the
schools.'

"The man who told me this was the Commissionaire of Enlightenment
and Education."

On February 7, 1919, an appeal was sent to Pope Benedict XV, by the
Orthodox Greek clergy of that part of Russia which had not fallen a prey
to the Bolsheviki. It was signed by Sylvester, Archbishop of Omsk,
President of the Supreme Administration of the Orthodox Church, and by
other members of the same administration. This letter implored the Holy
Father to deign to take into consideration the conditions existing in
Russia. It exposed a list of crimes and outrages, cities sacked,
churches profaned and pillaged, more than twenty bishops and more than
one hundred priests assassinated, the victims being of every kind. Some
of them before they were put to death had their arms and legs cut off,
while others were buried alive. Nuns were violated; the socialization of
women was proclaimed; rein was given to unbridled passions; everywhere
there was nothing but famine, death and misery. The following message is
also noteworthy:

"With deep grief, Venerable Father, we expose to you the unhappy
conditions in which millions of Russians of true Russia are
reduced. Relying on that unity which makes all mankind one, and on
the strength of Christian fraternity, we hope, Venerable Father,
that we may count on your compassion as representing the Christian
Church, and trust that your flock will be informed of what is going
on, and that in common with you they will offer fervent prayers to
Him, in whose hands are both life and death, for those who in the
northeast of Europe are being made, because of their love of
Christ, Martyrs of the faith in the twentieth century."

"Dyelo Naroda," an organ of the Socialists-Revolutionists of Russia, in
April, 1918, stated that the situation of the church and clergy was
horrible. "Everything pertaining to them is being spit upon and
profaned. People, with rifles on their shoulders and their hats on,
often enter the church and right there question the clergymen and arrest
priests, at the same time mocking the religious feelings of the praying
crowd. Many churches have been closed as a result of the edict
concerning the separation of Church and State."

"The New York Times," April 11, 1919, published the following special
cable despatch concerning the religious persecution:

"London, April 10.--The Chronicle publishes an article b