TOLSTOY & HIS WIFE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2109, 28 March 1914, Page 10

TOLSTOY & HIS WIFE

IDYUL AND THE ESTB^WCfEMEH'?!

i H I J li t:ij i o and. ]ij. Ynkouniukaft m tho "Saturday Review,'.'-) Tho love story of Tolstoy, as tolcl in tho letters to his wife, just published ju .Jvussid,. is idyllic if wo recall Iho nature qt the pisiii It. .began casually with his nieotiiig nt, his father's iiouso one Soiirn or Sophia Mil's, tiio eighteen-.year-old daughter of a Gorman doctor. Idlstoy jyiis .34 then, aiid his ■le£tef3 to her alludo pathoticnlh to his "old ago," and tho impossibility of hie -bappiness; By his own confessions, frank a.s Rousseau's, h<y<vas "ugly, awkward, unclean, and lacked society education ... [ratable, a boro to othcrs-j not mod- : es.tt. :a h nd a'Ei shrtniefacctl Ws a child." Probably, like Rousseau, ho was "lo fan/aion dee nsro qn'il li'avait | p.as, ! Tho friendship soon ripened, I 110 proposed, was acceptcd.

Tolstoy's Egoism. - Iu Tolstoy's earlier letters to his bo-, trothed ive got-a- very striking impression of his egoism and consuming , sclflo.'Co,. Wo find such ,offending, .phrases aa "If as a husband I cannot bo loved as I lovo lnyfielfj it will bo dreadful,"all 'l "I claim to bo loved as I lovo inyself, ljut. that is, however, impossible."', . It wps this disGoi'dant iiotro: 'in his cliar* i'ftoie r that mado him so odious to Tour.goijiev and his .friend Fet. Tour- ' -gen.ioy ..said of Tolstoy—"Ho never | loved anybody but lrimselh" I?rob. | noly Morpjko.wski!s cynical, saying is : noaier tho mark-^ !, l'olstoy iio.vor loved anybody, not even himself." Tho letteis, of courso, aro not reticent about) tho fiual break between Tolstoy and his wile j but we cannot lay too much emphasis on tho fact that it was only towards tlio closing years of thoir long and happy life at Yasnaya Polyana, that any real estrangement sprang up between them owing' to. an entire difference* in ideals, Tho Causo of thoEstrangement. .. Tho causo' of tho troublo is woriK dwelling on. When Tolstov's altruistic ideas began to iiivado .iiis private life, and lie wanted to sacrifice Iris, own inl.iOritaii.co. and. that of tlio family- to his quixotic idealism, his wife-toolc ; a firm stand for herself and her children. Wliou Tolstoy-dressed: as a. peasant and went out to ill the fields like the humblest inonjik, renouncing money,- which ho-consitfered a cursej andireduoing simplicity to a farce, Countess Tolstoy saw tho time had como to intcrveno .if 6ho ■ , Veas to prcsorvo the unity of tho home. Sho was a practical woman; mid had mo.ro- than onco saved .him from, fmancial- ruin..: Hor. lifo was rooted in tho traditions of tho home, which had for' its basis'comfoit .for herself in her old : ageyand the future .welfare-of hcrifam-. ily. Another causo of tho discord lietweon', thom. .was the avowed intention', of Tolstoy. to givo up tho copyrights in his last writings.' This,- naturally, greatly disquieted his wife. In 1894 .. ho wrote. to her from ■ Yasliaya Eolyalia —''All this timo I havo been busv with : tlio idea of formulating and publishing A declaration; with :a viow to. relinquish-., iug .my inghts. as. an;. n-Utliot-, in;-connec-tion, with my kst Writings. ... I think • .•this...\youldi.oo-'iop:your- AQOs;luurihg*Mte blnmo you fdlv'expiOit&tioiV."' - : Countess 'J'olsloy . replied l 'that -slioi.couid not agreo . to the. proposal, as sho considered it an injustice to.hci': large and 1 impoverished

family. But it is significant that oven when.'Tolstoy- knew. - .tbo* fundamental difference of. - ideas': between tlicm. was tyo vital .for chango or compromise his attitudo 'to her waa.-3till. that of a fond and .appreciative husband; When, tho disagreement began to' emphasis? itself sho •; naively:s questioned him about his feelings for her. "You ask mo whether 1 lovo you," ho replied; "my feelings for yousare .such ;as 1 "think can . never 'change; ■-ns |: thoyycontaJn. all tho elements which bind two souls togoUier —our past life, tho knowledge of our faults, our .mutual pity, and irresistible attachment for each- other—all these things - are "can. inexorable bond, and lam glad." And as la to ns 1910, when tho bieak between them had bo- . comc very marked,:ho could writc—"l. remember you with lovo.. and can only; think of what is good." v Even whon ho had resolved to leave Yasnaya Polyana for ever, his letteip of faicwelMo hor breathe the- mos t t. ;tender affection; and .tho\deepcst= appreciation; of her .as his wife and (is tho. mother of his chil* : dren. . r-ys ■

Published In Defenoo of Both.

Tlio'end of tlio-idyll,is well, .knowno It is 0110 of tho most poignant, episodes in literary history—wo shall not dwell oil it. Countess-, Tolstoy published tlicso intimato letters simply ::and solely that the public niight form a cloiir and unbiassed view of -their I .relations "...for nearly Jialf of virtually sereu'o aiul unclouded happiness, Thoro lias :cbnuaent Sri ibo'.tßu.ssiaii: Press as to tlio wisdom of publishing lotters of . sueh;, a privnto,,..character. Hie "Novoe Viomya" considers thoir publication both iumviso and premature, but Countess Tolstoy . amply ' justifies her action; She- says—"lieforp leading this' world to bo united for ever in tlio spiritual ono to him I love, I wish, to sliaro with all thosn who cherish. tlm nicuiory • of Ijco --Tolstoy t'liat'which' -X consider as iho niosi, procinus t-o iiiyf-clf, namely-, his letters, which speak of 48 years of happy married lifo. >. . Let tlio publio bo indulgent to lier who' found it pei haps b"jond lier strength to carry on her frail shouldois tho-des- | tiivv of heinr; the. wife.of. a genius and, a great niati." She.bore thc> burden well, i and if hor shouldem were, frail' slid dia not complain. ..... '