DISGRACE AND EXILE 201keen desire to vindicate himself was another factor in his change of
mind about complete withdrawal from political life. Perhaps also his
wish to see his daughter properly married played a part in this change
of mind. His dream now became to be appointed a Senator, a member
of the Commission on Laws. The signing of the Holy Alliance was
taken by Speransky as a convenient pretext for broaching the matter
to the Emperor. The general principles enunciated in the Holy Alliance
treaty were close to the heart of Speransky; he wrote to Alexander
expressing his full approval and support. He urged the monarch to
follow up the logical implications of the Alliance's principles at home
too. But the Emperor did not react to this timid overture.
Speransky had to wait until 1816 before he was permitted to resume
an active administrative role. Then he first had to serve as Governor
in distant provinces before he was allowed to return to the capital.
Even this long and roundabout way back to "favor" could be taken
only after Speransky had humiliated himself by pleading with Arak-
cheev, the all-powerful friend and assistant of Alexander. Perhaps it
was not so much Arakcheev who had wanted to humiliate Speransky,
as Alexander himself who wished to abase his former councillor and
make him dependent on his new favorite. To compel the honest and
able Speransky to humiliate himself before the "corporal of Gatchina"
was balsam for wounds - real or fancied - the former State Secretary
had inflicted on the Emperor's touchy vanity_ In any case, the Emperor
did not want Speransky back in S1. Petersburg as the apparently
innocent victim of evil tongues and of the monarch's own distrustful
gullibility. Speransky could return only if he first "redeemed" himself
of his past errors by humble and dutiful service in minor and remote
positions. We may well believe that in this instance, Arakcheev's own
feelings coincided with those of his imperial mas;er, and in his letters
he let Speransky feel them. Yet, Speransky decided to accept and suffer
this humiliation. He did not even hesitate to flatter the vanity and
prejudices of Arakcheev. In so doing, Speransky's moral pain may not
have been as great as we tbink. For in an age when individual caprice
rules human destinies, the humiliations inflicted by such caprice are
felt not so much as insults as a natural feature of the condition
humaine. As no one considers imperial caprice damaging to one's
honor, there is no feeling of moral slight, and it is much easier to seek
reinstatemen t to favor by any means, even if they involve some
humiliation.
Speransky returned to active life in 1816, i.e. after four years of
exile. For as active and energetic an individual as he, the management