“I was glad when I heard the answer to the speech of our Sovereign the Emperor from the Throne about the resurrection of the country. But I repeat that my joy lasted only until to-day. To-day, my dears, I again look upon our distressful country. She is once more threatened by a menacing cloud of gold uniforms. We see that a whole population, a hundred millions strong, lies under the yoke of a few individuals and can do nothing. Many express their sympathy for us on paper, but nobody can help us. They tell us that the fulfilment of our demands is impossible. I again put myself in the company of the poor peasantry, who, it is true, possess great strength. One can liken the peasantry to Samson, who possessed exceeding strength. By cunning they discovered what was the secret of his strength, and bereft him of it. They took us, too, by cunning, and by cunning they blinded us. I once more repeat therefore that it is a duty not to play tricks with a people a hundred million strong. When Samson felt the power of all the mockery of the Philistines he then said: ‘Lead me; let me uphold the columns which support the building,’ and, taking hold of one pillar with his right hand and one with his left, he said: ‘Perish, my soul, together with the Philistines!’ Who forced him to do this? If wicked Dalila had not blinded him, and had his strength not been impaired, he would not have wished to do this. They made a laughingstock of him, and he said: ‘Perish, my soul, together with the Philistines!’ And then what? Those who played with him perished beneath the crashing building. “All the labouring peasantry is in even such a critical situation. They treat it like a toy; but, my friends, I cannot guarantee that the unhappy Samson will support it. He will say: ‘Perish, my soul, with the Philistines!’” THE COMPOSITION OF THE DUMA _June 20th._ There are in the Duma thirty-five so-called “Moderates,” a hundred and seventy-six Cadets, eighty-one belonging to no party (mostly peasants, with one or two independent gentlemen), about a hundred and twenty belonging to the Extreme Left, who now call themselves the Labour Party. Besides these there are the Autonomists, consisting of twenty-six Poles, six Lithuanians, four Esthonians, four Letts, two Ukraine, and ten Musalmans. If we look into these parties we see that the most prominent members of the Moderates are Count Heyden, a Constitutional Monarchist, who corresponds more or less to an English Whig, and has all his life played a prominent part in the Liberal movement, and especially in the Zemstvo meetings last year, and M. A. Stachovitch, also a Constitutional Monarchist, a member of the noblesse and a prominent Zemstvoist and champion of the Liberal movement. Besides these two there are prominent men such as Prince Volkonsky, also a Constitutional Monarchist.