Magazine_, Mayak, 1913, by V. S. Morosov, a former pupil of the
Yasnaya Polyana school in the beginning of the Sixties).
[103] A village within four versts from Yasnaya Polyana.
[104] Leonilla Fominishna Annenkov (1845–1914), an old friend of
Tolstoi’s and an adherent of his philosophy, the wife of a Kursk
landlord, the well-known scholarly lawyer, K. N. Annenkov (1842–1910).
She made the acquaintance of Tolstoi in 1886 and from that time on
corresponded very much with him. Completely sharing the opinions of
Tolstoi, she applied them with a rare sequence to life and she was
noted for her remarkable abundance of love which attracted every one
who met her. Tolstoi valued her highly, considering that she had “a
clear mind and a loving heart.”
[105] _Farther on one line is crossed out._ A note of Princess M. L.
Obolensky in the copy at the disposal of the editors.
[106] It weighed upon him that certain persons to whom he did not
want to show his Journal had read it nevertheless. In the last years
of his life he was compelled to hide the current Journal somewhere in
his rooms, and the finished note-books he gave away in safe keeping.
[107] A village four versts from Yasnaya Polyana, where the Chertkovs
lived in summer.
[108] Declaration of Faith.
[109] The note of July 19, 1896, he evidently originally inserted
in a note-book from which he later wrote it out in his Journal.
[110] Tolstoi’s brother, Count S. N. Tolstoi.
[111] This article under the title of “How to Read The Gospels and
What Is Its Essence” was printed at first in the edition of _The
Free Press_, 1898, and after in 1905 in Russia. (See the complete
works of Tolstoi published by Sytin, Popular Edition, Volume XV.) The
central thought of this article is that in order to understand the
true meaning of the Gospels, one has to penetrate those passages which
are completely simple, clear and understandable. Tolstoi advises all
those who wish to understand the true meaning of the Gospels to mark
everything which is for them completely clear and understandable with
a blue pencil and marking at the same time with a red one, around
the words marked in blue, the words of Christ Himself as differing
from the words of the Apostles. It is those places marked by the
red pencil which will give the reader the essence of the teaching
of Christ. Tolstoi in his own copy of the Gospels made such marks
which he mentions later in the Journal with the words: “Marked the
Gospels.”
[112] Hadji Murad, one of the boldest and most remarkable leaders of
the Caucasian mountaineers who played a big rôle in the struggle of
the mountaineers with the Russians in the Forties of the Nineteenth
Century. In 1852 he was killed in a skirmish with the Cossacks.
Tolstoi heard much about him as early as the beginning of the Fifties,
when he himself took part in the fight with the mountaineers. A
month after the above-mentioned note in the Journal, Tolstoi made a
rough sketch of his story, _Hadji Murad_, on which he worked with
interruptions until 1904. This story was printed for the first time
in his _Posthumous Literary Works_ (published by A. L. Tolstoi,
Volume III, 1912.) It is interesting to compare the introduction to
it with the above note of Tolstoi’s in his Journal.
[113] As in the copy at the disposal of the editors.
[114] Afanasie Afanasevich Fet (Shenshin) (1820–1892), a Russian lyric
poet and translator and friend of the Tolstoi family. Concerning
the relations of Tolstoi with him, see _My Recollections_, by Fet
(Volume II, 1890) and _The Biography of L. N. Tolstoi_ by Biriukov.
In the letter of November 7, 1866, Tolstoi wrote to Fet: “You are a
man whose mind, not to speak of anything else, I value higher than
any one of my acquaintances’ and who in personal intercourse is the
only one who gives me that bread by which it is _not alone_ that man
lives.” Later Tolstoi and Fet became estranged from each other.
[115] Kant, the German philosopher (1724–1804). For the opinions of
Tolstoi about him see the Journal, February 19, and September 22,
1904, and September 2, 1906; August 8th, 1907; March 26, 1909. _Kant’s
Thoughts_, selected by Tolstoi, were published by _Posrednik_,
Moscow, 1906.
[116] As a sixth sense, Tolstoi recognised the muscular sense. See
the note of October 10, 1896.
[117] S. I. Tanyeev.
[118] The Shenshins--Tula landlords who lived on their estate,
Sudakovo, five versts from Yasnaya Polyana.
[119] Prosper St. Thomas, tutor of Tolstoi and his brothers. The
incident mentioned in the Journal produced a tremendous impression on
Tolstoi. “It may have been that this incident was the cause of all
the horror and aversion to all kinds of violence which I experienced
throughout life,” Tolstoi wrote afterwards in his recollections. (See
P. Biriukov: _The Biography of L. N. Tolstoi_, Moscow, issued by
_Posrednik_, Volume I, pages 99–100.) In Tolstoi’s story _Boyhood_,
St. Thomas is pictured under the name of Saint Jerome. The incident
mentioned here is described in Chapters XIV, XV and XVI of that
story.
[120] Written in English in the original.
[121] Tolstoi, together with Countess S. A. Tolstoi, visited
his sister, Countess Maria Nicholaievna, living in the convent
of Shamordino near the Optina Desert. In his letter to her of
September 13, 1896, Tolstoi wrote, “With great pleasure and emotion
I recall my stay with you.”
[122] The story, _Hadji Murad_. See Note 112.
[123] Count Sergei Lvovich, with his wife, Countess Maria
Constantinovna (born Rachinsky, who died in 1899); Count Ilya Lvovich,
with his wife, Countess Sophia Nicholaievna, and Count Leo Lvovich,
with his wife, the Countess Dora Fedorovna.
[124] The Dutchman, Van-der-Veer, refused military service, as he
declared in his letter to the Commander of the National Guard, on
the grounds that he hated every kind of murder of men as well as of
animals, especially murder at the order of other people. The military
authorities sentenced him to three months’ solitary confinement.
Later Van-der-Veer for several years published a magazine with a
Christian tendency called _Vrede_.
[125] Van-der-Veer’s letter, with the appendix by Tolstoi under the
title “The Beginning of the End” was printed in the edition of _The
Free Press_, 1898, England, later in Russia in the _Obnovlenia_,
Petrograd, 1906, which was soon confiscated.
[126] Alexandra Mikhailovna Kalmikov, a noted worker for popular
education, who turned to Tolstoi with the request that he express
himself in regard to the order then given by the Minister of the
Interior to close the committees on illiteracy. In answer to her
letter, Tolstoi expressed his opinion about the activity of the
Russian Government in general and about the methods of resisting it
used by the Liberals. His answer, under the title of “A Letter to the
Liberals,” in revised form was printed in full in the publication
of _The Free Press_: “Concerning the Attitude Towards the State”
(England, 1898) and with omissions in the publication of _Obnovlenia_
(Petrograd, 1906,) which was confiscated.
[127] _Ioga’s Philosophy. Lectures on Rajah Ioga or Conquering
Internal Nature, by Swâmi Vivekânanda_, New York, 1896.
[128] “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,” discovered in 1883. A
document of the Christian literature of the First Centuries. Tolstoi
translated it from the Greek and twice wrote a preface to it: in
1885 and twenty years later, in 1905. The passage mentioned in the
Journal reads this way: “It is not good to love only those who
love you. Heathens do the same. They love their own and hate their
enemies and therefore they have enemies, but you should love those
who hate you and then you will have no enemies.”
[129] Daniel Pavlovich Konissi, a Japanese, converted to the Greek
Church, who studied in the Kiev Theological Academy, then came to
Moscow and here made the acquaintance of Tolstoi. Later he became
professor in the University in Kioto. Translated _Lao-Tze_ from the
Chinese into the Russian (this translation was printed at first
in _Problems of Philosophy and Psychology_ and later in separate
pamphlet, _Lao-Se_, Tao-Te-King, Moscow, 1913.) For D. P. Konissi
see article of I. Alexeev, “The Skies Are Different--the People Are
the Same” (in the paper, _Nov_, 1914, No. 154.)
About the Japanese who visited him, Tolstoi wrote to Countess S. A.
Tolstoi, September 26th: “This morning the Japanese arrived.
Very interesting, fully educated, original and intelligent and
free-thinking. One an editor of a paper, evidently a very rich man
and an aristocrat there, no longer young; the other one, a little
man, young, his assistant, also a literary man” (_Letters of Tolstoi
to his Wife_, Moscow, 1913, page 507).
[130] Peter Vasilevich Verigin, the leader of the Dukhobors, when
in exile in the town of Obdorsk, in the province of Tobolsk, wrote
to Tolstoi about his life and expounded his views on the printing
of books. Tolstoi’s reply, written on October 14, 1896, in which he
answered the objections of Verigin against the printing of books,
was printed in the book, _The Letters of the Dukhobor Leader, P. V.
Verigin_, published by _The Free Press_, 1901, England. See also
the letter of P. V. Verigin on his acquaintance with Tolstoi printed
in the International Tolstoi Almanac compiled by P. A. Sergienko
(issued by _Kniga_, 1909).
[131] _Further in Tolstoi’s manuscript, one page has been crossed
out._ A note by M. L. Obolensky in the copy in possession of the
editors.
[132] This letter was printed at first in an issue of _The Free
Press_, No. 8, 1898, England, and later in Russia in _Obnovlenia_,
Petrograd, 1906, and was confiscated.
[133] Brother of Tolstoi, Count S. N. Tolstoi.
[134] A peasant of the province of Kharkov in the district of Sumsk,
Peter Vasilevich Olkhovik. Refused military service October 15,
1895, at recruiting, in the city of Bielopolie, province of Kharkov.
Was sentenced by the Vladivostok military court to three years in
a disciplinary battalion. The letters of Olkhovik to his relatives
and acquaintances about his refusal were published by _The Free
Press_, 1897, England, and in 1906 in Russia by _Obnoblenia_ (and
were confiscated). Influenced by Olkhovic, the private, Cyril Sereda,
also refused military service, with whom Olkhovic became friendly
on the steamer on the way to Siberia, where he was appointed for
service. Both of them were turned over to the Irkutsk disciplinary
battalions. Tolstoi’s letter to the commanding officer of the
regiment, in which he asks him “as a Christian and as a kind man to
have pity on these people ...” was printed at first also in _The Free
Press_ and afterwards in various publications in Russia. (See the
Complete Works of Tolstoi, published by Sytin: subscribed edition,
Volume XX, popular edition, Volume XXII.) On the effect that Tolstoi’s
letter produced on the officer of the regiment, Tolstoi himself
wrote the following in a letter to P. A. Boulanger, March 29, 1898:
“Recently I was surprised, and very pleasantly, by a letter from a
man exiled administratively from Verkholensk, who writes that the
commanding officer of the disciplinary battalion in Irkutsk openly
told Olkhovich and Sereda that my appeal for them saved them from
corporal punishment and shortened their sentence. Let a thousand
letters pass in vain: if but one has such a result, then one ought
to write unceasingly.” The fate of P. V. Olkhovich was as follows:
From the disciplinary battalion he was exiled for eighteen years to
the district of Yakutsk, where he lived together with the exiled
Dukhobors until 1905, when together with them he went to America.
At the present moment he is living in California.
[135] Edward Carpenter, a noted contemporary English thinker, some of
whose works Tolstoi valued highly. Carpenter’s article, “Contemporary
Science,” was later translated into Russian by Countess Tolstoi and
printed with a preface by Tolstoi in the magazine _Sieverni Viestnik_
(1898, No. 3), later it was issued separately (_Posrednik_, Moscow,
1911).
[136] Count Sergei Lvovich Tolstoi (born, 1863), eldest son of
Tolstoi.
[137] To the Ekaterinograd disciplinary battalion were sentenced the
Dukhobors (41 in number) who had refused military service, while being
in actual military service ... See _The Dukhobors in the Disciplinary
Regiment_, published by _The Free Press_, 1902, England, where was
printed also the letter of Tolstoi to the commanding officer of the
regiment. Stating those religious convictions of the Dukhobors for
which they suffered persecutions and calling their acts ..., Tolstoi
asked the commanding officer to do all that he could to lighten
their fate. The letter of Tolstoi produced a softening effect on
the commanding officer.
[138] Vladimir Vasilevich Stasov (1824–1906), a critic of art and
music and the librarian of the Imperial Public Library in Petrograd, a
friend of the Tolstoi family. When, after Stasov’s death, his friend,
the sculptor, I. Y. Ginzburg, asked Tolstoi to write his recollections
of him, in the compilation, “To The Memory of V. V. Stasov,” Tolstoi
in his letter of November 7, 1907, replied that it was difficult
for him to write about Stasov on account of “the misunderstanding”
which had taken place between them: “the misunderstanding consisted
in that Vladimir Vasilevich Stasov loved and valued prejudicially
in me that which I did not value and could not value in myself, and
in his goodness forgave me that which I valued and value in myself
above everything else,--that by which I lived and live. With every
other man such a misunderstanding would lead, if not to hostility
then to a coolness, but the gentle, kind, spontaneous, warm nature
of Vladimir Vasilevich and at the same time, his childlike clarity,
was such, that I could not help succumbing to his influence and
loving him without any thought of the difference of our points of
view. I shall always remember our good friendly relationship with
emotion.”
[139] Nicholai Nicholaievich Gay, the son of the old friend of
Tolstoi, N. N. Gay.
[140] These thoughts were called forth in Tolstoi by a letter received
on October, 1896, from V. V. Rakhmanov, who, being acquainted with
this work of Tolstoi, found it written in a cold and didactic tone
and advised Tolstoi to abandon it.
[141] See Journal, Oct. 20, 1896. Thoughts 9 and 10.
[142] This served as a beginning to Tolstoi’s book, _What Is Art?_
completed by him only in 1898.
[143] The initials I. G. C. in the original.
[144] The Spaniard, Demetrio Zanini, wrote from Barcelona to Tolstoi
that the members of a certain club, who were his admirers, decided
to offer him a present of a splendid inkwell, money for the purchase
of which was being collected by subscription. At the request of
Tolstoi, his daughter, Tatiana Lvovna, wrote to Zanini, saying that
he preferred this money to be used for some good work. In answer to
this, Zanini informed Tolstoi that they had already collected about
22,500 francs. Tolstoi explained in a letter to him the miserable
condition of the Dukhobors and suggested using the money collected
for their help.
[145] A close friend of Tolstoi, Senator Alexander Mickailovich
Kuzminsky, president at this time of the St. Petersburg District
Court. The finance-Minister, S. Y. Witte, wanted to communicate with
Tolstoi through A. M. Kuzminsky, hoping to call forth his approval
in the matter of his introducing the government sale of vodka and
the founding of temperance societies. Tolstoi’s letter to A. M.
Kuzminsky, in which he answered Witte’s proposal in the negative,
with the omission of the harsh opinions concerning General Dragomirov
(the author of the periodical, _The Soldier’s Manual_, which was
being displayed in the barracks) was printed in the bulletin of the
Tolstoi Museum Society, 1911, Nos. 3 to 5.
[146] This article has remained unfinished and up to the present
has not been printed anywhere.
[147] Ilya Efimovich Repine, an old acquaintance of Tolstoi and
one of his most favourite Russian painters. On the occasion of the
celebration of his twenty-fifth year of artistic work, I. E. Repine
wrote a letter in the _Novoe Vremia_, 1896, No. 7435, Nov. 7th,
expressing gratitude to all those who honoured him, in which among
other things he said, when comparing the work of artists with the work
of teachers, officials, bookmakers, doctors, agricultural workers,
“We are the lucky ones, our work is play.”
[148] Ivan Michailovich Tregubov, a friend and follower of Tolstoi,
later a noted student of religious sects.
[149] Ivan Ivanovich Gorbunov (Posadov), an adherent of Tolstoi’s
views and a close friend of his; an active contributor and from
1897 the editor-publisher of _Posrednik_, and his brother, Nicholai
Ivanovich, a performer (pianist and reader).
[150] Paul Alexandrovich Boulanger, a friend and adherent of Tolstoi’s
views, author of several works on Oriental religions published by
_Posrednik_.
[151] Gabriel Andreevich Rusanov (1844 to 1907), friend and adherent
of Tolstoi’s views; a small landowner in the province of Voronezh.
Until 1884 he was a member of the Kharkov district court. In his
will, among other things, he wrote the following: “Already at the
age of fourteen or fifteen (now I am about fifty-seven) I ceased to
be Orthodox and lived until the age of thirty-eight as an atheist. At
thirty-eight, thanks to the greatest of men, Leo Tolstoi, I acquired
faith in God and believed in the teaching of Christ. Tolstoi gave me
happiness. I became a Christian.” For several decades G. A. Rusanov
was confined to his arm-chair with an incurable disease--consumption
of the spinal cord; notwithstanding his illness, he preserved his
full freshness of mind up to the end of his life, reading much and
being possessed of a rich memory. A splendid student in Russian
and foreign literature, and noted for his extraordinary artistic
instinct, Tolstoi valued his opinions, especially in regard to his
own literary writings.
[152] Alexander Borisovich Goldenweiser, friend and follower of
Tolstoi, professor in the Moscow Conservatory. Tolstoi valued his
piano playing highly and loved it very much. Towards the end of
Tolstoi’s life, A. B. Goldenweiser visited him often and took a
close interest in his life. In 1910, according to Tolstoi’s wish,
he acted in the capacity of witness to his will.
[153] Chromatic phantasy and fugue by Bach.
[154] Anton Stepanovich Arensky (1861–1906), a celebrated Russian
composer, later personally acquainted with Tolstoi.
[155] See Note 144. Receiving a letter from Zanini that the collection
reached to 31,500 francs, Tolstoi in his letter to him of December 6,
1896, asked that this money be transferred through the Tiflis bank to
his Caucasian friends, who were in charge of helping the Dukhobors.
At the end of his letter he wrote that he was touched by “this sign
of sympathy” which the Spaniards expressed for him in this unusual
way. This money, though, was never received by Tolstoi, nor was the
inkwell. (See _Letters of Count L. N. Tolstoi to his Wife_, Moscow,
1913, page 516.)
[156] This story of F. F. Tistchenko under the title, _Daily Bread_
(A true tale of the sufferings of a village School teacher), was
printed with a letter of Tolstoi in _Knizhki Nedieli_, 1897, No. 10,
and later in the collection of _Tales_ by Tistchenko.
[157] Princess Gorchakov, a distant relative of Tolstoi, a
lady-in-waiting, and principal of one of the Moscow gymnasiums.
[158] Anatol Fedorovich Koni, a well-known jurist, a member of
the Imperial Council and a writer. Became acquainted with Tolstoi
in the eighties and wrote recollections of him (see his book, _On
the Path of Life_, Volume II, 1913). He gave Tolstoi the theme for
_Resurrection_ (see Note 23).
[159] Maria Fedorovna Kudriavtsev, an adherent of Tolstoi’s views.
[160] _The Appeal_, under the title _Help_, was written and signed
by P. I. Biriukov, I. M. Tregubov and V. G. Chertkov. This was an
appeal to society to render assistance to the persecuted Dukhobors
“by money sacrifices, so as to ease the sufferings of the old, the
sick and the young, as well as by lifting one’s voice in defence of
the persecuted.” _The Appeal_ was spread by the authors in manuscript
and in typewritten copies and among other things was delivered to
many persons of high position. Tolstoi wrote the appendix to it,
in which he explained the significance of the act of the Dukhobors
towards the realisation of Christianity in our life. _Help!_ was
printed with Tolstoi’s appendix by _The Free Press_ (1897, England).
The appendix is printed also in the _Full Collected Works of Tolstoi_,
published by Sytin, subscribed edition, Volume XVI, popular edition,
Volume XIX.
[161] The editors were unable to ascertain the author of the history
of music which Tolstoi was reading.
[162] Jean Batiste Faure, the celebrated French singer and composer
(in the second half of the Nineteenth Century), author of Tolstoi’s
favourite duet, “The Crucifix.”
[163] Vasili Stepanovich Perfileev, a former Moscow Governor, a
friend of Tolstoi in the fifties and sixties, and a distant relative
of the Tolstois.
[164] An omission in the copy in possession of the editors.
[165] This theme was not executed by Tolstoi. A work under a similar
title begun by him in 1883 was printed in Volume III of _The
Posthumous Literary Works of Tolstoi_, issued by A. L. Tolstoi.
[166] Katiusha Maslov and Nekhliudov, the principal characters of
the novel.
[167] Alexander Ivanovich Arkhangelsky (1857–1906), an adherent
of Tolstoi’s views, about whom after his death in the letter of
October 26, 1906, Tolstoi wrote: “This was one of the best men
I ever happened to know in my life.” A. I. Arkhangelsky was a
veterinary surgeon in the district of Bronnitsk, Province of Moscow.
Later, becoming acquainted with the works of Tolstoi, he left his
position, considering it impossible to apply against the peasants
the compulsory measures required of him as veterinary surgeon, and
became a watch-maker, by which he supported himself until his death.
His work, _Whom to Serve?_ is devoted to explaining the question of
the incompatibility ... with the service to God. When he read this
work in manuscript in 1895, Tolstoi wrote Arkhangelsky that “it will
do the people much good and will advance the word of God.” This work
was issued only in 1911 in the Russian language by the publishing
house, “_Vozrozhdenie_,” in Bourgas (Bulgaria). The same publishing
house issued a biography of A. I. Arkhangelsky compiled by Kh. N.
Abrikosov. Extracts from _Whom to Serve_ signed by the pseudonym,
“Buka,” were printed by Tolstoi in _The Reading Circle_. It should
be also mentioned that the publication of the _Veterinary Manual_
compiled by Arkhangelsky was suspended at one time by the censor,
who demanded that it include the compulsory regulations. Protesting
against this, Arkhangelsky wrote a remarkable letter to I. I. Gorbunov
which Tolstoi included in his _Archives of L. N. Tolstoi_, No. 5.
This letter formed the basis of the article, “Whom To Serve.” Later
the veterinary manual was issued by Posrednik.
[168] Prince Ilya Petrovich Nakashidze, a Georgian writer, a close
adherent of Tolstoi’s ideas.
[169] Tolstoi had the intention of writing (but did not write) an
introduction to the Russian translation of the Philosophical Work of
A. A. Spier, which was to have appeared in _Problems of Philosophy
and Psychology_.
[170] Tolstoi was considering at this time an appeal against the
existing social-political order.
[171] An omission in the copy in possession of the editors.
[172] Stepan Andreevich Behrs, Tolstoi’s brother-in-law, author of
_Recollections About Count L. N. Tolstoi_ (Smolensk, 1894), now dead.
[173] V. G. Chertkov and P. I. Biriukov, and later also I. M.
Tregubov, were exiled after a search of their homes: V. G. Chertkov
abroad--P. I. Biriukov to Bausk in Courland, and I. M. Tregubov to
Goldingen, also in Courland. The cause of exiling was the writing
of an appeal to help the persecuted Dukhobors (see Note 160) and
their activity in behalf of the Dukhobors and the persecuted sects
in general. See the memoirs of P. I. Biriukov, “The Story of My
Exile,” printed in the publication _O Minuvshen_ (Petrograd, 1909).
These memoirs contain several letters by Tolstoi to Biriukov.
[174] Tolstoi went to take leave of the Chertkovs who were then
living in Petrograd.
[175] Nicholai Alexandrovich Yaroshenko (1846–1898), a well-known
artist, to whose brush belongs also the portrait of Tolstoi, painted
in 1895.
[176] Countess Alexandra Andreevna Tolstoi (1817–1904), a second
cousin of Tolstoi, lady-in-waiting to the Empress. Tolstoi in his
youth was on friendly terms with her. His correspondence with the
Countess A. A. Tolstoi, with the addition of a memoir by her, was
published by the Tolstoi Museum Society, Petrograd, 1911. In reference
to this meeting with her, mentioned by Tolstoi in the Journal, see
the memoirs (pages 71, 72 of the above mentioned publication). About
this same meeting and about the visit to Petrograd in general,
Tolstoi wrote to V. G. Chertkov the following (February 15, 1897):
“St. Petersburg gave me a most joyous impression. Of course the
principal thing was the meeting at your house. The depressing
impression was my conversation with A. A. Tolstoi. The terrible thing
was not only the coldness, but the cruelty and the forcing oneself
into one’s soul and the violence, the very same which had estranged
us. What a bad belief it is, which makes good people so cruel and
therefore so insensible to the spiritual condition of others. Believe
word for word as I do, otherwise if you are not exactly my enemy,
still you are a stranger.” It should be noted that from the autumn
of 1895, for the course of several years, Tolstoi did not write at
all to the Countess A. A. Tolstoi.
[177] In considering Tolstoi’s opinions concerning women found in the
Journal, one should be particularly careful to avoid misunderstanding.
First, Tolstoi, wishing from natural delicacy to make his remarks
impersonal, often generalised his private impressions and observations
from intercourse with separate individuals, and therefore these
remarks in reality carried no reflection whatever against all women
in general.
Second, even in those instances where Tolstoi consciously expressed
himself adversely about women in general, he had in mind the most
commonplace modern woman with her adverse qualities.
But in his mind he absolutely discriminated in favour of the
intelligent, religious woman whom seldom he happened to meet in
life and who always attracted his attention. So, for instance, he
valued very highly the distant relative who brought him up, T. A.
Ergolsky, for her self-sacrificing life; Mmes. M. A. Schmidt and
L. F. Annenkov he respected for their true religious lives, and among
the women writers he especially valued an American, Lucy Mallory,
for her exceptional writings, from which he selected many thoughts
for _The Reading Circle_. For women of this type he always had the
greatest respect, recognising fully their merits and their great
significance to humanity. In his literary works, Tolstoi, as is
known, frequently reproduced the highest type of woman (for instance,
Pashenka in _Father Sergius_, or the old woman, Maria Semenovna in
_The Forged Coupon_). Also in his other writings, Tolstoi did not
always express himself adversely about women, as can be seen, for
instance, from the following extracts:
“Oh, how I would like to show to woman the whole significance of
chaste women. The chaste woman (not in vain is the legend of Mary)
will save the world.” (Journal, August 3, 1898.)
“One of the most necessary tasks of humanity consists in the bringing
up of chaste women.” (Journal, August 24, 1898.)
“The virtues of men and women are the same; temperance, truthfulness,
kindness; but in the woman, these same virtues attain a special
charm.” (_The Reading Circle_, June 2.)
“Men cannot do that highest, best work, which brings men more than
anything else nearer to God--the work of love, the work of complete
self-surrender to him whom you love, which good women have done so
well and so naturally, are doing, and will do. What would happen
to the world, what would happen to us men, if women had not that
quality and if they did not exercise it ... Without mothers, helpers,
friends, comforters, who love in a man all that is best in him, and
who with a suggestion hardly to be noticed, call forth and support
all the best in him--without such women it would be bad to live in
this world. Christ would not have had Mary and Magdalene; Francis of
Assisi would not have had Clara; the Decembrists would not have had
their wives with them in exile; the Dukhobors would not have had their
wives who did not hold their husbands back, but supported them in
their martyrdom for truth, there would not have been those thousands
and thousands of unknown women, the very best, as everything that
is unknown, the comforters of the drunken, the weak, the debauched,
those for whom the consolations of love are more necessary than for
any one else. In this love, whether it is directed to Kukin or to
Christ, is the principal, great and irreplaceable strength of women.”
(Appendix to Chekhov’s story, _Dushechka_.)
[178] _On Life_--a religious-philosophic work by Tolstoi, written by
him in 1887 and printed in all his collected works. An abbreviation
of this work and an exposition of it written in simple language for
plain readers was made by an American, Bolton Hall, and was approved
by Tolstoi and printed under the title, _Life, Love and Death_. Later
a translation of this under the title, _True Life_, appeared in an
issue of the Ethical Artistic Library, Moscow, 1899. See article
of Bolton Hall in the _International Tolstoi Almanac_ compiled by
P. A. Sergienko (Kniga, 1909).
[179] See _Letters of L. N. Tolstoi to his Wife_, Moscow, 1913,
pages 518 to 519.
[180] Tolstoi made a mistake of one year: the battle against the
Caucasian mountaineers in which he took part in the capacity of
an artillerist, took place February 18, 1853. (See P. Biriukov’s
_Biography of Tolstoi_, Volume I, page 226.) Nine years after the
above mentioned note, February 18, 1903, Tolstoi wrote to Rusanov:
“To-day it is fifty-three years since hostile enemy shells struck
the wheel of that cannon which I directed. If the muzzle of the gun
from which the shell emerged had deviated 1-10,000ths of an inch
to one side or another, I would have been killed and I would no
longer have lived. What nonsense. I would have existed in a form
now inconceivable to me.”
[181] _What Is Art?_
[182] Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), a well-known English poet, critic
and student of literature. Shortly before his death, Arnold printed
an article in _The Fortnightly Review_, devoted to the critical
analysis of _Anna Karenin_ and some of the religious philosophic
writings of Tolstoi. (See _Novoe Vremia_, December 11, 1887, the
article, “An English Critic on Leo Tolstoi.”) The thought quoted by
Tolstoi was expressed by Arnold in his article, “The Problems of
Modern Criticisms” (a Russian translation was issued by _Posrednik_).
Tolstoi valued the writings of Arnold highly, especially his book,
_Literature and Dogma_, of which a Russian translation was published
by _Posrednik_ under the title, _Wherein Lies the Essence of
Christianity and Judaism_ (Moscow, 1907).
[183] Tolstoi, for the sake of an airing, rode about ten versts to
a dressmaker, for the dress of Nadezhda Mikhailovna Yushkova.
[184] Jules and Leo Edwardovich Konius, the violinist and the pianist.
[185] Countess T. L. Tolstoi and Count Mikhail Adamovich Olsuphiev
performed two small plays, _Feminine Nonsense_ by I. L. Stcheglov
and _The Lady Agreeable In All Respects_.
[186] According to the copy in possession of the editors.
[187] Evidently a mistake in the copy in possession of the editors.
This extract refers not to Book VII, but to Book VI of _Politics_.
The quotation cited by Tolstoi reads in the Russian translation of
Prof. S. A. Zhebelev in this way: “In a state enjoying the best
organisation, and uniting in itself men absolutely just, and not
relatively just (in relation to this or that political system),
the citizens should not lead a life such as is led by craftsmen
or merchants (such a life is ignoble and is contrary to virtue);
the citizens of the state planned by us should likewise not be
agricultural workers, because they will be in need of leisure for
the development of their virtue.” Aristotle’s _Politics_: Works of
the Petrograd Philosophic Society, Petrograd, 1911, pages 318, 319.
[188] An omission in the copy in possession of the editors.
[189] The editor knows nothing about the acquaintanceship of Tolstoi
with Madame Shorin.
[190] Countess A. M. Olsuphiev, who had been on friendly terms with
Tolstoi. In a note to V. G. Chertkov, written on a piece of proof
of _Resurrection_, June 8, 1899, Tolstoi communicated: “I have a
sorrow. Anna Mikhailovna Olsuphiev died.”
[191] A village near Nicholskoe, as well as the village Shelkovo,
mentioned below.
[192] A young lively girl, whom Tolstoi met at the Chertkovs’ when
they lived in the summer of 1896 near Yasnaya Polyana. Being arrested
on suspicion of revolutionary activity and imprisoned in the fortress
of Peter and Paul, she committed suicide by setting herself on fire.
In the letter to V. G. Chertkov, Tolstoi wrote:
“In Petersburg on February 12th the following occurred: Vietrova,
Maria Fedosievna, whom you know and whom I knew, a student confined
in the House of Detention before Trial in the strike case, little
connected with it, was transferred to the fortress of Peter and
Paul. There, as they say and surmise, after inquiry and violation
(that is still unestablished) she poured kerosene on herself, set
fire to it and on the third day died. Her comrades who visited her,
kept on bringing her things, which were accepted, and only after two
weeks, were they told that she had burnt herself. The youth, all the
students, up to three thousand persons (there were some also from
the Theological Seminary) gathered in the Kazan Cathedral for the
service of the dead. They were not permitted, but they themselves
began to sing “Eternal Memory” and with wreaths, intended to march
on the Nevsky Prospect, but were not permitted, and they went along
Kazan Street. Their names were taken and they were let free. Every
one is indignant. I receive letters and people come and tell me
about it. I feel great pity for all who take part in these affairs,
and I have a greater and greater desire to explain to people how
they ruin themselves simply because they neglect that law (or they
do not know it) which was given by Christ and which frees from such
deeds and from the participation in them.”
Tolstoi approached A. F. Koni for advice, whether it were possible to
publish what was authentically known about this terrible case, and
secondly about “what to do in order to resist” this kind of event?
[193] _Two lines crossed out by Tolstoi._ A note by M. L. Obolensky
in the copy in possession of the editors.
[194] The Englishman, Aylmer Maude, translator of many works of
Tolstoi into English. The agricultural colony which Tolstoi mentions
was being founded at that time in England in the town of Purleigh
in Essex. Maude settled in the neighbourhood of the colony and
supported it materially. Maude himself and several representatives
of this colony visited Tolstoi at this time. He wrote and published
in England, a biography of Tolstoi, _The Life of Tolstoi_, by Aylmer
Maude, two volumes, London, 1908 to 1910. Unfortunately this most
detailed biography of Tolstoi in English, contains among other things
the most perverted information about Tolstoi and an absolutely
incorrect interpretation of his views, as well as of some of his
acts. Tolstoi himself, learning before his death of the contents
of some of these chapters which were sent to Yasnaya Polyana in
manuscript, found the interpretation of the relation among people
near to him so incorrect that he wrote about it to Maude.
[195] I. M. Tregubov, sentenced to exile by administrative order, was
living in the Caucasus among the Dukhobors, far from the centres of
administration, and remained still free. (See entry of following day.)
[196] This search was made in connection with I. M. Tregubov’s
things, who was wanted at that time, and which were left by him in
A. N. Dunaev’s apartment.
[197] That is, in England at the V. G. and A. K. Chertkovs.
[198] _Further in Tolstoi’s manuscript two pages are cut out._ Note
of M. L. Obolensky in the copy in possession of the editors.
In reference to the mood during the month mentioned by him as “bad
and unproductive” Tolstoi wrote to Chertkov (April 30, 1897): “I
will not say that I have been depressed, because when I ask myself,
‘Who am I? For what am I?’ I answer myself satisfactorily, but I
have no energy, and I feel as if Lilliputian hairs were laid over
me and I have less and less initiative and activity.”
[199] In the beginning of June of that year, Tolstoi decided to
leave the conditions of his life which tortured him and wrote a
letter to his wife about this. But later he changed his mind and on
the envelope of this letter made an inscription: “If I will make
no special provision about this letter, then give this after my
death to S. A.” This letter he gave afterwards for safe-keeping to
his son-in-law, Prince N. L. Obolensky, who did deliver it, as was
designated, after Tolstoi’s death. At that time it was printed in
different publications. (See _Letters of Count L. N. Tolstoi to his
Wife_, March, 1913, pages 524 to 526.)
[200] In his letter to V. G. Chertkov of July 12, 1896, Tolstoi
informed him of his illness: “About a week ago when I began to answer
letters, I fell terribly ill with a bilious attack, so that I could
only answer one letter. My illness was very painful, but it passed
away quickly. I am now vigorous and healthy.”
[201] Tolstoi’s daughter, Maria Lvovna, married to Prince N. L.
Obolensky.
[202] Tolstoi wrote about him to A. C. Chertkov (July 12, 1897): “A
young peasant, Shidlovsky, came to me from the province of Kiev, a
man with a very lively spirit.”
[203] In his letter to Chertkov of July 23, 1897, Tolstoi wrote:
“Latterly I have begun again to make entries in the Journal--a sign
that I have revived somewhat spiritually and no longer feel myself
alone.”
[204] William Crookes, a well-known English physicist and chemist,
a follower of spiritualism. A detailed report about this speech was
printed in the _Novoe Vremia_ of 1897, under the title, “On the
Relativity of Human Knowledge.”
[205] M. P. Novikov gave Tolstoi his notes, through his brother, in
which he described all the persecutions which he had to undergo for
his friendship with Tolstoi. The notes up to this time have not yet
been printed.
[206] Paul Carus, editor of a Chicago magazine, _The Open Court_,
devoted to the scientific explanation of religious questions. (See
his article, “A Tribute to Tolstoi,” printed in the _International
Tolstoi Almanac_, compiled by P. A. Sergienko, _Kniga_, 1909.)
[207] Evgenie Ivanovich Popov, friend and adherent of Tolstoi’s
ideas, author of the book, _The Life and Death of E. N. Drozhin_
(see Note 38), several other works on vegetarianism, the simple
life, mathematics, etc.
[208] The family of Count I. L. Tolstoi.
[209] Vasili Vasilevich Longinov, later Rector of the Kharkov
Theological Seminary.
[210] In a letter to the Chertkovs of August 8, 1897, Tolstoi wrote:
“I feel weak also from the fact, that we have a pile of visitors
here ... all this wastes time and strength and is useless. I thirst
terribly for silence and peace. How happy I would be if I could end
my days in solitude and principally, in conditions, not repulsive
and torturing to my conscience. But it seems that it is necessary.
At least, I know no way out.”
[211] Peter Alexeevich Bulakhov, a peasant from the province of
Smolensk, belonging to the sect of the Old-Believers, the followers
of which avoid military service.
[212] Mikhail Alexandrovich Stakhovich, afterwards a member of
the Council of Empire, an old friend of the Tolstoi family, and
probably his sister, Sophia Alexandrovna, or his brother, Alexander
Alexandrovich (1858–1915).
[213] Probably--Vasili Alexeevich Maklakov, a well-known lawyer,
afterwards a member of the Duma, and his brother, Alexei Alexeevich,
a well-known Moscow physician.
[214] Ilya Yakovlovich Ginsburg, a well-known Russian sculptor, who
made several busts and statues of Tolstoi.
Mikhail Nicholaievich Sobolev, instructor in the Moscow University,
living at this time with the Tolstois as a teacher to Count M. L.
Tolstoi.
N. A. Kasatkin, a well-known Russian painter.
[215] In regard to this letter of the Japanese, Tolstoi in a letter
of August 8, 1897, wrote: “Recently I received a letter from Crosby
with an enclosure of a letter from a Japanese who lived with him in
New York. The Japanese read _The Gospel in Brief_, and writes that it
explained to him the meaning of life and that he is now going home to
Japan, in order to apply these beliefs to his life and to the life
of others and to establish _settlements_ there. A splendid letter
which touched me deeply and gave me joy. The same truth evidently
is accessible and necessary to every one.”
[216] Count L. L. Tolstoi (born in 1869), Tolstoi’s third son, and
his wife, the Princess Dora Fedorovna (born Westerlund).
[217] B. N. Leontev, at one time calling himself a follower of
Tolstoi, committed suicide in 1909.
[218] In the _Russkia Viedomosti_ (No. 211, 1897), in the report of
the missionary congress which took place in Kazan in August, 1897,
in which many high representatives of the hierarchy participated,
it was stated among other things, that for combating the spread of
sects and dissensions, the congress considered it necessary to adopt
the following measures: To forbid the dissenters to open schools
for their children and to close all the schools existing at the
present moment; to declare the adherence to a particularly obnoxious
sect as a compromising circumstance and to thus give the right to
peasant communities to expel from their midst members discovered as
belonging to an obnoxious sect and to exile them to Siberia. For the
sake of combating dissensions and sects, still other measures were
suggested and discussed at the congress, which among others were: The
soliciting of the passing of a law, by which it would be possible to
take away by force the children of the dissenters and sectarians, and
the establishing of asylums in every diocese for bringing them up
in the orthodox faith.... The Archbishop of Riazan, Meletie, called
the attention of the congress to another very important measure, and
to his mind, a very useful one for the success of missionary work:
the confiscation of the property of the dissenters and sectarians.
[219] P. A. Boulanger was sent abroad for continuing the affair of
helping the Dukhobors, for which V. G. Chertkov, P. I. Biriukov and
I. M. Tregubov were exiled before him.
[220] In his letter to the Swedish papers (not yet printed in
Russia) Tolstoi wrote that the Nobel prize ought to be awarded to
the Dukhobors, as people who have done their utmost towards the
establishment of universal peace. This letter, dated August 27, 1898,
was printed in P. I. Biriukov’s paper: _Svobodnaia Mysl_ (Geneva),
No. 4, 1899.
[221] Arthur St. John, an Englishman, a former officer in the India
service, came to Moscow to deliver the money donated for the benefit
of the Dukhobors by English Quakers. Wishing to come into personal
relation with the Dukhobors, he went to the Caucasus, where he was
arrested and sent out of Russia. Later, he went with the Dukhobors
to America and lived with them a long time.
[222] The Molokans, from the province of Samara, district of Buzuluk,
came twice (in April and September, 1897) to Tolstoi to ask him that
he help them get back the children taken from them by the police and
placed in orthodox monasteries. (See Tolstoi’s letter about this
to the editor of the _Peterburgskaia Viedomosti_, printed in that
paper in October, 1897, and reprinted in the _Collected Works of
Tolstoi_, edited by Sytin, Popular Edition, Volume XXII. See also,
article of A. S. Prugavin, “Leo Tolstoi and the Malakans of Samara,”
in his book, _On Leo Tolstoi and the Tolstoians_, Moscow, 1911.)
[223] About the children taken away from the Molokans. The rough
draft of this letter is now in the Petrograd Tolstoi Museum.
[224] Count A. V. Olsuphiev, Adjutant General. In letters to him
and to the two other persons mentioned below, Tolstoi asked their
collaboration in freeing from the monasteries, the children taken
from the Molokans.
[225] Charles Heath. An Englishman now dead, a former instructor of
English language and literature in a law school, and later one of
the tutors of the Emperor, Nicholas II.
[226] Mme. E. I. Chertkov, the widow of an Adjutant General, a
well-known follower of the “Evangelist” teaching or what is known
as The Pashkov Evangelist Doctrine. The mother of V. G. Chertkov.
[227] The Swede, Langlet, who previously had given detailed
information to Tolstoi about the Nobel prize. He was a guest at
Yasnaya Polyana at this time.
[228] The last sentence was marked off in the original.
[229] To V. G. Chertkov, during the time of his enforced two-year
sojourn abroad, Tolstoi from time to time actually sent extracts of
his Journal. But in general, Tolstoi, for reasons which will be given
at the proper time and place, found it later necessary to change
his decision not to give his Journal to be copied in its entirety
to any one; the confirmation of this can be found in the fact that
the present issue of the Journal is being printed from a transcript
made according to Tolstoi’s wishes. When V. G. Chertkov returned to
Russia, Tolstoi continually gave him his Journals to copy in their
entirety.
[230] In the letter to A. C. Chertkov of October 13, 1897, Tolstoi
wrote: “How many people are there with whom one does not speak
unreservedly, because you know that they are drunk. Some are drunk
with greed, some with vanity, some with love, some simply with
drugs. Lord forfend us from these intoxications. These intoxications
place no worse boundaries between people than religion, patriotism,
aristocracy do, and prevent that union which God desires.”
[231] V. G. Chertkov lived through hard times in England; his
condition naturally reflected itself upon his family, among which
number was his sister-in-law, O. K. Dieterichs, who was their guest
at this time.
[232] Tolstoi sent to the editor of the _Peterburgskaia Viedomosti_
a letter in regard to the children taken away from the Samara
Molokans, and about those measures which were suggested as a means
of fighting the sectarians and Old-Believers which were made in the
missionary congress in Kazan. This letter was printed in No. 282,
of October 15th.
[233] Protestant ministers of various localities in Holland: L. A.
Beller, A. De-Kuh and I-Kh. Klein, at a meeting in Grevenhagen,
definitely expressed themselves against war and military service.
[234] N took an adverse attitude to Chertkov’s social work among
Englishmen. Chertkov fell ill with pneumonia.
[235] To Moscow to be copied.
[236] V. D. Liapunov (1873–1905), peasant-poet of Tula. Working in
Tula, Liapunov in the autumn of 1897 came to Tolstoi that he judge
his poetry. Tolstoi was very much pleased with the poems, contrary to
his custom, for in general he did not like poetry. Tolstoi proposed
that Liapunov stay in his house to help copy his manuscripts.
[237] Afanasi Aggeev, a free-thinking peasant from the village of
Kaznacheevka, 4 versts from Yasnaya Polyana. In 1903 he was sentenced
by the Tula District Court to exile in Siberia for life for the
public utterance of words insulting to the Orthodox Faith. He died
in 1908.
[238] N. Y. Grot (1852–1899), professor at the Moscow University,
author of numerous articles on philosophic questions and editor
of the magazine, _Problems of Philosophy and Psychology_. Tolstoi
submitted his work, _What Is Art?_ to Grot to be printed in his
magazine. Shortly before his death, at the request of Grot’s brother,
Tolstoi wrote his recollections about him, which were printed,
together with his letter to Grot, in the compilation, _N. Y. Grot, in
Sketches, Recollections and Letters by Comrades and Pupils, Friends
and Admirers_, Petrograd, 1911, and in the _Full Collected Works
of L. N. Tolstoi_, issued by Sytin, subscribed edition, Volume XV;
Popular Edition, Volume XXIV.
[239] A. P. Ivanov (died 1912), ex-officer and old scribe, with whom
Tolstoi became acquainted at the time of the census of 1862, having
found him among the Moscow tramps. He led a vagabond life, coming or
tramping from time to time to Yasnaya Polyana to help Tolstoi copy
his manuscripts.
[240] Prince D. A. Khilkov (1858–1915), who at this time was in
accord with Tolstoi in several questions of a more external nature,
formerly an officer of the Hussars and afterwards of the Cossacks,
a landlord in the district of Sumsk, province of Kharkov. In the
eighties, he resigned from military service and sold for a trifle his
400 dessiatines of land, the only personal property he had at the
time, to the peasants of the village of Pavlovok; in 1889, on account
of his propaganda against religion, he was exiled by administrative
order to Zakavkaz. In 1893 Khilkov and his wife suffered a great
sorrow: their children were taken away from them by order of the
government (following the manipulations of Khilkov’s mother),
and they were given over to this lady for bringing up, she having
absolutely no sympathy with the opinions of her son. Afterwards,
when a strong movement among the Dukhobors began in the Caucasus,
Khilkov was sent over to the Baltic Provinces, where he lived up to
1899, at which time it was decided that he be sent abroad. In his
sojourn abroad, his convictions underwent a change to the side of
the violent revolutionaries. But when Khilkov returned to Russia in
1905, he absolutely abstained from every political activity. In the
beginning of the Russian-German War, Khilkov entered the army as a
volunteer and in October, 1914, was killed at Lvov (Lemberg).
[241] A peasant from Yasnaya Polyana, now dead, who was well-lettered
and loved to read.
[242] The clergy who came carried the icon to the churches, in the
parish of which stood Yasnaya Polyana. According to the order of
the clergy, the elder of Yasnaya Polyana called a village meeting
and ordered every one to go to church and meet the icon which was
afterwards carried from house to house in all the households of
the village. Concerning Tolstoi and the icon, see his letter to
Countess S. A. Tolstoi, which evidently by mistake is dated 1898
(_Letters of Count L. N. Tolstoi to his Wife_, Moscow, 1913, page 558).
[243] N. N. Miklukha-Maklai (1847–1887), a well-known Russian
traveller, living many years among the Tuzemts of New Guinea and
other islands. In his letter to Miklukha-Maklai in the middle of the
eighties, Tolstoi wrote that he considered him remarkable, not for
what every one else considered him remarkable, but that “he could
find manifestations of humanity among the wildest men on the globe.”
[244] Such a type was afterwards portrayed by Tolstoi in his story
_The Forged Coupon_, under the name of the housekeeper, Vasili.
(See _Posthumous Literary Works of L. N. Tolstoi_, issued by A. L.
Tolstoi, Volume I.)
[245] Every group of people is always inferior to the elements which
compose it.
[246] The work by M. O. Menshikov, _Concerning Holy Love and
Sex Love_, was printed in _Knizhki Nedieli_ in 1897, No. 11. In
Chapters IV and V of this work, Menshikov wrote about the struggle
of the two principles: The many-gods and the One-God; Tolstoi was
probably pleased with the following lines: “The great teaching about
One-God wiped out, together with the idols, the very conception
of separate gods; the gods disappeared but their elements--the
passions--remained, until now the overwhelming majority of
Christians who profess by word in the One-God, in reality bow to a
_plurality_.... (Italics made by the author.) Notwithstanding the
thousand year rule of the Gospels, we, in an overwhelming majority
are more sincerely idolaters than Christians--of course without
suspecting it.... Nihilist, Godless, paganized, the contemporary
generation accepts as an undoubted law, that the development of man
consists in enlarging the number of needs and refining them to the
point of a cult. Is this not a new plurality of gods, an idolatry?”
[247] In his book, _What Is Art?_
[248] St. John, Chapter XIV, Verse 2.
[249] Chapter I, Verse 24, St. Paul to the Colossians.
[250] See letter of Count L. N. Tolstoi to his Wife, March, 1913,
page 535 (No. 583) and page 537 (No. 585).
[251] See letter of Count L. N. Tolstoi to his Wife, March, 1913,
pages 536–537.
[252] About this time Tolstoi wrote to an acquaintance of his: “You
know Mme. M. A. Schmidt. She lives near us, straining every effort,
notwithstanding her weak health and her age (about 50), to work to
support herself. (She constantly helps people) and it is impossible
to see her without a softening of the heart and ... envy. She is
always joyous, calm and graceful.”
[253] In the _Novoe Vremia_ (November 19, 1897, No. 7,806) there
appeared an article by V. V. Rozanov: “Graceful Demonism” in which,
in an ironical tone, he criticised Menshikov’s article, “On Sex
Love,” which was printed in _Knizhki Nedieli_ (1897, Nos. 9–11).
In his words later on, Tolstoi speaks of his deeply loved brother,
Nickolai Nickolaievich (1823–1860). In his _Recollections_, Tolstoi
relates the incident as follows: “I remember how once, a very stupid
and bad man, an Adjutant General, who was hunting with him, laughed
at him and how my brother, glancing at me, smiled kindly,” evidently
finding great satisfaction in this. (Biriukov, _Biography of L. N.
Tolstoi_, Vol. I, Moscow, 1911, pages 43–44).
[254] A. Maude translated _What Is Art?_ into English.
[255] The letter of N. Y. Grot is printed, I think, in Tolstoi’s
book, _What Is Art?_
[256] Grigori Antonovich Zakharlin (1829–1895), a well-known professor
in the Moscow University, in his day, one of the most popular Moscow
physicians.
[257] Countess Maria Nicholaievna Tolstoi (1830–1912), Tolstoi’s only
sister. As a young girl, she married her second cousin, Count V. P.
Tolstoi; some time later she separated from him and soon after she
became a widow. When her daughters were married (Mme. V. V. Nagornov,
Princess E. V. Obolensky and Mme. E. S. Denisenko) Countess Tolstoi,
under the influence of the well-known Father Ambrose, of the Optina
Desert, entered the convent of Shamordino (in the province of Kaluga)
and later took the veil. In this convent she spent the rest of her
life.
[258] Monk Ambrose, the celebrated holy man of the Optina Desert,
died in 1891, at the age of 80. About Tolstoi’s visits to the Optina
Desert see fragment of notes made by S. A. Tolstoi under the title
_My Life_ (_Tolstoi Annual_, 1913, Petrograd, 1914).
[259] Dushan Petrovich Makovitsky, then editor in Hungary (in
Ruzhomberg), of the Slavic publication which corresponded to the
publication _Posrednik_ issued in Moscow, in which Tolstoi and some
of his friends took a most active interest.
[260] In this place, in the original Journal, a page had been entered
in Tolstoi’s hand; evidently the beginning of a letter. This was
its contents:
“You ask me a question which I now for twenty years have been trying
to solve.
“It always seems to us--when the simple truth is that we ought to
lead a Christian life, and when it is disclosed to us how terribly
far from that life is the life we lead--it always seems to us that
we for the moment find ourselves in an exceptionally disadvantageous
condition for beginning that new life, which opens itself to us:
To one, it is a mother, to another a wife, to a third, children,
to a fourth, business; this one bought a bull, or the other has a
wedding which interferes from his going to the feast. And we usually
say to ourselves, ‘Oh, if it were not so,’--looking at it as on an
accidental hindrance and not as on the unavoidable conditions of
Christian life, as on the law of gravitation in problems of activity.
“Beauty which discloses to us the kingdom of God blinds us so, that
we immediately want to enter it and we forget that this is not the
programme of life, but the ideal; and that the programme of life
consists in struggle and in effort to attain the kingdom of God, to
approach it.
“And when you understand this, then the attitude towards activity
is changed....”
[261] The village of Dolgoe, province of Tula, district of Krapevensk,
nineteen versts from Yasnaya Polyana. The Yasnaya Polyana house in
which Tolstoi was born stands there. In the fifties this house was
sold to a neighbouring landlord, Gorobov, who took it from Yasnaya
Polyana to Dolgoe, where it remained until 1913, when it was destroyed.
[262] Nicholai Ilich Storozhenko (1836–1906), professor in the Moscow
University, author of numerous books and articles on Russian history
and general literature.
[263] Tolstoi probably asked N. A. Kasatkin for examples of true
art in painting.
[264] N’s stories seemed to be about some of the Chertkovs’ difficult
experiences in England.
[265] Prince S. N. Troubetskoi (1862–1905), professor of philosophy in
the Moscow University, took an active part in the magazine, _Problems
of Philosophy and Psychology_, and became after N. Y. Grot’s death,
the editor of it. Tolstoi, as was said above, gave his work, _What
Is Art?_ to this magazine.
[266] Of these subjects Tolstoi, as much as can be judged, made use
of the following: the first, _Father Sergius_, 1898; the second,
_The Posthumous Memoirs of the Monk, Fedor Kuzmich_, 1905; the
fourth, _Korni Vasiliev_, 1905; fifth, _The Resurrection of Hell
and Its Destruction_, 1902; sixth, _The Forged Coupon_, 1902–1904;
seventh, _Hadji Murad_, 1898, 1902–1904; the tenth, _Resurrection_,
1898–1899; and the thirteenth, _The Divine and the Human_, 1903–1904;
the twelfth subject, _Mother_, was begun by Tolstoi in the beginning
of the nineties (Introduction to _The Story of a Mother_, or _A
Mother’s Notes_).
[267] It was disagreeable to Tolstoi that the foreign publishers, who
wished to print the first edition of his book, _What Is Art?_ made the
condition that it should appear everywhere simultaneously and that it
should not be published anywhere first, not even in Russia. Tolstoi,
being little acquainted with the conditions of foreign publication,
did not understand at first how unavoidable these demands were for
a simultaneous publication of books in various countries, and he
was disagreeably embarrassed that he had to absolutely forbid the
appearance of the book in Russia before the day arranged for foreign
publication. Later, realising the affair more closely, Tolstoi saw
the necessity of these conditions of the publishers.
[268] I.e., he entirely finished the work _What Is Art?_ and gave
it to _Problems of Philosophy and Psychology_.
[269] V. G. Chertkov, being exiled from Russia, settled in England,
where he founded the publication, _The Free Press_, in which the
works of Tolstoi were printed, as well as of authors near to him in
point of view which could not be printed in the Russian papers. He
also arranged for the translations of the new works of Tolstoi into
the important European tongues. The telegram which Tolstoi mentions
must have been about the English translation of _What is Art?_
[270] Sofron Pavlovich Chizhov, a peasant from the district of Umansk,
in the province of Kiev, because of his spreading of views adverse
to the orthodox religion, was exiled by administrative order, first
to Poland and then to eastern Siberia. His _Memoirs_ were printed
in _The Free Press_, No. 10, 1904. Tolstoi often wrote to Chizhov
in exile, expressing his joy that he bears all oppression “like a
man, with patience and with love.” Chizhov has remained in Siberia
for life and at present is living near Yakutsk.
[271] As in the copy in possession of the editors.
[272] See Note 267.
[273] In a letter to Chertkov, January 18, 1898, Tolstoi wrote:
“Letters with threats have, of course, no effect, but they are
unpleasant, in this sense, that there should be people who hate
futilely. I am always ready to die and that is _the thing_. I thought
a little while ago: ... that when one is healthy one ought to try to
live better on the outside, but when one is ill then learn to die
better. Besides, these letters haven’t even this merit: they are so
stupidly written that they have been conceived evidently only to
frighten.”
[274] Concerning this illness, Tolstoi, mentioning it in his letter
to the Chertkovs, December 28, 1897, said: “The illness was the
usual one, biliousness, and has now passed away.”
[275] Tolstoi began and finished this drama only in 1900.
[276] Tolstoi’s brother-in-law, A. A. Behrs.
[277] Sergei Mickailovich Soloviev (1820–1879), the Russian historian,
the father of the philosopher, Vladimir Sergeevich, and the novelist,
Vsevolod Sergeevich Soloviev.
[278] The preface to the English edition, _What Is Art?_ In his
letter to Chertkov, December 27, 1897, Tolstoi wrote:
“Wouldn’t such a preface be suitable?
“The book which is about to appear cannot be published in its
entirety in Russia on account of the censor, and therefore it is
being published in England in translation, the correctness of which
I have not the least doubt of. The five chapters printed in Russia
in the magazine _Problems of Philosophy and Psychology_ have already
suffered several deletions and changes; the following chapters,
especially those which explain the essence of my point of view on
art, will surely not be permitted in Russia and therefore I ask
all those who are interested in this book to judge it only by this
present edition.”
[279] Nicholas Evgrafovich Phedoseev, a political exile, who went by
_étape_ with the Dukhobors exiled to Siberia. In his letter Fedosiev
told Tolstoi about the interviews given to him by the Dukhobors
themselves, concerning the suffering those who were sent to the
Ekaterinograd disciplinary battalion had to undergo, and he also
gave him information about the Dukhobors in Siberia. This letter
was printed in Leaflets of _The Free Press_, 1898, No. I.
[280] “I received a letter through the Chertkovs,” wrote Tolstoi,
January 18, 1898--_from G. Bedborough, the publisher of The Adult_,
a letter with questions about sex-problems and a very light-headed
program.
[281] Written in English, in the original.
[282] Ilya Efimovich Repine. Concerning this visit, Tolstoi wrote to
Chertkov, January 21, 1898: “One of the recent pleasant impressions
was the meeting with Repine. I think we made a good impression on
each other.”
[283] Countess Alexandra Lvovna Tolstoi (born, 1884), Tolstoi’s
youngest daughter.
[284] The literary work conceived and written by Tolstoi only in 1902:
The Legend of the Destruction of Hell by Christ and Its Resurrection
by the Devils, arranging the teaching of Christ so that it improve
the evil life of people.
[285] As in the copy at the disposal of the editors.
[286] Michail Fedorovich Gulenko, serving in the department of the
Moscow-Kursk Railroad, and at this time one of the most active
contributors to _Posrednik_.
[287] Leopold Antonovich Sullerzhitsky, later one of the managers
of the Moscow Artistic Theatre. In the Tolstoi family he was often
called for short, Suller.
[288] A poem by V. D. Liapunov, printed at first with a letter by
Tolstoi in the magazine, _Russkaia Mysl_ (1898, No. 1): and later in
the book, _V. D. Liapunov, a Young Poet_, “Library of Leo Tolstoi,”
edited by P. I. Biriukov, Moscow, 1912.
[289] In _Paths of Life_ Tolstoi expresses this thought more exactly:
“That which we consider for ourselves as evil, is in most cases a
good which is not yet understood by us.” In another place he says
in speaking of the same problem: “We must distinguish between our
conceptions of evil in general, ‘objective’ evil, as philosophers
say, an outer one, and between evil for each man individually,
a ‘subjective’ evil, an inner one. There is no objective evil.
Subjective evil is a departure from reason, it is indeed death.” (A
combination, _The Four Gospels Harmonized, Translated and Studied_,