The article considers political moods in Russian society in the early twentieth century based on the study of letters to famous priest Ioann of Kronstadt (Ioann Kronstadtskii; 1829–1908), stored in the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg. Since the authors of the letters belonged to various estates and political camps, the letters reflect a wide spectrum of social views. The Ioann's confrontation with Lev Tolstoi was also the subject of significant correspondence, anti-Tolstoi sentiment of the letters authors is actually indicate the concern about the overall social situation in Russia. The article concludes that the documents give a most clear idea of the sentiments of the conservative part of Russian society whose representatives believed it was important to follow the traditions and to preserve the Orthodox Church's role in society.