The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-28

sired to know. Faith is the power Of my life.' With great zeal Tol- stoy now devoted himself to his re- hgion, following all the rites pre- scribed by his church, but soon doubts arose in his mind. questioning the value of some of the ceremonies he performed. What good do | accom- plish by fasting?'' he asked himself. Has that any connection with my life?S Daily his doubts increased, flaw in his faith, which preached, Love your enemies" and whose min- lsters prayed, in time of war; for the destruction of their enemies. Deter mined to find out where the fault lay, Tolstoy began the study of the Scrip lures, and it was while studying this that he realized that his religion was not at fault, but that he himself had interpreted it incorrectly. Hereaf- ter he would follow the teachings of Christ as he understood them givir 8 all he possessed to the poor, sacri- ncing his life of luxury, and like the Mou1ik earning his bread by the essence of his teachings was charity, mercy, self conquest, renunciation and through suffering and labor ac- quiring a union with God.
 His Relioign.
 That was his religion, but how did
 
 ence did it have on mankind? The world received it first with ridicUle, believing it a passing fad of Tolstoy's. but as time went on, and he still lived as peasant, popular opinion changed, and people desired to see character to live the life he preached. His home soon became a stopping place for the weary hearted, who hoped to find in his religion, relief for their troubles. Few ever followed in his footsteps, for the path he trod was rocky one, but all who ever spoke to him felt strengthened by his goodness. In his peasant smock. this "Aristacratic Moujik" showed to all the sublimity of labor, and the ''joy of giving
 He left the world true concep- tion of real faith, exemplifying by his life, the happiness of union everything, even his family, and stood along-with his religion.
 Such was Tolstoy, that verita ble colossus, who buffeted by lifes storms still persisted in striving for the per- lection of mankind.
 Maude Weston Burgess spoke on Tolstoy as follows
 Count Leo Nikolaevich ToIstoy, the Russian novelist and philosopher, the greater part of whose life was spent searching for the truth of life and studying the peasants, was born at the family estate Yasnaya Polyana, near Moscow. August twenty eighth, eighteen hundred twenty-eight.
 At the age of nine Tolstoy was an orphan under the guardianship of his fathers sister. Even as early as this he began to wonder at the strange ness of life and the social conditions. This wondering began by his hearing a boy from the gymnasium state the discovery just made there-"that there is no God and that all that is taught on that subject is merely an invention"-and this fact was accept ed as possibly quite true by Tolstoy and his older brothers.
 When fifteen. he entered the Uni- versity of Kayan where he studied the Oriental languages and law for three years, until, becoming disgusted with the labor question he returned edy the condition of his own peasants. But here he met the same question and after struggling with it for sev- eral years he joined the army and was sent to the Caucasus where he plunged headlong into the camp life with all it's adventures, drinking bouts and hunts. It was there in the woods that he began to write Childhood" and The Cossacks,'' and by these his literary fame was established. Inci- dents and scenes. as we'll as many traced directly to his own experiences there. When the Crimean war broke out. Tolstoy joined the army of the Danube and went to fight with the famous Fourth Battalion in the siege of SebaStopol, where he was plunged