It must not be forgotten that the nation itself was largely responsible for the success of the mobilisation. The self-sacrificing enthusiasm of all classes was a revelation to those who believed that Russia was in a parlous condition internally. The inevitable losses and inconvenience were cheerfully borne. The rich came forward in a wholly unprecedented manner. In Russia, owing to the lack of a middle class, the distinction between noble and peasant is most rigorously observed. The old days of the serfdom have not been entirely forgotten. But during those early weeks of August the national call was responded to with equal enthusiasm by rich and poor. Mansions were placed at the disposal of the peasant soldiers. Food and gifts were showered upon them; even carriages were offered to help them on their way. The owner of an estate near Novgorod, not only entertained, at his own expense, nearly three hundred troops a day, but his wife and daughters served them with their own hands. A year ago such an action would have meant social ostracism. To-day it is an example which is being followed everywhere. This _rapprochement_ between the classes will have effects extending far beyond the mobilisation. They give promise of a new and happier Russia, for Ivan Ivan’ich never forgets a kindness. The enthusiasm of the people was evinced in a thousand different ways. There was cheering and singing everywhere, but practical enthusiasm was no less in evidence. Often it resulted in trouble. The impersonation of reservists who had been called up, by those who had not, was very frequent. In many cases the discovery of the trick ended in blows with the result that neither proceeded to the front, the impersonator going to gaol and the impersonated to the hospital. Thousands of boys ran away from their homes in order to enlist. Some Polish boys living at Vilna were so disappointed at being refused admission to the army on account of their age that they formed themselves into an unofficial patrol. Unfortunately they fell in with some Austrian Cavalry, and the next day their bodies were discovered hanging from the branches of a tree. The enthusiasm was not confined to the men. Women and girls sacrificed their tresses and disguised themselves as recruits. Some actually managed to reach the front without being detected, and one even contrived to enter the air service. At no time during the mobilisation was the religious aspect of the war allowed to be forgotten. Before starting on their journey reservists knelt before their humble ikons. In every village the priest blessed the troops as they passed. Ikons and sacred relics have been taken to the front.