.

Finding it impossible to establish the Siberian practices openly in St.
Petersburg, Rasputin made great use of hypnotism. The fascination that
he wielded over all in his vicinity gave authority to his words, and he
devoted himself to exorcising the demons that slept in the bodies of
the pretty sinners of high society. In this, scourging played a
considerable part, and as all sorts of illnesses and unsatisfied
desires were attributed to the "demons," the number of cases treated by
the "holy man" was almost incalculable.

Even the prelates whom Rasputin ousted from their positions in some
cases still continued to believe in him after his death. The Bishop
Hermogen, whom he disgraced at Court, declared, the day after the
assassination, his conviction that Rasputin possessed "a spark of
godhead" when he first arrived in Petrograd.

CHAPTER XX

THE INSPIRED SEERS

The official clergy, finding it incumbent on them to defend the
articles of the orthodox faith, were themselves frequently swept away
by the storm of religious mania. Before the war the fortress of
Solovetzk sheltered quite an army of these harmless rebels, who,
troubled by the general desire for human perfection, had ended in
blasphemy. Especially from the monasteries were they recruited. It
seemed as though their souls were violently assaulted by devils, like
those of the anchorites of olden days. Monks and nuns alike were
equally discontented, equally eager to uproot evil, whether real or
imaginary, by seeking out new ways of salvation.

One such was the unfortunate Israil, originally head of the monastery
of Selenginsk, later a prisoner at Solovetzk. He preached eloquently
and fervently the renunciation of property, and persuaded his mother
and sisters to abandon their worldly goods and devote themselves to the
service of the Virgin. "To a nunnery!" he cried, with all the
conviction of Hamlet driving Ophelia from this world, and they sang
psalms with him and went to conceal their misery in a convent. Then,
with a staff in his hand, he traversed Russia, and visited many
_staretz_, or holy men. They taught him "the beginning and the middle
of the end which does not exist," but poor Israil was still conscious
of an emptiness in his heart. In the pursuit of truth he retired to a
virgin forest on the banks of the river Schouia, near the desert of
Krivoziersk, and remained there for years engaged in prayer, until at
last, touched by such