CHAPTER. VIIIGOVERNING RUSSIA'S PROVINCES- PENZA
The exile of the former State Secretary ended in late 1816 with his
appointment to the governorship of Penza, one of the eastern provinces
of central Russia. Speransky wished to return to active public life in
order to clear himself of the accusations leveled at him before his
disgrace. His new appointment appeared at first as a step in this
direction. "Whatever the opinions in St. Petersburg," he wrote to his
friend Masal'skii, "I am sincerely happy and completely satisfied. For
the first step this is more than I had ever expected." 1 But the
manner of his appointment and the refusal to grant him permission
to pass through the capital on his way to Penza, strongly undermined
his self-confident optimism. He vented his feelings to Count Kochubei:
" ... neither vindicated nor accused, they have sent me to vindicate
myself and at the same time to govern the just." 2 In truth, however,
very few still believed in Speransky's guilt in 1816. His reappointment
to office was therefore viewed as an indication of the Emperor's desire
to deal seriously with the domestic problems that had lain neglected
since the invasion of Napoleon. Many thought that Speransky was
being sent first to Penza in order to obtain first-hand information on
local needs and conditions.
In any case, the appointment opened up a new field of activity to
Speransky. Until this time, his knowledge of and familiarity with
provincial life and conditions had been most superficial. As a boy, he
had known the Russian village quite well, an experience the ordinary
official or governor usually lacked completely. But in his mature and
1 Letter to Masal'skii, {; Sept. 1816, in Druzheskie pis'ma k Masal'skomu, p. 87.
2 Letter to Count V. Kochubei, 21 September 1818, Russkaia Starina, 111 (1902),
p.52.