Show admirers of firmat novelist to organize international tolstoi society st petersburg april 12 sunday I 1 although inde flance to the wishes of count tolstoi the plans for an international celebration at polya na this summer of the writers elgh aleth birthday to which delegations from russia and abroad had been invited have been abandoned admirers of the russian novelist propose to signalize Us jubilee by the formation of an international tolstoi society similar to the goethe dante and shake arean societies designed to study and propagate the ideas of tolstoi to collect materials concerning his life and activity and ultimately to purchase the homo ot for a tolstoi museum celebrations of the anniversary will bo held in st petersburg moscow and other cities Tol reasons for declining the honor are given in a letter to michael in which he writes 1 I address myself to you with a very great request namely to stop the plan of a jubilee celebration which will give me nothing but pain and what Is worse the consciousness of evil doing you know that particularly at my age when I 1 am so near death nothing Is more precious than the love of my fel and I 1 fear lest this affection suffer from this jubilee I 1 received yesterday a letter in which it was said that all members of the orthodox church from which tolstoi as is well known was excommunicated would i bo affronted by this celebration I 1 had never thought of it in that light but what was written Is correct not only among the orthodox hut also among i many others the celebration of my jubilee would provoke evil feelings those who love me 1 I know them and they know me need not use outward forms to express their affection i therefore do what you can to prevent this celebration and free me from this sorrow I 1 shall ever be very thankful count leo tolstoi has it as announced written a new novel which how ever will only bo published after ills death it is entitled father sergius from his hero a young guard officer who retires from the world and becomes a monk on learning of the of the young girl with whom he has fallen in love he becomes famous for sanctity but IB subjected to repeated worldly temptations finally yielding to a tempest of sensual passion and after killing the victim of his lust leaves th e monastery to become a wanderer on the earth the study oe the moral struggle of the monk and of the confiding faith of the peasants thronging to the shrine of the holy man gives it is said opportunity for masterly Tol atoian description |