“Public affairs,” Dr. Johnson once said, “vex no man.” And when Boswell objected that he had seen Dr. Johnson vexed on this account the sage replied thus: “Sir, I have never slept an hour less, nor ate an ounce less meat. I would have knocked the factious dogs on the head, to be sure; but I was not vexed.” This seems to me to be an exact definition of the attitude of the Russian public towards politics at this moment. They are not vexed, but they are anxious to knock the factious dogs on the head. The trouble is that each party considers the other parties to be the factious dogs, and the Government considers nearly all the parties to be factious dogs; and all parties without exception (Radical, Extreme, and Conservative) consider the Government to be a factious dog. I will describe briefly the present position of principal parties and their more important subdivisions. The Right (the monarchical party and the Alliance of Russian People) is for the Throne and the Altar and against all compromise. They consider constitutional promises to have been exacted by the terrorism of factious dogs. In the Centre there are, slightly towards the Right, the party of Law and Order, the party of Commerce and Industry, and slightly veering towards the Left the Alliance of October 17th. At this moment the two branches I have mentioned first (Law and Order and Commerce and Industry) have veered from the Right towards the Left; they say that the Government is their common enemy. However, the main fact with regard to them is that these three branches of the Centre, of which the Alliance of October 17th is far the most important, are all constitutional and all moderate. There are further subdivisions in the Centre about which we need not trouble ourselves. These three parties are united in desiring the preservation of the Monarchy on a thoroughly constitutional basis and that of the Unity of the Empire. They differ on various other questions. The Alliance of October 17th is in favour of universal suffrage. The Constitutional Democrats, or Cadets, are in favour of universal suffrage, local autonomy for Poland (which they wish placed in the same position as Finland), and one Chamber. They say nothing of the Monarchy. They are a very strong and active party, and their leaders are notable men, such as Professor Milioukov, MM. Struve, Rodichev, and Petrunkevitch, nearly all of whom are brilliant orators. The Government has been so active in repressive measures against this party that it is difficult to foresee how strongly they will be represented in the Duma. The Moderate parties accuse them of promising more than they can give and of saying less than they mean; in fact, of being Federalists and Socialists in disguise, and not having the honesty and the courage to admit the fact for fear of arousing hostility among the peasants. On the Left of the Left are the Socialists, the Social Democrats, and the Social Revolutionaries.