Michael Speransky. Statesman of Imperial Russia, 1772–1839 - Marc Raeff

(Chris Devlin) #1

6 THE BEGINNINGS


not only poor in quality, but also insufficient in quantity; a gnawing
state of "half-hunger" was the ever-present companion of the young
seminarians (and even their teachers). Returning from the summer
vacations spent in their home villages, many pupils brought with
them some provisions (flour, potatoes), and the luckier ones might
receive a few food parcels during the winter. But even this outside
help was not enough, and the students tried to earn some money to
buy food, for only in the rarest cases did they bring a few rubles from
home. The older and abler students were at times engaged as tutors
to the children of some local merchant or official. This type of
employment was highly desirable, not so much for the salary as for the
opportunity it offered to spend ,a few hours in a warm house and to
receive some crumbs from the table of the employer. Students who
had less social grace and intellectual ability might become assistants
to some ecclesiastic functionary. Those unsuitable for either position
were reducd to petty stealjng and begging to supplement the inadequate
diet of the school refectory.
Even among these poverty-ridden students there were differences in
status. Worst off were the children of very poor village priests who
lived exclusively on what the government provided. They were always
hungry and, in winter, cold. To survive they allowed themselves to
be exploited by more prosperous fellow-pupils and became the most
demoralized and demoralizing group of the school population. A
higher social and economic status was enjoyed by those who received
some assistance from home. They banded together to rent some cheap
quarters on the outskirts of the town and shared the provisions they
received from home. But they had to live far from school and spend
much time and effort in scraping together the bare necessities of life.
They had little to spare for the acquisition of knowledge. Finally, the
"aristoo-acy·'. among the student body consisted of the few fortunate
enough to have friends or relatives in the town itself where they could
stay and where they could count on a full meal regularly.
Under the circumstances, we should not be surprised that the purely
academic accomplishments at the school left much to be desired. The
teachers were so poorly paid that they cared little for their duties.
They tried to exploit the pupils for their own selfish ends - sending
them out to do errands, using their labor - instead of imparting to
them whatever knowledge they might possess. Drunkenness was the
most common vice, and Speransky often had to replace one of his
teachers who w,as almost constantly drunk. Not that the instructors had
nothing to teach the students; quite a few were well read and educated

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