Surely the one thing that has come out during the war is the supreme importance of _morale_. Napoleon went so far, I have seen it stated, as to say it counted for an army, in proportion to its numbers, as three to one. I remember too how the military correspondent of the _Times_, in one of his most interesting articles on the Balkan War, when it was drawing to a close, explained the disastrous defeat of the Turkish army by the gradual loss of _morale_ they had sustained by the decay of religion amongst them under the regime of the Young Turks. Prayers had been largely given up by the troops, who no longer had the ministrations of their spiritual leaders, and _morale_ had gone in consequence. Then had come disaster. He contrasted with all this the tremendous fervour of the Balkan League, and described a picture he had recently seen in a French illustrated paper. Two French officers were shown looking at a Bulgarian regiment on their knees, their priest praying for them and blessing them before they went into action. "What would one of our generals get," said one of the French officers to his friend, "if he ordered such a thing as that?" "He would get the victory," quietly said the other. I am expecting great things from Russia, and for us through Russia, for civilization and for GOD, and what I have written is being ever more and more widely felt by others also, and even expressed in daily papers, where at one time we should not have expected such a thing to be thought of in the midst of a great war. "That Russia is one of the most truly religious countries in the world is proved by the crowds which filled and overflowed in all the churches yesterday when thanksgiving services were held in celebration of the victory, _nor is it possible to doubt the sincerity and devotion_ of the worshippers. The firm belief in the divine ruling of the world is to be found among _all classes_."[7] FOOTNOTES: [7] _The Daily Mail_ correspondent at Petrograd, November 12, 1914. CHAPTER VI HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE TSAR One interesting figure has held the attention of the Continent of Europe for many long years, appealing to the imagination and baffling comprehension, but will never fill the same place again. Another, however, is coming forward very possibly in his stead, without any wish or intention of his own, and that other is the Emperor of Russia. He will do so, I believe, just as the German Emperor has done, because history affords him the opportunity, and because, like the Kaiser, he too is a man who cherishes thoughts of great purposes for his people and ideals for himself. It affords me the greatest pleasure to write about the Emperor--he is not usually spoken of in Russian society as the Tsar--for I shall always feel most deeply grateful to him for his great personal kindness at my first audience with him, and the great encouragement he gave me at the very beginning of my work abroad. [Illustration: _Her Imperial Majesty the Tsaritsa._]