PLANS OF REFORM 165of the various classes of society. What mattered was the spiritual and
moral development of the people, not their legal and political rights.
But as one important positive element in the spiritual progress of
individuals and nations was their right to exercise fully the energy
inherent in them, it was essential to protect and guide their economic
activity. For economic activity was the most immediate and complete
means of spiritual self - expression and self - realization.
The state, he felt, was best qualified to lead Russia in the path of
national harmony, and in so doing, promote the people's moral pro-
gress. In due time, the absolute monarchical government, based on
justice and law, could guide Russia to modern forms of social and
political life. It alone could guard the country from class conflicts and
anarchical rule, similar to those which had taken upper hand in
France after the overthrow of Louis XVI. Autocracy would protect the
state from the ruinous disorders which come from aristocratic and
oligarchic rule, rule for the satisfaction of the narrow selfish material
interests of the few. That such a rule eventually leads to national
disaster, had been clearly shown by the ill-fated Polish "republic."
Therefore, the state must retain some very important functions of
positive leadership, and these functions are best performed by an
autocratic government with the help of a good bureaucracy operating
within the framework of a clear and orderly system, according to the
principles of just fundamental laws. In the final analysis, "true mon-
archy" and "constitution" were synonymous with a Rechtsstaat, a state
based on law and guiding the spiritual and material progress of the
nation. To help the state in fulfilling this pedagogical and leadership
role, Speransky suggested that it welcome the assistance of the enlight-
ened citizens. This was the basis of his proposals for the various Dumas,
courts of justice with "jury," local government councils, Council of
State, and for his economic policies. But in all cases, it was the central
government, through its bureaucracy of well selected and properly
supervised officials, that retained the controlling and guiding roles.
The similarity of this conception to the major tenets of enlightened
absolutism is unmistakable.^1 And it is not at all surprising to see it
come from the pen of the most able and successful bureaucrat that the
Imperial administration had known so far. Speransky's program also
corresponded to Emperor Alexander's predilection for orderly and
hierarchical organization and catered to his desire to be the guide and
educator of his people. Quite true, in the Emperor's case it was related1 Cf. the articles of Hintze in note 2 p. 158; P. Klassen, Die Grundlagen des aufge-
klarten Absolutismus (Jena 1929).