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given. The members of the Duma and the Senate came back imbued with our enthusiasm, Radical and Conservative alike, and what they saw of our work was luminous in debate. On the whole the Russians have become much more warm and friendly towards us. They are obtaining a better understanding of our ideals, our character and national determination.

After the defeats of last autumn there sprang up a sort of intellectual sect, the porazhentsi, people who believe in defeat. These held that Russia stood to gain more by being beaten than by winning—a conclusion that the Russian soul is more ready to accept than we should be. Brusilof's victories seem, however, to have dissipated this doctrine for the time being, and the porazhentsi are less heard of this winter.

Allied to this, however, has been a more important movement in favour of a self-dependent Russia. Why should Russia struggle out of German commercial bondage merely to fall into British hands? Why