ence.

The Sovereigns were well aware of the abuses, and strove more or less
to root them out, but the success which attended their efforts does not
give us a very exalted idea of the practical omnipotence of autocracy.
In a centralised bureaucratic administration, in which each official is
to a certain extent responsible for the sins of his subordinates, it is
always extremely difficult to bring an official culprit to justice, for
he is sure to be protected by his superiors; and when the superiors are
themselves habitually guilty of malpractices, the culprit is quite safe
from exposure and punishment. The Tsar, indeed, might do much towards
exposing and punishing offenders if he could venture to call in public
opinion to his assistance, but in reality he is very apt to become a
party to the system of hushing up official delinquencies. He is himself
the first official in the realm, and he knows that the abuse of power by
a subordinate has a tendency to produce hostility towards the fountain
of all official power. Frequent punishment of officials might, it is
thought, diminish public respect for the Government, and undermine that
social discipline which is necessary for the public tranquillity. It
is therefore considered expedient to give to official delinquencies as
little publicity as possible.

Besides this, strange as it may seem, a Government which rests on the
arbitrary will of a single individual is, notwithstanding occasional
outbursts of severity, much less systematically severe than authority
founded on free public opinion. When delinquencies occur in very high
places the Tsar is almost sure to display a leniency approaching to
tenderness. If it be necessary to make a sacrifice to justice, the
sacrificial operation is made as painless as may be, and illustrious
scapegoats are not allowed to die of starvation in the wilderness--the
wilderness being generally Paris or the Riviera. This fact may seem
strange to those who are in the habit of associating autocracy with
Neapolitan dungeons and the mines of Siberia, but it is not difficult
to explain. No individual, even though he be the Autocrat of all the
Russias, can so case himself in the armour of official dignity as to be
completely proof against personal influences. The severity of autocrats
is reserved for political offenders, against whom they naturally harbour
a feeling of personal resentment. It is so much easier for us to be
lenient and charitable towards