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i9i6] RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS
inevitably bring to the neutrals as well. This was,
moreover, the only occasion on which the King spoke in
this strain to me.
During my visit to Petrograd I had been informed
that a delegation of Russian "parliamentarians," i.e.
members of the Duma and of the Council of the Empire,
were soon going to pass through Sweden on their way
to the allied countries.
These gentlemen did arrive in Stockholm in March ;
a few of the members of the Council of the Empire were
missing and were to join their colleagues later; but the
members of the Duma—with the Vice-President of this
assembly, M. Protopopoff, at their head—were all there.
Among the " cadets " there were M. Miliukoff, whom I
had known for a long time, M. Schingareff and M. Itchas,
a Lithuanian whom I had also met before. The other
delegates were "grandees of lesser importance." M.
Protopopoff, " Octobrist of the Left," attracted my
curiosity; I had heard him spoken of as a particularly
intelligent man, very independent with regard to the
Government, although he did not nurse any
"subversive" opinions ; he was also quoted as one of the very
rare members of the Duma having any practical
knowledge of great industrial enterprises. During the few
hours that I was able to talk to the Vice-President of the
Duma, he did not appear to me to belie his reputation :
a frank way of talking, devoid of all exaggeration, a
faculty for assimilating new ideas quickly and thoroughly;
absence of prejudices and of pre-conceived opinions.
Side by side with that, a slight tinge of affectation and
an obvious wish to be very much the recognised head of
the parliamentary delegation.
Having received these gentlemen at the station and
accompanied them to the hotel, I invited them to come
and have lunch at the Legation to meet my colleagues.
After lunch, I gathered my guests together round
a green table so as to give them the opportunity of
asking questions on all matters relative to our relations
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