that fine-looking old general in uniform,
with the St. George's Cross at his button-hole--an order given only for
bravery in the field. That is Prince Suvorof, a grandson of the famous
general. He has filled high posts in the Administration without ever
tarnishing his name by a dishonest or dishonourable action, and has
spent a great part of his life at Court without ceasing to be frank,
generous, and truthful. Though he has no intimate knowledge of current
affairs, and sometimes gives way a little to drowsiness, his sympathies
in disputed points are always on the right side, and when he gets to his
feet he always speaks in a clear soldierlike fashion.

The tall gaunt man, somewhat over middle age, who sits a little to
the left is Prince Vassiltchikof. He too, has an historic name, but he
cherishes above all things personal independence, and has consequently
always kept aloof from the Imperial Administration and the Court. The
leisure thus acquired he has devoted to study, and he has produced
several valuable works on political and social science. An enthusiastic
but at the same time cool-headed abolitionist at the time of the
Emancipation, he has since constantly striven to ameliorate the
condition of the peasantry by advocating the spread of primary
education, the rural credit associations in the village, the
preservation of the Communal institutions, and numerous important
reforms in the financial system. Both of these gentlemen, it is said,
generously gave to their peasants more land than they were obliged
to give by the Emancipation Law. In the Assembly Prince Vassiltchikof
speaks frequently, and always commands attention; and in all important
committees he is leading member. Though a warm defender of the Zemstvo
institutions, he thinks that their activity ought to be confined to
a comparatively narrow field, and he thereby differs from some of his
colleagues, who are ready to embark in hazardous, not to say fanciful,
schemes for developing the natural resources of the province. His
neighbour, Mr. P----, is one of the ablest and most energetic members
of the Assembly. He is president of the executive bureau in one of the
districts, where he has founded many primary schools and created several
rural credit associations on the model of those which bear the name of
Schultze Delitsch in Germany. Mr. S----, who sits beside him, was for
some years an arbiter between the proprietors and emancipated serfs,
then a member o