There is no basis for comparison, this solitude of the soul. The feeling of shame makes me shudder. It will not leave my memory, and can never be effaced. There is nothing with which to liken this torture of the pride, of the self-respect. This suffering is as poignant as the blows of my tormentors. The same hands that beat the hungering peasants caressed and slapped me!... Still, the government, with all its experience in lies, and its permission of illegal actions among its servants, will not succeed in rehabilitating these two men. They are condemned beyond recall, branded with the scorn of the people. I was glad to see free people, from a quiet, liberty-loving land, to receive their salutations.... My spirit is now strong, and without fear I await deportation and _catagora_. If the government does not succeed in killing me with tortures during these years I believe I shall be free. Good-by--I give you both my hands.” (Signed) MARIE SPIRADONOVA. CHAPTER IX WATCHING THE DUMA AT WORK The famous October manifesto--Skepticism of Russian people toward promise of Constitution--Difficulties placed in way of honest voting--Czar’s insincerity and duplicity--Fundamental and exceptional laws--Ministerial change on eve of Duma--St. Petersburg possessed by troops--The Winter Palace spectacle--The throne speech--Disappointment of deputies--“Amnesty! Amnesty!”--“The first shot”--Make-up of first Duma--First session--Zeal of representatives--Hostile attitude of government--Work of Duma--Governmental policy of obstruction--Dissolution--The Viborg manifesto--The present peril--The promise of the future in the light of the attitude of the Czar. The famous manifesto granting representative government to the Russian people was issued October 30, 1905. After brief delays and one postponement the date for the meeting of the first parliament (to be called Duma, which is to say “Think”) was set for May 10, 1906.