, THE PRESENT CONDITION OF RUSSIA
itself hoarse. Then he spoke a few sentences, short and
sharp, with military precision, winding up by calling
for "three cheers for our brave fellows at the front," to
which the audience responded as a London audience
would have responded in the autumn of 1914. Trotsky
and the Red Army undoubtedly now have behind
them a great body of nationalist sentiment. The recon-
quest of Asiatic Russia has even revived what is
essentially an imperialist way of feeling, though this
would be indignantly repudiated by many of those in
whom I seemed to detect it. Experience of power is
inevitably altering Communist theories, and men who
control a vast governmental machine can hardly have
quite the same outlook on life as they had when they
were hunted fugitives. If the Bolsheviks remain in
powerTTt is much to be feared that their Communism
will fade, and that they will increasingly resemble any
other Asiatic Government—for example, our owrn
Government in India.