e real
facts are clear enough. These philosophical legislators, who have spent
their lives in the official atmosphere of St. Petersburg, know as much
about Russia as the genuine cockney knows about Great Britain, and
in this part of their work they derive no assistance from the learned
German treatises which supply an unlimited amount of historical facts
and philosophical speculation.

From the commission the project passes to the Council of State, where
it is certainly examined and criticised, and perhaps modified, but it is
not likely to be improved from the practical point of view, because
the members of the Council are merely ci-devant members of similar
commissions, hardened by a few additional years of official routine. The
Council is, in fact, an assembly of tchinovniks who know little of
the practical, everyday wants of the unofficial classes. No merchant,
manufacturer, or farmer ever enters its sacred precincts, so that its
bureaucratic serenity is rarely disturbed by practical objections. It
is not surprising, therefore, that it has been known to pass laws which
were found at once to be absolutely unworkable.

From the Council of State the Bill is taken to the Emperor, and he
generally begins by examining the signatures. The "Ayes" are in one
column and the "Noes" in another. If his Majesty is not specially
acquainted with the matter--and he cannot possibly be acquainted with
all the matters submitted to him--he usually signs with the majority,
or on the side where he sees the names of officials in whose judgment he
has special confidence; but if he has strong views of his own, he places
his signature in whichever column he thinks fit, and it outweighs the
signatures of any number of Councillors. Whatever side he supports, that
side "has it," and in this way a small minority may be transformed into
a majority. When the important question, for example, as to how far
classics should be taught in the ordinary schools was considered by the
Council, it is said that only two members signed in favour of classical
education, which was excessively unpopular at the moment, but the
Emperor Alexander III., disregarding public opinion and the advice of
his Councillors, threw his signature into the lighter scale, and the
classicists were victorious.

CHAPTER XXV

MOSCOW AND THE SLAVOPHILS

Two Ancient Cities--Kief Not a Good Point for Studying Old Russian
National Life--Great Russians and Little Russians--Moscow