Sir George Buchanan's Memories of the Tsar, some chapters from
which the Times has been publishing, are none the less interesting for being memories of Sir George Buchanan rather than of the Tsar. It is impossible in a few lines to say anything of their contents except that they are well worth reading. The contrast between pre-War and post-War Europe could not be more vividly illustrated than in this picture of life in St. Petersburg, as it then was. And there is undeniably a fascination about the good old secret diplomacy. The student of history, reading these memoirs, will have little difficulty in recognizing the. usual circumstances which precede revolution. The succession of a strong-willed autocrat by a weak one, combined with a period of national distress, such as a war or a famine, can produce only one result. Nicholas, unfortunately for him, was just such a weak successor, and the sins of his father were visited upon. him.
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