tion of their ardent hopes, and leaped
at once to the conclusion that a vast, all-embracing system of radical
reform was about to be undertaken--not secretly by the Administration,
as had been the custom in the preceding reign when any little changes
had to be made, but publicly, by the Government and the people in
common. "The heart trembles with joy," said one of the leading organs of
the Press, "in expectation of the great social reforms that are about to
be effected--reforms that are thoroughly in accordance with the spirit,
the wishes, and the expectations of the public." "The old harmony and
community of feeling," said another, "which has always existed between
the government and the people, save during short exceptional periods,
has been fully re-established. The absence of all sentiment of caste,
and the feeling of common origin and brotherhood which binds all classes
of the Russian people into a homogeneous whole, will enable Russia to
accomplish peacefully and without effort not only those great reforms
which cost Europe centuries of struggle and bloodshed, but also many
which the nations of the West are still unable to accomplish, in
consequence of feudal traditions and caste prejudices." The past was
depicted in the blackest colours, and the nation was called upon to
begin a new and glorious epoch of its history. "We have to struggle," it
was said, "in the name of the highest truth against egotism and the puny
interests of the moment; and we ought to prepare our children from their
infancy to take part in that struggle which awaits every honest man.
We have to thank the war for opening our eyes to the dark sides of our
political and social organisation, and it is now our duty to profit
by the lesson. But it must not be supposed that the Government can,
single-handed, remedy the defects. The destinies of Russia are, as it
were, a stranded vessel which the captain and crew cannot move, and
which nothing, indeed, but the rising tide of the national life can
raise and float."

Hearts beat quicker at the sound of these calls to action. Many heard
this new teaching, if we may believe a contemporary authority, "with
tears in their eyes"; then, "raising boldly their heads, they made a
solemn vow that they would act honourably, perseveringly, fearlessly."
Some of those who had formerly yielded to the force of circumstances
now confessed their misdemeanours with bitterness of heart. "Tears
of repentance," said a popul