The “Intellectuals” of Russia have many qualities, but everything they say must not be taken as being irrefutable; they are human, like the rest of us. They are less practical than some of us, even if we do not agree with a well-known French manager of a _café_ here, who said: “Les Intelligents!” (with a snort of disgust). “Ce sont les intelligents les plus bêtes que j’aie jamais vus.” What one is hearing constantly said by sensible people is that before any political theory or system is carried into effect order must be restored; that the reforms which have been granted cannot be carried out in detail in a day; that there is one man capable of carrying these reforms out, and that he is Count Witte; that to oppose Count Witte for the sake of opposition is merely criminal, because if Count Witte throws up the sponge the game will be lost and the result will be universal anarchy, the only remedy for which will be universal and drastic repression. The trouble is that Count Witte is a man of business, and no one else in Russia is. It seems to me that the Liberals by their action are in danger of creating a party of reaction. For the so-called “reactionary party” did not up to the present moment exist. That is to say, there was practically nobody of any importance who wished to revert to the state of things before the granting of the Constitution. On the other hand, there are a great many people who think that the maintenance of order is all important. The opponents of the Government, however, say that it is making for disorder, and point to the massacres of the Jews in the provinces. The Kronstadt mutiny is said not to have been political; nevertheless if the sailors had not got drunk, nothing could have prevented their blowing Peterhof to bits. A universal strike is threatened immediately. _November 17th._ Last night, while I was at the Opéra Bouffe, where the “Country Girl” was being given, the electric light went out. The performance continued all the same; the actors holding bedroom candles in their hands, while the auditorium remained in the dimmest of twilights. This is owing to the strike. _November 21st._ I started for London. CHAPTER VI MOSCOW—THE DECEMBER RISING MOSCOW, _December 12th_.