WITH COUNT TOLSTOI. 97 



to expose the evils of the present system and to point 

 out the way to a better order of things all round." 



I asked the Count when he expected to bring out 

 his first work on education. He could not say, he re- 

 plied. Possibly it would not appear during his life- 

 time. All would depend on circumstances. Tolstoi 

 thinks it would be a good thing if every author would 

 pigeon-hole his manuscripts and publish nothing during 

 his life. 



" Then," said he, " there would be less printed paper 

 in the world, and people would find time for reading 

 what was really good." 



No author, he argued, ought to receive any compen- 

 sation for his work, either in money or fame. His 

 reward should be the satisfaction of having done, or 

 having tried to do, something for the improvement of 

 his fellows. He has never willingly seen any of his 

 work go to the publishers, but has always yielded to the 

 importunities and wishes of his friends. His" Kreut- 

 zer Sonata," he said, was an unfinished work, and was 

 not intended by him to be published in its present 

 form. But his friends took it, and against his better 

 judgment it was given to the world. He was then 

 preparing the epilogue to it that shortly afterward 

 appeared. He was also writing a treatise on intem- 

 perance, setting forth his ideas regarding tobacco, 

 alcohol, opium, hasheesh, rich food, romantic love, and 

 various other indulgences that come under the ban of 

 his creed. 



We talked of Siberia, and of the methods of the 

 Russian government. Tolstoi said, " The government 

 is altogether bad. It is a monument of superstition and 



