The Bolsheviks have sent an insolent reply to the Archbishop
of Canterbury who, on behalf of the British Churches, had protested against the attack on the heads of the Orthodox Church and had proposed to send a small Protestant delegation to Russia. The Commissary who sent the reply did not challenge the Archbishop's statements, but made the silly and offensive suggestion that the " class solidarity " of the Anglican, Presby- terian and Nonconformist leaders was " directed against the labouring masses." The Archbishop, in a courteous and tem- perate answer, denied that he and his fellow-Christians had any political aims in their appeal on behalf of the Russian bishops and clergy. He reminded Moscow that, while many people here and in America were striving to renew friendly relations with the Russian people, the Bolshevik campaign against the Russian Church must make such efforts vain. The execution of Russian religious leaders—such as the much respected Metropolitan of Petrograd, who now lies under sentence of death—would, he said, cause widespread indignation and horror. The Archbishop's intervention has shown the Bolsheviks in the worst possible light.
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