"To-day I received a letter from my tutor, I.M. It was so touching that I nearly burst into tears--but of course I restrained myself. How stupid I was, when, at first, I was glad of the war! [Between Russia and Japan.] How much suffering, how many orphaned families it has occasioned! At the beginning I wanted to run away and go to the front. If, during our journey to the Crimea, it should be God's will to send me to the war now, I should still be happy. To-day at lunch they were saying that there were only 10,000 left in Port Arthur, that Port Arthur cannot hold out. At six o'clock in the evening, I shut myself up in my room and prayed that God might help us. I took my Prayer Book, and thought to myself, 'I will open it just at random, and read. Perhaps I may chance on something suitable, just for the war.' I opened the book and read, '_Special prayers for times of war!_'" The above is an extract from a diary. "The education of the young Prince and his brothers," says the _Novoye Vremya_ in an interesting article on the life of Oleg Constantinovitch, "was very systematic and thorough. They rose at half-past six, were taken for a morning walk in the park, and at eight were already at their lessons. Each lesson lasted forty minutes, and between it and the next there was an interval of twenty minutes. There were from four to five lessons daily. Luncheon was at one, and from two to four the young Princes rode daily with their uncle, the Grand Duke Dimitri. From four to seven preparation for the following {258} day, at seven dinner, then forty minutes' reading with one of the teachers of foreign languages, then drawing and dancing. An arduous day's work indeed!" Here is another charming extract from the diary: "We must study hard and prepare ourselves. Perhaps we must work even more seriously than did the rulers of to-day in their youth. There are hard times coming--and hard times call for serious preparation. The further we get from the year of Christ's birth, the harder grow the times, and the harder the times, the more necessary a thorough preparation." These are wonderful words from a boy of twelve. The following words, also written in his diary, this time in the train when homeward bound after a summer spent abroad, are interesting in their charmingly expressed and idealistic patriotism: