DEATH OF COUNT LEO TOLSTOY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 977, 18 November 1910, Page 6

DEATH OF COUNT LEO TOLSTOY.

DUE TO EXPOSURE. By Telegraph-Press Assodation-Copyriuht. St. Petersburg, November 16. Count Leo Tolstoy, the eminent Russian writer, is dead. His attack of illness was due to exposure. The Countess and her son and daughter arrived at Astapovo before Tolstoy died. (Rec. November 17, 9.45 p.m.) "mm m . „ London > November 17. The Times" St. Petersburg conespondent reports that during his journey .in a crowded train Tolstoy was compelled, through lack of room, to stand on the platform in the bitter cold and rain. Moscow, November 17. Tolstoy.succumbed to catarrhal inflammation- of the lungs and heart weakness. He was fully conscious. Yesterday he dictated two letters. TOLSTOY'S CAREER. .A PICTURESQUE. FIGURE. ' Leo Nikolayevitch. Tolstov, Hie distinguished Russian writer, and one of the most picturesque figures in modem literwas bom at Yasnaya Polyaria, in he Government of Tula, in 1828. His father, Count Nicholas Tolstoy, a characteristic of the old Russian ■nobility, .died, when the future nSt was ,teu years old. Tolstoy entered the University of Ivazan in 1843,-.-but after a few years of desultory study, he left without graduating, dissatisfied with the methods of education in vogue. Military Experience. At the age of 27 ho entered the. army,

and gamed considerable military experience in the Caucasus, in the Turkish campaign, and in the Crimean. War. During the siege of-. Sevastopol, he wrote three 11 .„ s F c,les > "Sevastopol in December, '}$£•» 1855 >" and "In August, 18j5, which attracted .widespread atten--1 hon, and made his literarv reputation. - Ho married in 1862, and his wife, tho - daughter of M. Behrs, an army surgeon, ■ had a profound influenco upon his life - and work. > Tho year 1861 had "witnessed the 6rst 3 great ; advanco in Russian social reform, c tho Emancipation of the Serfs bv the Tsar • Alexander 11, and ably assisted by Ms 1 wife, Tolstoy threw himself into tho 1 work of educating the peasantry of his [ district. His sympathy with the""ranjik" - was almost fraternal, and in his later ' and more' ascetic days he adopted the ' rough garb of his peasants, earning for , himself the title of "Tho Grand Old c Mujik." Advanced Ideas. I Ho was considerably hampered in his t efforts by the attitude of the authorities i at St. Petersburg, who looked with sus- ! picion upon his advanced ideas in educa- , tion. Theso ideas he embodied .in a t series of article, "Progress and Educar tion" (1802), which havo a special value ' to educationists. Tolstoy's views were , very much in advance of tho Russian . official state of mind, and, as was to be -, oxpected, he experienced the greatest dif- ; Acuity in reaching his public. Somo of : his most striking articles wore circulated ) in manuscript mimeographed sheets, while [ others were published abroad. His . "Childhood and Youth," •an nutobio- ■ graphy (1852-57) reveals a man whoso tem- ! perament was at war with his ideals; : . with whom periods, of asceticism altcrl nated with periods of epicureanism, and . whose greatest novels were invested with ■ tho. experiences, emotions, and passions • of the author himself. Ho depicted life ■ as he had seen it, and lived it. i Literary Masterpiece. The period 1864-09 saw the production of ' "War and v Peace," considered by Russians to be his masterpiece. Round tho ' control incident of tho invasion of Rus- ' sia by Napoleon in 1812, ho has built up ; a stupendous work in four. volumes. . His delightful fairy tales and legends, ; ."Stories for- Children," appeared during tho ensuing- three years.. "Anna Khre- ; nina" (published in 1872), "The Cossacks," / and "Resurrection"—his last great novelare the most widely appreciated of his : works in the world at large. The translation of his much-abused novel, "The Kreutzer, Sonata," appeared in 1890. It constitutes a relentless attack on the state of Russian society in general, and exposes, with frank disregard for usually accepted- standards of taste, tho depravity and immorality of his'countrymen. A Religious Teacher. "My. Confession" (1882) is a masterpieco of introspective analysis, throwing a flood of light on the author's past: life, and .loading up to "My Religion" (188-1), "Resist Not Evil," "Christ's Christianity," and a number of religious articles, which mark the beginning of his era as a religious teacher. Tho years IS9I-92 witnessed the terrible privations endured by the inhabitants of . the famine-stricken districts of Ryozon and Samasa. Tolstoy throw aside all literary work, and with his wife 'and ■ family laboured -heroically to alleviate the distress of the peasantry. In 1893 ho wrote-"Tho Kingdom of God Within You," an important work on the social question, and in 1895, "The Four Gospels Harmonised and Translated." His celebrated phillipic,. "For Shame," a vigorous condemnation of the knout and , inhuman floggings, ' was • circulated in 1896. Tolstoy's religious views wero a con- • stant offence to the Greek Orthodox , Church, and the world was not surprised to learn, in 1901, that, he had" been ex- . communicated by tho Holy Synod. It has long been a matter of wonder that tho Government has neither' imprisoned nor exiled, him. ;.,.■. ' He made over his entire estate, Teal and personal, to his wife and family, of which there are nine members' living. Critical Writings, By far the most important of Tolstoy's contributions to critical literature •is his book, "What is Art?" in which ho considers art (including literature, music, and the drama as well as paint- . ing and> sculpture) as "a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress towards well-being of individuals and of humanity." His article in the "Fortnightly Eevicw," setting forth his opinion—his poor opinion bo it noted—of. Shakespeare and his works, came somewhat as a shock to the public, especially the British section, and is of considerable interest,- lis constituting a criticism in direct contradistinction to the universal estimate of the works of the Colossus of English Drama. Personal Appearance. In appearanco tall, plain-featured, thick nose and lips, small grey eyes, dressed in his peasant's garb, Tolstoy presented tho appearance of an eccentric, as he no doubt was. He was described in 1900, as "a big, heavily-built man with long arms hanging, loosely at his sides, with a wide noso, somewhat thick lips, and small gray eyes, a head set on bulky but slightly stooping shoulders, and a matted gray-white beard, always plus an indescribablo.air of power. It is tho figure and faco of an intellectual fanatic, perhaps, but not of a dreamer." < Five Commandments. His lifo was divided into two main i periods—tho first of 50 and tho second of ■ 30 years. Tho Tolstoy of the later phase differs marvellously from the Tolstoy of '. his first half-century, but tho difference : is development, not dislocation. What : Was crude, and blurred became definite, formulated, at last a creed. Tolstoy said ho had discovered in the Sormon on the . Mount five laws, which had become his ', rule for faith and conduct, and which , sot forth the great principles ho would : use as a basis for the new world order. '■ Theso five laws,are summarised thus:— Live at peaco with all men and do hot regard any ono as your inferior. Do not make the beauty of the body an occasion for lust. Every man should havo only ono wife and every woman only one husband, and ' they should not be divorced for any rca- j SOU. ] Do not revenge yourself and do . not i punish becauso you think yourself in- i suited or hurt. Suffer all wrong and do not repay evil with evil; for you cro all children of one Father. Never break tho peace in the name of I ' patriotism.