The Washington herald., 1907-05-19

/ travelling UP and down studying men and
women and conditions. he gradually
wrought out the philosophy which he has
/ now been giving 10 the world for fortv-
( six years, and on a remnant Of that as-
| tate ne has written most Of his powerful
/ novels and essays His War and
/ Peace was not produced until 1863. near
/ ~ ten years after his own life as a sol
der had closed: Anna Karenina" not
until lSI5 and The Kreutzer Sonata"
not until 1880, but he began 10 write in
the hfties, composing "SebastopoJ" and
Inc Cossacks' while I'm the army.
At year less than eighty. ToIstov is
a great and unique figure. and no one de-
MES his supreme genius. vet the world is
| by no means agreed as To whether ne is
| a real prophet or a fantastic old crank.
Born into family Of rank and wealth
he showed temperament" and seIf-con-
/ sciousness very early. Before he was
ten he threw himself from a second-storv
window merely 10 attract attention He
was unconscious for eighteen hours His
next exploit was clipping his own eve
broWs. thus disiiguring his face. which
was never strikingly beautiful" accord
ing 10 his sister and causing himself a
great deal Of grief
He began 10 have the itch for writing
very early. At first he confided his
thoughts TO HIS diary. and. judging from
an entry given in Paul Briekoffs book.
must have then been almost weirdlv in
prospective. Il am ugly. awkward nm
cleanly, and uneducated; l am irritable.
a bore 10 others. rude intOlerant as
child and so lazy that for me idle
ness has become almost a necessary
habit"
He formulated his great idea and wrote
II down IN his diary while encamped near
Sebastopol. This idea" he wrote lis
the foundation Of a new religion. CORE
spending To the present state Of mankind
the religion Of Jesus but purified from
dogma and mysticism. a practical reu-
gion. not promising future bliss. but Civ
ing bliss upon earth"
II was in trying to live the religion he
thus laid down that Tostov put on tho
clothes Of a peasant and did the work /
of a peasant, and his sincerity is gener- |
ally accepted although some Of his critics |
can see nothing in his course more |
praiseworthy than in his leap from the
window and the shaving of his own eve |
brows
Tolstoy married the handsome Young |
Mile. Sofya Bers at thirty-four In
douotedly she saved him from financial /
ruin If not from mental wreck. She WAS
mere girl. 4 Moscow physicians daugh- |
ter, when he met her He was a taded /
man Of the world" who thought there
were no good women and had decided
never 10 marry. His new religion had
begun TO work. and he had sold the larger
part Of his ancestral property preparatory
10 living a celibate's life.
He fell deeply in love with the Young
woman, however, although she saws that
at first all the family thought her elder
sister was the attraction. Immediately
after the marriage the couple removed to
a hut standing on what remained Of the
Tolstoy estate. where they lived for sew
enteen years. and where their eleven
children were born. and the countess en-
dured many prlvations and experienced
great loneliness.
During all these years the Tolstov
finances were in a bad way. since al
though his books were selling marvellous
ly well. he would accept no ROYALTIES de-
claring that he could not do so consclen-
uously. Finally the countess rebeUed
insisted on collecting the royalties. grad
ually paid off the debts on the estate and
bought house in Moscow. There the
family now lives part Of each year and
there in the latter part Of her life the
Countess Toistoy Is able to enjoy in
some measure the society from which she
was shut out so long.
Whether In the country or in Moscow.
TOlstOv is overrun with visitors. Many Of
them are sincerely in sympathy with HIS
IDEAS and his work. but others are mere
celebrity hunters and some cali uDoD him
simply to scoff. Often h. refuses to see
hem. yet he receives a surprisingly large
humber, FOR stme reason never turning