This article was written at the request of G. editor of the magazine "Revue contemporaine" - to get acquainted with the question about Tolstoy and the Russian Church of Western European readers . To such an ear and mind it is adapted by its details, by its tone, by its trifles .. But the theses in it are exactly my theses .. The Russian Church in its 900-year standing (as, indeed, all almost historical) really confuses the spirit: near the ancient building you walk and curse, walk and laugh, walk and admire, walk and admire. God sent Catiline and Cato, Gracchus and Caesar to Rome... Every story is incomprehensible: the cause of infinite freedom in it is both to cry and to laugh. And how thoroughly one, thoroughly and the other ... But still with caution ... Or maybe even without caution? The story is not only endless, but also elusive. The article was translated into French by the editorial board of the journal; its Russian original is now printed for the first time. In. R. C. St. Petersburg, September 25, 1911 .