he turns to the Church which, like his, acknowledges two sacraments as necessary to salvation."[1] Then Totūnǵī, having learned the right sort of patter for his audience, assured them that his object was to educate his people "on true scriptural principles." He implored them to provide his flock with copies of the unmutilated Word of God; and hoped that the money for this purpose would be entrusted to himself. He also received Communion in an Anglican Church from Mr. Craig. Great was the joy of the Anglicans at this reunion of Christendom. But then the fellow got arrested, was sent about his business, and finally, having exhausted the credulity of everyone over here, did go back to Syria. There he wanted to follow the example of Makarios Sammān and turn Orthodox. But they would not promise him a diocese; so he made an attempt to start a private little schism of his own at Aleppo. This came to nothing; finally the poor fellow came back to the Church, repented, did penance, and died a Catholic at Aleppo in 1874. His queer story is typical, and should be a warning to High Church enthusiasts. It is not always safe to believe Orientals who come here and say they are persecuted by the Pope because they want the pure Bible and two sacraments. It would also be wise to acquire some little knowledge of Eastern Christendom, so as not to talk nonsense about "the Church of Syria."
We have seen that, already under Theodosius VI, Propaganda had made the few Melkites of Egypt and Palestine subject to the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch (p. 203). Since then their number had increased. In 1836 Maximos III made a journey to both these lands, built churches, and left Patriarchal vicars at Cairo and Jerusalem. He showed great zeal in maintaining the Byzantine rite among his people there. There were many children of Byzantine parents who, for want of clergy of their own rite, had adopted that of Rome. Maximos insisted on their coming back to the custom of their fathers. Not all of them were willing to do so, after having accustomed themselves to Roman ways. Again there was a dispute; Propaganda in
- ↑ These "two sacraments" are the gem of the whole story. Poor Mr. Craig; and what monumental lies Totūnǵī must have told!
all the time; the Anglicans ought to have put their money on that man — if they had known anything about it. How far had Mr. Craig examined Totūnǵī's creed before committing himself to this assertion? As a matter of fact, his creed was exactly that of the Pope of Rome, though his morals were not. So Craig, like Caiaphas, was right for once.
