The sun., 1912-07-21

the people commenced to hold meetings
and to declare openly that i, was time to
make an end to the Disgrace of the Empire
A wave OF unrest was sweeping over the
army so that neither change of generals
nor even the announcement that the
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich would
be appointed to lead the army Interested
tho soldiers. The army felt that with the
end of the war the second act of the drama
would commence, there. AZ home.
Thus st. Seraphim did not help.
Nicholas had blessed with his images
tho troops before they started for the
battlefield. He blessed them while on
horseback and while riding in his car
riase. In vain did ho send Kuropa,kin
innumerablc images OF all kinds of saints
The revolutionary period had sct in
by that time in the Russian empire.
At the same time tho moment had also
arrived when the system of provoca,ion.
| which had become special institution
| OF Russian life. could manifest it's machi-
nations. Evno Azef. who had long
! given up his career as an engineer for
I that of a spy and who had already COM
mitted several successful terroristic acts,
now resolved to carry out his plan. which
| was to gain for him the unlimited con-
| fdence Of the Revolutionary Central
Committee or TO bring him out as one Of
the big pillars OF the Government in the
event the Government managed to pre-
serve itself. 1t was a double game. and
his success seemed assured.
Azef resolved to assassna.e Won
Plehve. the Minister of the Interior.
| n hn hnt hn
strings Of the secret police department Of
the Minister of the Interior and also the
strings which held together the foremost
leaders of the revolutionary organization.
1t was not difficult matter to find among
the revo!utionists the men he needed, for
many were then eager to commit terroris-
tic acts. Ii was not necessary for him
TO resort to any special conspirativo
methods, for ho could easily bctray tho
plottcrs at any time, and he could divert
from them the attention of those members
OF Plehve's secret police who were not
initiated in Azeff's plans.
The very preparation OF tho Internal
machines which were intended for the
assassination Of Won Plchve was made by
order OF Plehve himself under the super
vision Of Azef in the laboratory Of the
War Department. The scorpion was
thus preparing to destroy himself by his
own poison.
Within five weeks after the assassina-
ton Of Gen. Bobrikov in Helsingfors,
Sazonov hurled a bomb into Pehve's
carriage. According to the statement
OF the assassin Plehve looked into his
eyes before the bomb was hurled and he
realized all the horror of his position
before he was torn to pieces.
1t is also a fact that the assassination
OF Grand Duke Sergius was organized
by the same Azeff, the agent povoca-
teur.
The course of the revolution led Russia
to a state of affairs which made it i'm
possible for tho empire to return to the
past no matter what reaction the Gov
ernment introduced. Even Father Gapon
failed to help the Government maintain
its former position.
Gapon was prison chaplain, and ac-
cording to the testimony of the political
prisoners, he had always been known for
his reactionary tendencies in his sermons
delivered on Sundays after divine service.
He never looked into the eycs of the per-
son he talked with and at that period OF
his life he evidently had no intimate
friends, for there is no one who could
tell just how he left the prison church and
came to the workingmen's organizations.
But the manner in which the organiza-
tions were formed and the plans which
eliminated in the tragedy of the Bloody
Sunday showed Enthusiastically the hand OF
tho police. proposition was made by
tho police to Gapon in form that APP
pealed to his vanity. that made him be-
lieve In his powers and that filled him
with hope of occupying an important
place in Russian life. He commenced to
play double game.
such agents provocate,irs as Canon and
!Azef will forever remain puzzling types,
while only such characters as the Hartinrs
and tho Ratchkovskys and the smaller
fry OF provocation belong to tho dregs of
human society. wthaii its basest elements
but without any imagination. As for
Gapon. his role is now established. and tbo
fact that the Government p.rni,,od
him To escape long after tn. BLOODY sun.
day tragedy shows clearly his relations
with the police. Gapon worked first
ior FleAve' then for Witto. then for Ire.