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For all of them were members of the great Russian world: Apúkhtin and Mirski, Chipraznik, Smirnoff and the omnipresent Nikitenko names that had been the last to fade into, the first to reappear from, the baleful night of Tátar rule. Not one of them all but had once known Sophia Blashkov intimately: none but greeted Madame Dravikine as a familiar acquaintance of to-day.
This first conference of the heads of the Zemstvos, which met at Moscow, Nov., 1904, by permission of Prince Mirski, contained the germ of a representative government. It was an acknowledgment of a principle hitherto denied; a recognition never before made of the right of the people to come together for the purpose of discussing measures of governmental policy.
Confronting these imposing representatives of imperial and historic Russia are a few more or less discredited men, like M. de Witte and Prince Mirski, counselling and warning with a freedom which would once have sent them to Siberia, and with a power to which the bewildered Nicholas cannot be indifferent, and to which, perhaps, he would gladly yield were it not for the dominating sentiment about him.
Certainly this reputation of his was one thing that had kept the door he knocked on closed. But there were other reasons innumerable ones, in fact; some of them adequate, others entirely inconsistent, that Princess Mirski or Madame Apúkhtin might have named. Yet, in the final summing-up, there would probably have been a traditional indefiniteness about the wherefore of the Gregoriev ostracism.
Reform or Revolution? Reigns of Alexander II. and Nicholas II. Compared and Contrasted The Present Opposition Various Groups The Constitutionalists Zemski Sobors The Young Tsar Dispels Illusions Liberal Frondeurs Plehve's Repressive Policy Discontent Increased by the War Relaxation and Wavering under Prince Mirski Reform Enthusiasm The Constitutionalists Formulate their Demands The Social Democrats Father Gapon's Demonstration The Socialist-Revolutionaries The Agrarian Agitators The Subject-Nationalities Numerical Strength of the Various Groups All United on One Point Their Different Aims Possible Solutions of the Crisis Difficulties of Introducing Constitutional Regime A Strong Man Wanted Uncertainty of the Future.
The Tsar, recognized the meaning of these events, and quickly appointed Prince Mirski, known by his liberal tendencies, to Von Plehve's place in the Ministry of the Interior. One of the first acts of the new minister was the authorizing of a meeting of all the Presidents of the Zemstvos for consultation over national conditions.
The haranguing goes on from morning to night, and agitators drive about from one factory to another to keep the excitement at fever-heat. The police, usually so active on such occasions, do not put in an appearance. Prince Sviatopolk Mirski, the honest, well-intentioned, liberal Minister of the Interior, cannot make up his mind to act with energy, and lets things drift.
Caroline shook her head sadly. "We are helpless, Sophie. A fit of Nicholas' laziness has lost the world to you. Look!" There was no time for response; for, at this moment, the Prince and Princess Mirski came up with chill good-nights that were passively accepted. They were immediately followed by the Osínin, who barely looked towards Michael, but had the grace to murmur some excuse to his wife.
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