Excerpt from The Future of RussiaBefore he predicts such tragic events as the revolution and bankruptcy of a neighbouring State, a conscientious man will see to it that his statements rest on a very safe foundation if he is aware that they will cause a considerable sensation. In the uncertain realm of politics trustworthy predictions can only be made upon a basis of absolutely reliable assumptions. A well-founded prediction concerning a great State catastrophe is of importance to every body, no matter what his nationality may be. The steady progress of the civilisation of the world is of joint and separate interest to every human being. If I know that a vessel carries an infernal machine on board I warn every one who is about to embark on that vessel, whether he be German, Englishman, Frenchman, or Chinese. And when my own country in particular is threatened by a catastrophe I shall with special emphasis draw attention to the danger, nor shall any one turn me from this duty.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.