NOT only in the political but also in the religious sphere the terrible collapse of Russia has caused bitter disappointment. We had counted so much on the establishment of a closer relation with Russian Christianity. . . That hope has been frustrated, or, we would rather say, deferred by the internal discord of the Russian State. In the meantime, there are many among the Christian folk of Great Britain who continually offer prayers for the good estate of the Russian community. Of this we have proof in a truly touching “Message from the Christian People of Great Britain to the Christian People of Russia”. It is signed by representatives of the Church, various religious bodies, Labour, and the professions. . . They say in their Message that they have been impressed with the wonderful attachment of the Russian people to Christ, and assure them that the attitude of British Labour to religion is so favourable that “we may even hope that soon Labour will become the very backbone of our British Christianity.” Much might have been hoped from a closer relation between the two communities, either learning from the other, and Russia in particular sending to us some of her “far-famed saints and mystics to talk with us of the glory of Christ as seen in their spiritual vision”. But this is not yet to be: only this message must suffice to convey to our Russian brethren “the spirit of our united unconquerable brotherhood”.

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