ed
himself with the czarina and even with the czar. As has been explained
since, Madame Virubova had previously administered a drug to the young
czarevitch, and by applying the antidote Rasputin had obtained
immediate results. Whether this story be true, or whether Rasputin
really did possess those peculiar healing powers which certain
abnormal persons undoubtedly do possess, the fact was that he remained
in court as a permanent attachment and acquired an influence there
which was equaled by no other person. He became, in actual fact, the
real ruler of all the Russias, for the prime minister who incurred his
displeasure did not long remain in power. Such a man, naturally, would
have many enemies, even within court circles, and efforts were made to
bring about the downfall of Rasputin. Once his enemies did actually
succeed in having him expelled from Petrograd for a while, but
immediately the czarevitch became critically ill and during his
absence the czarina was almost continuously hysterical. Again he was
invited back to court and then he set about building up his influence
into a political machine that was never again to be broken, even after
his death, until it became necessary for the reactionaries themselves
to help destroy the autocracy itself in order to purge Russia of the
spirit of Rasputin.

Rasputin, not the revolutionary movement, brought about the downfall
of czarism.

Yet up until after the outbreak of the war Rasputin had been
intelligent enough to refrain from interfering in matters of state
importance. His influence had thus far been wielded only to secure his
own position. Perhaps his keen instincts, rather than his
intelligence, warned him against too deep an interference in political
matters. To this self-restraint he owed his long continuance in power,
for though the situation was well known all over Russia, it was
regarded rather in the light of a joke. Rasputin's power was
underestimated, perhaps; he was more or less regarded as the pet
poodle of the czarina.

It was after the war that he suddenly changed his attitude. He was one
of the first to realize the danger to the autocracy that a German
defeat would mean; that the Russian court was ranged against the
forces which would perpetuate it. Whether it was this realization
which determined Rasputin to wield his powerful influence in favor of
Prussianism, or whether he had been bought by German gold, the fact
remains that he became the central