Interesting from another standpoint is the description by the then thirteen-year-old Prince Oleg of the reception by the Emperor, at the Winter Palace, of the Deputies of the first Duma in 1905. The young, awakening soul of the child trembled with awe and ecstasy. His eyes, fixed on the Emperor, noted every shade of tone and expression, and his description, too long for quotation here, is glowing in the extreme. On February 10th of the same year he writes: "Something unusual is in the air. It is said that on the 19th there will be a rising in the whole of Russia. Recently M---- sent a secret telegram to Simferopol. A message has also come from the {256} Crimean Division--they have caught a Revolutionist. They say there is a plot to blow up Livadia. There has been a rising in St. Petersburg and disorders in the suburbs of Moscow. On the 4th Uncle Serge was murdered. Poor Uncle Serge! mama has written us horrible details--she says we have lost a true friend. This awful incident has made a deep impression on us all. May it be God's will that everything should right itself somehow. Disorders in every town! How painfully this must affect mama! It is a long time since I last received a letter from her." Then a page about Port Arthur! "What have we lived to see! Stoessel has surrendered Port Arthur! It appears there was no possibility of holding out any longer. Kondratenko is killed. Yes, many heroes have fallen at Port Arthur." How significant and how true are the following words, which show a remarkable insight in a boy so young: "Our Government is composed chiefly, not of Russians, but of Germans--and, of course, Germans do not care what becomes of us. Naturally, the result is that Russians lose. We are too careless--we do not sufficiently educate ourselves. It is imperative that every Russian should work at himself and educate himself from his childhood." When one considers that the writer of the above lines was barely thirteen years old, one cannot but wonder as much at the serious trend of his thoughts as at the simplicity of his style. {257} Here is another charming page from about the same period, a little earlier: