58 The National Geographic Magazine 



archal system, where the sole thought 

 of the Little Father is the welfare of the 

 millions of his people, and where the ac- 

 knowledged grace of the throne is ac- 

 cepted as the proof of the general prac- 

 tice. It is easy to produce striking 

 effects with strong pigments. There 

 would be a ready and startling sensa- 

 tionalism in a vivid picture of terrors 

 and in a flaming outburst of rhetoric. 

 But, as generally happens, the truth lies 

 between the extremes. It is not all 

 black or all white, but it has its lights 

 and its shadows, .and the faithful de- 

 lineator must sacrifice the bold outlines 

 of a fanciful sketch for the more sub 

 dued tones of historic verity. 



The character of autocratic rule man- 

 ifestly depends very much on the char- 

 acter of the autocrat. It is true that in 

 these modern days even the autocrat is 

 largely the creature of conditions. Im- 

 perial will is molded and circumscribed 

 by historic tendencies, by overmastering 

 public opinion, and 03^ the spirit of the 

 age. But, on the other hand, the cur- 

 rents of national development fall into 

 the eddies of personal impulse. With 

 the vast machinery of a great modern 

 nation autocracy becomes bureaucracy. 

 But the autocrat makes the bureaucrats, 

 and so determines the trend. There are 

 settled traditions and tendencies in Rus- 

 sia, but they are affected and modified 

 by the dominant temper and influence 

 of the hour. When Russia passed from 

 the scepter of Nicholas I to that of Alex- 

 ander II she advanced from the virile 

 and robust imperialism of an iron dic- 

 tator to the progressive and expand- 

 ing liberalism of an enlightened ruler. 

 When she passed from the control of 

 Alexander III to that of Nicholas II 

 she went from the secure, harsh, rigor- 

 ous sway of a firm, self-poised, austere 

 monarch to the turbulent reign of a 

 kind, well-meaning, and uncertain sov- 

 ereign. 



The present Czar is conscientious and 

 devoted in public purpose and amiable 



and exemplary in personal life. He has 

 been surrounded by conflicting influ- 

 ences, and each of the opposing forces 

 has appeared at one time or another to 

 be dominant. The Czar's disposition 

 and tendency have been liberal, as was 

 indicated in the noble impulse which 

 convoked The Hague Conference. If at 

 times there has been a backward move- 

 ment it was because reactionary elements 

 outside of the throne gained a tempo- 

 rary ascendancy, and if lamentable er- 

 rors plunged the empire into a war for 

 which she was so illy prepared, it was 

 because irregular influences, outside 

 of the ministry, that were mistakenly 

 trusted, gave evil counsels. 



As a rule, Russian ministers are not per- 

 sonal favorites, but are often able states- 

 men, marked for their places by capacity 

 and fitness. Their commission comes, 

 not from title of nobility, but from the 

 higher title of brains. Curiously as it 

 may cross the prevailing conception of 

 the Russian system, many of them have 

 sprung directly from the ranks of the 

 people. M. de Giers, the astute Min- 

 ister of Foreign Affairs, who succeeded 

 Gortchakoff and who so long guided the 

 foreign policy of his country, did not 

 inherit rank or fortune. Equally with- 

 out rank was Vishnegradski, the Min- 

 ister of Finance, a remarkably able man, 

 whose range of vision covered the finance 

 of all nations, who carried on his table 

 the first free-silver bill just as it was 

 lying on the desks of the American Sen- 

 ate, and whose acute and profound ob- 

 servations, if they could have been prop- 

 erly reported, would have instructed and 

 startled the American people. 



His successor, de Witte, who was so 

 long the master spirit of the Russian 

 government, who then fell into disfavor, 

 and who in the present crisis appears to be 

 again rising into favor and ascendancy, 

 is no less a man of the people. He 

 made his first mark as a subordinate 

 railway official, and was rapidly pro- 

 moted until he became the most power- 



