THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS PRAYING FOR HIS MOTHER.
Heretics or Schismatics care very little about contradicting themselves. It is of the nature of the iniquity of lying. The Anti de la Religion, of March 1, 1851, judiciously observes:
"It is well known that the Russian Church pretends not to admit the doctrine of Purgatory, which one of its principal prelates set down as 'a crude modern invention.' Nevertheless, the manifesto recently published by the Emperor Nicholas, on the death of his mother, the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Duchess of Nassau, concludes with these words: 'We are convinced that all our faithful subjects will unite their prayers with ours, for the repose of the soul of the deceased.' How are we to reconcile this request for prayers with the denial of Purgatory, coming as it does from the mouth of the supreme pontiff of the Church of Russia?"—"Christian Anecdotes."