No anarchistic extravagance could have been so disturbing to autocratic Russia as was this wise moderation, which at the very outset converted Constitutional Bureaucrats into Constitutional Democrats, thus immensely strengthening the people's party at the expense of the Conservatives.

The leaders in the _Duma_ knew precisely what they wanted, and how to present their demands with a clearness, a power, and a calm determination for which Russia,--and indeed that greater audience, the world at large,--was quite unprepared.

That this seriously alarmed the Imperial party was proved by an immediate strengthening of the defences about the throne by means of a change in what is called the _Fundamental Laws_.

These Fundamental Laws afford a rigid framework, an immovable foundation for the authority of the Emperor and his Cabinet Ministers.
Repairs in the Constitution of the United States have been usually in the direction of increased liberties for the people.

The Tsar, on the contrary, aided by his Cabinet and high Government officials, drafted a new edition of the Fundamental Laws suited to a new danger.
The changes made were all designed to build up new defences around the throne, and to intrench more firmly every threatened prerogative.