The San Francisco call., 1908-09-06
TOLSTOI IS AGAIN
fXCOMMUNICATED
Holy Synod's Circular Appeals
TO Russians Not TO Observe
Counts Birthday
Blow Aimed at Aged Writer Is
Resented by People and
the Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 5.-The cir
cular addressed by the holy synod to
all believers appealing to them not to
participate in the celebration Septem-
ber 9 in honor of Count Leo Tolstois
eightieth birthday on the ground that
TO thus praise this opponent of the
church would be stumbling block to
persons of weak faith meets with ap-
proval by only a limited section of the
press and public. the latter being rep
resented by the league of Russian
people. This circular is virtually a
second communication of the aged
writer. The Znamia and other news
papers condemn it unstintedly, and a
Vremya, which usually is a stanch sup
porter of the government, furnished a
criterion of the temper of Russian So
ciety in general.
The administrative provincial au-
thorities are bestirring themselves at
the eleventh hour to check the OBJ
servance of the counts jubilee, and the
governors of the provinces of Moscow,
Warsaw, Saratov, Simbirsk, etc, have
resorted to the provisions of martial
law to veto the celebration arranged
by the municipal authorities. Further
more, the censorship of st. Petersburg
has prohibited the memorial perform
ance arranged for a local theater.
COUNT Is VERY WEAK
A telegram received here from Yas-
maya Polania said that the influenza
and fever from which the count has
been suffering had disappeared and
that the Inflammation in his leg had
subsided. In the last few days, how
ever, he has become extremely weak
and greatly emaciated, and he is
1U oh l. DIT
of this his mental vigor is not i'm
paired. The counts wife has issued an
announcement setting forth that even
her husbands relatives and closest
friends will not be received at Yasnaya
Polania next Wednesday because of the
patients weakness. She has requested
all newspapers publishing commemo-
rative articles of the count to forward
copies to the Rumlanstoff historical
museum at Moscow for preservation in
the Tolstoi room.
h The efforts of the countess to pre-
vent the news of the bitterness excited
by his jubilee from reaching her hus-
band have been fruitless He insists
upon seing all the newspapers and his
grief at the harsh sentiments expressed
is pathetic.
OBSERVANCE CURTAILED
YASNAYA POLANIA, Aug. 22.-Ow-
ing TO the authors own wishes. the
attitude of part of the Orthodox
Russian church and other causes, the
celebration OF Count Tolstofs eightieth
birthday anniversary, September 9, has
lost almost entirely its originally con-
templated Importance and scope. No
progress has been made with the pro-
Jected fund for the publication of a
jubilee edition of Tolstoi's works, and
the purchase OF the Tolstoi estates for
the peasantry. The proposed interna-
tional pilgrimage to Yasnaya Polania
has been abandoned, and instead of any
central observance of the day at Yas-
maya Polania jubilee services have been
arranged in the principal cities OF Rus
STA. and in addition many municipalities
and public organizations have appro-
priated funds for schools, Libraries and
similar institutions that bear the name
of Russia's celebrated writer. There
will be no formal observance of the
event at Yasnaya Polania, even the
presentation of congratulations by a
deputation Of the peasants of the
neighborhood having been discouraged,
and the family of Tolstoi has made
known his wishes that there be no
intrusion on his privacy and his birth
day.