3 AUGUST 1867, Page 3

The Czar has this week abolished a strange custom recently

described by our Russian correspondent. The cure of souls in Russia has for centuries been hereditary. The son of a priest becomes a priest, or if he has only daughters, the eldest conveys the parish to her husband. Of course the priest is as little of a pastor as is well possible, but he is much linked with the peasantry, and the Government, to improve the character and diminish the popularity of the priesthood, have abolished its hereditary cha- racter. Henceforward the best candidate is to be appointed, -which, as nobody ever takes the office voluntarily, is a satisfac- tory reform.