of the Grand Dukes prevented applause. The greyhaired President gave the
Minister of War his hand, and invited the Minister for Foreign Affairs
to address them.

"In my opinion," said the diplomatist, "there is no doubt that the
strategical opinions just delivered by His Excellency the Minister
for War are based upon an expert's sound and correct estimate of the
circumstances, and I also am certain that the troops of His Majesty the
Tsar, accustomed as they are to victory, will, in the event of war, soon
be standing upon the plain of the Indus. It is also my firm conviction
that Russia would be best advised to take the offensive as soon as
ever the impossibility of our present relations to England has been
demonstrated. But whoever goes to war with England must not look to one
battleground alone. On the contrary, we must be prepared for attacks of
the most varied kinds, for an attack upon our finances, to begin with,
and upon our credit, as to which His Excellency Witte could give better
information than I could. The Bank of England, and the great banking
firms allied with it, would at once open this financial campaign.
Moreover, a ship sailing under the Russian flag would hardly dare show
itself on the open seas, and our international trade would, until our
enemy had been crushed, be absolutely at a standstill. Moreover, more
vital for us than considerations of this sort would be the question:
What of the attitude of the other great Powers? England's political
art has, since the days of Oliver Cromwell, displayed itself chiefly in
adroitly making use of the continental Powers. It is no exaggeration to
say that England's wars have been chiefly waged with continental armies.
This is not said in depreciation of England's military powers. Wherever
the English fleet and English armies have been seen on the field of
battle, the energy, endurance, and intrepidity of their officers,
sailors, and soldiers have ever been brilliantly noticeable. The