The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-11

II may he said that his psrsnntai thsne
In his novels also 10 the mental striving
VI a young Russian noblnnan to fres him
self from the artificial fatils<iss Of the 30
ci.ty In which he was born and to sse
and do what is right. To these original
strivings in his own case no now added the
ideal Of acquiring rnsekneass humilty.
frccdom IRON material passions and matte
rial wants. When Mr.. Mande asked him
why in What In Art hs relegAtes his two
greatest novels 60 the realm VI bad art
Tolstoy's ROXY showed that he did not
really consider them bad at all but con-
demned them merely a. being too long
and written in a way chiefly adapted to
please the lsisured well to do classea. who
have time for reading novels in several
volumes because other people do thcar
rough work for them
A less profound but more pracf ical
thinker than Tolssoy might have appre-
ciated the power he thus welded over
precisely the classes he wished to reach.
We may remark. and might have effected
more In the end by writing more Of the
same style and quality. A q proof OF
this We may cite the fact that War and
Peace had been such a powerful indict-
ment Of war thar when the Russo Turkish
war came on not u correspondent could
have been found in Russia who would
have described how I'VE peppered the
enemy with grapeshot.- or how I'VE
knocked them down like ninepins.' Had
any one used that style. universally &C
cepted IN previous wars. no papsr IN
Russia would have dared to print his
remarks. As To his own attitude toward
the world in general before the crisis
was complete. his brother-in-Aw says
in his book that Tolstoy had in his pres-
ence confessed to being both proud and
vain. He was a rampant aristocrat. and
though he always loved the country folk
he loved the artist ocracy still more. To
the middle class he was antipathetic.
When. after his failures in early life. he
became widely famous a. q writer. he
used to admit that it gave him great
pleasure and intense happiness. Some
times he would ironically rsmark that
though he had himself not earned a
generalship in the artillery referring to
the important appointments Of former
comrades or acquainfances) he had at any
rate won his generalship in literature.
Lsvin. in Anna Karenina," represents
Toistoy himself 10 a greater degree than
any of the authors other characters.
though Tolstoy made Lev in a very simpls
fellow in order to get n more effective CON
trast between him and the representatiy -
OF high life in Moscow and St Petersburg.
In short. the connection between the roots
of Tolstoy's opinions. manifested in the
writings OF his first fifty years and his
.,,, ,ls,, IL,
form. az Expressed during tho last thirty
years. is in general SO close, the dogrnas
of the later period grew 10 naturally ont
Of the sympathes and experiences Of tho
earlier time that the point where Levin
makes clean line OF cleavage. the diff
ference between obeying the Government
and disobeying il. in worthy Of particular
note When finishing Anna karenina'
Tolstoy had not vet reached the conclu
. sion that all Governments employing
force, even so much as a sing. police
man. are immoral. but his later feachin gs
arc dominated by that visw. The Toll
stoy of the last thirty years grew out Of
the Tolsroy Of the first fifty wears AZ the
branches Of a tree grow from It's roots
The difference Law chiefly in this. that
from about the year bs7s hs became sure
/ of himself. succeeded in formulating his
outlook on life and proceeded IN examine
and pass Judgment on all the main phases
of human thought and activity. HIS
work MAS sometimes hasty and often harsh,
he painted IN black and whi,s SUBJECTS
really compos.d Of ali shades Of color
Those who have spoken scornfully Of him
. are those who have not taken rhe trouble
' 20 understand him On tn" other hand
the smell minority who swallow his opin-
ions vi hole do 50 under rhs hypnotic in
;iucnc- 81 his force ferynr and genius
10 ansly7" his opinions and diScntancle
wha- in them is true from what il falss'
- a task which no one has yet adequately
performed but for which the tim" il ripe
This und.rt ak ing. bold AZ h. ack now lodges
il Ia be Mr. Maud- has made the attempt
To- carry out
III.
Their. were no strong external signs
OF the critical change which had finally