DISGRACE AND EXILE 177laws and administrative organizations become necessary, they ought
to be derived from past Russian traditions and practice, and not
slavishly copied from abroad. Do not destroy the hallowed traditions
and values of our country, pleads Karamzin, preserve the practices that
have made Russia great and glorious. Secure the economic prosperity
of the nobility by abolishing the Continental System and by checking
the threats to serfdom; restore the nobility to its function of traditional
servants of the Crown (by throwing out the callous and pretentious
bureaucrats) and return it to its role of the first "estate" of the realm.
Above all, keep autocracy intact. This is the Russian way to reform,
and it is the best way, declares Karamzin. The Historiographer is not
afraid to conclude on an ominous note of warning. Even the auto-
cratic Tsar of All Russia cannot go against his people's traditions and
interests, especially against those of the nobility. Paul I had attempted
to do it; his son knows his fate well enough. Let Alexander listen to
the voice of the people and heed the nobility's counsel, lest his father's
fate befall him too.
Karamzin's tract carried weight with Alexander I as an expression
of the feelings and desires of "Moscow" and "Tver'." But, however
great the influence and consideration enjoyed by the aristocratic
circles of the Old Capital and the Court of Catherine Pavlovna at
Tver', their opinions alone would not have been of sufficient weight
in determining the Emperor's course. The "Fronde," though, found
support in the virulent hatred of Speransky in another section of the
Russian nobility. This time it was the numerous group of petty
noblemen and landowners who made up the lower ranks of the
bureaucracy, both in the provinces and the capital. They hated the
State Secretary for his authorship of the decree of August 6, 1809
(PSZ 23,771) on service examinations. They readily believed that
he was bent upon destroying the nobility, or at least upon preventing
its access to higher positions and comfortable retirement. What other
reason could there possibly have been for a decree which made
promotion to the 8th rank of the hierarchy dependent on the successful
passage of an examination? The petty nobility, too poor to receive a
proper education, had served the Emperor for many generations. The
only way they could hope for promotion to the coveted rank which
guaranteed an adequate retirement pay, was through seniority earned
by long and faithful service. The decree of 1809 deprived many of
their expected retirement benefits and wounded their pride and self-
esteem. Karamzin also reflected these feelings when he remarked that
it was not necessary to know Latin, chemistry, physics, history, and