For some time the whereabouts and intentions of the Tsar were unknown and numerous rumors were afloat. Some said that he had committed suicide, that he was in the city, that he was on the way, that he was under arrest, that he had fled the country. Another interesting question was the form of the new government, should it be a republic or a constitutional monarchy. Many of the educated classes and members of the Duma advocated a constitutional monarchy of the English type, while others, particularly the socialistic groups, favored a republic, a democratic republic; whatever they meant by that is not clear. Needless to say the great mass of people did not know the difference between one kind of government and another but they shouted as loudly as those who knew. One soldier demanded a republic like that of England, another insisted on a republic with a tsar at the head, the wife of the porter of the house where I lived cried as if her heart would break because "they wanted a republic," and some of the peasant women in the country clamored for the tsar because "if they take away the tsar they will also take away God and what will then become of the muzhik." In one place at the front several regiments almost came to blows over this question. An orator ended his eloquent speech by saying that "from now on Russia will have but one monarch, the revolutionary proletariat." This phrase puzzled the soldiers, they also misunderstood the word "monarch" which they thought to be "monakh" (monk). They therefore concluded that it was planned to put a monk on the throne, and an argument arose whether they would have a monk or not. Some were in favor and others opposed. By the time it got to the next regiment the question was whether they would have the monk Iliodor as their ruler. It was no longer a question whether Russia was to have a tsar but whether the tsar should be a monk or not, and whether it should be Iliodor or some other one.