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diminish it, without limiting the full extent of his power
to any perceptible extent. It is only necessary to
read Saltykov’s gory description of Russian provincial
governors, in the work, “Our Pompadours,” to
get an idea of the plane of intellectual development
which these men occupy, and of what can happen any
day.
To this must be added that, even since the legal
reforms of 1864, the governor has retained the
privilege of reporting to the Minister of the Interior the
persons whom, “in the interest of the public welfare,”
he desires to send to the distant provinces of the empire
by the administrative process, — a privilege not limited
to him, since “the third section of his Majesty’s private
Department of Justice,” the secret police, who have the
superintendence both of the officials and their
subordinates, have the right, without judgment or evidence,
to send to prison or to exile every one who is suspected
by them. How is it possible that such institutions
should not bring to the surface all that is evil and
cowardly, hidden away in human nature, in those who,
at the same time, represent the machinery of state and
are in a situation to place others under its wheels, and
must themselves continually take precautions not to
share the same fate?
It is quite true that there are Russian officers of high
rank who, from their judgment and humanity or from
their strong sense of justice and plain manner of
proceeding, understand how to make themselves respected in the
most difficult circumstances, like the distinguished
Governor of Warsaw. On the other hand, there can scarcely
be any doubt that the Governor-General of Poland,
General Gurko, possesses very few qualifications for his high
office, or that old Prince Dolgorukof, Governor-General of
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