9^ THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



injustice. As for himself, he went on in the even 

 tenor of his way, doing whatever his conscience 

 approved of, regardless of laws and governments. 

 They usually let him alone, but collisions sometimes 

 occur. The previous winter his eldest daughter had 

 opened a school for the children on the estate. The 

 village pope (priest) sent a memorial to the government 

 asserting that the instruction given in the school was 

 not orthodox. The Governor of Tula, Tolstoi's per- 

 sonal friend, was obliged to come down to Yasnia Po- 

 lyana and order the school closed. The winter was 

 then about over, and the children had to go to work in 

 the fields anyhow, so not much harm was done. His 

 daughter intended to open the school again, however, 

 the following winter, and to reopen it as often as the 

 authorities might close it up. So, unless they tore it 

 down, stationed a policeman at the door, or exiled the 

 daughter, the school would be carried on. 



" The government sins most against the people in the 

 matter of education. None of the concessions it makes 

 are of any value. They are only makeshifts. Schools 

 are in every village, but nothing is taught but ' non- 

 sensical catechism ' and the * three R's.' Yet, with the 

 government restrictions dragging on the heels of the 

 people, a great improvement had taken place since the 

 emancipation of the serfs. It is now possible for every 

 peasant to learn to read and write. All the people 

 need, to make themselves heard, is a free rein to learn 

 what they choose," continued Tolstoi. 



The Count called to him a bright little peasant girl, 

 in a blaze of red clothes. " Look here," he said, "how 

 intelligent these children are. The moujik children are 



