Spring Wear White for Catologue The Jaeger Company Lad, MONTREAL 95.20 SC ¢ a, sani THE DAILY BRITISH WHIG . Perhaps the connection may not at first be apparent to the reader but this son has carried me back in memory to my experiences in Russia, during the first bloody days of bolshevism: and in particular to the famous Hotel Metropole, in the holy city of Russia. I had arrived in Moscow for the last of the fighting that led to the capture of the capital by the bolsheviks. The battle had raged principally about the Hotel Metropole--where I had ex- pected to lodge. When | got there I found the whole claborate facade of the hotel lying in fragments on the street; and all the windows smashed. What a scene of desolation it was! 1 clamored over the great heaps of de- bris and went through the hotel. (And I slept there that night, too, and ate down in the abandoned kitchen!), finding everywhere the signature of the spirit of bolshevism. Every mirror had been smashed; the upholstered furniture had been ripped open by bay- onets; sheer, blind, furious class hatred had destroyed what it could not use. Victorious workmen troops, without ed one another "Tavarish," or "Com- rade"; but real comradeship was just what was lacking. The social spirit, | the brotherly spirit the spirit in good | will, was far, far removed from what | I came to know intimately in Russia | in those difficult months under the red | flag. | As I rode, by train, and boat and an- { tomobile. and' droskies and springless | truck and one horseback, to and fro over thousands of miles of revolution- ized Russia I had abundant occasion and time to study the significance of this latest large-scale experiment in social; and to contrast it with the ex- perience of the early Christian Church. Christianity's Communism. Since the challenge of Russia has been boldly flung into the face of all mankind, it behooves us to make this practical ' application of a Sunday School Lesson that will this week be studied by thirty million persons. Ev- erybody everywhere is being forced, more or less definitely, to face the facts of the present social order, and pos- sible changes. So it is the part of wis- dom to relate the realities to the prin- ciples involved. It would be an im- practical Sunday School teacher who would go through this Lesson without dealing with the question of Russia. And there, as always, the Bible will be found the clear corrective of distorted views. . Russia, revolting against unendur- able wrongs, was misled into an era of class hatred. Her communism is not real socialism, much less brotherhood; for it is based upon bitter and cruel enmity toward all persons except the workmen and peasants. It calls itself "the dictatorship of the proletariat," in antithesis to the former dictatorship of the aristocracy. onsciousness, class-bitterness and class-antagonism are the bed-rock of Russian sovietism. Flatly opposed to tl is the basic idea of the Ohristian Church's experi- ment in socialism, which' constitutes the present Sunday School Lesson. Love, good-will, self-sacrifice and overflowing joy were the animating influences of that beautiful brother- hood in Jerusalem. There was no bit- terness or hatred in it anywhere. Even the! persecutors of the Christians were forgiven, in the spirit of the Saviour on the Cross. Unprecedented, beautiful, outflowing and all encompassing love of the bre- thren and love of the Lord ruled the lives of these first There were no class lines; rich and poor shar- ed together the fellowship of the bro- " uniforms, controlled the city, and call. | CHRISTIANITY'S EXPERIMENT WITH SOCIALISM. The International Sunday School Lesson for April 19th, 1928, Is, "Life In the Early Church."--Acts 4:32-37; 5:15. J By WILLIAM T. ELLIS, therhood; and the door was open to all who would become disciples of Jesus. Not by terrorism or intrigue, as in Russia, but by the compelling power of love, the sway of the Chris- tian fellowship was extended. ' Facing Our Future. Such is the immediate meaning of this great lesson upon the radiant ex- perience of the early | Church, when believers had all things in common. As {2 social system, it did not continue; why, we do not know. Ere long, how- ever, the saints in Jerusalem were ap- pealing for relief to the outlying Chris- tian groups. Evidently, Christianity is not an economic or political or social | method of organization. | But what it then had, and has some- how measurably retained throughout the ages, is a master-impulse of love, not only of Christians for one another but also of all Christians toward hu- man need everywhere. It may safely be asserted that the greatest factor making for the welfare of the world is { the benevolent heart of Christianity. This point invites to fuller considera tion than space allows. : As our day debates the changes in the organization of human society that are already taking place, and that | seem to impend in still more drastic form, men need most of all to be clear. eyed upon this one truth; that brother. hood springs from the heart, and net from any form of governmental ma- chinery. The cruelest rule on earth to- day is not in darkest Africa, but in communized Russia. | Without the déminant good will for which only Christianity adequately supplies both the motive and the pow er, every experiment in socialism col- lapses. With that overmastering Jesus-spirit, however, any form of gov ernment may become a brotherhood. See where that leads us. The one most practicable contribution that cam be made to the solution of the day's unrest, and to the establishment of that better order among men and na. tions concerning which all forward- looking men dream is the implanting of the Gospel and love of Christ in the hearts of men and women. Nothing less than the sway of the Saviour can save society in our time. Not by hatred and hurt, as practiced in Russia, but by love and good will'as shown by the Apostolic Church in Jerusalem, is the good day coming. Qur newest and most needed dynamic is simply Ohrist -- Enter The Hypocrite. As there was a serpent in Eden, so there was a lar and a thief among the Twelve Apostles, and a hypocrite in the earliest Christian Church. Pro- bably never a generation since hag been without #ts proportion of frauds masquerading .as disciples. Jesus gave abundant and explicit teaching as in the parable of the tares concerning hypocrites. So nobody need be eon- fused or alarmed by the scoffer's cry "There are too many hypocrites in the church"--as if only the Church had pretenders; and business, and politics, and sports, and society, were wholly free from bluffers and shams! Three curious traits of universal hu. man nature are illustrated by the inci dent of Ananias and Sapphira. The first is the inextinguishable desiré of people to seem to be better than they really are; and to wear the colors of the prevailing mode. Christianity had come to Jerusalem with wonderful de. monstrations of power. Its teachings and its fellowship appealed to Anan ias. He would like to be one of these heirs of tomorrow. At once cropped up the second trait ------ EE -- _. of human nature -- unwillingness to pay the full price for the boon desired. How full the world is of men and wo- men, and of young people, especially who want the best, but are not brave enough to give the equivalent of sacri- fice and labor which the best always demands! They resemble Ananias who desired a reputation for brotherhood and surrender, but would not let go of his paltry purse--like the child who grasped a penny inside a vase and then could not withdraw his hand. Third of the human traits which An- anias exhibited was incapacity to en- joy the fruits of his pretending. There never was a successful hypocrite, An- anias was incapacitated by his own in- sincerity from sharing the real benefits of the Christian brotherhood. Because he was a selfist and a liar he never could attune his spirit to the simple genuineness and overflowing love of these disciples. His hypocrisy was vain even before he fed dead at the feet of Peter, when accused of misrepreseriting his property return. -- \ gy The Other Man. Historian Luke contrasts Barnabas with Ananias. The first sald his all, and devoted it to the community. He went wholéheartedly into the new life of Christianity, Lo, he became the great Bardabas counsellor and com- rade of the Apostle Paul, and pioneer of the expanding Church. Nobody can foretell what God will do with the life that is dedicated to him without reser- vation. Space has not permitted even men- tion of the place of boldness, or "free utterance" in the life of this infant Church. It ig a heart-strengthening experience to make a word-study of boldness in the Book of the Acts. It was when the people beheld the bold- ness of Peter and John that they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. The first secorded prayer of the Church was a prayer for bold- ness; and the prayer was categorically answered. The first and last record of Paul's preaching was concerning its boldness. Those early Christians had otf backbone--which is almost as es- sential to charmoter as tender hearts. Courage in witness-bearing is simply indispensable to Christianity. Filled with meatiing of our times is the Lesson's narration that the believ- ers "were of one soul." In the face of the scandalous schism and quarrel- someness of present-day Christians, we are confronted by the truth that only a united Church can conquer. The con- tentious men who are going up and down the land breeding dissension a. mong Christians will one day have a reckoning as definite as that of Ana- nias. For Russia has thrust into all human thinking everywhere the suggestion of an entirely new social order, based on class consciousness and bitterness. Christianity must counter this propa- ganda--or utilise it--by proposing a aéw social order based on brotherhood and good will; and vitalized by the power of Jesus Christ. id Always use enough to ge lasting suds This New Laundry Soap saves you the hardest work of washday soaks dirt out--no more hard rubbing You need only Rinso for your Monday wash. It is made by the makers of Lux, the largest soap- makers in the world. It is perfect for all types of washing machines --fine in the boiler--and just won- derful for soaking in set tubs. Get a package for your next wash --regular size or big new size-- from your grocer. ee wes Limited, Toront6. ¢= * after the clothes are in R48 TIDINGS FROM McLEAN'S. Presentation to Residents Who Are Leaving for New York. McLeans, April 15.--About fifty of Mrs. Foster's friends gathered at her house on Tuesday evening, and presented her and Robley Ball with an envelope of money as a token of respect as they are both leaving for «heir new home in New York. It is forty-six years since Mrs. Foster first came to this place to live. Rev. Mr. Gall gave an address. Mrs. William Cousins and Miss Mary Cox made the presentation and Mrs. Willlam Raycroft read an ad- dress. The sale at Mrs. Foster's was well attended. The highest cow sold for $44. Russel Wood has moved on the Rawley farm and Welda Smith on the Cousins' farm. Edward Brown has bought Mrs. Foster's place and expects to move on it the first of the week. Miss Cox has gone home for her Easter vacation. Mr. and Mrs.. Aaron Smith and family and Mr. and Mrs. Edward Brown, and family" spent Baster Sunday at Charles Sills. Rev. Mr. McGall and Thomas Raycroft were at William Cousins' on Sunday. Mrs. William Wagar and Gladys were at Eater- prise for a couple of days. At Poole's Resort. Poole's Resort, April 15.--Our school teacher, Miss Luella Brown, is spending the Easter holidays at the home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Brown, Mallorytown Landing. \ Little Iris Buell is; recovering from a severe attack of intestinal grippe. Alfred Salter is erecting a 5 stores, where people work and live. Each claims its host of users of - t the famous Waterman®s. For Waterman's is the universal pen. Riches could not buy better--yet it is within reach of everyone's purse. +g Wherever Work is Done HE city--factories, offices, == homes--places ZL garage. Harold and Edgar Poole, Caintown, are holidaying with rela- tives here. Mrs. Fred MacDonald and daughter Jean, MalorTs, are visiting the former's parents, Mr, and Mrs. Charles Andress. Mrs. John! Dickey réturned home, on Saturday, after spending two weeks at the home of her som, 'B. L. Dickey, Brockville. She was accompanied by . her grand children Vaida and Jack Dickey. Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Salter motored to Brockville one day last week. vt ------------ i Great Britain is smoking less to- baoco. In 1920 the consumption was 149,000,000 pounds and last year it was only 132,000,000 pounds. A new lighthouse off the coast of Australia will have such powerful lights that the rays will be wvisibl for nearly 100 miles. ¢ }