Part 19

Every one who came near him seemed to feel it, and most of those who read his books. It is true that there still exists a certain number of people who recognize him only as a novelist. These are generally among the upper classes and among literary people who are impatient with him for having neglected his art. If it had not been for his novels it is probable that his influence would not have been nearly so far-reaching. It is doubtful whether fashionable people would have taken any notice of his serious books at all. But the fact that he had written “Anna Karenina” and had made a great name, roused their curiosity and they read his indictments against society, governments, and the Church with some interest, and many have gradually come under his spell.

It was Tolstoy’s profound sincerity and his warm heart that made people love him. They saw how passionate was his wish to make the world a better place, how he hated small, mean things, and worshiped goodness and truth. He had immense courage, and fame or the praise of men by the time he was middle-aged meant nothing to him. But he confesses that in his younger days he looked for and enjoyed success. His art had been a temptation to him, and that was one of the reasons why he would have nothing more to do with it.

Tolstoy was above all things a human being: indeed, it was his special characteristic. Being so, he was sometimes inconsistent and swayed by his moods and his likes and dislikes, which makes his critics say he did not practise his doctrine of love. He asked people to turn the other cheek and love their enemies, while he himself found it almost impossible to be agreeable to disagreeable people or to stupid people, and he never succeeded in tolerating those whom he considered responsible for the evils of our social system, rulers, politicians, and policemen.

When absorbed in thought he was forgetful and inconsiderate; he did not mean to be selfish, but his wife’s sufferings and what people who lived with him had to put up with did not strike him. He was impetuous, especially in his younger days, and he was always making resolutions which he failed very often to carry out. But all great idealists must suffer from this; it is infinitely better than having no ideals at all and making no mistakes. If a man with Tolstoy’s ideals could carry them all out, he would be the perfect man, and Tolstoy was far from being that. But no one could be more humble or more ready to blame himself, and as he grew older he more and more succeeded in practising in his life what he preached to others.

Tolstoy believed in God, and in the spiritual element that is in all men and women and which all, he insisted, must cherish and try to increase.

He believed that all men are equal as Christ did, and that all are brothers, so there should be no such thing as rivalry among nations, and no wars. If a man is not bent on money-making, on stealing and grasping for himself and taking away from others, if he only desires to treat them as he wishes they would treat himself, then will force become unnecessary. This idea may also be applied to States, for wars arise out of their jealousies and rivalry, in the search after power and wealth.

Tolstoy saw that much wickedness and misery came out of poverty, and a great deal through riches: one is often the cause of the other, and the unequal distribution of wealth is one of the greatest problems of our civilization.

But Tolstoy says, could the meaning of renunciation, of giving up to others, be really understood, the battle would be won, and the need of force would not exist. The only crime is for man to act inhumanly to man. A change of heart is what Tolstoy pleads for, and every man and woman, he says, can do something to help, by example and having a purpose in life. “For life,” he says in a letter to his son, “is a place of service, and in that service one has to suffer at times a great deal that is hard to bear, but more often to experience a great deal of joy. But that joy can only be real if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal affairs.”

On seeing the terrible sight of capital punishment in France, Tolstoy wrote these striking words:

When I saw the head separate from the body and how they both jumped into the box at the same moment, I understood not with my mind but with my whole being, that no theory of the reasonableness of our present progress can justify this deed, and that though everybody from the creation of the world, on whatever theory had held it to be necessary, I know it to be unnecessary and bad, and therefore the arbiter of what is good and evil is not what people say and do and is not progress, but is my heart and I.

Who is to be the judge of what is right or wrong? asks Tolstoy, and answers, “A man’s own soul.” A man, he says, must not fear to stand alone. Now the fear of standing alone is not always cowardice; often a man has too little confidence in himself. In answer to the promptings of his heart or conscience he will say, “Perhaps I am wrong: after all, the majority think differently from what I do; they are probably right, for what am I?” But it is very seldom that a man’s conscience will lead him astray, and if he feels that a thing is bad or cruel, he should not stifle or ignore the instinct, but, on the contrary, trust and believe in it, for it is a divine thing created in man for his own safeguarding to direct and help him through the difficult ways of life.

Tolstoy had much in common with W. L. Garrison, whom he greatly admired, and wrote a preface to a Life of him written by a Russian. For both recognized no authority but a man’s own heart and conscience, both set themselves to the task of rousing people to a better understanding by moral persuasion, both detested force.

It is easy to say that Tolstoy was vague, unpractical, and even absurd in the things he taught. Some people think he was quite mistaken; those who honestly believe in force and government by a few privileged people must naturally think so. Tolstoy was very extreme, but what he did was to give people a higher, more spiritual ideal, to show them that life may be a noble thing.

Tolstoy realized as he grew older that we cannot be perfect all at once. Therefore he says, if you cannot love another as yourself, go as far as you can in that direction; if you cannot live in complete simplicity, live rather more simply, and so on.

By degrees we may be able to get somewhere nearer Tolstoy’s ideals, especially if we believe that we are naturally good, and not, as many of us have been taught, “by nature born in sin and the children of wrath.” D. P.

Since this was written a great change has come about in Russia, which may affect the whole of civilized Europe.

The People of Russia—the Workers—have risen against their rulers, and deposed the Czar and his advisers.

It is early days yet to say what the final outcome of the Revolution will be; but the upheaval is a step toward freedom, and behind it the spirit of Tolstoy moves. He, above all others, helped to sow the seed of the Russian Revolution, and maybe of other revolutions yet to come. What joy and thankfulness would have filled his great heart could he have seen the germination of this seed—the downfall of Czarism and the dawning of freedom for the People of Russia!

BOOKS TO READ

The Life and Martyrdom of Girolamo Savonarola, by R. R. Madden.

Savonarola and His Times, by Villari.

Romola, by George Eliot.

William the Silent, by F. Harrison.

The Rise of the Dutch Republic, by Motley.

Life of Tycho Brahe, by J. L. E. Dreyer.

Life of Tycho Brahe, by F. R. Friis.

Cervantes, by J. Fitzmaurice Kelly.

Life of Giordano Bruno, by J. Lewis McIntyre.

Life of Giordano Bruno, the Nolan, by Miss J. Frith.

Life of Hugo Grotius, by Charles Butler.

Seven Great Statesmen (Grotius), by A. D. White.

Voltaire, by John Morley.

Life of Voltaire, by S. G. Tallantyre.

Essay on Frederick the Great, by Macaulay.

Mazzini, by Bolton King.

The Story of My Life, by Hans Andersen.

Life of W. L. Garrison, by W. P. and F. J. Garrison.

The Moral Crusader, a biographical essay on Garrison, by Goldwin Smith.

H. D. Thoreau, by F. B. Sanborn.

Life of Thoreau, by H. Salt.

Walden, by Thoreau.

The Life of Tolstoy, by Aylmer Maude.

Reminiscences of Tolstoy, by Count Ilya Tolstoy.

Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth, by Tolstoy.

STANDARD CYCLOPÆDIAS FOR YOUNG OR OLD￣￣ ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣ ￣ CHAMPLIN’S￣

YOUNG FOLKS’ CYCLOPÆDIAS

By JOHN D. CHAMPLIN

_Late Associate Editor of the American Cyclopædia_

Bound in substantial red buckram. Each volume complete in itself and sold separately. 12mo, $3.00 per volume, net.

COMMON THINGS

New, Enlarged Edition, 850 pp. Profusely Illustrated

“A book which will be of permanent value to any boy or girl to whom it may be given, and which fills a place in the juvenile library, never, so far as I know, supplied before.”—_Susan Coolidge._

PERSONS AND PLACES

New, Up-to-Date Edition, 985 pp. Over 375 Illustrations

“We know copies of the work to which their young owners turn instantly for information upon every theme about which they have questions to ask. More than this, we know that some of these copies are read daily, as well as consulted; that their owners turn the leaves as they might those of a fairy book, reading intently articles of which they had not thought before seeing them, and treating the book simply as one capable of furnishing the rarest entertainment in exhaustless quantities.”—_N. Y. Evening Post._

LITERATURE AND ART

604 pp. 270 Illustrations

“Few poems, plays, novels, pictures, statues, or fictitious characters that children—or most of their parents—of our day are likely to inquire about will be missed here. Mr. Champlin’s judgment seems unusually sound.”—_The Nation._

GAMES AND SPORTS

By JOHN D. CHAMPLIN and ARTHUR BOSTWICK

Revised Edition, 784 pp. 900 Illustrations

“Should form a part of every juvenile library, whether public or private.”—_The Independent._

NATURAL HISTORY

By JOHN D. CHAMPLIN, assisted by FREDERICK A. LUCAS

725 pp. Over 800 Illustrations

“Here, in compact and attractive form, is valuable and reliable information on every phase of natural history, on every item of interest to the student. Invaluable to the teacher and school, and should be on every teacher’s desk for ready reference, and the children should be taught to go to this volume for information useful and interesting.”—_Journal of Education._

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO

THE CHILDREN OF THE NEW FOREST

By CAPTAIN MARRYAT. Illustrated in color and line by E. BOYD SMITH. Special library binding. $1.35 net.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

By JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. Illustrated in color and line by E. BOYD SMITH. Special library binding. $1.35 net.

In every detail of illustration and manufacture these editions are made as if these books were being published for the first time for young folks. This attempt to put the juvenile classics in a form which on its looks will attract children, is meeting with widespread support from the public and librarians.

The text is not abridged.

Mr. Smith’s pictures need no commendation, but he seems to have treated these stories with unusual skill and sympathy.

HALF A HUNDRED HERO TALES

Of Ulysses and the Men of Old. By various authors, including NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. Illustrated. Special library binding. $1.35 net.

The Greek and Roman mythological heroes whose stories are here collected are not covered in any other one volume. The arrangement gives the interest of connected narrative to the account of the fall of Troy, the Æneas stories, and the Adventures of Ulysses.

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO

_BOOKS FOR YOUNG FOLKS_

MAGIC PICTURES OF THE LONG AGO

By ANNA CURTIS CHANDLER

_With some forty illustrations. $1.30 net_

These stories grew out of Miss Chandler’s popular Story Hours for Children at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Each recounts the youth and something of the later life of some striking character in art, history, or literature, and is made very vivid by reproductions of famous pictures, etc.

THE DOGS OF BOYTOWN

By WALTER A. DYER

_Author of “Pierrot, Dog of Belgium,” etc._

_Illustrated. $1.50 net_

_New York Sun_: “It takes the cake—in this case, of course, a dog biscuit.... It is the most unusual book of its kind.... Dyer enters a new field for boys ... all boys will want to know about Dogs—their ways and habits, their histories and origins.... Threaded through this wonderful textbook on dogs is the story of adventures of two boys ... shows the reader where to find out about everything from bench shows and the care of puppies to fleas ... illustrated with photographs and excellent pen sketches....”

BLUE HERON COVE

By FANNIE LEE MCKINNEY

_Author of “Nora-Square-Accounts.”_

_Illustrated. $1.35 net_

Tells how Blue Heron Island and its seafaring folks change “a little German countess in white satin” into “a real, authentic American girl.”

THE GUN BOOK

By THOMAS H. MCKEE

_Profusely illustrated. $1.60 net_

A book about guns for boys of all ages. The history is accurate; boys will remember the anecdotes; and the technical parts are sensibly adapted to show “just how it works.”

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO

_BY ALFRED BISHOP MASON_

TOM STRONG, WASHINGTON’S SCOUT

Illustrated. $1.30 net.

A story of adventure. The principal characters, a boy and a trapper, are in the Revolutionary army from the defeat at Brooklyn to the victory at Yorktown.

“The most important events of the Revolution and much general historical information are woven into this interesting and very well constructed story of Tom and a trapper, who serve their country bravely and well. Historical details are correctly given.”—_American Library Association Booklet._

TOM STRONG, BOY-CAPTAIN

Illustrated. $1.30 net.

Tom Strong and a sturdy old trapper take part in such stirring events following the Revolution as the Indian raid with Crawford and a flat-boat voyage from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, etc.

TOM STRONG, JUNIOR

Illustrated. $1.30 net.

The story of the son of Tom Strong in the young United States. Tom sees the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr; is in Washington during the presidency of Jefferson; is on board of the “Clermont” on its first trip, and serves in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.

TOM STRONG, THIRD

Illustrated. $1.30 net.

Tom Strong, Junior’s son helps his father build the first railroad in the United States and then goes with Kit Carson on the Lewis and Clarke Expedition.

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO

COMPANION STORIES OF COUNTRY LIFE FOR BOYS _By CHARLES P. BURTON_

THE BOYS OF BOB’S HILL

Illustrated by GEORGE A. WILLIAMS. 12mo. $1.35 net.

A lively story of a party of boys in a small New England town.

“A first-rate juvenile ... a real story for the live human boy—any boy will read it eagerly to the end ... quite thrilling adventures.”—_Chicago Record-Herald._

THE BOB’S CAVE BOYS

Illustrated by VICTOR PERARD. $1.35 net.

“It would be hard to find anything better in the literature of New England boy life. Healthy, red-blooded, human boys, full of fun, into trouble and out again, but frank, honest, and clean.”—_The Congregationalist._

THE BOB’S HILL BRAVES

Illustrated by H. S. DELAY. 12mo. $1.35 net.

The “Bob’s Hill” band spend a vacation in Illinois, where they play at being Indians, hear thrilling tales of real Indians, and learn much frontier history. A history of especial interest to “Boy Scouts.”

“Merry youngsters. Capital. Thrilling tales of the red men and explorers. These healthy red-blooded, New England boys.”—_Philadelphia Press._

THE BOY SCOUTS OF BOB’S HILL

Illustrated by GORDON GRANT. 12mo. $1.35 net.

The “Bob’s Hill” band organizes a Boy Scouts band and have many adventures. Mr. Burton brings in tales told around a camp-fire of La Salle, Joliet, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Northwestern Reservation.

CAMP BOB’S HILL

Illustrated by GORDON GRANT. $1.35 net.

A tale of Boy Scouts on their summer vacation.

THE RAVEN PATROL OF BOB’S HILL

Illustrated by GORDON GRANT. $1.35 net.

The account of a camping trip of the Raven Patrol of the Boy Scouts to the Massachusetts coast, with much real boy fun and wholesome adventure.

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

THE HOME BOOK OF VERSE FOR YOUNG FOLKS

_Compiled by_ BURTON E. STEVENSON, _Editor of “The Home Book of Verse.”_

_With cover, and illustrations in color and black and white by WILLY POGANY. Over 500 pages, large 12mo. $2.25 net._

Not a rambling, haphazard collection but a vade-mecum for youth from the ages of six or seven to sixteen or seventeen. It opens with Nursery Rhymes and lullabies, progresses through child rhymes and jingles to more mature nonsense verse; then come fairy verses and Christmas poems; then nature verse and favorite rhymed stories; then through the trumpet and drum period (where an attempt is made to teach true patriotism) to the final appeal of “Life Lessons” and “A Garland of Gold” (the great poems for all ages).

This arrangement secures sequence of sentiment and a sort of cumulative appeal. Nearly all the children’s classics are included, and along with them a body of verse not so well known but almost equally deserving. There are many real “finds,” most of which have never before appeared in any anthology.

Mr. Stevenson has banished doleful and pessimistic verse, and has dwelt on hope, courage, cheerfulness and helpfulness. The book should serve, too, as an introduction to the greater poems, informing taste for them and appreciation of them, against the time when the boy or girl, grown into youth and maiden, is ready to swim out into the full current of English poetry.

HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK