WALKS AND TALKS WITH TOLSTOI -MARCH, 1894 95 



whom he gave as long as his money lasted. He said that 

 he was accustomed to take a provision of copper money 

 with him for this purpose on his walks, since he regarded 

 it as a duty to give when asked, and he went on to say that 

 he carried the idea so far that even if he knew the man 

 wanted the money to buy hrandy he would give it to him ; 

 but he added that he would do all in his power to induce 

 the man to work and to cease drinking. I demurred 

 strongly to all this, and extended the argument which I 

 had made during our previous walk, telling him that by 

 such giving he did two wrongs : first, to the beggar him 

 self, since it led him to cringe and lie in order to obtain 

 as a favor that which, if he did his duty in working, he 

 could claim as a right; and, secondly, to society by en 

 couraging such a multitude to prey upon it who might be 

 giving it aid and strength ; and I again called his attention 

 to the hordes of sturdy beggars in Moscow. He answered 

 that the results of our actions in such cases are not the 

 main thing, but the cultivation of proper feelings in the 

 giver is first to be considered. 



I then asked him about his manual labor. He said that 

 his habit was to rise early and read or write until noon, 

 then to take his luncheon and a short sleep, and after that 

 to work in his garden or fields. He thought this good for 

 him on every account, and herein we fully agreed. 



On our return through the Kremlin, passing the heaps 

 and rows of cannon taken from the French in 1812, I 

 asked him if he still adhered to the low opinion of Napo 

 leon expressed in &quot;War and Peace.&quot; He said that he 

 did, and more than ever since he had recently read a book 

 on Napoleon s relations to women which showed that he 

 took the lowest possible view of womankind. I then asked 

 him if he still denied Napoleon s military genius. He an 

 swered that he certainly did; that he did not believe in the 

 existence of any such thing as military genius; that he 

 had never been able to understand what is meant by the 

 term. I asked, &quot;How then do you account for the amaz 

 ing series of Napoleon s successes!&quot; He answered, &quot;By 



