apprehension, from the overwhelming fury of the Turkish assailants, who were perpetually advancing upon them; so now the faded representatives of the Muhammeds and Bajazets stand aghast at the colossal power of the Russian Empire, which ever threatens to crush them.

Their very internal revolutions are a striking example of retributive justice accomplishing its object. The reiterated ruin inflicted by Pashas and other Governors, contending among themselves and with their Sovereign; a large portion of their territory now wrested from their hands, and its population either exiled or destroyed; the Janissaries, who had been chiefly instrumental in the massacre of so many Christians, now receiving the sword of vengeance in their own breasts-these, and innumerable other facts, add their testimony to the truth of the declaration, The kingdom which will not serve me shall perish.

Nor is it the capricious energies of the present Sultan which will save from total eclipse the waning crescent. It is nothing but the convulsive struggle of death, which has given being to late efforts. A nation so intimately and fully pervaded by barbarism can never arise to that strength of civilization which Christianity alone imparts.

CHAP. III.

RELIGION OF THE MODERN GREEKS.

Primitive and Modern Christianity of the East contrasted— Inadequate views of human danger-Greek PreachersJustification Regeneration Worship of the Virgin Prayers addressed to her-Titles given her-Practical confidence in her assistance, evidenced during an action with Pirates-Worship of Saints-St. Spiridion and other Patron Saints of the Ionian Islands-Singular circumstance connected with the Worship of the Archangel Michael at Colossæ-Facility with which new Saints are worshipped— Two Spezziotes martyred at Scio, and sainted-Modern Greek Martyrdoms.

THE religious condition of Turkey presents a view of distress which, to a Christian mind, will be more painfully affecting than the very calamities which have just been described. The Christians of these lands were once orthodox, without any question of the propriety of that term; their Churches were formed by the Apostles themselves; and their doctrine and discipline emanated from Divine Inspiration. They were addressed in terms of this import: Ye are a chosen

generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should shew forth the praises of Him, who hath called you out of darkness, into His marvellous light. Amidst revolting scenes of idol-worship and unrestrained licentiousness, they constituted, to use the simile of Scripture, a spiritual temple, formed of living stones, consecrated to the service of the True God: Ye are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.

With what sacred awe, with what feelings of solemn reverence, do we contemplate the spectacle of whole communities described by the Inspired Historian in such language as this: And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul!—and, Then had the Churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. (Acts iv. 32. and ix. 31.)

But for age after age Christianity has worn a very different aspect. Doctrine has become corrupt, discipline has disappeared; morality is no more. Apostacy is stamped upon the Christian Churches. Where idol-temples once fell, and where they still attest, by their ruins, the resistless force of primitive Christianity, the visible temple

of God has fallen; and great has been the fall of it! So total has been the demolition, that the very language of Our Saviour, descriptive of the ruin of another Temple, has become too applicable to the edifice;-not one stone left upon another, that is not thrown down.

It is my intention to give a brief sketch of the doctrinal opinions which are prevalent amongst the Greeks and, in doing so, it is by no means my plan to enter into deep research, or to cite numerous authorities. I shall principally confine myself to what I have personally observed, and to the results of my intercourse with individuals.

INADEQUATE VIEWS OF HUMAN DANGER.-The Sacred Writings represent the condition of man, as one not merely exposed to the danger of ruin, but as actually undone. They inform us, not that man will perish unless he do, or abstain from doing, [certain supposed actions, but that his eternal ruin is certain, unless he experience a deliverance from the condition in which his nature has placed him.

I never recollect to have met with a Greek who appeared to have a correct view of this subject. The ideas which prevail are a counterpart to what is common amongst the more thoughtless

of our own countrymen. Man, they imagine, is a sinner. As a sinner, he is certainly exposed to a considerable degree of danger. But if his life be, on the whole, free from vicious actions, and if he practise moral virtues-if he believe in the doctrines of his Church, and observe the ordinances of his religion-he has good reason to expect salvation. Such are the indefinite views of religion, which, in too many Protestant, as well as Greek and Roman-Catholic countries, seem to take possession of human minds, rather than to be the acquisition gained by the mind after previous and careful examination. The consequence is such as might be expected. The immortal spirit resigns itself to a fatal and awful security. The inquiry is not heard, What must I do to be saved? Danger is not apprehended; and salvation is not sought.

That individuals in the Greek Church have been deeply solicitous for eternal safety, is undoubted; but that they have been truly enlightened to right views of the actual ruin to which the fall of Adam has reduced our nature, may be questioned. The Greek preachers can dwell with great force and pathos on the awful considerations connected with an eternal existence. They summon their hearers to the bar of Final