episcopal synod, and sanctioned by the whole body of Eastern patriarchs. In the next year (1721), the Holy Governing Synod of Russia was instituted, and solemn- ly opened by an address of its vice-president, archbish- op Theophanes. Even those who blame Peter for sub- jecting a Church formerly enjoying the fullest amount of self-government to the rule of the State readily ad- mit that its first members were the best men of the Russian Church, and generally esteemed on account of their character and ability. While the abolition of the patriarchate and the establishment of the Holy Synod fixed the position of the Russian Church among the large national divisions of Christianity, other measures led to the separation from it of a large number of ultra-coiiserv- atives, who could not bear the idea of seeing the small- est change in the holy faith of their forefathers. Peter resolutely continued the work of patriarch Nikon, and as tlie latter had introduced many innovations from Constantinople, Peter introduced new customs from the West. Thus, on the opening of the 18th century the emperor decreed that henceforth the year should no longer begin on the 1st of September and be dated fTom the creation of the world, but that the Christian a?ra should be adopted and the new year begin on the 1st of January. Still more irritating for the uncompromis- ing opponents of ecclesiastical reforms was Peter's en- deavor to assimilate his countrymen to the West by for- bidding the use of the beard. The Eastern Church had shown a strong attachment to the beard. Michael C;e- rularius had laid it down in the 11th century as one of the primary differences between the Greek and the Latin Church, and " to shave the beard had been pro- nounced by the Council of Moscow in the 17th century as a sin which even the blood of the martyrs coidd not exjiiate." So determined was the opposition which was made to this innovation that even Peter, with all his energy, quailed before it. The nobles and the gentry, after a vain struggle, had to give way and be shaved; but the clergy were too strong for the czar, and the magnificent beards which the Russian priests are known to wear to the present day are the expressive proof of the ecclesiastical victory they gained in this particular over the reforming czar. The implacable enemies to the reforms of Nikon and Peter sullenly withdrew from the communion of the Established Church, and under the name "Raskolniks" (Separatists), or, as they call themselves, "Starovertzi" (Old Believers), have contin- ued separate ecclesiastical organizations to the present day.
The reigns of most of the successors of Peter during the 18th century have left no marked influence upon the progress of the Russian Church. None of them contin- ued the work of political reform with such energy as Catharine II. She was a friend of Voltaire, but did not deem it expedient to open to the deist ic tendencies of Western Europe a road to the National Church of her dominions. During her reign, Ambrose, the learned archbishop of Moscow, came to a violent death (1771) by the populace of that city because he had ordered the removal of a miraculous picture to which the people flocked in immense numbers at a time of frightful pes- tilence. See Ajibrose. "I send you the incident," wrote the empress Catharine in one of her letters to Voltaire, " that you may record it among your instances of the effects of fanaticism." One of his successors to the see of Moscow, Plato, has attained outside of Russia a greater celebrity than any other Russian bishop. He was the favorite both of the civilized Catharine II and for a time of her savage son, Paul, and in the last years of his life was the trusted comforter of Alexander I in the terrible year of the French invasion. Alexander I made noble efforts to raise the educational standard of the Russian people, and thus contributed much to the improvement of the National Church. Schools were established on all the lands belonging to the crown, im- provements made in the theological seminaries, and the respect of the ijcopkfor the priestly character strength-
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rned by exempting the priests from the knout. For a time, Alexaniler sliowed himself very favorable to tlie principles of evangelical Protestantism ; and when the IJritish and Foreign Bible Society was formed in Lon- don, Alexander recpiested the society to establish a branch in St. Petersburg. In the labors of the Rus- sian Bible Society he took a warm interest. At his request, the Holy Synod prepared a translation of the New Test, into Russian, and into almost all the other languages spoken in the Russian empire. The em- peror's inclination towards Biblical theology and ex- perimental religion was greatly strengthened by the in- fluence which in 181-1 the pious and enthusiastic baroness von Kriidener gained over him ; but in the latter years of his life the emperor yielded to the growing ecclesi- astical opposition to the Bil)le Society, and it was final- ly abolished under Nicholas I in 182(5. In the same year, Philaret, formerly bishop of Reval and archbishop of Iver, was appointed archbishop of Moscow. He has been called the most gifted and influential archbishop of Russia since Nikon. He revived in the Church the spirit of austere asceticism, inflamed the religious en- thusiasm of the people in the wars against the Moham- medan Turks and the Catholic Poles, vigorously aided the emperor in preparing the abolition of Russian serf- dom, and made valuable contributions to the theological literature of the Russian Church. During the reign of Alexander I, the Russian Church began to make earnest efforts for the conversion of the INIohammedan and pagan subjects of the vast empire, and inducements were held out to those who might become converts to Christiani- ty. The missionary zeal thus awakened was greatly strengthened during the reign of Nicholas I (1825-55), when schemes were formed and extensively supported for the consolidation of all the tribes of the vast empire into one language and one religion. The Armenian Church, which, in consequence of the conquest of a part of the Persian territory bj' Russia, saw the seat of its ecclesiastical head, the catholicos of Etchmiadzin, jilaced under Russian rule, showed itself disinclined to being incorporated with the Russian Church ; but the United Greeks of the formerly Polish provinces, who during Polish rule had been induced to recognise the supremacy of the pope, yielded to the influences brought to bear upon them by the Russian government. These exertions were begiui as soon as Catharine II had ac- quired the possession of the Polish provinces, and it has been calculated that during the reign of this empress about seven millions of United Greeks joined the Rus- sian Church. Little was done for this purpose during the reigns of Paul and Alexander I, but Nicholas I re- sumed these efforts with extraordinary vigor; and in 1839 the bishops and clergy of the United (ireek Church of Lithuania and White Russia were induced at the Syn- od of Polotsk to declare in favor of a iniiou with the Rus- sian Church. Only one United Greek diocese — Chelm, in Poland — remained in communion with Rome until about 1877, when the majority of its priests and people were reported to have likewise been received into the Russian Church. See Roman Catholic Church.