“If the Bolsheviki succeed, or if they fail, the fate of Russia will not be changed. The Russian villages understand perfectly what they want, and they are now carrying out their own measures…. The villages will save us in the end….” In the meanwhile, in the great hall Ustinov had announced the agreement between the Peasants’ Congress and Smolny, received by the delegates with the wildest joy. Suddenly Tchernov appeared, and demanded the floor. “I understand,” he began, “that an agreement is being concluded between the Peasants’ Congress and Smolny. Such an agreement would be illegal, seeing that the true Congress of Peasants’ Soviets does not meet until next week…. “Moreover, I want to warn you now that the Bolsheviki will never accept your demands….” He was interrupted by a great burst of laughter; and realising the situation, he left the platform and the room, taking his popularity with him…. Late in the afternoon of Thursday, November 16th, the Congress met in extraordinary session. There was a holiday feeling in the air; on every face was a smile…. The remainder of the business before the assembly was hurried through, and then old Nathanson, the white-bearded dean of the left wing of the Socialist Revolutionaries, his voice trembling and tears in his eyes, read the report of the “wedding” of the Peasants’ Soviets with the Workers’ and Soldiers’ Soviets. At every mention of the word “union” there was ecstatic applause…. At the end Ustinov announced the arrival rival of a delegation from Smolny, accompanied by representatives of the Red Army, greeted with a rising ovation. One after another a workman, a soldier and a sailor took the floor, hailing them. Then Boris Reinstein, delegate of the American Socialist Labor Party: “The day of the union of the Congress of Peasants and the Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies is one of the great days of the Revolution. The sound of it will ring with resounding echoes throughout the whole world—in Paris, in London, and across the ocean—in New York. This union will fill with happiness the hearts of all toilers. “A great idea has triumphed. The West, and America, expected from Russia, from the Russian proletariat, something tremendous…. The proletariat of the world is waiting for the Russian Revolution, waiting for the great things that it is accomplishing….” Sverdlov, president of the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ greeted them. And with the shout, “Long live the end of civil war! Long live the United Democracy!” the peasants poured out of the building.