered to the Eussian creed, some Calvinists who
had resisted and survived the persecutions by the
Jesuits and the Pohsh government, were found
scattered over Samogitia, and even possessed some

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 421
churches at Wilna and Sluck. The people of these
countries, living in common, notwithstanding re
hgious differences, were of the same nationality —
generaUy spoke the same language and inter
married. This act of social life offered the Eoman
priesthood a new instrument for conversion : an in
strument much more efficacious than offered by
the mere requirements of common interests and
mutual wants, which in most cases take precedence
over rehgious attachments. The Eoman clergy
therefore forbade mixed marriages, except in cases
where the non-Cathohc consented to join the
Eoman Church. The Empress Catherine put an
end to this manifest oppression, which was heavily
felt in a country whose geographical position often
rendered these marriages necessary. In 1768 a
treaty was concluded between Eussia and Poland,
in which it was stipulated that mixed marriages
between Greeks, Cathohcs, United Greeks, and
Calvinists should not be hindered, and that the
nuptial benediction should be pronounced by the
priest of the confession to which the bridegroom
belonged. Should a Cathohc priest refuse to
sanction such a marriage, the religious ceremony
could be accomplished by a Dissenter, and the
union would be legal. As for the chUdren of such
marriages, the sons should be baptized and educated

422 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
in the faith of their fathers, the daughters in that
of the mother. But the nobles were permitted the
right of making this point the subject of a marriage
contract. These regulations were established also
for the inhabitants of these countries after their
annexation to Eussia.
Thus the most important questions relating to
the administration of the Eoman Catholic clergy,
were solved and resolved by the Empress Catherine
II. The Eussian government finding itself for
the first time vis-a-vis a priesthood whose hierarchy,
though demorahzed and disorganized, was strongly
supported by a numerous population professing the
same faith, proved itself firm, independent, and
just, and exhibited a discrimination that would do
honour to a government habituated for a long
series of years to such questions. There can be
httle doubt that Catherine based her enactments for
the Cathohc Church upon those of neighbouring
States professing Catholicism, particularly Austria,
but she never followed her model in that which de
served to be set aside. The interior constitution
and the interests of Eussia would, however, have
prevented her modelling her reforms solely after
the patterns of a State, whose dominant religion
was directly antagonistic to that of her own
empire. Adopting a rational system, Catherine

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 423
designed with precision the principal basis of this
administration ; marked the points where the State
might possibly come in contact with the Church,
and strongly determined their respective limits.
Time interfered to prevent the accomphshment of
aU her designs, as it was only a httle before her
death that Eussia recovered the provinces so
violently wrenched away from her ; but upon nearly
every single head the Empress had indicated her
opinions, and marked those points which most
merited attention. The relations of the govern
ment with the Court of Eome were put upon a
stable and positive footing, and her ordinances on
this question became for Eussia what the maxims
of the Liberty of the Galhcan Church became for
France. The organization of the hierarchy, traced
by her, gave force and influence to the ecclesiastical
power, abohshed the arbitrary wUl of the Latin
clergy, and consequently purified the Church from
the vices of its priesthood ; vices that in the last
days, of Poland, had contributed to debase this
Church in the eyes of the people and weaken their
religious sentiments. It was with this aim that
the Empress intended the secularisation of the
ecclesiastical estates, in the possession of which
the monks hved in luxury and idleness, thus
obliging them to become instead, the useful mem-

424 ROMANISM IN RUSSIA.
bers of the Church. The clergy which untU then,
forgetting their vocation and their vows, thought
only of pohtics and worldly affairs, were placed by
her in their proper position and civilized. By
confirming hberty of conscience to her Cathohc
subjects, instituting dioceses, and favouring and
promoting ecclesiastical educational institutions,
Catherine put a stop to Eoman proselytism among
other sects, particularly in that of the established
religion. Fanaticism and violence, under the
name of religion, were interdicted, and every one
was furnished with the opportunity of worshipping
and living according to the precepts of his faith. To
the Greek Church she restored the faithful, torn from
her by brute force ; in a word, Catherine not only
changed the administration of the Eoman Cathohc
Church in her empire, but completely re-organised
the priesthood, without trespassing on the dogmas
of their faith. She turned them from a pohtical
institution — a position they had arrogated to them
selves, and in which they had brought much evil
upon Poland — to their true vocation — the fulfilment
of duties they had sworn to undertake and never
accomplished ; and she afforded them instead the
means of being useful to religion and their flocks,
to the populations who required to find in their
pastors, spiritual fathers and not politicians. If

REIGN OF THE EMPRESS CATHERINE II. 425
in this she discontented the priesthood, she at least
satisfied the people. Among such reforms, faults
are inevitable, and we cannot pass over in sUence
the principal mistake of this great sovereign,
which was the protection she afforded the Jesuits ;
but her profound wisdom, and the political mea
sures she planned and carried out compensate for
this unfortunate error. Let us not forget at the
same time that the regeneration of the Cathohc
Church in Eussia, whose decadence manifested it
self at the close of the last century, was inau
gurated by a sovereign who did not belong to it,
but who professed a creed which even in ' her own
time had been persecuted by Catholicism in
Poland. It was this very Church that had crueUy
trampled on her own, which some years later she
forced to be purified, and raised from the degrada
tion into which its servants had plunged it.

END OF VOL. I.

VOL. I.

2f

'$& %M&&

i£^i**kfr^

IfiSfT

<: «E«aS