hia Behrs, the daughter of a Russian
physician. He began to write again, feeling less zeal for social work
and the need to earn money for his family. The _Cossacks_ described
the wild pleasures of existence away from civilization, where all joys
arise from physical exertion. Tolstoy had known such a life during a
sojourn in the Caucasus. It attracted him especially, for he was an
admiring follower of Rousseau in the glorification of a return to
Nature.

On the estate of Yasnaya there was work to be done, for agricultural
labour meant well-cultivated land, and that meant prosperity. A large
family was sheltered beneath the roof where simplicity ruled, and yet
much comfort was enjoyed. Tolstoy wore the rough garments of a
peasant, and delighted in the idea that he was often taken for a
peasant though he had once been sorely troubled by his blunt features
and lack of physical beauty. Family cares absorbed him, and the books
he now gave to the world in constant succession. His name was spoken
everywhere, and many visitors disturbed his seclusion. _War and
Peace_, a description of Napoleonic times in Russia, found scant favour
with Liberals or Conservatives in the East, but it ranked as a great
work of fiction. _Anna Karenina_ gave descriptions of society in town
and country that were unequalled even by Turgeniev, the writer whose
friendship with Tolstoy was often broken by fierce quarrels. The
reformer's nature suffered nothing artificial. He sneered at formal
charity and a pretence of labour. Hearing that Turgeniev's young
daughter sat dressed in silks to mend the torn and ragged garments of
poverty, as part of her education, he commented with his usual
harshness. The comment was not forgiven, and strife separated men who
had, nevertheless, a {222} curious attraction for each other. Fet, the
Russian poet was, indeed, the only friend in the literary world
fortunate enough always to win the great novelist's approbation.

As the sons grew up, the family had to spend part of the year in Moscow
that the lads might attend the University. It was necessary to live
with the hospitality of Russians of the higher class, and division
crept into the household where father and mother had been remarkable
for their strong affection. Tolstoy wore the sheepskin of the labourer
and the felt cap and boots, and he ate his simple meal of porridge at a
table where others dined with less frugality. He had given up the
habits o