in their family and village
life. They do not speak of the "Emperor" so much as of "The Little
Father," and that is how they feel towards him. He is the father of his
people and they are his children. If there is anything they object to in
legislation it is always put down to officialdom, just as our own
Colonies, before the days when they began to "think imperially," used to
vent all their displeasure upon "Downing Street" when unwelcome
legislation took place, and never upon Queen Victoria (or her
government), for whom they had the greatest respect and affection. The
Russian peasant too murmurs loudly at times against the governors and
their subordinates when he is requested to do something that he does
not like, but with a solacing reflection to himself that "The Little
Father would put everything right if he only knew."

There is disaffection and serious disloyalty in other quarters, and I
shall try my best to describe it and what may very possibly be some of
its causes, in my chapter on "Russia's Problem," but the dangerous
disaffection, probably already beginning to pass away, is confined to a
few of the largest towns, and does not in any way affect the
overwhelming majority of the Emperor's subjects, who are entirely
devoted to him and patriotically loyal.

This ought to be remembered also when we are thinking over future
relations between our own people and theirs. The Russians are not a
downtrodden and oppressed people struggling to throw off the yoke of a
harsh and despotic rule, but are contented, loyal, and law-abiding. They
do not, however, show their loyalty by any outward expressions such as
the "All Highest," and others with which we have been made familiar in
the addresses and letters of Germans of high rank, office, and birth,
during the war. No such terms exist or are thought of amongst the
subjects of the Emperor of Russia. The word Tsar occurs, I believe, in
the National Anthem, and Tsaritsa is used occasionally, while there is
no such word as Tsarina in the language. But neither Tsar, Emperor,
Tsaritsa, or Empress are used, I am told, amongst the ordinary people.
They speak of "_Gosudar_" and "_Gosudarina_" which mean Lord and Lady,
or Sir and Madame, and in such general use are these terms, I believe,
that a man writing a business letter to a tradesman would begin
"Gracious Gosudar." The Tsarevitch Alexis is spoken of amongst the
people by a word in perfectly common use, which is no more than the