re I
not restrained by fear of committing a breach of confidence--I might
give some interesting illustrations.

As a ruler Nicholas II. habitually takes a keen, sympathetic interest in
the material and moral progress of his country, and is ever ready to
listen attentively and patiently to those who are presumably competent
to offer sound advice on the subject. At the same time he is very
prudent in action, and this happy combination of zeal and caution, which
distinguishes him from his too impetuous countrymen, has been signally
displayed in recent years. During the revolutionary agitation which
followed close on the disastrous Japanese war, when the impetuous
would-be reformers wished to overturn the whole existing fabric of
administration, and the timid counselors recommended vigorous retrograde
measures, he wisely steered a middle course, which has resulted in the
creation of a moderate form of parliamentary institutions. That seems to
indicate that Nicholas II. has something of the typical Englishman's
love of compromise.

So much for the first of the two reasons commonly adduced to prove that
Russia is an undesirable ally. I trust I have said enough to show that
the idea of her being the great modern stronghold of barbarism,
ignorance, and tyrannical government is very far from the truth. Now I
come to the second reason--that she has repeatedly threatened our
interests in the past and is sure to threaten them in the future because
she has an insatiable territorial appetite.

That Russia has a formidable territorial appetite cannot be denied, but
it ill becomes us Britishers to reproach her on that score, because, if
we may judge by results, our own territorial appetite is at least
equally formidable. Like her, we began our national life with a very
modest amount of territory, and now the British Empire is considerably
larger than the Empire of the Czars. According to recent trustworthy
statistics, the former contains over 13,000,000 square miles, and the
latter less than 8,500,000. To this I may add that the motives and
methods of annexation have a strong family resemblance. Both of us have
been urged forward partly by rapidly increasing population and partly by
national ambition; and both of us have systematically added to our
dominions, partly by colonization and partly by conquest. As examples of
colonizing expansion we may take Siberia and Australia, and as examples
of expansion by conquest we may point to R