Evolution of Russian Government 329 



be a permanent body, self-perpetuating, 

 and should be consulted by the Tsarina 

 in all state affairs. (2) Without the 

 consent of the council the Tsarina should 

 make neither peace nor war, should 

 levy no taxes, should alienate no public 

 territory, and should appoint no public 

 official of higher rank than colonel. 



(3) No member of the nobility should 

 be executed or condemned, and no prop- 

 erty of a noble should be confiscated 

 except after a fair trial by his peers. 



(4) The Tsarina should neither marry 

 nor appoint a successor without the 

 consent of the council. (5) Violation 

 by the Tsarina of any of the aforesaid 

 stipulations should constitute forfeiture 

 of the crown. Anna accepted all these 

 conditions, solemnly signed the docu- 

 ment, and was then proclaimed Tsarina 

 or Empress of Russia. 



Magna Charta, with all its sublime 

 provisions, seemed thus naturalized 

 upon Russian soil. The homo liber of 

 the Norman Latin in the English charter 

 meant practically the same as the word 

 ichitiy or noble, in the paper of the High 

 Secret Council. So from the banks of 

 the Thames Runnymead had been trans- 

 planted to the banks of the Neva. The 

 24 Norman barons who forced the sub- 

 mission of King John lived again, 515 

 years after, in the eight Russian lords 

 who had secured the acquiescence of 

 Anna. Inviolability of person and prop- 

 erty, habeas corpus, trial by jury, hith- 

 erto the monopoly of distant English 

 islanders, were now the guaranteed 

 right of the Slav. The Slavic Empire, 

 no longer autocratic, possessed a con- 

 stitution. 



THE PEOPLE REJECT THE PROFERRED 

 CONSTITUTION AND REFUSE 

 TO LIMIT THE POWERS 

 OF THE TSAR 



The announcement of this constitution 

 was received with general indignant pro- 

 test. Under severe penalties the High 

 Council forbade the people anywhere to 

 assemble ; but they could not disperse 

 and silence the crowds which got to- 



gether all over Russia and denounced 

 the new system. The Tsarina was put 

 under guard and only partisans of the 

 new order allowed to approach her. 

 Thus the council hoped she might be 

 kept ignorant of the mounting tide of 

 popular feeling. Yet the council found 

 itself powerless, despite its being en- 

 trenched in possession of the govern- 

 ment and despite the rank and wealth 

 and personal influence of its members. 

 On February 25, 1731, a zemski sobor, 

 a national assembly, dared to convene 

 in Moscow. The eight hundred elected 

 deputies belonged to the nobility, the 

 clergy, the professions and trades, and 

 the peasant class. They drew up a 

 formal and unanimous protest against 

 the constitution. The Tsarina entered 

 the hall and was greeted with frenzied 

 shouts, " We will not let laws limit our 

 Tsarina ! " ' ' Let our Tsarina be an 

 autocrat just like her predecessors!" 

 The Tsarina calmed the tumult and 

 adjourned the meeting. At the next 

 session a formal petition was voted by 

 the eight hundred for the reestablish- 

 ment of autocracy. The council melted 

 away. Autocracy reigned again as in 

 all the days since the time of Rurik. 

 Thus ended the first, if not the only, 

 genuine attempt at a liberal government 

 in the Muscovite Empire. This is the 

 most important, the most significant, 

 event in the history of Russia. 



Through another century successive 

 sovereigns sat upon the autocratic 

 throne. In 1822 the childless Alex- 

 ander I was Tsar. His brother, the 

 Grand Duke Constantine, had been ac- 

 knowledged as heir. Constantine de- 

 sired to marry the Polish girl Jane 

 Grodzinska. Because she was of hum- 

 ble origin, a Catholic, and a Pole, Alex- 

 ander could not tolerate his brother's 

 choice as the future Tsarina. Between 

 the maiden and the throne Constantine 

 was compelled to choose. To him her 

 love was dearer than the Imperial crown. 

 He solemnly renounced his rights as- 

 heir apparent in favor of his younger 



