nment of the _Mir_ all women who permanently and temporarily are
heads of houses are expected to attend its meetings and to vote--no one
ever dreams of questioning their right to do so.

In addition to the village assembly and chief elder there is also the
"Cantonal" Assembly, consisting of several village communities together,
meeting also under the presidency of a chief elder. All this is, of
course, a development of family life where exactly the same ideas of
corporate duty in its members, and responsibilities in its head, are
held.

It is evident that Russia has a great future if this view of
self-government is gradually carried upwards. The right beginning in
constitutional government, surely, is in the family, for there we find
the social unit. A state is not a collection or aggregate of
individuals, but of families, and all history shows us that the
greatness or insignificance of a country has always been determined by
the condition of its homes and the character of its family life. If from
the family, village, and commune Russian constitutionalists work slowly
and carefully upwards, giving freedom to make opinions and convictions
felt in the votes, just as responsibility is understood and met in the
home, until one comes to the head of it all in "The Little Father"; and
if he really rules--or administers rather, for no true father rules
only--just as any good father would do, Russia the autocratic and
despotic, associated in the minds of so many with arbitrary law in the
interests of a few, enforced by the knout and prison-chain, may yet give
the world a high standard of what the government of a free and
self-respecting people ought to be.

I should doubt if any peasantry in the world live so simply and frugally
or, as they say in the North of England, "thrive so well on it," as the
Russians. The men are of huge stature, and their wives are strong,
comely, and wholesome-looking also. Their boys and girls are sturdy,
vigorous, and full of life; and yet how bare the table looks at the
daily meal, how frugal the fare and small the quantity! It has been the
greatest joy to me to have Russian boys and girls, in out-of-the-way
places, to share my sandwiches or tongue or other tinned meats, when
stopping at a rest-house, and see their eyes shine at the unexpected and
unusual treat.

Black rye-bread and cabbage-soup form the staple food of a peasant
family, while meat of any kind is rarely seen. The many and rigorou