f it. They were of the Revolution--bone of its bone, flesh of its flesh,
and so they were cheered again and again. And what a triumvirate they made,
these leaders of the people! Tchcheidze, once a university professor, keen,
cool, and as witty as George Bernard Shaw, listened to with the deference
democracy always pays to intellect.

Kerensky, lawyer by profession, matchless as an orator, obviously the
prophet and inspirer rather than the executive type; Skobelev, blunt,
direct, and practical, a man little given to romantic illusions. It was
Skobelev who made the announcement to the crowd outside the Taurida Palace
that the old system was ended forever and that the Duma would create a
Provisional Committee. He begged the workers and the soldiers to keep
order, to refrain from violence against individuals, and to observe strict
discipline. "Freedom demands discipline and order," he said.

That afternoon the Duma selected a temporary committee to restore order.
The committee, called the Duma Committee of Safety, consisted of twelve
members, representing all the parties and groups in the Duma. The hastily
formed committee of the workers met and decided to call on the workmen to
hold immediate elections for the Council of Workmen's Deputies--the first
meeting of which was to be held that evening. That this was a perilous
thing to do the history of the First Revolution clearly showed, but no
other course seemed open to the workers, in view of the attitude of the
bourgeoisie. On behalf of the Duma Committee, Rodzianko issued the
following proclamation:

The Provisional Committee of the members of the Imperial Duma,
aware of the grave conditions of internal disorder created by the
measure of the old government, has found itself compelled to take
into its hands the re-establishment of political and civil order.
In full consciousness of the responsibility of its decision, the
Provisional Committee expresses its trust that the population and
the army will help it in the difficult task of creating a new
government which will comply with the wishes of the population,
and be able to enjoy its confidence.

MICHAIL RODZIANKO, _Speaker of the Imperial Duma_.
February 27, 1917.[4]

That night the first formal session of the Council of Workmen's Deputies
was held. Tchcheidze was elected president, Kerensky vice-president. The
deputies had been elected by the working-men of many factories an