EVILS OF PRIESTLY INFLUENCE.
THE following from the Examiner (Baptist) shows the evil of allowing a priesthood to have political influence in any country:— “It is said by those who are, or ought to be, acquainted with Russian affairs, that the real reason why the Czar does not prevent the persecution of dissenting Christians in his dominions is that he does not dare to anger the priests. In the present state of his dominions, the Greek Church is the one strong power on which he can rely. The civil service is undermined by Nihilism, and recent events have shown that the army has been seriously affected by the conspirators. The priesthood stand by him to a man thus far, but were he to make enemies of the priests by opposing them and granting a real measure of toleration to dissenters, he would lose his best friends. The Czar is personally in favor of toleration, and would grant it if he felt strong enough to do so, but the exigences of the political situation compel him to wink at the persecutions set on foot by the priesthood. This is, at any rate, a plausible explanation of facts that are notorious, including the Czar’s failure to keep his pledges of toleration even when informed of their violation by deputations especially waiting on him for that purpose.”