Russia's agony Author:Robert Wilton Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER V RAZPUTINISM AND THE COURT Belief in "Holy Men"—The Advent of Razputin—Healing the Tsarevich— The Empress's Infatuation—An Anxious Mother—The Tsar... more » and the Dalai Lama—Alexandra's Ambitions—The Weakness of Nicholas II— Razputin Appoints and Dismisses Ministers—"Remarkable Prophecies" —Razputin's Peace Intrigue with Germany—"Removed" by the Army —The Circumstances of Razputin's Death—Protopopov's Madness— The Court at Mogilev. The Russian was ever a God-seeker (bogoiskdtel). This trait found its expression in various ways, bad and good—in the formation of quaint sects, some of which, like the abominable kfdysty (flagellants), resisted all attempts at conversion; in the schism known as the Old Faith; but above all in the popularity of elders (stdrtsy), to whom multitudes came seeking light and guidance. It was wonderful how quickly the fame of a "holy man" traveled over the country. People of all classes got to hear of him, and traveled enormous distances to see his face and to receive his blessing. Now, as all sects were banned by the Church, these ghostly comforters generally selected their abode under the protection of some monastery. They signalized themselves by their blamelessness and otherwise. They might be ignorant laymen or learned clerics; it mattered not so long as they had the requisite gifts and qualities. We shall see how this characteristic of Russian life was to affect the whole course of politics and to produce one of the contributory causes of the Revolution. While the semi-skeptical intelligentsia: professed disdainful tolerance for all beliefs, and the educated classes displayed a widespread laxity of morals—as has been strikingly illustrated in the works of Russian writers— they could never attain the profundities of out-and-out skepticism. T...« less