The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-11-21
LATE COUNT 1oLsro, AND WIFE.

LATE COUNT ToLsroI AND WIFE.
Count Leo Tolstoi was born on
August %, 1928. at place near Tula,
about $50 miles south of Moscow. His
mother died when he was three years
old and his father six years afterward.
His early schooling was under the in
f1uence of the general feeling among
wealthy Russians that religion was a
superstition and one quite unneces-
sary for the best development of real
ly cultured people. Tolstoi attended
the university of Kazan, but did not
pass the final examinations. In 1855
he went to visit with an elder brother
in Caucasus. The rugged wilderness
of the country Influenced him pro-
foundly. He entered the army and
and sought an assignment to an ar
tillery post near his brother.
In 1854 the Crimean war Influenced
the young man to apply for active SER
vice. But in the interval he wrote
many short stories which attracted
the attention of the literary set in
Moscow and st. Petersburg In the
Crimean campaign, as the commander
of mountain battery Tolstoi distin-
guished himself by brave and effect
i've service. He had first hand ex-
perience with war which was most
valuable to him in his later work
Leaving the army at the close of the
war. Count Tolstoi found most hat-
tering reception in st. Petersburg. He
was sought as nobleman, as a re-
turning hero and as literateur.
He soon became utterly disguised
with his surroundings at st. Peters
burg and with his own life there. He
described himself afterward as hav-
ing been a murderer, adulterer, rob-
Der and liar in this period, although
his crimes were not of a sort usually
described by these terms. He retired
to Jasnaya Poliana, near his birth
place and remained there the rest of
his life.
Count Tolstoi was marriedIin Sep
TENDER, 1862, to the daughter of a
Moscow university professor. She had
obtained a diploma from the universe
ty when she was II years old. In her
society he found the utmost comfort
and happiness. They had sixteen
children, but the cares of motherhood
did not prevent the countess from
serving as his amanuensis all through
his labors as an author.
One of Tolstoi's hrst acts on retir-
ing to his country estate was to free
his serfs in advance of the decree of
the car. He Is said to have been the
first nobleman to free his serfs. He
devoted himself to plans for the edu-
cation and betterment Of the peasant
~. After a while he became wrought
up over what seemed to him the pur-
poselessness of life. He contem.
plated suicide but gave it up. He
went into all varieties of philosophic
investigation.
Among some of his own peasants
Tolstoi reached the conclusion that a
literal following of the gospel brought
about the living of truly useful and
happy life. He settled down to a life
of manual labor and extreme simple
ity OF diet and conduct. This was
about 1880. In the last twenty years
the principal writings of Tolstoi have
been my Confession" "A Criticism
of Dogmatic Theology" never trans
lated. The Four Gospels Harmonized
and Translated" What Believe"
sometimes called my Religion" 1.-THE
Gospel in Brief" What Must We Do
Them" "On Life" also called Life s.
THE Kreutzer Sonata" treating of
the sex question. THE Kingdom of
God is Within You." The Christian
Teaching" Where is Art?" and RE
surrection."
In these books he set forth pro-
gressively and fearlessly his views of
true living. They were much more
at variance with the views of the Rus
sian government Tolstoi expected to
be prosecuted for writing them. The
government, however. went no furth-
er than to suppress some Of the books
to mutilate others and to Danish some
of his friends. The government has
inspired the publication of books COM
batting the ideas of Tolstoi Recent
ly the author went even further than
preaching through novels and address
ed himself directly to the car in a
letter in which he predicted the re-
newal of nihilism and the horrors Of
the prevention Of nihilism by massa-
ere If the car did not manifest a
change Of heart.
A frequent visitor at Tolstoi's home
thus described the distinguished au-
thor at work. He has always been a
hard but spasmodic worker. There