Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXI. A visit to Petrograd
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
1916] THE TSAR ATTENDS THE DUMA 395
back to their homes four months later! But since then
the sessions of the subsequent Dumas had been opened
by the President of the Council, and the Emperor
himself had never ventured into this "cave of vEolus,"
whence however, since 1907, nothing but soft breezes
and zephyrs had issued forth, which were quite
incapable of sweeping anything away or of impeding the
course of the governmental ship.
The Emperor’s arrival provoked a storm of
enthusiasm amongst all the members of the Duma and in
the large crowd which had gathered at the news of the
Imperial visit. There was no session in the presence of
His Majesty, who addressed a few unimportant words to
the representatives of the nation in the Great Hall;
there was as usual a Te Deum in which the Tsar and
the members of the Duma took part; there was a
stirring speech from the president, M. Rodzianko, a
speech greeted with rousing applause. It was like
an electric shock throughout Petrograd. In this visit
to the Duma every one wished to see a token of
reconciliation between the Court and public opinion; they
anticipated the probable consequences of the event:
change of certain Ministers, suppression of certain odious
and ridiculous measures, cessation of the Rasputin
scandal. Alas! all these hopes were doomed to prompt
disappointment. Even I had soon to lower my tone. I
realised that M. Sturmer, with advancing years, had lost
even his shrewdness of former days and that now he
was only capable of telling clumsy lies and indulging in
tricks that could not deceive any one. From henceforth
a whirlwind of madness enveloped the Tsarskoe Palace,
a madness with which the Emperor was infected at
every visit which his wife paid him at General
Headquarters at Mohilev. There were some changes of
Ministers, but, alas! of the worst description; and the
Rasputin scandal reached monstrous proportions.
On the very day that the Emperor attended the
Puma I went to call on Prince Galitzyn, recently
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
