The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-08-02
RUSSIA SEEKS LIGHT !
ON ITS BROKEN ID9;.7
What Was the Secret of tLo
"Mystic Priests" Magical 4
Power? \
DARK DAYS AHEAD OF HIM
"The Better II Goes With Ills.
Wound. the Worse
for Him." !
DARK DAYS AHEAD OF HIM
Special Correspondence 10 Tus Sr>


ST. PETERSBURG. July l9.--NeV. ~ ~.
| attempted assinatlon. by stabun.. ~
the mystic monk" Gregory Rasputlr. hv
woman a few days ago was cab,cd to
THE SUN. Rasputin had acquired ;he
favor OF the Czarlna and. 1t is said. vas
often consulted on important questions by
| the Car himself
IL would take the pen Of No,iairs
or at the least an Anatole France 10 70,
full value out OF the salaclous rumors
now rising from the moral debris Of HOLY
| Russia's broken idol" Gregory Ra,putln 4
| The better 1t goes with his wound the
worse IL goes with his future The seda'e
| senior burgesses of Moscow, the chefs
OF the Octobr!st party--the ultra.cau,Ious
reformers-have issued n declaration de-
| manding the full truth on this dirty =
| affair" as they call II.
| at is no longer a question Of the Do
| litical consequence OF Rasputin." they 70
on. but of those OF his actions that ara
clearly punishable under the crim.ra, law
and must be submitted to prosecutonal
| inquiry. All the light must be shed on
| this dark business only by that will the
Justly angcred public opinion he salts
fed
| Meanwhile Rasputin lies low. From his
| bed In the Tiumen Hospital he ask. for
| gtveness for his assallant, the PRAYING
woman Gussera. and forgetfulness Of her
crime Here again he faces the open air
influences in Russian political life From
| all around comes the call for
full. open public hearing of the
circumstances of the attempt on his
| life How IL It. people wonder
that the whole Of his career should he
SO wholly wrapped around with woman.
| kind" In the days OF Queen Anne Daniel
| Defoe was sent to prison for publisn ng
Il pamphlet entitled ION question that
| everybody thinks about and nobody asks
What II the Queen should do what 4
the Pretender should land Prison would
| no doubt be the fate to-day Of any Rus.
son who made much noise to-day over thu
unframed question. what is Rasputin's
secret?'
All the time his personality has been
more an enigma to the intellectual edu.
Gated opinion than to experienced phys
| ologists. When any one of his MANI
| enemies among the pious Orthodox of
| the Others lie takes no noticc-secks b.
argument to prove him charlatan ue
only offers To his smiter the other cheek
possibly with his tongue In il. The no.
torious Jew batting member OF the Dum,.
furlshkevitch, runs an organization ca Tod
the League of the Archangel Michapl -
winch squeezes money out of tha Govern
ment Tor the profit OF its members liza
tried TO get Rasputin's puissant innu.urs
among the very high ladies az court but
tho molly man" had other favoritcs for
the secret political bargesse. Purishke.
Witch. furiously excitable little man.
launched forth TRADES OF abuse OF R4s.
putin az a lewd and unmentlonable per-
son The only response that he got at
the finish from Gregory was that IN :
soul would he pure II his tongue were
not his enemy"
In their breasts the true Rasputcn.,cs
felt that this brief judgment had cffcc-
tualiy demolished Purishkevitch For Ras-
putin Is no palaverer; he cuts the ct,,a
ana comes To the music" As witness mis-
practice when any OF his fair followers
used to come to him distracted nv A
nerve storm: he omitted the homilstc
discourse and proceeded at once 10 'sal.
walton by the laying on of hands" He
was Indeed a superman, clearly non ,
cold man.
Now Rasputln has ALWAYS had "a
qualities OF his defects. He "cordonAi
the sins he was inclined to by dann.rr
those ne had no mind TO-" The perfume
or the silken robes OF stately danes was
always To him like thyme Mt dawn m
J paradise, but he was an enemy OF drunk
ehhess and Of the violence OF drinking
men III he were finally obliteratcd 20
morrow II would stli remain on the rec.
oris OF history that It was Rasput.r u-1o
inspired the Cars recent manifcs,oes
ana ukases urging the bureaucracy o. p
campaign against alcoholism Noth ny
Whatever Is resulting from them but that
IL the usual fate Of imperial manlfcstos
ana ukases In Russia. Anyhow Raspu-
I'm had the opportunity OF publicly pro-
claimlng that in the matter OF drink
at any rate, his tastes we're virtuous AMI
continent
Among the blase ladies OF the hsh
Worid ana the others who suffer from
700 much unrequited soulful affection
hasputln may live to comfort another
oay' Among his sprlnkling Of genuine
maze iollowers-who are all OF the cate
] CORY known as 'old women"-he MAJ
e even survive as a mended saint. Among
A the robuster males ne has become only
Q hook 10 hang Rabelaislan stories M.
ANA mat II fatal. The glamour that
surrounded him. In so far as was
sincerely felt. was OF the essential Rus
4 sian visionary kind. Amid the vauItol
= ana receptions that are the first things
. so many Russians cry ont agains, when
:, they feel the knocks that are part of me
price OF attempting to do something IN
the world OF action. Rnsputn WAS oo-
X waited into the kindred of the wise fn''s"
the reconcilers There has always been
/ among the Russian Slavs ycarulnG N
believe in such people And E1Spui'r
and his hackers have traded IN mat
" yearnlng 10 the top OF their bent.
- To these hackers they az, ON. Nsr.
= manent factor In the background ~
s Rasputlnlsm, under whatcver utW7 y
haunts the Cars palaces ma-i' has
, now gone out of the mystery me-. ~
y cording To tho RUsSkoVc Sloro NJ Mos
l. COW the political" RasputIr VAS never
| anything else than "poltica" .''Dn'
tion OF the salon camaiilla Of the Upi'r
world around the court. II" $50. me
, product of an intrigue, OF the cnup''r'''f
tangle that prevails In that world NH'
even TO the women OF this salon .tm'
arilla he must always remain HNs'
interesting memory when they compare
his society with their more d,cus'on 81
knowedge OF officers of the '1'.'''l
guard and amhi-..U clhMH,5 r u'
, | Admin st:el,Cn.