AMAZING STORY OF KASPUTIN.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16144, 23 February 1918, Page 10

AMAZING STORY OF KASPUTIN.

TI3E "BLACK MONK OF RUSSIA." (BY THE COUNTESS RADZIWILL.) New Zealand Rights Specially Secured by "The Press." CHAPTER VI. (Continued.) THE GRAND DUKE'S THREAT. It was at that time that he suddenly imagined himself to be endowed with perspicacity in regard to military matters, and that he attempted to criticiso the operations at the front and especially the leadership cf the Grand Duke Nicholas, whom he hated with all the ferocity for which his character had become famous.' lie was known to be absolutely without any mercy for those whom lie disliked. He disliked none more than the Grand Duke, who had on one occasion when the ophet" had tried to discuss with him the conduct of the campaign, and even volunteered to arrive at headquarters, declared that if he ever ventured to put in an appearance there he would have him hanged immediately from the first tree he could find. Rasputin was prudent, and moreover he knew that Nicholas Nicolaievitseh was a man who always kept his word, so he thought it wise to leave a wide berth between him and tho irascible commander-in-chief. But he applied himself with considerable perseverance to undermine tho position of tho latter, and cspecialiv to render him unpopular among tho people, accusing him openly of mismanagement in regard to military matters, and to want of foresight in his strategical dispositions. I In the beginning this did not succeed, ! partly because the Staff did not allow any news of importance to leak out from the front, and partly because the country believed so firmly in a victory over the Prussians that it was very hard to I shake its confidence in the Grand Duke's abilities. The early successes of the first Galician campaign had strengthened this confidence. No one in Petrograd during the first months of the year 1915 ever gave a thought to the possibility of our troops being compelled to retreat before the enemy, nor foresaw the fall of "Warsaw and of tho other fortresses on the western frontior. Rasputin, however, knew more than the public at large. He had his spies everywhere. who faithfully reported to him everything that -was occurring in the army. He was well aware that the army was suffering from aii almost complete lack ot' ammunition, and that it would never be able to hold against any offensive combined with artillery attacks on the part of the enemy. This knowledge, which he carefully refrained from sharing with anyone, enabled him to indulge in prophecies of a more or less tragic nature, the sense of which was that God tvas punishing Russia for its sins, and that with an unbeliever like the Commander-in-Chief at the head of its armies, it was surely marching towards a defoat which would ,bo sent by Heaven as a warning never to forget the paths of Providence, and never to disdain the advice of the one prophet that it had sent in its mercy to save Russia from all the calamities which were threatening her. He used to speak in that way everywhere and to everybody, even at Czarskoie Selo, not to the Emperor and Empress, of course, but to all those persons surrounding them who were favourably inclined toward himself and likely to spread about the prophecies whicn. lie kept pouring into their ears. But, in spite of all this, he was not quite so successful as he had hoped, j because owing to the ignorance which prevailed as to the real state of things in the army, few people believed him, and fewer still would own that they did so. Once more Rasputin's star was beginning to wane, and even the Empress began to think him very wearisome with his perpetual forebodings concerning misfortunes which seemed to be far away from the limits of possibility. THE GREAT RETREAT. Then suddenly things changed. Mackensen began his march forward, and the Grand Duke, with his heart full of rage and despair, was compelled, owing to the mistakes/ the negligence, and the crimes of others, to make the best out of a very bad job, and to try at least to save the arrny confided to his care, even if he had to sacrifice towns and fortresses, he had declared he would never, and under ro conditions whatever, surrender to the enemy. The great retreat began, rad proved to be one of the most glorious pages in the -history of Russian wartare, a deed the gallantry of which will live in the military annals of the world as almost as grand a one as the famous retreat of Xenophon and his 10,000 warriors. Russia appreciated its importance; the world admired it; the Czar, though he may have shed bitter tears over its necessity, felt grateful _ for the talent which was displayed in such a terrible emergency. People in Petrograd began looking fc r those upon whom they could fix the responsibility for this awful disappointment which had overtaken them. This was the moment for which Rasputin had been wafting with the patience of the serpent watching- for its prey, and of which he hastened to make use with tho . infernal cunning he usually displayed in all the evil deeds with which he was familiar. The secret police agents, who were working with him, and thanks to whom he had been enabled to make the enormous profits that had added so many millions to his fortune since the war had started, began to spread the rumour that the Grand Duke was plotting against the Czar, and wanted to usurp tlie latter's_ throne and crown, out of 'fear of being called upon to render an account of his activity during the nine months of the campaign. Though it was ouite evident that the responsibility for tho lamentable want of organisation which .had culminated in the momentary defeat of the Russian troops lay upon the War Office and the Artillery and Commissariat Departments : though the War Minister, General Soukhomlinoff, had been dismissed in disgrace before being sent to the fortress of St. Peter and St Paul to await there his trial • though strenuous efforts had been made to punish those to whose carelessness this mass of misfortunes had been due, yet Rasputin and his friends applied themselves to the task of representing the Grand Duke as being more guilty than anyone else and of having on purpose kept secret tlie real state of things, out of fear that he would be called upon, if he revealed the truth, to surrender his command There was not one word of truth in

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THE WORKER SUCCEEDS. ! THE ? reat faust the rssir feneration is that it is afraid of work—real, boucei I.oH work as cur fathers and -rrandfatheii kcew it. Life ha 3 bcen maac so , e - iy , the immerse development of the Sources of civilisation in the last decade •hat it has eeetned to discourage effort r.nd iveakcn the eiamina of tho race. Do"'i be afraid of -work. To be a miswv , uen ,-ou Tuust first be a. master of your business. 'To bo this you must road a;,a etudy under competent und experienced tutors. At BANKS COLLEGE, ■Wellington, rnmnlctc courses of work can be obtained complete coiaffißClAlj and PKOFESciQVAXi positions, and for all PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS- Write for a Prospectus SOW and stato tho work in which you aro interested. jj. Ali oS, 3 Director. these accusations, because Nicolas Nicolaievitseh had, on the contrary, worked harder than any one to repair the blunders of others, and had never shared the blind confidence in victory which so many people who knew nothing about the real condition of affairs orofessed to nurse. He had done all that it was humanly possible to do, m order to save a situation which had been doomed from the first day that it had begun to develop. If he had failed, this had been in no way his fault, but that of circumstances and of fate which had proved too strong for him. THE -GRAND DUKE'S REMOVAL. The public, howover, thought differently, and Rasputin's numerous supI porters helped it to come to the con- ! elusion that the Grand Duke ought to be deprived of his command by some means or other. This, however, was not such an easy thing to do, because the Emperor had a sincere esteem and respect for his uncle, and understood better than all those who criticised the latter the extent of the difficulties against which he had had to fight, lie refused to listen to those who had tried to shake his confidence in the C-'oni-mander-in-Chiof. He might liavo gone on for a long tiuio doing so had not Rasputin succeeded in winning over to his point of view several high _ ecclesiastical dignitaries, who took it _ upon themselves to speak to the sovereign of tlie desire and wishes of the nation to see him assume himself the supreme command over his armies. They assured him that it was quite certain that the armies would fight ever so much better under the personal leadership of (heir Czar than under any other Com-mander-in-Chief, no matter how high might bo his military reputation, or how elevated might be his rank. This ■was quito a now point of view, and Nicholas 11. had to examine it with attention, tho more so as the Empress, too, had "been ivon over to the idea, and was pressing him to give his subjects this satisfaction for which they craved. The military situation was then recognised, even by the most optimistically inclined people, to be very serious, and it was generally felt that something had to be done to excite the enthusiasm of the troops, which had lately begun to wane. The assumption by the Czar of the supreme command seemed to present itself almost in the light of an absolute necessity. Perhaps from eomc points of view liasputin was not so very wrong to urge it, as it most certainly produced a salutary effect on the whole situation. But it is to be doubted •whether the "Prophet" had ever looked at it from that point of view. It is far more likely that his only aim had been the displacing of tho Grand Duke Nicholas, who had begun to look too closely into all that was going on around lvasputin, and to watch the different intrigues in which the latter was taking part with an attention that did ,'iob promise anything good for him, or for the further development of his career as an. adventurer. (To be continued on Monday.)