The " Orthodox " Church in Constantinople has taken a
strong step. The (Ecumenical Council has refused to fill up the Patriarchate, and has closed all churches of the Greek communion throughout Constantinople, Macedonia, and Dircon. It has, moreover, called on all Archbishops of the faith to close their churches also, so that the Orthodox may throughout Turkey announce themselves as under persecu- tion. The ostensible cause of this measure is the con- duct of the Sultan in recognising Bulgarian Bishops in Macedonia ; but the real object is to reassert the eccle- siastical immunity of Christians from Mussulman inter- ference, and to compel the Czar, who must show himself Orthodox, to come effectively to their aid. This quarrel may grow speedily to great importance, for, though the Sultan is cautious, there is a party round him which would much like to meet this kind of resistance by a few sentences of "exile to Jeddah,"—that is, of death in a place outside inquiry. If the fanatical party prevails, all Russia will soon be in a flame of excitement.
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