On Tuesday the Russian Empress gave birth to a fourth
daughter. Regrets are officially, and no doubt sincerely, ex- pressed in all the capitals of Europe that the Emperor is still without a male heir, but the reports which represent the Empress as bitterly disappointed should perhaps be accepted with some reserve. No doubt the Consorts of Sovereigns, like Sovereigns themselves, learn to identify themselves with a dynasty and are indisposed to shirk responsibilities, however onerous, whether for themselves or their children. But if there is one woman in the world who might be supposed to be .reconciled to the hick of a _son, that. woman is the wife of the Czar. Those who think otherwise may be recommended to read Couperus's wonderful picture of the burden of modern autocracy given in his novel, "Majesty."
