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EVENING LEDGER-PHILADELPHIA, luESDAT, OCTOBER 23, 1917
Pictorial Sietfon
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'DEVIIfSAINT
(Coprlht. 1017, Publlo Ledger Compny. All rlchta reserved.)
fjte Characteristic Feature of Rasputin's Domi
nance as a Holy Mystic Is That It Was Made
Use of by Conspirators in the Government to
Farther Their Own Ends It Was This
Duplicity Which Was the Principal Harm
Done by the "Monk"
It Was Not Long Before the Siberian Peasant
Wearied of the Limited Field Offered His
"Religious" Powers at Home and He Turned
Uis Steps Toward Russia Proper There He
Won Many Converts to His Sect, Which
Observed Objectionable Doctrines
CHAPTER II
THE beginnings ui mc mrecr oi uregory itasputin arc shrouded
with a veil of deep mystery. He was a native of Siberia, of a small
f 11im in the government of Tobolsk, called Pokrowskoie. Some
L pMpl "to tnat wncn qu'to a yutl1 nc was compromised in a crime
JUch attracted some attention at the time the murder of a rich
I merchnt who was traveling from Omsk to Tobolsk to acquire from
I is inhabitant of Tobolsk some gold diggings, of which the latter
j, planed to dispose. This merchant was known to carry a large sum
ef money, and as he never reached his destination inquiries were
itarted. At last his body was found, with the head battered by
t!ow. hidden in a ditch by the high road, together with that of tho
f coachman who had driven him. The murderers were never discov
ered, but dark rumors concerning the participation of the youth
Euputin in the d,ccd spread all over the village.
Rasputin's Start as a "Prophet"
Whether it was the desire to put an end to them, or remorse for
in action of which ho knew himself to bo guilty, it is difficult to
; Ity, but the fact subsists that suddenly Gricha, as he was called,
t developed mystical tendencies and took to attending some relirrious
settings at which a certain wandering pilgrim used to preach. The
Utter used to go from place to place in Siberia predicting the end
cf the world and the advent of the dreaded day of judgment when
Christ would once again appear to demand from humanity an
iccount of its various good or bad actions. For something like two
years Rasputin followed him, until at last he began himself to
I usame the character of a lay preacher, to apply himself to the study
. f the Scrintures and to trv to nstnhlUfc n nrwf nt fcio ,..., i
j v. r -- -- .. . wi.vv v ...a Wt11 UIU
f principles of which he exposed to his followers in these terms:
"I am possessed of the Holy Spirit, and it is only through
me that one can be saved. In order to do so, one must unite
oneself with me in body and soul. Everything which proceeds from
nt is holy and cleans one ,from sin."
On the strength of this theory Rasputin declared that he could
it whatever he liked or wished. He surrounded himself with wor-
iWpers of both sexes, who believed that by a close union with
him they could obtain their eternal salvation, together with divine
I forgiveness for any sin3 they might have committed during their
I previous existence.
Strange tales began to be related concerning the religious as
1 itmblies at which the new prophet presided. But, nevertheless, tho
I whole village of Pokrowskoie, whither he had returned after his
. few years' wanderings, accepted his teachings and submitted to his
j decrees with scarcely any exceptions. These unbelievers were looked
jj upon askance by the majority of tho inhabitants, who had succumbed
to the "monk's" power of fascination and hypnotism. It was with
nothing else that Rasputin kept his "flock" subjugated. He intro-
duced among them the cult of his own person, together with certain
t rites which he called "sacrifice with prayer."
j According to the narratives of some people, who out of curiosity
j lad attended these ceremonies, this is how they proceeded: In the
L night, as soon as the firBt stars had become visible in the skies,
j Rasputin, with the help of his disciples, dragged some wood into
$ a deep ditch dug for the purpose and lighted a huge bonfire. tOna
. tripod placed in the midst of this fire was put a cup full of incense
l and different herbs, around which people began to dance, holding
themselves by the hand all the while and singing ina voice which
became louder and louder as the wild exercise became more and
more accelerated different hymns, which always ended with the
pirase: "Forgive us our sins, 0 Lord, forgive us our sins."
The dance went on until people fell exhausted to tho ground
and groans and tears replaced the former singing. The fire died
out slowly and. when the darkness had become comnlete. the'
(, Tolce of Rasputin was heard calling upon his disciples to proceed
to the sacrifice which God required them to perform. Then .followed
a icene of general orgy.
As one can see by this tale, tho strange practices introduced
hy the seer, about whom people were already beginning to talk,
differed in no way from those generally in use among the Khlysty,
f and. indeeH. Pflftnutin mnrln Tin cnrif nt Tia nllffrrinnpn in this nnr-
1 ticular form of heresy, in which, however, he had introduced a few
' alterations. For instance, he did not admit that the souls of his
j followers could be saved by a general prayer, but only thanks to
I
My TheDiriricfessRadziwiiL
"I am possessed of the Holy Spirit, and it is only through mc that one can b saved.
In order to do so one must unite oneself with me in body and soul. Everything which
proceeds from mc is holy and cleans one from sin." Creed of Gregory Rasputin, the
'Prophet.'
"Around this fire people began to dance, singing in a voice
which became louder and louder as the wild exercise became
more and more accelerated, 'Forgive us our sins, 0 Lord;
forgive us our sins "
Hffl
one uttered in common with him, and by a complete submission to
his will. Some persons have alleged that during tho early wander
ings of Rasputin he had gone as far as China and Thibet, and thorc
learned some Buddhist practices, but this is hardly probable, as in
that case his instruction would have been more developed than it
was. It is far more likely that during his travels he had mot with
exiled sectarians belonging to the different persecuted religious
Russian communities, of which there exist eo many in tho whole
Oural region, and that they initiated him into some of their rites
and customs. They also made him attentive to the hypnotic powers,
which he most undoubtedly possessed, teaching him how to use
them for his own benefit and advantage.
Rasputin Wins Converts
Very soon Rasputin found that Pokrowskoie was not a field
wide enough for his energies, and he took to traveling, together
with a crowd of disciples that followed him everywhere over tho
eastern and central Russian provinces. There ho coptrived to win
every day new ad.herent3 to the doctrines in which free lovo figured
so prominently. Among the towns where he obtained the most
success can be mentioned those of Kazan, Saratoff, Kieff and
Samara.
Concerning his doings in Kazan, people became informed
through a letter which one of his victims addressed to the bishop of
that diocese, Monsignor Feofane, who had shown at the beginning
of Rasputin's career a considerable interest and who had protected
him with great success. In this letter, which later on found its way
into the press, the following was said among other things:
Your Reverence, I absolutely fail to understand how it la
possible that you continue to this day to know and see Gregory
Rasputin. He is Satan in person and the things which he docs
arc worthy of those that the Antichrist alone is supposed to
perform, and prove that the lattcr's advent is at hand.
The writer then proceeded -to explain that Rasputin had com
pletely subjugated the mind of her two daughters, one of whom was
aged twenty, whilst the second had not yet attained her sixteenth
year.
One afternoon, writes this unfortunate mother, I met in
tho street, coming out of a bathhouse, Rasputin, together with
my two girls. One must be a mother to understand tho feelings
which overpowered me at this sight. I could find no words to
say, but remained standing motionless and silent before them.
The prophet turned to me nnd slowly said: "Now you may feel
at peace, the day of salvation has dawned for your daughters 1"
Another woman, who Lad also fallen ' under tho spell of
Rasputin, wrote as follows about him:
"I left my parents, to whom I was tenderly attached, to
follow the prophet. One day when wo were traveling together
in a reserved first-class carriage, talking about the sajvation of
souls and tho means to become a true child of God, ho sud
denly got up and npproached me, and proceeded to
clean me of all my sins. Toward evening I became anxious
and asked'him: 'Perhaps what we have been doing today was
a sin, Gregoryfimitsch?' 'No, my daughter,' he replied, 'it
was not a sin. Our affections are a gift from God, which we
may use as freely as we like.' "
Bishop Feofane finally was obliged to recognize the evil which
Rasputin was constantly doing, and he bitterly repented having
been taken in by him and by his hypocrisy. He reproached himself
especially for having given him a letter of recommendation to the
famous Father John of Cronstadt, through whom Rasputin was
to become acquainted with somo of tho people who were later on
to pilot him in the society of St. Petersburg. The Bishop was not
a clever man by any means, but he had been sincere in his admira
tion for Rasputin, a fact which added to the consternation that
overpowered him when the truth about the famous sectarian became
known to him. He assembled u kind of judicial court, composed
of one bishop, one monk and three well-known and highly respected
civil functionaries, and called upon the prophet to come and explain
himself before this court as to the actions which were imputed to
him. Among these figured his jrenernl conduct in regard to th
women who had enrolled themselves in tho ranks of his disciples
But somehow the adventurer succeeded in dispelling tho suspicions
that had become attached to his namo nnd conduct, nnd ho explained
in a moro or less plausible manner tho things which had been told
about him. His leanings for feminine society, and his Invariable'
custom of bathing himself together with women ho declared to
be quite innocent things, and only a proof of his desire to show that
it wna quite possible for human beings to riso above every kind
of carnal temptation.
In 8pito of this episode, which would have interfered with the
career of any ono but Rasputin, tho famo of the latter grew with
every day that passed. Ho established himself at last in the town
of Tiumen In Siberia, whero ho hired a whole large house for
himself and some of his most favored disciples, and ho began to
turn his activity into another nnd moro profitable channel. He
established reception hours every day, when all his followers,
admirers nnd friends could come to speak with him about any
business they liked. Hundreds of people used to attend those
receptions, among them somo very Influential persons curious to
see nnd speak with the modern Peter the Hermit, who declared
that he had been called by God to save Holy Russia. In some
mystorious manner ho acquired tho reputation of having great
Influence in high quarters, whero (this must bo noticed) ho was
nt tho timo yet qulto unknown. Governors fearing dismissal,
rapacious functionaries whoso exactions had become too flagrant,
aB well ns business men in quest of somo good "geschaft," to use
tho German expression employed before tho war among financial
circles in Russia, crowded round him, waiting sometimes hours for
on opportunity to speak with him, and fully believing in his capaci
ties for obtaining what they required.
Rasputin soon became a kind of business agent and surrounded
himself with a number of secretaries of both scxe3, whose occupa
tion consisted in attending to his correspondence he could hardly
read or write and in receiving the numerous offerings which were
being brought to him dally. These secretaries, among whom figured
a sister of the Bishop of Saratoff, Warnawa, mado an immense
nmount of money themselves because no ono was ever admitted,
into the presenco of Rasputin without having previously paid dearly
for this favor. Very soon they established a tax in regard to tho
audiences granted by their master.
"Spiritual Sisters", of Rasputin
Besides this sister of Bishop Warnawa, Rasputin had another
femalo secretary, and they both accompanied him in all his travels,
calling themselves his spiritual sisters. They constituted, so to s'ay
his bodyguard, and wherever ho went, even in St. Petersburg, they
never loft off attending him and seeing to nil his wants. They
were tho channel th'rough which everything had to go, nnd without
their consent no one was ever admitted into tho presence of the
"Saint," ns they already had begun to call him.
Gregory Rasputin very often used to visit Tobolsk, where ho
was always received with great ceremony and pomp, as if he had
been really the important personage he believed himself. The police
man in the streets saluted him as he passed; the carriage in which
ho drpvo was escorted or preceded by a high police functionary, and
tho governor asked him to dinner. The same kind of thing used to
take place in other Siberian cities. In one of them the staterooms
reserved at the railway station for any high authority on a visit to
the place were thrown open to him. In another triumphal arches
were erected in his honor, while in a third he was met by deputations
in tho midst of which could be seen civil functionaries and religious
dignitaries.
How all this happened no one knew or could explain. In what
consisted the fame of Rasputin and what he had dono to" deserve all
these honors nobody could tell. But fame ho had acquired, honors
he had obtained, and whero another person gifted with a smaller
amount of impudence than he was possessed of would have been put
into prison or sent to a madhouse, Gricha, as he was familiarly
called, had it all his own way, and defied governors and judges with
an equal indifference, sure that nono among them would be daring
enough to try to put a stop to his progress or to his avidity.
Most friendly, not to say Intimate, relations were established
between Rasputin and Bishop Warnawa, especially after the letter's
elevation to the episcopal See of Tobolsk. The first sermon which
Warnawa preached in that town ho dedicated to the wifo o
Rasputin. One need not say that tho whole clergy of the town
and of the diocese trembled before Rasputin, who did not fail to
exact from it large sums of money, which he extorted, thanks to
the promises which he made but never meant in the least to keep.
During the course of the year 1909 complaints about Rasputin's
behavior increased to a considerable extent. He was once more
called before an ecclesiastical court to give explanations in regard
to his general conduct. Among his judges figured again Bishop
Feofane. This time Rasputin could not clear himself of the charges
preferred against him, and he was invited to retire for one year
into a monastery by way of penance. But Rasputin refused to
submit himself to this sentenco and categorically declined to. do as
ho had been told. Ho gave as a reason for his disobedienco to
the commands of his ecclesiastical superiors that his conscience
obliged him to resist because it would be impossible for his "spiritual
sisters and daughters" to accompany him in his retreat and live
together with him in the monastery they wished him to enter.
(CONTINUED TOMORROW).
FRANKFORD ELEVATED CONTINUES ITS PROGRESS NORTHWARD OTHER NEWS PICTURES
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SUPERSTRUCTURE FOR NORTHEASTERN OVERHEAD LINE NOW EXTENDS TO DYRE STREET
Tbpugh progress is not so rapid as ardent advocates may wish, there is tangible evidence of gradual
r accomplUwwiiu '
"CI RAW" WILLIAMS MARINE
The star of last year's Red and
Blue eleven is winning new
JureU under "Eddie" Uaba
Copyright. Wtitern X"wippr Union.
AUSTRALIAN ADVANCE DRESSING STATION ATTENDING A STRETCHER CASE
A remarkable photograph showing an incident of field hospital work during the recent activities along the BritUh
western front
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