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Rh were bought and distributed among such peasants as had lost theirs. Bread was baked, and sold at a low price. In addition, incidental help was given in repairing and building peasants’ huts, assistance in burials, gifts of books, etc. All these tasks were carried out under the direct supervision of Tolstoy in four districts of the two neighbouring provinces, Ryazan and Tula.

Tolstoy’s example was soon followed, and in all the famine provinces numerous organisations were formed. In the Samara province, in two districts, Tolstoy’s son Leo was engaged in the same work, for which part of the donations received by his father was sent to him. The following winter—1892–3—was no less severe, and aid to the people was continued; but this time Tolstoy himself was not present, and the work was carried on with less energy. He published reports periodically, and they were highly instructive documents.

During his activity as organiser, he occupied himself with a literary work of some magnitude—“The Kingdom of God Is Within You; or, Christianity Not as a Mystical Teaching, but as a New Conception of Life.” In this work, as in “What is My Faith?” published ten years before, Tolstoy, with great power, develops his