St. Petersburg
Tolstoy was sent to St. Petersburg as a despatch bearer. There
he was attached to a rocket battery under General Konstantinov and
returned to the front no more.
In St. Petersburg, where he arrived November 21, 1855, he found
himself at once in the circle of "The Contemporary," and was
received there with open arms.
In his "Confession," Tolstoy thus speaks of that period: "During that time I began to write, out of vanity, love of gain, and pride. I followed as a writer the same path which I had chosen as a man. In order to obtain the fame and money for which I wore, I was obliged to hide what was good and bow down before what was evil. How often while writing have I cudgelled my brains to conceal, under the mask of indifference or pleasantry, those yearnings for something better which formed the real problem of my life! I succeeded in my object and was praised. At twenty-six years of age, on the close of the war, I came to St. Petersburg, and made the acquaintance of the authors of the day.
"I met with a hearty reception and much flattery."
Naturally, during the twenty years before he wrote those
lines, Tolstoy was beset by various feelings, though even then his
unsparing self-analysis and skepticism were pushed so far as to
astonish his companions.
"The contemporary" was a review founded by A. S. Pushkin and
Plentev. Its first number was issued in 1836. After Pushkin's
death, the review was published from 1838 to 1846 by Plentev alone
and lost all its importance. In 1847 N. A. Nekrasov and T. T. Panayev became the proprietors of the review. In Collaboration with the well-known literary critic Belinskiy, they managed in a short time to attract the best authors, and until its suppression by the authorities in 1866, this review was the chief organ of progressive russian art, criticism and sociology.
At the time of Tolstoy's appearance in Petersburg, the more
intimate members of this literary circle are to be seen in the two
well-known photo-groups of authors - Panayev, Nekrasov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Druzhinin, Ostrovskiy, Goncharov, and Grigorovich and Sollogulo. One may add to the circle V. P. Botkin, Fet, and others not included in the two groups.
Members of the staff of "The Contemporary" were bound by
certain obligations as to honoraria as well as the contribution of
articles. These obligations were sometimes found too burdensome, and caused many unpleasant frictions among literary men. Publishers and editors of other reviews would, by urgent entreaties, obtain "copy" from the celebrated authors belonging to the personnel of "The Contemporary." The administration of that review resented such proceedings very much, a feeling which was reciprocated by the rival publishers.
Tolstoy's German biographer, Loewenfeld, gives a description of one such incident as follows:
Turgenev and Katkov had a quarrel in which Tolstoy
was involved, partly by his own fault. Turgenev had been
for some time an assiduous contributor of Katkov's and
the latter was naturally loath to part with such an
author. He commissioned his brother to call daily on
both the young authors and solicit from them articles for
his review. Turgenev, growing tired of these endless
petitions, on a sudden impulse promised to write
something for Katkov, but could not keep his promise. Katkov was furious and attacked Turgenev in public, arguing that since Turgenev promised to write for him, he could not at the same time give his services `exclusively' to `The Contemporary.' On the other hand, as a member of `The Contemporary' staff, he was precluded from contributing to Katkov's review. His gentle and compliant nature played him a bat turn this time.
Tolstoy took the part of his friend. He wrote a
long letter to Katkov in defense of Turgenev. The gentle
nature of Turgenev, as well as his politeness, had
induced him to make promises to both parties. Tolstoy
requested Katkov to publish his letter. Katkov agreed, on the condition that his answer should be printed as well, and he therewith sent a rough sketch of it. But it was of such a character that Tolstoy thought it wiser to give up his part of mediator.
The association of "The Contemporary" ceased long before, and
it became an ordinary publishing concern.