Excerpt from The Eclipse of RussiaWitte calmed the fiery passion Of the count and the two Visitors left. A fortnight later there was a dispute among the cabinet ministers on the subject of the suffrage. The Tsar displayed his interest in the matter, and Witte decided to send for Count B. And Prince U. And to give them an opportunity Of laying before the sovereign the views Of the population in that province of Central Russia. But when they arrived he stood aghast to hear Count B. Inveigh in un measured terms against those short-sighted individuals who dared to restrict the suffrage and deprive the Tsar's loyal subjects Of their right to vote for, or against, a candidate. But, expostulated Witte, was it not you who fourteen days ago said the very opposite and threatened to march on the capital at the head of the armed peasants if we enacted what you now demand a Yes, yes, I know all that. But during that fortnight I have been among the peasants and asked them for their views. And what is more, I can tell you that most Russians Of the intelligentsia are Of the same mind. And I am anxious to tell his Majesty how they think and feel on the subject.As I was very well acquainted with Count B. I took him aside and taunted him with his sudden change of front, but he defended himself, urging quite seriously, Most Of my friends are for universal suffrage. So is the general public. Surely that is a good reason for yielding to the consensus of Opinion. Down to the Revolution Count B. Played a prominent but not a helpful part in Russian politics.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.