CHAPTER XXVI.
FINLAND--HAGUE TRIBUNAL--POLITICAL CONDITIONS When Nicholas II., the gentle-faced young son of Alexander, came to the throne there were hopes that a new era for Russia was about to commence.

There has been nothing yet to justify that hope.

The austere policy pursued by his father has not been changed.

The recent decree which has brought grief and dismay into Finland is not the act of a liberal sovereign! A forcible Russification of that state has been ordered, and the press in Finland has been prohibited from censuring the _ukase_ which has brought despair to the hearts and homes of the people.

The Russian language has been made obligatory in the university of Helsingfors and in the schools, together with other severe measures pointing unmistakably to a purpose of effacing the Finnish nationality--a nationality, too, which has never by disloyalty or insurrection merited the fate of Poland.
But if this has struck a discordant note, the invitation to a Conference of the Nations with a view to a general disarmament has been one of thrilling and unexpected sweetness and harmony.