victories snatched from her by the same
hand; and twice has she looked with far-seeing eyes into the future,
and quietly submitted. Perhaps she realizes that a time may come when
Russia's friendship will be more valuable to her than Saghalien!

The war was over. The march of armies had ceased; but the march of
events, accelerated by the great upheaval, moved irresistibly on.
Realizing that something must be done to pacify the people, a new and
more liberal policy was announced, with de Witte, now Prime Minister,
in charge. Russia was to have a _National Assembly_, a law-making body
in which every class would have representation.

This Russian Parliament was to be composed of two bodies: an Upper and
a Lower House. The one to be called the "_Council of the Empire_," the
other the "_Duma_." These were to be convoked and prorogued annually
by Imperial Ukase. The President, Vice-President, and one-half the
members of the Council of the Empire (consisting of 178 members) were
to be appointed by the Tsar; twenty-four more to be elected by the
nobility and clergy, a very small number by some designated
universities and commercial bodies; each _Zemstvo_ (of which there are
fifty-one) being entitled to one representative. The members composing
the _Duma_, or Lower House, were to be elected by the Electoral
Colleges, which had in turn been created by the votes of the people in
the various provinces of the Empire for that purpose.

The two bodies were to have equal rights in initiating legislation.
But a bill must pass both Houses and then receive Imperial Sanction in
order to become a law; and failing in this, cannot come up again during
the same session. Thus hedged about and thus constituted, it is
obvious that a conservative majority was permanently secured and ways
provided to block any anti-imperial or revolutionary legislation in the
Duma. And when it is added that matters concerning finance and
treasonable offences were almost entirely in the hands of the Council,
we realize how this gift of political representation to the Russian
people had been shorn of its dangers!

The first National Assembly was opened by the Tsar May 10, 1906, with
the form and splendor of a court ceremonial. It was a strange
spectacle, that solid body of 100 peasants seated on the left of the
throne, intently listening to the brief and guarded speech of welcome
to the "representatives of the nation, who had come to aid him in
making