Rasputin-Devil or Saint ?

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 82, 6 April 1918, Page 18

Rasputin-Devil or Saint ?

By THE PRINCESS RADZIWILL

(COPYRIGHT.)

CHAPTER IV.—(Continued.) RASPUTIN'S INFLUENCE OVER MINISTERS. "But Gregory Efimitech," I insisted, "'can you not tell mc at least whether it ia true that some Ministers do all that you tell them?" "Of course they do," he replied angrily. "They know very well their chairs would j not hold them long if they didn't. Thou nhalt yet see some surprise, before thou •Jiest, daughter," he concluded, with a certain melancholy in his accents. Awdotia entered the room again. "Gregory Efimitsch," she said, "there is Father John, of Ladoga, waiting for you." "Ah! I had forgotten him." Then he turned toward mc. "Listen again," he said; "this is a parish priest, very poor, Who is scekin" j to _c transferred into another parish j somewhere in the south. Awdotia, call I on the telephone the secretary of the Synod and tell him that I am very much | | surprised to hear that Father John has 'not yet been appointed to another parish. Tell him this must be done at once, and : he must have a good one. I require an immediate answer." The obedient Awdotia went out a:;ain, and we could hear her once more talk on the telephone. The secretary of tho Synod presents his humble compliments to you, Batiouschka," she said when 6he returned. "Who cares for his compliments" interrupted Rasputin. "Will the man have his parish or not? This is all that I want to know." "The order for his transfer will be presented for the Minister's signature to-morrow," said Awdotia. "That is Tight," sighed Rasputin with relief. And then turning to mc: "Art thou satisfied?" he asked, "and hast thou seen enough to tell to thy friends?" I declared myself entirely satisfied. "Then go," said Rasputin. "I am busy and cannot talk to thee any longer. I have 60 much to do. Everybody comes to mc for something, and people seem to think that I am here to get them what they need or require. They believe in Grischa, these poor people, and he likes to help them. But as for the question of war, this is all nonsense. We shall not have war, and if we have, then I 6hall take good care it will not be for long." He dismissed mc with a nod of his head, and his face assumed quite a shocked look when he found that I was retiring without seeming to notice the hand which he was awkwardly stretching out to mc. But I knewthat he expected people, as a matter of course, to kiss his dirty fingers, and as I was not at all inclined to do so, I made as if I did not notice his gesture. As I was passing into the next room I could perceive through a half-open door leading into another apartment, the young lady whom Rasputin had called Marie Iwanowna. She was prostrated before a sacred image hanging in a corner, with a lamp burning in front of it with her eyes fixed on Heaven, and quite an illuminated expression ou her otherwise plain features. St. Theresa might have looked like that. But seen in the light of our incredulous Twentieth J Century, she appeared a worthy subject of Charcot, or some such eminent nervous doctor, and her place ought to have been the hospital of "La Salpetriere" rather : than the den of the modern Cagliostro, who was making ducks and drakes out. of the mighty Russian Empire. | As I was going down the stairs I met an old man slowly climbing ttiem, with a little girl whom he was half carrying, half dragging along with him. lie stopped mc with the question: — "Do you happen to know whether the blessed Gregory receives visitors?" I replied that the "prophet" was at home, hut that 1 could not say whether he would 1 eceieve anyone or not. "It is for this innocent I want to see him," moaned the man. "She is so ill and no doctor can cure her. If only the Messed Gregory would pray over her 1 know she would be well at once. Do you think that he will do so, Barinia!" the man added anxiously. "I am sure he will," I replied, more because I did not know what to say rather than from the conviction that Rasputin would receive this new visitor. I saw the old creature continue his ascent up the staircase and the whole time he was repeating to the child, "You shall get well, quite well, Mania; the Blessed One shall make you quite well." On the last steps before the stairs ended on the landing two men were busy talking. They were both typical Israelites, with hooked nose and crooked fingers. They were discussing most energetically some subject which evidently was absorbing their attention to an uncommon degree, and discussing it in German too. '•You are quite sure that we can offer him 20 per cent?" one was saying. "Quite sure. The concession is worth a million; the whole thing is to obtain it before the others come on the scene." "Who are the others?" asked the first of the two men." "The Russo-Asiatic Bank," replied the second. "You see, the whole matter lies in the rapidity with which the thing is made. The only one who can persuade the Minister to sign the paper is the old man mjpstairs," and he pointed out toward Rasputin's apartment. Thereupon tho two, in their turn, started to mount the steps. My first interview with Rasputin, al] the details of which I wrote down in my diary when I got home, gave mc _ome inkling as to the different intrigues which were going on around this remarkable personage. It failed, however, to make mc understand by what means he had managed to acquire, if he really acquired, a fact of which I still doubted, the strong influence which he liked to give the impression he exercised. It was quite possible that he had contrived through the magnetic gifts with which he was endown to subdue to his will the hysterical women, whose bigotry and mystical tendencies he had exalted to the highest pitch possible. But how could he, a common peasant, without any education, knowledge of the world or of mankind, have imbued Ministers and statesmen with such a dread that they found themselves ready to do anything at his bidding, and to dispense favours, graces, and lucrative appointments to the people whom he called to their attention. There was evidently something absolutely abnormal in the whole thing, and it was the reason for this abnormality that I began to seek. This search did not prove easy at first, but in time, by talking with persons who saw a lot of Rasputin and of tbe motley crew which surrounded him, I contrived to form some opinion as to the' ,cauae of, fei* success. It seemed to mc

that he was the tool of a strong though small party or group of men, desirous of using him as a means to attain their own ends. There is nothing easier in the world than to make or to mar a reputation, and it is sufficient to say everywhere that a person is able to do this or that thing, to instill into the mind of the public at large the conviction that such is the case. This was precisely what occurred with Rasputin. Count Wittc, who was one of the cleverest political men in his generation, and perhaps the only real statesman that Russia has known in the last twentyfive years, ever since his downfall had been sighing for the day when he should be called to power. He knew very well all that was going on in the Imperial family, and it was easier for him than anyone else to resort to the right means to introduce an outsider into that very closed circle which surrounded the Czar, So long as he had been a Minister, and had under his control the public exchequer it had been relatively easy for ' him to obtain friends, or rather, tools, that had helped him in his plana and ambitions. When this faculty for persuasion failed him, he bethought himself to look elsewhere for an instrument through which he might still achieve the ends ho had in mind. He was not the kind of man who stopped before any moral consideration. For him every means was good, provided it would prove effective. When he saw that certain ladies in the entourage of the Sovereigns had become imbued with the Rasputin mania, he was quick to decide that the craze might, if properly managed, prove of infinite value to him. He therefore not only encouraged it as far as was in his power by pretending himself to be impressed by the prophetic powers of the " Blessed Gregory," but he also com trived very cleverly to let the fact of the extraordinary ascendancy which Rasputin was very rapidly acquiring over the minds of the powerful and influential persons become known. Very soon everybody talked of the latter-day saint, who had suddenly appeared on the horizon of the socinl life of St. Petersburg, and the fame of his reputation spread abroad like the flames of some great conflagration. Russia is essentially the land where Imperial favourites piny a role, and soon the whole country was not only respecting Rasputin, but was trying to make up to him, and to obtain, through him, all kinds of favours and material advantages. Together with Count Witte a whole political party was working, without the least consideration for the prestige of the dynasty which it was discrediting, to show up the rulers as associated with the commoii adventurer and sectarian, who, under other condition., would undoubtedly have found himself prosecuted by the police authorities for his conduct. They had other thoughts in their heads than the interests of the dynasty, these money-seeking, moneygrubbing, ambitious men. They represented nothing beyond the desire to become powerful and wealthy. What they wanted was important posts which would give them the opportunity to indulge in various speculations and more or less fraudulent business undertakings they contemplated. Russia at this time was beginning to he seized with that frenzy lor Stock 1 Exchange transactions, share buying and selling, railway concessions and mining enterprises which reached its culminating point before the beginning of the war- Men without any social standing, and with more than shady pasts, were coming forward and acquiring the reputtation of being lucky speculators capable in ease of necessity of developing into clever statesmen. "These men began to seek their inspiration in Berlin, and through the numerous German 6pies with which St. Petersburg abounded they entered into relations with the German Intelligence Department, whose interests they made their own, because they believed that a war might put an end to the industrial development of tin; country, and thus interfere with their various speculations. The French alliance was beginning to bore those who had got out of it all they had ever wanted; it was time something new should crop up, and the German and Russian Jews, in whoso hands the whole industry and commerce of the Russian Empire lay concentrated, began to preach the necessity of an understanding with the great State whose nearest neighbour it was. A rapprochement between the Hohenzollerns and the Romanoffs began to be spoken of openly as a political necessity, and it was then that thanks to a whole series of intrigues' the Czar was induced to go himself to Berlin to attend the nuptials of the only daughter of the Kaiser, the Brunswick. This momentous journey to Berlin was undertaken partly on account of the representations of Rasputin to the Empress, whose love for peace was very well known. Europe had just gone througn the anxiety caused by the Balkan crisis, and it was repeated everywhere in St. Petersburg that ot some kind had to he made in favour ot peace in general, and also to prove to the world that the great Powers were determined not to allow quarrels in Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece to trouble the security of the world. The marriage festivities of which Berlin became the theatre at the time seemed a fit opportunity for this demonstration. __c bureaucratic circles in the Russian capital an tho influence of Rasputin were used lo bring about this trip of the Czar. Rasputin was thus .fast becoming a personage, simply because it suited certain people—the pro-German party, to use the right word at last—to represent him as being important. They pushed things so far that many Ministers and persons in high places refused or purpose certain things which were asked of tnem and which were absolutely easy for them to perform, simply because they wished Rasputin to ask for them for those who were weary of always meeting with a non possumus in questions for which they required the help of the Administration. Rasputin. various intermediaries, through whom one had to pass before one could approach him, sold their help for more or less large sums of money, and thus began a period of vulgar agiotage, to use the French expression, ot which Russia was the stage, and Rasputin, together with the men who used him, the moving spirits. I very nearlysaid the evil spirits. But of this more later on. HOW THE CENSORSHIP HELPED RASPUTIN. I must now make one remark which is absolutely necessary in order to enable the foreign readers to understand how the numerous legends which -were connected with Rasgutin and tho influence

of the latter on the course of public affairs could come to be accepted by the nation at large. One can seek its principal reason in the tendency which the Russian Government has cultivated since immemorial times to forbid the open discussion of certain things and facts. At the time about which I am writing present military censorship did not exist, and there was no war which could have justified the control by the Government of the publication by the daily Press of the currents events of the day. Yet the censors did not allow any mention ot Rasputin to be made in any organ ot publicity. Thanks to this senseless interdict, it helped the invention of the most unbelievable tales concerning him and the attitude which he had adopted in regard to State affairs, with which he had begun to occupy himself, much to the dismay of those who had by that time learned to appreciate the fact that the "Prophet" was but the plaything of men far cleverer than himself and 50,000 times more dangerous. St. Petersburg has always been famed for its gossiping propensities, and in no place in the whole world do the most incomprehensible rumours start and i flourish with the rapidity that they do |in the Russian capital. What the newspapers are forbidden to mention is told jby one person to another, whispered ' from one ear to another, and discussed everywhere, in clubs, drawing-rooms, j restaurants, in the houses of the proudest aristocrats as wen as in the dwellings of the humblest citizens. Nowhere does, or rather did, because I believe this has become impossible nowadays, the telephone contribute more to relate all kind of gossip concerning both private people and public matters. Ol course, as there existed no possibility ol controlling all that was being reia'ted under the seal of 6ecrecy all over St.! Petersburg, the most improbable rumours were put in circulation, and were carried about not only in the town itself, but in the provinces, where the travellers returning from St. Petersburg were but too glad to repeat with considerable additions all that they had heard in the capital. The very secrecy which was enjoined by tho authorities in regard to Kasputin added to the latter's importance and transformed him into a kind of legendary personage, either too holy or too bad to be mentioned. Soon all kinds of things in which he had had absolutely no part began to be attributed to him, and many persons, earnestly believing him to be allpowerful, took to asking his help not only in the matter of their administrative careers, but also in questions where their private life and private interests were involved. It happened every day that a man who had a lawsuit of a doubtful character sought out Rasputin, hoping that he might be able to put in a word capable of influencing the judges before whom the case was to be tried. As it was absolutely impossible for anyone to approach him without passing through an intermediary of some kind, it was generally this intermediary who began the regular plundering of the pockets of all the unfortunate petitioners who had hoped to retrieve their fortunes by an appeal to the "Prophet's" protection. This plundering went on as long as the victim had a penny to spare and a hope to live upon.

On the other hand, the Liberal parties in the country began to be seriously alarmed at the importance which this uncouth peasant was assuming, and they it was who helped by the anxiety which they openly manifested to set 1 the general public thinking about him more than it ought to have done. In the Duma the name of Rasputin was mentioned with something akin to horror, and allusions without number were made concerning the "Dark Powers," as they were called, who were grasping in their hands the conduct of public affairs. The "Prophet" began to be mentioned as the scourge of Russia long before he had become one. His followers, on the contrary, made no secret of his ever-growing importance, and indented on their side any number of tales absolutely devoid of truth and tending to prove that nothing whatever was done in regard to the management of State affairs without his having been previously consisted. Who consulted him no one knows and no one could tell. Certainly it was not the Emperor, who had, when the "Prophet" once or twice had attempted to touch upon this point in his presence, rebuked him most sharply; certainly it was not the Empress, who at that time had never yet cared for politics, whether foreign or domestic. It was also not the Ministers, and most certainly it was not the leaders of any party in the Duma, because all parties there were agreed aa to one thing, and that was a thorough detestation of Rasputin and of the whole crew which surrounded him and without which he could not exist. Who consulted him, then ? No one knew, and very probably, no one cared to know. But the fact that! he was consulted was an established one, most probably due to the efforts of those persons in whose interests it lay to represent him as the deus ex machina with-' out whom nothing could be done in general, and upon whom everything more or less depended. It was even related in St. Petersburg that one day, during an audience which he had had with the Czar, Mr. Rodzianko. the President of the Duma, had attempted to remonstrate on the subject of Rasputin for which he had been severely reproved by the Sovereign. Personally I do not believe for one single instant that such an incident ever took place. For one thing, no one, not even Mr. Rodzianko, would have dared to talk to the Emperor about such an unsavoury subject as that of the "Prophet," even if he had been endowed with a moral courage far superior to that of the President of the Duma. Then, again, people in the know were, at tj>e time I am referring to, far too well up as to what was going on in the way of Court intrigues not to understand that all protestations against the constant presence of Rasputin in the vicinity of the Imperial family would have led to nothing, for the 6imple reason that those upon whom it depended did not and could not even recognise the danger that it presented, because they simply looked upon him as upon a holy man. He soothed the anxieties of the Empress in regard to her small son, promising her that the day would come when, thanks to his prayers, the child would outgrow his delicacy., He amused the Emperor by talking to him in a rough but'bright language, describing bluntly all the incidents that had reached bis knowledge generally through the Channel of those interested in having them conveyed to the Sovereign in the way, that best served their own interests. "j Bu|

Nicholas 11. never took him seriously into account, and therefore could hardly have been brought to think that others were doing bo, and doing it with a vengeance into the bargain. (To be continued next Saturday.)