as now attached in some not clearly defined capacity to the Foreign
Office, was about to be sent to a neutral country as ambassador. The rumor
created the utmost consternation in liberal circles in Russia and in the
Allied embassies. If true, it could only have one meaning, namely, that
arrangements were being made to negotiate a separate peace with
Germany--and that meant that Russia was to become Germany's economic
vassal.

The Duma demanded a responsible Ministry, a Cabinet directly responsible
to, and controlled by, the Duma as the people's representative. This demand
had been constantly made since the First Revolution. Even the Imperial
Council, upon which the Czar had always been able to rely for support
against revolutionary movements, now joined forces with the Duma in making
this demand. That traditionally reactionary, bureaucratic body, composed
of former Premiers, Cabinet Ministers, and other high officials, formally
demanded that the Czar take steps to make the government responsible to the
popularly elected assemblage. This was a small revolution in itself. The
fabric of Czarism had cracked.

II

There can be no doubt in the mind of any student of Russian affairs that
the unity of the Imperial Council and the Duma, like the unity of classes,
was due to the strong pro-Ally sentiment which at that time possessed
practically the entire nation. On December 12th--new style--Germany offered
Russia a separate peace, and three days later the Foreign Minister,
Pokrovsky, visited the Duma and announced that Russia would reject the
offer. The Duma immediately passed a resolution declaring that "the Duma
unanimously favors a categorical refusal by the Allied governments to
enter, under present conditions, into any peace negotiations whatever." On
the 19th a similar resolution was adopted by the Imperial Council, which
continued to follow the leadership of the Duma. Before adjourning for the
Christmas holidays the Duma passed another resolution, aimed chiefly at
Protopopov and Sturmer, protesting against the sinister activities which
were undermining the war-making forces of the nation, and praising the work
of the zemstvos and working-class organizations which had struggled bravely
to sustain the army, feed the people, care for the sick and wounded, and
avert utter chaos.

On December 30th, in the early hours of the morning, the monk Rasputin was
murdered and his body thrown into the Neva. The strangest and most e