Yes, Berlin is an imposing city, but in it, as in all large aggregations of humanity on our planet, luxury and squalor are such near neighbors that the songs and laughter of the fortunate do not drown the moans of the wretched. We now are crossing the border line between Germany and Russia. Over what a vast area the autocratic Czar holds sway. Does it not seem marvellous that to one man millions of people yield more or less willing obedience? Yet marvellous only when one loses sight of the fact, that in all manifestations of nature; or, if it may please you better, of God, necessarily there is a central, dominant principle. Among the millions of this great empire are many who are the Czar's equal, and others who, in the sense that makes a man worthier than his fellows, are his superiors. Yet these millions of humans are subject to him, because that in his rank is involved all the principles that the government of Russia stands for, and all governments require a figure-head, be it emperor, king or president. The Czar is a man of fine intelligence, of an affectionate and generous nature, but he is so hedged in by pride of birth, by love of power and the precedents of usages that he possesses but a scant understanding of the needs of the diverse races who people his dominions. Yes, he, like most of Earth's rulers, walks on the verge of a precipice over which, at any moment, some ruthless hand may topple him. No nation of Earth has yet outgrown the naturally turbulent animal element which, in the human, ever is snapping and snarling, and it is only when humanity has evolved beyond it that an observance of the Golden Rule becomes possible. Earth's peoples not having evolved to the height of such a possibility, rulers must needs be guarded by steel and served by slaves, both rulers and slaves being held in bondage through fear of consequences. No, I do not recall that I ever have cared for the ephemeral distinctions of mortality's brief days. We near St. Petersburg, an extensive and populous city, which, like the country, is covered with snow. Yes, the cold is very severe, and rivers and lakes are bound in icy fetters. Never mind, the time is not very far distant when you shall be free to not only visit the city, but you even may unceremoniously call on the royal family. Now we are crossing the Ural Mountains, and in a moment we will be passing over Siberia. One is tempted to moralize over those exiled from home and country to this far northern land. Ah me! What tragedies have been enacted, what crimes committed against humanity, perpetrated, too, in the name of justice, who is not so blind that she will not some time reckon with the perpetrators.