ial Majesty to transfer this right to my brother Nicholas,
the next in succession." The document accepting the renunciation and
acknowledging Nicholas as his successor was safely deposited by
Alexander, its existence remaining a profound secret even to Nicholas
himself.

At the time of the Emperor's death Constantine, who was Viceroy of
Poland, was residing at Cracow. Nicholas, unaware of the
circumstances, immediately took the oath of allegiance to his brother
and also administered it to the troops at St. Petersburg. It required
some time for Constantine's letter to arrive, stating his immovable
determination to abide by the decision which would be found in his
letter to the late Emperor. There followed a contest of
generosity--Nicholas urging and protesting, and his brother refusing
the elevation. Three weeks passed--weeks of disastrous
uncertainty--with no acknowledged head to the Empire.

Such an opportunity was not to be neglected by the revolutionists in
the South nor their co-workers in the North. Pestel, the leader, had
long been organizing his recruits, and St. Petersburg and Moscow were
the centers of secret political societies. The time for action had
unexpectedly come. There must be a swift overturning: the entire
imperial family must be destroyed, and the Senate and Holy Synod must
be compelled to adopt the Constitution which had been prepared.

The hour appointed for the beginning of this direful programme was the
day when the senators and the troops should assemble to take the oath
of allegiance to Nicholas. The soldiers, who knew nothing of the plot,
were incited to refuse to take the oath on the ground that
Constantine's resignation was false, and that he was a prisoner and in
chains. Constantine was their friend and going to increase their pay.
One Moscow regiment openly shouted: "Long life to Constantine!" and
when a few conspirators cried "Long live the Constitution!" the
soldiers asked if that was Constantine's wife. So the ostensible cause
of the revolt, which soon became general, was a fidelity to their
rightful Emperor, who was being illegally deposed. Under this mask
worked Pestel and his co-conspirators, composed in large measure of men
of high intelligence and standing, including even government officials
and members of the aristocracy.

A few days were sufficient to overcome this abortive attempt at
revolution in Russia. Pestel, when he heard his death sentence, said,
"My gr