Evolution of Russian Government 313 



From "All the Russias," by Henry Norman. Copyright, 1902, by Charles Scribner's Sons 



The Tsar and Tsarina at Home 



over every act or meeting impends the 

 shadow of the Tsar. His delegate or 

 commissioner is always near and may, 

 though he seldom does, reverse all the 

 proceedings. Thus autocracy stands 

 forth alike in the lowly mir or in the 

 Imperial Senate. Not far astray is the 

 Slavic proverb, "In Russia two are 

 everywhere, God and the Tsar." 



This system is not the result of usur- 

 pation by violence or fraud. The pro- 



cess of its evolution and corresponding 

 sanction is to be read on every page of 

 Russian history. 



THE EARLY RULERS OF RUSSIA- 

 RURIKS 



-THE 



The first articulate cry of Russia was 

 a prayer for a ruler. The Russian Nes- 

 tor tells the story. In 862, one thou- 

 sand and forty-three years ago, in their 

 first assembly, the Russians said, "Let 



