The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-27

I NNNNNNN".MI NfAN NNENN"HNHHHN ~ - "
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fH1Nty The afpafs efsHdeuN ~ Ihdflf'
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fygNsHy ~ afnaH,e ~ frlAt1y lbns ~
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taeaHis q aienltafg n the kssalah Cn'if
IN leat, and esa aflefSsFf . clgef scsof
! the fe6siRaa ~ lhe alheltai sgb~Hs
wIeHsly ~ ~asstutN~yf ~ eongsieaes ~ pstHr
ths tiNNat. aHd Wss apgylntNf ~ dvets
lmpogtaAt p,Mss, uitimateiy fteivtR ~
No ~ ~ aBaHns eFptilabie asPvleta N Tho
trial and aRrFWt ~esecution ~ tls T~aaeryiteh
Alpsis o epn4adsFabp esAnt ~ lanf IN
The ~rofunatioH ~ the Empfens CatteFine u
M Wa htMsin 9 esFsns, bat ~ ths acteasicn
~ Petsf ~ NJ wa eeiisd aad arpnia " havs
laat hla titis - Wpii ~ HE oflclal pusition.
~ was ne until ifeB that tbs arandeUu ~
Petaf Tolstoy waa r.etorsd w the Empfsas
Eii1stpsh, daughter ~ Peter Tho dfeat,
to tha anh ~ Count. Thla man, Andrey
~1vanovitoh, wa the eruat. arandfetber ~
leo TolstOy, Who's son married. q daughter
NJ princs Nlcplay Uofchehof. who .
amasnSi q large fortune. Loo Tolstoy's
mother Vaa q v~oIkonaky, a member Of .
family which troces ita descent from Hufik.
loo was che third son, and was born August
~. is53, eaa than two years before HE
mother died. Although he cannot q v
remembered hia mother, his biographsr tells
Ne that In the novel Of war and PeaCe,'
m artistic description 81 HE parents ls given
In The psPeons 81 Count Nloolay Ilyitoh
Rossof and Princess Maria volkonsky.
We sFe assured, indeed. that almost every
member Of the Rostof family that figures
In that novsl corresponds to some Individual
In the Tolstoy family. 90 that . careful read-
ing Of thenovel may add much 90 our knowl-
ledge OF the characters n manners OF Toll
stoy's parents and ancestors.
Leo Tolstoy was born and spent his earliest
childhood In q village called Yasnaya Pol
yAna. which belonged 70 the family. estate
Of tho Princess volkonsky, and which is
situated In the province Of Tula, fifteen
versts (about ton milesr TO the south Of the
town of the same name. The house has
sinoe been sold and removed to the village
Of Dolgoye, where IL now stands. All that
is left of 10 on the original site is the two
wings, The intervening space, once occupied
by the main body Of the mansion, being
partly phnted with trees and partly turned
into o. croquet ground. After his fathers
l-~AL e, NaOT H. -IaN@-
with q brother and sister, lived in Moscow,
spending the summer with an aunt in Vas
maya Rolyana. Concerning his religious
education, Tolstoy himself tells us in his
Confessions: Il was christened and edu-
Gated IN the faith of the Orthodox Greek
Church; I was taught it in my childhood and
I learned It in my youth. Nevertheless, at
eighteen years OF age, when I quilted the
university, I had discarded all belief in
everything that l had been taught Toll
stoy also gives in his "reminiscences interest
ing information concerning tho literary
works which, 80 far as he can recall, in
fuenced his moral development until he
was about fourteen. The short catalogue
comprehendA the story Of Joseph from the
Bible, sss sTlaeusRnd and One Nights, sThe
Black Fowl" by Pogorelsky; divers Russian
legends and popular tales, and finally
Pushkjn's verses. It is not surprising to
hear from the biographer that Leo Tolstoy
was a remarkable child, thoughtful. i'm
questionable, shy, affectionate and much
inclined to be alone. owing to the fact that
his inner life found no response In his sur
roundings.- It was not until after August,
1874, that he entered the Kazan University, |
being admitted as IN extern student In the
section OF T~uroo-Arabic' literature. At the
end OF the first year he failed to pass tho
examinations, and at his request was trans
ferred to the faculty Of law, The examine
tons oil 1910 in this faculty went of we'll for
him, but In the following year he petitioned
orleave TO quit the university, and his name
was A~tricken of the roll. He has since said
that -there were two reasons for my leaving
the university: first, that my brother had
finished his course, and secondly, that read
ing the Esprit des Lois opened out to me a
new sphere Of independent mental work,
whereas the university, with it's demands,
far from aiding such work, only hindered it,"
1t fs to this period Of his life that Tolstoy
refers In his Confessions when he says
that, mt the G OF Is, which he regards as |
the extreme limit Of boyhood and the be- |
ginning OF youth, the basis OF his dreams
consisted Of four sentiments: @The first
was, the love for her, an imaginary woman, |
Of whom I-dreamed ever in the same way, |
and whom / expected to meet somewhere
at any. minute. My second sentiment
was the love Of lore. WANTED everybody |
to know and love me. WANTED TO tell !
my name and have every one struck by the
information and surround me and thank |
me for something. The third sentiment was
q HOPE for some unusual, vain happiness
such q strong and firm hope that it passed
into insanity. My fourth and chief sentiment
was my self-disgust and repentance Ifor
Juvenile dereliotionsl, but a repentance
which was 80 closely welded with the hope
Of happiness that there was nothing sad In |
It. : . This voice Of repentance and Of
passionate desire for perfection was the
main new sensation ofmy soul at that epoch
Of my development, and this It was which
laid a new foundation for my views Of
myself, OF other people and Of the whole
world" o.,
It lie again interesting to note the literary
works which. as we learn from himself,
helped forward the evolution of Tolstoy'e !
ideas and sentiments from his fifteenth
to his twenty-second year. The list en-