PLANS OF REFORM 135of the two senates are only two facets of the single absolute sovereign
power (i.e. the Emperor) in which they are united and from which they
both proceed. The Legislative Senate is a body of men (soslovie)
which issues the laws. For, as is well known, laws issued by a group
of individuals carry more force and prestige than those which are
enacted by an individual minister or head of bureau. 1 However, this
Legislative Senate is not to be an open, representative body with in-
dependent political existence. Composed of Senators appointed by
the Emperor, it is in truth a constituent part of the Imperial Cabinet
or Chancery. Meeting twice a week, the Senate discusses problems which
come under the following major headings: drafting of a civil and
criminal code, improvement of civil and criminal laws, preservation of
the laws in their execution. The Senate receives complaints against
ministers and inspects the reports presented by the Executive Senate.
The Legislative Senate may call "Executive Senators" for consultation,
but no minister may be a member of the Legislative Senate. In some
very exceptional cases, such as high treason, trial of ministers, the
Legislative Senate sits as a High Court. 2
In practice, therefore, the Senates are the direct instruments of the
absolute power of the Emperor. They lend it unity of purpose and
secure formal responsibility, but they have no independent force of
their own. Speransky is quite careful to stress that the Senates do not
limit the autocratic prerogatives of the Emperor. However, by virtue
of their procedure and of the publicity of their actions, the Senates
will help instill greater popular confidence in the acts of the govern-
ment. They will contribute to the education of the people in prepara-
tion of the establishment of a "true monarchy." And - who knows? -
perhaps the Senates will become important enough to present a serious
obstacle in the path of a mal-intentioned ruler. The potentialities in-
herent in the Senates are great, for, writes Speransky, "when, as a
consequence of the spread of education and of the impact of many
circumstances which depend on time, the conditions for better govern-
ment will have ripened, there will be put into this same frame - almost
without any changes - a new system which will rest not on an apparent
order, but on a truly profound and objective basis." A few changes
in nomenclature will easily complete the transformation. 3
1 Zapiska 1803, p. 201. On the term soslovie, d. pp. 162-163 below.
2 Zapiska 1803, pp. 203-206. The echoes of the American system should not be
taken too literally.
3 ibid., pp. 212-213. On closer inspection, this Legislative Senate has already all
the essential features of the Council of State proposed by Speransky in his plan of
1809 and established in 1810.