CHAPTER XXXVII. WALKS AND TALKS WITH TOLSTOI—MARCH, 1894
Moscow revisited. Little change for the better. First visit to Tolstoi. Curious arrangement of his household. Our first discussions; condition of the peasants; his view of Quakers; their "want of logic." His view of Russian religious and general thought. Socrates as a saint in the Kremlin. His views of the Jews; of Russian treatment of prisoners. His interest in American questions. Our visit to the Moscow Museum; his remark on the pictures for the Cathedral of Kieff; his love for realistic religious pictures; his depreciation of landscape painting; deep feeling shown by him before sundry genre pictures. His estimate of Peter the Great. His acknowledgment of human progress. His view of the agency of the Czar in maintaining peace. His ideas regarding French literature; of Maupassant; of Balzac. His views of American literature and the source of its strength; his discussion of various American authors and leaders in philanthropic movements; his amazing answer to my question as to the greatest of American writers. Our walks together; his indiscriminate almsgiving; discussion thereupon. His view of travel. The cause of his main defects. Lack of interchange of thought in Russia; general result of this. Our visit to the Kremlin. His views of religion; questions regarding American women; unfavorable view of feminine character. Our attendance at a funeral; strange scenes. Further discussion upon religion. Visit to an "Old Believer"; beauty of his house and its adornments; his religious fanaticism; its effects on Tolstoi. His views as to the duty of educated young men in Russia. Further discussion of American literature. His hope for Russian progress. His manual labor. His view of Napoleon. His easy-going theory of warlike operations. Our farewell. Estimate of him. His great qualities. His sincerity. Cause of his limitations. Personal characteristics related to these. Evident evolution of his ideas. Effect of Russian civilization on sundry strong men.