Now, under the pressure of his personal tendencies and friendships, and the clerical atmosphere of Rome, he developed into a mystic and an ascetic of the most extreme type.

He regarded all his earlier writings as sins which must be atoned for (precisely as Count L.N.Tolstoy regards his masterpieces at the present time); and nevertheless, his overweening self-esteem was so flattered by the tremendous success of "The Inspector" and the first part of "Dead Souls" that he began to regard himself as a sort of divinely commissioned prophet, on whom it was incumbent to preach to his fellow-men.

It will be seen that the parallel holds good in this respect also.

Extracts from his hortatory letters which he published proved to Russians that his day was over.

His failure in his self-imposed mission plunged him into the extremes of self-torment, and his lucid moments grew more and more rare.