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'FEBRUAItY ld 1904.
The Commoner.
i
W TOLSTOYJHEAPOSTLEOFLOVE vv
(Copyright, 1901, by Now York .Tourrmi.i
Count Leo Tolstoy, the intellectual giant of
Russia, the moral Titan of Europe and the world's
,'most conspicuous exponent of the doctrine of love,
Is living a life of quiet retirement upon his estate
near the village of Yasnaya, Poliana, about one
hundred and thirty miles south of Moscow.
I made a visit to the home of this peasant
philosopher .during my stay in Russia, driving
from Tula in the early morning and arriving1 just
after daylight. I had intended remaining only a
few hours, but his welcome was so cordial that
my stay was prolonged until nearly midnight.
Count Tolstoy is now about seventy-six years old,
and while he shows the advance of years ho is
still full of mental vigor and retains much of his
physical strength. As an illustration of the lat
ter, r might refer to the horseback ride and walk
which we took together in the afternoon. Tho
ride covered about four miles and the walk about
two. "When we reached the house the count said
that he would take a little rest and insisted that
I should do likewise. A few minutes later when
I expressod to the count's physician, Dr. Bui ken
helm, the fear that he might have overtaxed his
strength, the- dpctor smilingly assured me that
the count usually took more exercise, but had
purposely lessened his allowance that day, fear
ing that he might fatigue me.
Count Tolstoy is an impressive figure. His
years have only slightly bowed his broad shoul
ders and- his step is still alert In height ho is
about five feet eight, his head is large and his
abundant hair is not yet wholly white. Ills
large hlue eyes are set wide apart and are shaded
by heavy eye-brows. The forehead Is unusually
, wide and high. He wears a long, lull beard that
gives him a patriarchal appearance. The mouth is
large and the lips full. The nose is rather long
and the nostrils wide. The hands are muscular,
and the grasp bespeaks warmth of heart. The
count dresses like the peasants of his country,
wearing a grayish-blue blouse belted in at the
waist, with skirts reaching nearly to the boot
tops. His trousers, also of the peasant style, are
inclined to bo baggy and are stuffed into his
boots. I was informed that the count never wears
any other dress, even when other members of the
family are entertaining guests in evening -clothes.
The room which 1 occupied was the odo used
by the count as a study in his younger days, and
I was shown a ring in the ceiling from which at
the age of forty-eight ho planned to hang him
selfa plan from which he was only deterred
by the resolve to change the manner and purpose
of his life. As is well known, Count Tolstoy is
a member of the Russian nobility and for nearly
fifty years led the life of a nobleman. He early
achieved fame as a novelist, his "War and Peace,"
which was written when he was . but a young
man, being considered one of the literary master
pieces of the country. He sounded all the "depths
and shoals of honor" in the literary and social
world; he realized all that o'ne could wish or
expect in these lines, but found that success did
not satisfy the crayings of the inner man. While
he was meditating upon what he had come to re
gard as a wasted life, a change' came over him,
- and with a faith that has never faltered he turned
about and entered upon a career that has been
unique in history. He donned the simple garb
of a peasant, and, living frugally, has devoted
himself to philosophy and unremuneratlve work
that is, unremunerative rrom a financial stand-
' point, although he declares thai it ha3 brought
him more genuine enjoyment than he ever knew
before. All of his books written since this change
in his. life have been given to tin public with
out copyright, except in one instance when the
proceeds of "Resurrection" were pledged to the
aid of the Russian Quakers, called Doukhobors,
whom the count assisted to emigrate from their
persecution in Russia to western Canada, where
they now reside. As an evidence of the count's
complete renunciation qt all money considera
tions, it is stated that he has declined an offer
of $500,000 for the copyright of the books written
by him before his. life current was altered.
My object in visiting him .was not so much
to learn his views for his opinions .have 'had
wide expression and can be found In his numer
ous essays-but it was rather to see the man and
ascertain if I could from personal contact the
secret of the tremendous Influence LhaLha Is ex
erting upon the thought of the world, fj am sat
isfied that, notwithstanding his great intellect,
his colossal strength lies in his heart more than
in his mind. It is true that few Bave equalled
him In power of analysis and in clearness or state
ment, while none have surpassed him In beauty
and aptness of illustration.- But no one can com-
mune with him without fueling that the man is
like an overflowing spring asking nothing, but
giving always. Ho preaches self-abnegation and
has demonstrated to his own satisfaction that
there is more genuine joy in living for others than
in living upon othersmore happiness in serving
than in being servedj
Tho purpose orHfe, as defined by him, has
recently been quoted by Mr. Ernest Crosby in
"Tho Open Court." It reads as follows :
"Life then is the activity of the animal
individuality working in submission to tho
law of reason. Reason shows man that hap
piness cannot be obtained by a self-life and
leaves only one outlet open for him and that
is love. Lovo is the only legitimate manifesta-
tion of life. It is an activity that has for its
object the good of others. Whon It makes
its appearance the meaningless strife ot trie
animal life ceases."
U-ove is the dominant note in Count Tolstoy's
philosophy. It is not only the' only weapon of
defense which he recognizes, but it is the only
means by which he would influence others. - It is
both his shield and his sword. He is a deeply
religious man, notwithstanding the fact that he
was a few years ago excommunicated by the Rus
sian church) In one of his essays he has defined
religion asfollows:
"True religion is a relation, accordant
wlth'Teason and knowledge, which man estab
' lishes with the .infinite life surrounding him.
and it Is such as binds his life to that in
finity, and guides his conduct."
lJHe not only takes his stand boldly upon the
side'-of spiritual, as distinguished from material,
philosophy, but he administers a rebuke to those
who assume that religious sentiment Is an indi
cation of intellectual weakness or belongs to the
lower stages of man's developments In his essay
on "Religion and Morality," to wlTich he referred
me for his opinion on this subject, he sajs:
"Moreover, every man who has ever, even
in childhood, experienced religious feeling,
knows by personal experience that it was
"evoked in him, not by external, terrifying, ma
terial phenomena, but "by an inner conscious
ness, which had nothing to do with the fear
of the. unknown forces of nature a conscious
ness of his own Insignificance, loneliness and
guilt. And, therefore, both by external ob
servation and by personal experience, man
may know that religion Is not the worship of
gods, evoked by superstitious fear of the in- ,
visible forces of nature, proper to men only
at a certain period of their development; but
is something quite independent either of fear
or"-of their degree of education a something
that cannot be destroyed by any development
of culture. For man's consciousness of his
finiteness amid an infinite univeise, and of
his sinfulness (i. e., of his not having done
all he might and should have dene) has al
ways existed and will exist as long as man re
mains man."
If religion is an expression of "man's con
sciousness of his finiteness amid, an infinite uni
verse, and of his sinfulness," it cannot be out
grown until one believes himself to have reached
perfection and to possess all knowledge, and ob
servation teaches us that those who hold this
opinion of themselves are not the farthest ad
vanced, but simply lack that comprehension of
their own ignorance and iranty wnich is tne very
beginning of progress.
. VCount Tolstoy is an advocate of the doctrine
of non-resistance. He not only believes that evil
can be overcome by good, but he denies that it can
be overcome in any other way. I asked him sev
eral questions on this subject, and tho following
dialogue presents his views:
Q. Do you draw any line between the use
of force to avenge an injury already received, and
the use of force to protect yourself from an Injury
about to be inflicted?
A. No. Instead of using violence to pro
tect myself, I ought rather to express my sorrow
that I had done anything that would make any
one desire to Injure me.
Q. Do you draw a line between the use of
force to protect a right and the use of force to
create a right? t
A. No. That Is. tho excuse generally given
for the use of violence. Men insist that they are
simply' defending a right, when, in fact, they are
trying tp secure something that thoy desire and
to which they are "not entitled. The use of vio
lence is not necessary to secure one's rights; there
aro more effective means.
Q. Do you draw any distinction between the
use of forco to protect yourself and the use of
force to protect somo one under your care a
child, for instanco?
A. No. Ad wo do not attain entirely to our
ideals, wo might find it difficult in such a case not
to resort to tho use of force; but it would not be
justifiable, and, besides, rules cannot bo made for
such exceptional cases. Millions ot people have
been tho victims of force and have suffered bo
' cause it has been thought right to employ It; but
I am now old and I have never known in all my
life a single instanco in which a child was at
tacked in such a way that It would have boon
necessary for me to use forco for its protection.
I prefer to consider actual rather than imaginary
cases. -.
riound later that this last question had been
answered in a letter on non-resistance addressed
to Mr. Ernest Crosby, In 1890, (Included In allttle
volumo of Tolstoy's Essays and Lotters recently
publishod b1 Grant Richards, Leicester Square,
London). In this letter ho says:
"None of us has ever, yet met the Imag
inary robber with the lmRginary child but
all tho horrors which fill the annals of history
. and of our own times came and come from
this one thing that people will believe tha
they can foresee the results of hypothetical
future actions."
"When I saw him ho was just finishing an In
troduction to a biographical sketch of William
Lloyd Garrison, his attention having been called
to Garrison by tho lattor's advocacy of the doc- .
trine of non-resistance.
Tolstoy, in one of tho strongest essays that
he has written an essay entitled "Industry and
Idleness" elaborates and defends tho doctrine
advanced by a Russian named Bondarof, to tho
effect that each Individual should labor with his
hands, at least to the extent of producing his own
food. I referred to this and asked him for a
. brief statement of his reasons. He said that it
- was necessary for one to engage in manral labor
in order to keep himself in sympathy with those
who toll, and described tho process by which peo
ple first relieve themselves of tho necessity of
physical exertion and then come to look "with a
sort of contempt upon those who find it neces
sary to work with their hands. Ho believes tliat
lack of sympathy lies at tho root of most of tho
injustice which men suffer at tho hands of their
follows. Ho holds that it Is not sufficient that
one can remember a time when ho earned his
bread In the sweat of his brow, but that he must
continue to know what physical fatigue means
and what drudgery is, in order that he may right
ly estimate his brother and deal with him aft a
brother. In addition to this he says that, when
one begins to live upon the labor of others, he is
never quite sure that he is earning his liv'ng.
Let mo quote his language: "If you use more
than you produce you cannot bo quite content, if
you' are a conscientious man. Who can Know
how much I work? It is impossible. A man must
work as much as ho can with his hands, taking
tho most difficult and disagreeable tasks, that is,
if he wishes to have a quiet conscience. Mental
work is much easier than physical work, despite''
what is said to tho contrary. No work is too
humble, too disagreeable, to do. No man ought
to dodge work. If I dodge work I feel guilty.
There are some people who think they are so
precious that other people must do the dirty, dis
agreeable work for them. Every man is so vain
as to think his own work most important. That
is why I try to work with my hands by the side
of worklngmen. If I write a book, I cannot be
quite sure whether it will be useful or not. f I
produce something that will support life, I know
that I have done' something useful.
Tolstoy presents an ideal, and while he rec
ognizes that the best of efforts is but an approach
to tho ideal, he does not consent to tho lowering
of the ideal itself or the defense of anything that
alms at less than the entire realization of the
ideal. He is opposed to what he calls palliatives,
and insists that we need the reformation of the
individual more than the reformation of. law or
government. He holds that the first thing to do
is to substitute tho Christian spirit'for the selfish
spirits He likens those who are trying to make
piecemeal progress, to persons who are trying to
push cars along a track by putting their shoul
ders against the cars. Ho says that they could
better employ thefr energy fcy putting steam in
the engine, .'tilcrf would then pull the cars. And,
'(.Continued 0n Page 6.)
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