In the meanwhile the efforts of the Opposition party in the Duma had succeeded to the extent of forcing Mr. Sturmer to resign as Prime Minister; but he had influence enough to secure his appointment as High Chancellor of the Imperial Court, one of the most important positions in Russia. He did not fall into disgrace, but remained the power behind the throne whose existence, though not officially recognised, yet was everywhere acknowledged. He had not been dismissed, he had simply gone away--a very different thing altogether in the realm of the Czar. Though no longer a Minister, he was still a personage to be considered as capable of an infinitude of good or of harm, according as it might please him to exert his influence. His successor, Mr. Trepoff, an upright and fairly able man, did not long retain the office he had accepted much against his will. With him departed one of the most popular Ministers Russia had known for a long time, Count Paul Ignatieff, the able son of an able father. He had for something like two years held the portfolio of Public Instruction to the general satisfaction of the public and had come to the conclusion that it was useless to go on fighting against dark powers which were getting the upper hand everywhere. The resignation of these two statesmen was preceded by one of the most scandalous incidents in Russian modern history, the trial of Mr. Manassevitsch-Maniuloff. This had been put off from day to day for a considerable length of time until at last it became impossible to secure further delay. The culprit had taken good care, as I have already indicated, to put in safety documents of a most incriminating nature, implicating many persons whom the authorities could not afford to see mixed up in the dirty business connected with the numerous sins of Mr. Sturmer’s private secretary. When the latter was questioned by the examining magistrate in regard to that last transaction which had brought him into court, he declared that he had acted in accordance with the instructions which he had received from his chief and that it was not he himself, but the Prime Minister who had received the money which the bank that had lodged a complaint against him had been induced to pay in order to be spared certain annoyances with which it had been threatened. He had insisted upon this version of the affair and warned the magistrate that his counsel would develop it in all the details before the jury.